Inescapable

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’ve fallen for her. I have too, but I was prepared for that to happen because of what we had shared online. Whereas, you didn’t think you would get involved.” He’d given a great deal of thought to how to broach this subject with Seth, and decided that head on was going to be the only way. “You thought it would be quick and easy, a bit of fun, no harm done. And now you can’t forget her.”

Seth across stared at him, dumbstruck. After a moment, he ran his hand along the stubble on his jaw. “No, I haven’t fallen for her. Not possible.” He paused, as if thinking it through, then continued—as Adrian had expected he would when he decided to raise the subject—giving excuses for the fact he was sitting there with a faraway look in his eyes. “I miss the female company, I can’t deny that, and Lily was one hell of a special woman, but it was crazy, I mean…I don’t usually get involved like that. It was a one-off. Cabin fever, or Stockholm syndrome like you said…or some damn thing. We’re warned about it, in our training.”

Adrian restrained his smile. He’d never seen Seth so confounded by his own state of mind. “My dad always used to say that where there are many excuses, there is no single good excuse.”

“What is he, Confucius?”

“He’s a practising psychologist.” Adrian withheld his smile. “You care about her, face it.”

The frown on Seth’s forehead deepened. “I care about her, yes, and god knows she was good to be around, but I can’t afford to get close to a woman the way I did with Lily, not in my line of work. I can’t be there for a woman, not the way a man should be.” His eyes looked haunted. “It was a mistake to get so heavily involved.”

Adrian didn’t comment. They both knew it wasn’t a mistake.

“What about you,” Seth asked, clearly trying to shift the attention away from himself. “You’re more her type, you have a stable life and you two had a relationship on the go before we all met. Adrian…you understand her much better than I do.”

“True.” Adrian smiled, allowing himself that. “But I’m not sure how deeply she feels for me. She cares, but I know for sure she fell in love with you.” Adrian couldn’t help smiling when Seth stared at him, confused.

“Love?”

“Yes, love. It was obvious to me after the first two days, but when that bloke Lavonne had her.” He shook his head, remembering the intensity of the moment. “The affection you have for her was pretty darn obvious. Face it Seth, you want her, and she wants you.”

Seth’s eyes flickered. He shook his head. “But you—”

“But me what? I care about her too, a lot. Don’t get me wrong, I love the woman.”

“Go after her then,” Seth said.

“It wouldn’t be the same without you, I’m not stupid. The three of us had an amazing experience. There was a symbiosis that I’ve never found, or seen, and I’d be happy to settle down with a woman like Lily.” He paused, ready for the hard part, the part that had kept him awake these past nights. “But if it’s you she wants then I’m not going to stop that from happening…neither am I going to let you walk away from her. I know you’re about to do just that.”

Seth rested his head back against the armchair he was sitting in front of. “I have to walk away. I gave up all rights to a relationship when I went in to this job. It’s too hard to maintain a normal relationship.” He rubbed his hand over his face and head, scrubbing his hair, before he continued. “I’m away for days and weeks as time. I don’t want a woman like Lily worrying about me. It’s bad enough that my mother has sleepless nights.”

Adrian toyed with the knight in his hand. “Perhaps fate brought us three together.”

Seth considered that silently.

Adrian knew he was breaking through. He had two more days, and he would continue to steadily drip feed the idea during that time. He needed Seth to be ready when the moment came. Personally, he’d jump at the chance to be with Lily some more. He’d been part of something special, and he knew it. He wanted to see what happened next. Seth was more stubborn. If it was Seth that Lily really wanted, then he wasn’t going to let Seth mess that up. “When we get out of this and the court case is behind us, you have to go see her, we both do.”

“I can’t.”

Adrian could see it there in his friend’s eyes, the denial, and the desperately unhappy look. He’d been right. Seth was fighting it, but only because of who and what he was.

“You can, and I’m going to make sure you do.” When Seth looked at him, querying, Adrian laughed softly. “It’s only fair. I’ve spent the last two weeks doing as you say, it’s about time you listened to me and took my advice.”

“And what if it’s you that she wants to be with, after all this?” Seth said, a faraway, thoughtful expression in his eyes.

Adrian smiled to himself but didn’t respond directly, simply shrugging. It was all he needed to know, because that comment had proved that Seth did want her and that deep down he had his own fears, whether he admitted them or not.

They both did.

Fate would decide how this panned out.

Fate, and Lily.

* * * *

Lily sighed and put down the newspaper she’d been reading during her coffee break. For days she’d been scouring the papers for information about court hearings, even though she didn’t quite know what she was looking for. She’d heard the name Carlisle, and drug running had been mentioned, but neither of them had said any more about the court case than that. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know more, especially after her second run in with Emery Lavonne.