Page 37 of Prodigal

He had been, but André didn’t respond to that comment. Instead, he firmed his jaw. “Tell me what happened and then I’ll leave you alone.”

Gideon lifted a brow. “Why do you want to know?”

That question fell between them, bloated with more than just the single question Gideon voiced. “I just—” André shrugged. “I just want to be here for you.” As much as he berated himself for feeling the way he did for Gideon, for wanting him, he did.

Gideon stared at him.

“Please?”

“There’s nothing you can do.” Gideon turned away and resumed walking. “But I appreciate the sentiment.”

“So you’re just gonna walk away?” André didn’t put any effort into hiding the hurt in his voice, and Gideon stopped abruptly, spinning around to face him, eyes flashing.

“Why should I share any more than I have to with you?” he asked as he closed the distance between them. “You’ve made it clear you want away from me.”

André blinked up into his eyes.

“What you’re asking from me is unfair and you know it.”

What the fuck? “Don’t act as if you don’t know where my responses stem from,” André responded. “But if?—”

“G.” Samir’s call, and footsteps, came from the opposite direction, and André turned toward it, falling back a step when Samir came into view.

The entire front of his white shirt was covered in a dried brownish-red substance.

“What the fuck?” The question squeezed past André’s tight throat and came out soft and trembling. “Is that blood?” And was he also wearing the clothes he had on when they left yesterday?

Samir didn’t even look at him. “The doc is finished,” he murmured to Gideon. “He wants to see you.”

The two of them began walking away, moving at a breakneck pace. André hurried after them.

“G.” Samir nudged Gideon with an elbow as they stopped in front of a door.

“I know,” Gideon murmured. Then he glanced over his shoulder as the door opened on its own to reveal…an elevator. “Come on.”

What the fuck? The penthouse already had an elevator. André had used it last night to get to the roof. But there was also a secret elevator? André gaped as the two men got on and waited for him to do the same. He stepped inside the space that was large enough to resemble a freight elevator. “This is— You have?—”

“Yep.” Samir was the one to speak, but André just stared at Gideon, who wasn’t looking at him. “Where you’re about to go, and what you’re about to see, is not to be shared. Not withanyone,” Samir stressed. “Not even your sister.” He paused, and when André didn’t speak, he asked, “You got me?”

“Yeah. Yeah.” André bobbed his head in a nod. “I got you.” Where the hell was he about to go? What was he about to see? And why wasn’t Gideon looking at him or speaking? He just stood there in silence, facing the elevator doors.

André pressed his lips together. He’d wanted to know what was going on; this was his chance. The elevator stopped after a few minutes, and the doors opened into what looked like a completely different place. At first glance, it didn’t appear as if they were still in Gideon’s penthouse.

André’s brow furrowed as Gideon stepped out first. When André went to exit, Samir extended an arm out against André’s chest, blocking him from moving.

“He might trust you,” he told André grimly, “but the jury’s still out for me.”

André swallowed around the dryness in his throat and kept his gaze averted from the blood on Samir’s clothes. “I won’t betray him.” Fear had his voice weak and thready. He didn’t doubt Samir could do unspeakable violence to him if André got on his bad side.

Samir grunted. “We’ll see.” He dropped his hand, motioning for André to get out.

He couldn’t leave that elevator fast enough. He breathed deeply and glanced around. They were in a hallway, with several closed doors, and Gideon was nowhere to be seen.

“To your left,” Samir instructed.

André hung back, allowing him to take the lead but following closely. What was that warning about? Apprehension slithered down his spine as he followed Samir. Had he made a mistake following them? Where were they taking him? Fuck, what if this whole thing was a mistake and he was only realizing it now when it was already too late? Goddamn it, when it came to Gideon Winters, André just couldn’t make smart decisions.

Samir’s strides slowed, and André did the same as they turned another corner. Masked men in balaclavas, carrying huge guns, lined the length of the carpeted hallway. He counted ten before they arrived at the only door, the one that was being guarded.

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