Page 57 of Coup De Grâce
“Here. You drink,” Giorgi said, shoving a glass into my hand.
“Oh, no. I can’t?—”
“Drink,” FNG snapped, glaring at me unlike he ever had before. “It’s rude not to accept wine in this house.”
I was about to argue when Thumper surged forward and took his own glass, downing it in just under ten seconds. He leveled his gaze on me, telling me to drink the fucking wine.
So, I did.
Against everything in me, I drank the glass slowly and listened to the chatter around the room. I was itching to get backoutside, to watch for any sign that someone was coming for us. I was in a foreign country. The last fucking thing I needed was to sit by idly while men were hunting me down.
“Giorgi, we need a place to lay low for the night. Can we take that room off the back?”
“Of course. Anything for my friend.”
“But ah…we’re sort of on the run.”
Giorgi laughed, slapping his knee. “My friend, when are you ever not in trouble? Go, I will have food for you in the morning.”
FNG grinned, giving the man a hug one last time. “Thanks, Giorgi. You’re a good man.”
“Yes, yes,” he nodded, shooing us out of the room.
I followed FNG, tired as fuck and desperate for some shut-eye. I prayed we could trust this man, that we hadn’t been led into a trap.
And that we wouldn’t get him killed.
“You can trust him,” FNG said as he led us around the house. “He’s a good man.”
“Even good men can be turned,” I muttered.
“Not Giorgi. He nearly had his home taken away from him. He wouldn’t turn in his friends after they fought back against the government during the Rose Revolution. They threw Giorgi in prison for three years, but he didn’t falter.”
“And that’s what you want for your friend?”
“Of course not,” he said, turning to face me. “And I would never bring you here if I thought we were still being tracked. My point is that you can trust him. No one knows I worked here. I worked under a different name, and when I was traveling, it wasn’t under a US passport. Any documentation they have of me is from a fake name, and frankly, the picture didn’t even match.”
“But you can’t be sure they haven’t been tracking your movements,” I argued.
“I never showed my identification here. I just showed up one day and asked for a job. Giorgi didn’t even pay me. I just wanted a place to stay for a while.”
“And he let you?” I asked skeptically.
“He did. He treated me like family, and when it was my time to leave, we parted as friends. Again, no one ever knew I was here.”
I wasn’t entirely sure I trusted him, but what choice did I have? I was dead on my feet and needed to recharge and come up with a new plan. Hopefully, one that didn’t include fake boobs.
“Fine.”
“We’re staying over here,” he nodded up ahead at an old building. “It’s not much, but it’ll shelter us for the night.”
“Great,” Thumper muttered. “Just like being back in the military. Sleeping on the ground in foreign places.”
“You know you miss it,” I laughed.
“I miss my bed. Fuck, I never should have volunteered for this.”
“I bet a pregnant Bree is looking pretty damn good by comparison.”
