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He met my eyes, held my gaze, and I saw the words that he didn’t speak. The ones that told me to remember who I was, to remember what was at stake.
After a long moment, I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Good. Because you need to keep it together. It’s the only way you’re going to get them back, Davit,” he said.
“I know,” I responded, trying to balance myself.
“This is exactly what I wanted to avoid,” he muttered.
“What the fuck does that mean?” I growled.
Were he anyone else, Elias would have had the good sense to be afraid, or at least pretend to be.
But he wasn’t anyone else, so he simply shrugged me off. “I told you they would be more trouble than they’re worth.”
“Did you just fucking say that?” I yelled, leaning forward.
“I did,” Elias said, turning to face me.
“Why?”
“Actually, I have that question for you. You’re about to lose your shit. Every resource at this family’s disposal is being taxed. Are they worth that?”
I didn’t respond, not at first, too busy trying to understand the root of that question.
It wasn’t like Elias.
He did what needed to be done, ran the family, but never bothered with emotion. But something about this question felt different.
And after I got past the offense, which I did surprisingly quickly, I wondered what that was.
“Why are you asking me that?” I said.
“Curiosity,” came his response.
It was bullshit, and I knew that. I also knew that he wouldn’t give me a real answer.
“Yes,” I said. “They are worth it. They’re worth everything.”
“Why?” he said.
“Because,” I responded without hesitation. “They make everything else mean something. I can’t explain it to you, not until you experience it yourself, but it wasn’t until Amethyst, and then Crystal, came into my life that I understood how meaningful it was.”
“Still seems like a fucking headache,” Elias said with a shrug.
I couldn’t help myself. I laughed.
“It can be. I won’t deny that. But in the end, they give me more than I ever give them. And I can’t—wouldn’t—live my life without them,” I said.
It was Elias’s turn to be quiet, and he leaned back against the seat, letting the remainder of the car ride pass in silence.
It occurred to me that Elias might not understand the emotion behind it, but even still, he was doing everything he could to make sure I got them back.
That meant something too.
“I’ll let you know what he says,” Elias said when the car came to a stop.
“Watch yourself,” I responded, still hating the fuck out of this arrangement but knowing it was the only way.
