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Zander’s jaw ticked but he didn’t speak.
“Tell him,” Vince ordered. “I’m not gonna be the one to do your dirty work.”
As Scotty watched, Zander took a deep breath and let it out. “We will be going our separate ways tomorrow.”
Scotty blinked. What did that— “What does that mean?”
“It’s time to go back to our lives.”
Scotty’s breath hitched.
“We can’t stay here forever.” Zander glanced away, but his gaze came right back to Scotty. “As much as we would like to.”
Vince made a sound, folding his arms and glowering at Zander. Scotty shook his head.
“I don’t—” What the hell happened while he’d been asleep? “I don’t understand.”
“I’m now the head of my uncle’s organization.”
Vince paled. Scotty gaped at Zander.
“What the fuck? That was your plan all along, kill Murray and take over?” Vince unfolded his arms, balling his fists. He was angry, but Scotty mostly saw hurt and heartbreak in his eyes. What was Zander doing?
Why was he doing it?
“That was my plan, yes,” Zander said, answering Vince’s question. “I’m in charge now and I have to go back home to deal with things. I can’t—” For the first time since he’d started speaking, Zander’s face cracked and Scotty saw his pain, the realization that this conversation wasn’t something Zander wanted to be having. “I can’t be connected to you two. It would only put you in danger, and I will never do that.”
Scotty swallowed. “So you’re leaving us?”
Zander crossed the room then, kneeling next to Scotty at the side of the bed, gazing up at him with imploring eyes. “It’s better this way,” he rasped. “Safer, for the both of you.” He glanced at Vince when he said that part.
“No.” Anger had Vince’s voice rising. “It’s safer for you. If you don’t want us, just fucking say that.”
“Goddamn it!” The curse exploded from Zander as he jumped to his feet and got in Vince’s face. “Think for a fucking second.” He poked his own temple. “I will be the one in charge, the man you’ll be coming after. I’m the one all the crooked cops and agents you’re so friendly with will be taking orders from. The minute I return home, we’re enemies. How the fuck is that supposed to work?” he roared. “How do we make it work?”
Vince didn’t speak.
Scotty held his breath, heart thudding.
“Any suggestions?” Zander demanded. “Tell me, because I have none. And I haven’t even fucking told you about the men inside my organization who were loyal to my uncle. They’re waiting for me, waiting to challenge me, to kill me. What would they do if they knew about you and Scotty, Vince?” His words shook as he cupped Vince’s jaw. “What would all the enemies I acquired literally overnight, by virtue of simply ascending the throne, do to you and Scotty to get at me?”
Tears rolled down Scotty’s cheeks and he swore he heard his heart being ripped in two. Because Zander was right. Scotty understood the decision even as everything inside him raged against it. “I will always protect you.” Those were Zander’s words when they were down in the basement with Don before Zander killed him. But now he knew that proclamation was bigger than the moment.
This was what Zander had truly meant. He would protect them by abandoning them. Breaking their hearts to keep them safe. Vince looked as if he was torn between raging at Zander and throwing himself into his arms. He did neither. He just stood there with Zander’s hand on his face, lips trembling. He didn’t refute what Zander just said because Vince was also from that world, so he knew those fears and concerns were valid.
The decision was the right one.
And Scotty hated it.
“What do you want us to do?”
At Scotty’s question, Zander’s body tensed for a beat before he relaxed. He released Vince and turned to Scotty. “Vince will return to his life and you will go back to yours. I?—”
“No,” Vince interjected. “Scotty is coming with me.” His expression was soft and open when he met Scotty’s gaze. “If you want to.”
There was nothing about his old life that made Scotty want to return to it. He couldn’t have the two men he wanted. But he could have one and that was more than he’d ever hoped for. He wanted Vince. If Vince wanted him then… “Yes.” He licked his lips. “I’m coming with you.”
Zander’s calm facade crumbled at those words and he barked a curse as he buried his face in his hands.
