Page 47 of Johann

“A year,” Roman mused. “So you were leaving…”

“In the spring, yes.”

“Would you even have told us?” Danny looked wounded at the thought of it.

“Of course I would have!” Jay protested. “I just wanted to…wait a little bit. To pretend, I suppose.”

Alexei’s hand finally came to life then, his grip tightening in Jay’s, and then he spoke for the first time since they’d all sat down in the living room. “Do you love him?”

His words weren’t directed at Jay but at Wolfe.

Wolfe cocked his head, a strange half smile on his lips. “No. Of course not. It’s a business arrangement.”

Alexei’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t believe you.”

Jay patted Alexei’s knee, placating. “He can’t love me, Alexei.”

Alexei turned to him, his brow furrowed, looking as stern as he ever had before he and Jay had gotten to know each other and his eyes had begun turning soft, just for Jay. “Why not?” Alexei asked harshly. “You’re perfect. Anyone could love you.”

Well, that was…nice. So nice. It made Jay feel all warm and fuzzy inside, as a matter of fact. But still, Alexei was wrong. “Not Wolfe though. He’s a psychopath.”

Soren giggled. “Harsh thing to say about your friend, Jaybird.”

Jay cocked his head, considering. But he didn’t think it was harsh to speak the truth. “Well, he’s my friend, yes. But he’s also a psychopath.”

Wolfe raised a hand, looking almost fond of Jay in that moment. “Guilty as charged, I’m afraid.”

Jay nodded, vindicated. “It’s not his fault though. He was just born that way.”

“Wait.” Danny looked from Jay to Wolfe and back again. “You mean…literally?”

Jay nodded, then turned to Alexei. “So you see, he can’t love me. Not really.”

Soren giggled again. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

“Not that I don’t love this heart-to-heart we’re having,” Wolfe broke in, obviously growing bored with the minor derailment to his purpose. “But the real issue here is you, Johann. Telling me you’ve changed your mind.”

“So?” Soren scoffed. “Good for him. We want him to stay.”

“So I’m afraid it’s unrealistic at this time. I really can’t allow it.”

“How did you even find me?” Jay asked.

“I’m tracking your phone, obviously. Did you think I’d let you flee the country without a way to find you again?”

Jeez, where was the trust? It had Jay feeling petulant again. “I don’twantto go back.” Maybe if he said it enough times, Wolfe would get the picture.

But Wolfe’s sharp eyes zeroed in on Jay and Alexei’s joined hands. “Is that the problem here?” he asked pointedly, baring his teeth. He somehow made it look scary, even without his fangs. “Easy enough to fix.”

Jay’s beastie tensed within him, and he had to stop himself from squeezing Alexei’s hand hard enough to break bones. “Don’t threaten him, Wolfgang.”

“A single human in between me and what I want,” Wolfe mused, uncrossing his legs and leaning forward in his chair. “What else am I supposed to do, Johann?”

Jay took in a shaky breath, mustering his courage. “If you try to hurt him, you’ll have to go through me. And—well, you probably could,” he conceded. “I don’t know much about fighting. But then I’d be dead and you’d be out of luck anyway. So just…don’t.”

Jay didn’t actually know for sure that was true. There was definitely a possibility Wolfe had made some moves behind the scenes already, in case of Jay’s death. But it wasn’t very likely he’d managed to arrange to geteverything, not when Jay’s finances were so complicated, so Jay could only bet on the fact that Wolfe needed Jay alive and relatively well to achieve his aims.

The smirk on Wolfe’s lips was anything but kind. “Johann, darling. Have you grown a spine since we last met?”

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