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Chapter Twenty
The two American heroes playing the roles of monsters don't say a word as they carry the boy off the stage. As they follow the directions of the hosts to a guest suite. As they lie the boy on the bed without a care for the expensive bedding.
Benny wipes Carter's body down with a warm, wet cloth. Nathan paces around the room. Benny uses a combination of toilet paper and band-aids to dress Carter’s wounds. Nathan throws up in the toilet twice. Benny tries to wake Carter up in the hopes of checking on his mental status. Nathan hovers nearby with his breath held. Benny fails at waking the boy. Nathan kicks a chair over. Benny comments that being a cliche white male isn't going to solve anything. Nathan debates the merits of punching his best friend during a time like this. Benny checks Carter's vitals. Nathan decides Benny can be punched later instead.
Carter's vitals are good, all things considered.
“Okay. I’ll take him home,” Benny says, gesturing towards Carter’s limp body. “You need to get back to the party. You have a man to schmooze."
Nathan sneers at his friend in disgust. "The fuck I do! The night is fucking over."
"No.Carter'snight is over.Mynight is over. I'll take him home and get him settled.Youneed to seal the deal with Vasco."
"Benny, you can't possibly ask me to do that."
"I'm not asking."
The two men glare at each other, but only one is heartbroken and defeated, so the one who has his shit together wins. Nathan looks away.
"Wash up first," Benny advises. "You've got blood on your hand."
Nathan looks down at his hand, startled to find that Benny is right. His skin is streaked with angry crimson. "It's not mine," he says unnecessarily.
“I know.”
“I – I made him bleed.”
“I know, Nate. Don’t think about it. Not right now. Just wash it off and get back to the party.”
“Right.” Nathan stares down at his hands, transfixed by the sight of Carter’s blood slashed across his skin. His hands begin to tremble."I should call Maison."
Before he can comprehend, Benny has Nathan by the arm and is shoving him into the bathroom. He shuts the door before pinning Nathan up against it and growling at him. "Are you a fucking idiot?"
"I-" Nathan stops himself, trying to remember what he even said. Maison. He should call Maison. Heshould. But… he shouldn't have said it in front of the boy.
Maybe it's time Carter knows.
Hell, maybe it's time all of this ends anyway. Nathan will take the hit. He'll happily die for this boy.
"He can't be here any longer, Ben. We can't keep doing this to him."
"There's no other choice!"
"We can let him go! Claim he escaped. Claim he killed himself. I'll go down for it. I don't fucking care."
"Jesus. You've fucking lost it." Benny shoves off of him, shaking his head in frustration. Then he's back against Nathan with a hand around his throat. "There are two ways this ends - that boy safe with Maison once we've finished this mission, or that boy in the hands of someone like Miller or Henley or God forbid the fucking Kensington’s because we failed. That's it. There's no clicking our heels and sending him home. We'rethisclose, Nate. We arethis fucking close."
"Ben…" Nathan meets his friend's gaze, searching for the man he knew before. The man Benny really is beneath this cold persona he’s always managed to maintain so much better than him. "Jake, we have to save him from this."
Benny flinches at the use of his real name. He pushes away again, maintaining his distance this time. He won't meet Nathan’s eyes. "We'll figure something out, okay? We'll figure this out. We'll call Maison. But not right now. Right now, we have to do what's best for Carter and the mission. Right now, we have to stick to the fucking plan. Otherwise we'll wind up dead by morning, and he'll be even worse off. Do you understand?"
When Nathan says nothing, Benny changes tactics. "Did you see what they did to that other boy tonight? Casey?"
Nathan shudders as the memories burst through his mind. Of course he saw it. So did Carter.God, Carter had wanted to take his place.
As if Benny read Nathan's mind, Benny asks, "Do you want Carter to be like that? Do you want him in the hands of someone like that?"
"No."
