Page 91 of A Dangerous Game

“Right. See you soon.”

Every cell in his body begs him to reach out and take Carter into his arms, but he knows that’s not allowed. Whatever they had when they watched the fireworks is long over. Touching Carter is off-limits again. He learned that the hard way when he brushed his hair off his forehead while they were lying in bed together that night and Carter flinched away and turned his back to him.

“Ready?” Benny asks, taking two of the garment bags from him.

Nathan forces a smile. “As I’ll ever be.”

“Wait!”

Nathan pauses, hand on the door. He turns to find Carter standing in the opening of his closet, Casey hovering behind him. His heart lurches. “What’s wrong?”

“Just- you have to be safe. Okay?” The boy’s eyes are impossibly blue as he looks at Nathan in desperation. “You have to come back.”

“The operation will be fine, Carter. You and Casey are going to be fine. If things go wrong, Maison will take care of everything. He has everything he needs. It’ll be okay.”

“That’s not – I’m not worried about that. I know that. It’s just-” Carter looks over his shoulder at Casey before sighing. Then he’s launching forward, wrapping his arms around Nathan so hard Nathan drops his suitcase. He doesn’t question the moment, just hugs him back. Hard. For as long as Carter lets him.

When Carter finally pulls away, it’s only far enough to grab Nathan’s face in his hands. His pretty blue eyes are full of tears as he smiles up at him. “Don’t forget your promise, okay? I don’t care how dangerous this thing you’re about to do is. I don’t care if we’d be alright without you. I don’t care that Maison will save the others himself if needed. Youhave tocome back. You promised.”

Nathan lifts a hand and touches it to Carter’s cheek, his thumb settling at the corner of Carter’s smiling lips. “I promised.”

Carter closes his eyes, a tear escaping from his right one. Then he nods, takes a shaky breath, and looks at him again. His voice wobbles when he jokes, “And bring us some stupid souvenirs or something cheesy like that. It’s the least you can do.”

Nathan chuckles.God, he’s so in love with this boy.“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Okay.” Carter turns his head just enough to press a kiss to the pad of Nathan’s thumb. Then he drops his hands and takes a step back. “Okay. Go save the world now.”

“No pressure?”

“Total pressure.” Carter grins. “You can handle it. I have faith in you.”

Nathan has never felt prouder to be believed in.

It’s as fucking hot and humid as Satan’s asshole when they land an hour away from Miller’s homebase. Nathan is beyond thankful that he doesn’t actually have to work out of this region in the future. He makes a mental note that if there are any loose ends from this area to not be the one that volunteers to track them down when this is all over.

A series of black SUVs with tinted windows are waiting for them on the tarmac. Nathan climbs into the third one with Benny and Mica. The rest of the team spreads out.

“I owe you all of the money and whores for taking this position, Mica,” Nathan says with a pat to Mica’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t be caught dead living in a place like this. Fucking hell.”

“Air conditioning, boss.” Mica taps the vents that are currently blowing warm air, but will be blowing cold soon enough. “I grew up in the Bayou. All I need is air conditioning. But the whores and the money will be nice too. I won’t say no to that.”

“When things are settled, I’ll bring you to an auction. We’ll get you your own personal slave on top of the house whores I let you pick out.”

Mica whips around, staring at him with wide eyes. “What?”

“I thought you knew?” Nathan grins. “All of my regional operators get their own slaves. You’re one notch below Benny in my eyes now, Mica. And the only reason I waited so long to approve a slave for Benny is because he lives in the house.”

“Oh man.” Mica settles back in his seat, rubbing his hands together. “Oh man. This is going to be fuckinggreat.”

“Same rules apply though. I’m only paying for one. If you kill the first, you’re funding the rest.”

He pouts, but only for a moment. “Good thing I just got a big promotion that comes with a raise, hey?”

Nathan is going to request that he gets to kill Mica himself. “Good thing.”

The air finally turns cool. Benny puts the radio on low, just enough to keep Mica from saying anything else that will piss them off, but not so loud that Nathan can’t concentrate. Nathan settles back with a long-suffering sigh and pulls out his phone while he waits for the air to cool, ready to send Carter an update. He has a text from Vasco saying all is a go and he has everything handled.

He fucking better.

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