Lachlan will do everything he can to prove Sorrenko wrong.
No longer cold from the lake, Lachlan’s wrist stings when it brushes over the fabric of Jules’ shirt and he winces.
‘What?’Jules pulls off.‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing.’
Jules, of course, cannot be fooled.
He zeroes in almost instantly on Lachlan’s wrist, mouth falling open.
‘Oh my God.’
‘Notthat,’ Lachlan says quickly.‘It wasn’t that.I swear.I just… it’s…’
Thickly, Jules says, ‘I can see what it is.’He shakes his head, wipes his eyes.‘I need you to tell me what happened during the three days we were apart.’
‘I was held while they tried to—’
‘No, not theblurb.Everything.’
Lachlan wants to squirm at the idea of Jules feeling sympathy for him when people suffered so much worse, when Romandied, when Savannah was hospitalised… it’s unbearable to him.
‘It was pretty standard.’
‘Tell me.’
‘It was…’Why can’t he say it?‘They had us tied up.’
‘Did they hurt you?’
‘Yeah, but not too bad.’
‘What’snot too bad,Bodyguard?’
‘Just beating, cutting, burning.’He shrugs.‘Waterboarding.’
‘And if someone did that to me?’Jules asks.‘Would you say it’snot too bad?’
Lachlan scowls.‘It’s different.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I was trained for it.’
‘Why?’
‘Why… what?’
‘Why were you trained for it?Is that normal for soldiers?’
‘Deniable assets are trained for capture-risk environments.’
Jules starts opening his shirt, looks up for permission.Lachlan nods, then sighs shakily as the taller boy’s warm chest presses bare against his own.He loves being touched, yet it always threatens to break him apart.
‘So you were a deniable asset?’
‘Jules.’
