Shiver (Unbreakable Bonds 1)

By the second week, when he’d actually been conscious and coherent, Lucas disappeared completely. That wasn’t to say that Andrei had been abandoned. It seemed like someone was constantly hovering at his bedside during that week. But it was a rotating door of Ian, Rowe, Melissa, and even Hollis haunting his room. The detective had briefly attempted to get some information out of him, but Lucas had made sure that his lawyer Sarah was nipping at the detective’s heels the entire time with strict orders that Andrei wasn’t to answer any of Banner’s direct questions. In the end, the detective would just stop by and watch Jeopardy with him every evening before shuffling along.

And now Andrei had been home for a week. Lucas still hadn’t stopped by. No word. No phone call. No…well, nothing. But his new friends were still checking on him. Ian had dropped off food four times, proving that the young man was an anxious cooker. He tried to hide it, but Andrei could see the worry in Ian’s eyes when he looked at Andrei. And when he was worried, he cooked. Andrei was beyond flattered to be included in the caring man’s circle. Plus, the food was incredible. Rowe had stopped by twice and even Snow had dropped by once. Of course, the surgeon had couched the appearance as a “house call” and hadn’t bothered to make much small talk as he checked over Andrei. He’d begun to feel as if they were working their way through the guilt over Andrei’s injuries, not that he blamed any of them. Rowe had explained about the bug they’d found in Lucas’s penthouse and how it had gotten there. At the end of the day, Andrei knew the risk he’d taken and he was just grateful that he’d survived.

Fuck, had he really read Lucas that poorly? Sure, the man had never hidden the fact that he didn’t date. That he fucked a guy and he moved on. And that’s all he’d been, right? A trick. A one-night stand. A diversion. But hadn’t there been something more? He was sure he’d felt something. An intoxicating spark that seemed to take on a life of its own in his belly. Andrei had been positive that Lucas had felt it too.

Come back to me.

Those desperate words still whispered through his head. They hadn’t felt hollow when they were spoken. When Lucas was sure Andrei was safe and going to make a full recovery, had he simply come to his senses, realizing that he was making more out of his feelings for the man because he’d been afraid he’d die? Guilt could be a bitch to deal with.

“Fuck,” Andrei groaned and then chuckled at the irony. Was this karma coming back to kick his ass? It would be fitting. He’d never been one to lead a woman on, but there had been several in his life who had misread his intentions and desires, hoping that he was interested in more than one night of fun. It was a cruel kind of justice. The first time he took a chance on someone, actually opened himself up to trust and feel something…and it was nothing more than a quick fuck.

“Idiot,” he muttered to himself, pushing to his feet with another groan. His body was stiff. Snow had warned him that his newly mended ribs would be tender and sore for at least another week or two. His knees were still giving him fits as well, forcing him to shuffle along like an old man reliant on a walker. He wanted his young, fit body back, but it was going to be a few more weeks before he could hit the gym and start building muscle again. For now, he was just trying to keep moving and pushing through the pain.

A knock at the door stopped Andrei on his way to his bedroom. His brow furrowed as he stared at it. No one was expected—not that any of the people who had been stopping by had bothered to call ahead of time. As he unlocked the door, he prayed it wasn’t Ian. He liked the guy, but he was running out of room in his fridge for all the food he was dropping off.

Lucas stood in the hall, holding Andrei’s garment bag in one hand and another bag in his other, looking unsure and nervous. The air was sucked out of the room, leaving Andrei breathless and unsteady. For a moment, they just stared at each other.

“Hey,” Andrei said, drawing in a breath to fill his starving lungs.

“Hey. I…I brought your things from my place. I thought you might need them.” Lucas dropped his gaze, seeming to prefer to look down at the bags in his hands rather than up at Andrei’s face.

Andrei looked down at the bag as well. He hadn’t bothered to go back to Lucas’s to pack after they’d decided he’d go undercover. No, he’d gone directly back to his apartment and started contacting the few people he knew still involved in underground fights, spreading the news that he’d been canned. He’d forgotten about his clothes. Or maybe he’d hoped to use them as an excuse to go back to the penthouse. Weeks later, he wasn’t so sure what his plan had been.