Page 52 of Exposing Adonis

“Obviously,” Lea quietly mocked. My little proletariat.

Her admiration for Alex had diminished since we returned. That was fine by me. I’d rather her admiration be pointed in a singular direction. I didn’t even like it when she joked about poisoning Alastair and Geordie again. Her smiles, as rare as they might be, were mine. Just like the rest of her.

It took a day to figure out transportation. I could walk, but Leo was still wheelchair-bound, his leg barely holding his weight.

He refused help getting from the wheelchair into the SUV. He grunted, using his arms to push off the wheelchair, and then he hopped, his leg dragging the short distance until he could grab onto the car door to drag himself into the seat.

Lea followed close behind him, her hands out, ready to catch him.

“I should fix your hair,” Lea said, “when we get to the house.”

“No, I mean …” Leo ran his hand through his black hair. “I think I’ll keep it dark.”

Lea narrowed her eyes. “Oh?”

“Yeah,” he said, pushing the hair that fell over his brow to one side. “I kinda like it.”

She crossed her arms. The arctic feel that fell between them could have frozen me in place. I sat beside Lea, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, trying to warm the frigidity coming from her expression.

Chapter 24

Lea

SeeingthehillAlexlived on still took my breath away. The villa, the marble, the endless grass in every direction, kept alive by numerous sprinklers that set to their tasks at sunset. How does one man own such a large property in a country where poverty existed?

I looked out at the horizon, to the other residents that were miles away at the bottom of the hill, clustered together near the little winding street. Everyone else had gone into the house, but I wanted to just look at my surroundings with fresh eyes. With the information that Brett had armed me with.

Alex stayed down with me, his hands behind him, quietly observing as I looked around. He was the patient host, making sure one of his flock didn’t get lost. A few steps behind him was Jason, looming like a mountain. Silent, and strange.

“Why do you choose to live in Turkey?” I asked Alex. I was prying for information, searching for any sign of inconsistency. Or maybe Brett was completely wrong, and Alex could tell me that.

He played with his buttons, straightening them so that the threads faced the same direction. He looked up at me so quickly that his hair fell out of place, and he had to put his bangs back at his preferred angle before he answered.

“Well,” he shrugged, a small smile on his lips. “I like being at the mouth of both Europe and Asia. And I was a helicopter ride from the Baas Medical Camp at all times. That has been my real focus for years now.”

I tilted my head, and with a level oftradecraftthat would have made Callum proud, I asked, “Because you really just want to stop suffering?”

He smiled sagely, “Yes. I think they are one of the most vulnerable populations in the world, and no one was paying attention to them. It has been a cause very close to my heart.”

He put his hand over his heart, and bowed a little.

His eyes were so earnest, and he didn’tlooklike a person who would do that. But, then again, if we could tell criminals by their looks alone, then a lot of prominent genocidal maniacs would never have led nations. But was he that kind of person?

“Thank you for letting us stay here,” I said, when the silence between us started to feel sticky. “I know you don’t know me very well, and you had no idea who I was until I arrived. Your hospitality has been very much appreciated.”

He gave me a lopsided, Harrison Ford-like grin, and nodded. Together, we strode up the large steps to his mansion.

“Do you ever plan to go back to Europe? Or Switzerland?” Another ditch effort to figure out who, or what, he was.

He scoffed, then stopped himself with a fist to his mouth. He resumed his demeanor of serenity as he looked past me at the setting sun.

“I think my memories of Switzerland aren’t as fond as Callum’s.” His eyes darkened. Was that anger I saw? “The cold reception I get from Geordie is similar to my general treatment while I was at St. Michaels. It holds no real affection from me.”

Fluffy bunnythis man. Do it.Fluffyhim into revealing all his secrets.

“Oh? I thought that you’d have fit in so well. Look at this place!” I made a sweeping gesture at our magnificent surroundings. “You’re also the most famous guy in the world that’s not in movies.”

Yeah. I sounded like a groupie. That was perfect. Right?

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