AS THE LIGHT grew dimmer, and Julien’s will faltered, he clung to the words Priest had said to him on their wedding day, believing them with every fiber of his being. He took what he hoped wouldn’t be his last breath and slipped into the darkness that beckoned.
Chapter Twenty-Six
CONFESSION
I will be strong for us.
I will bring him home today for us.
ROBBIE WOKE AS the sun was just beginning to show its face, and as he opened his eyes and stretched his legs, he realized he’d spent the night asleep in Priest’s lap. Shit, Robbie thought. When he angled his head to see if Priest was sleeping, Robbie found him exactly as he had been the night before.
Priest was awake and staring out the window. Robbie pushed himself up, and as Priest turned in his direction, Robbie’s breath caught at Priest’s tear-streaked face.
Priest looked exactly the way Robbie imagined he was feeling, like a man who had entered hell and hadn’t escaped. Robbie let his eyes shift to the phone still sitting on the bedside table, and Priest said, “Nothing’s changed.”
Damn it. Robbie wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but was a little bit of hope too much to ask for? But one look in Priest’s eyes and Robbie had his answer—yes.
Hope was far too much to ask for when it came to Jimmy Donovan. If they were putting all their faith in him, they might as well say goodbye to Julien forever. Luckily, they weren’t, Robbie thought, as Priest swung his legs over the edge of the bed and got to his feet. Robbie was putting his faith in Priest, and if anyone was going to save Julien, it was him.
“You should eat something this morning. It’s going to be a long day,” Priest said.
“You should eat too.”
“No, I—”
“Priest,” Robbie interrupted. “You’re not going to be any good to anyone—least of all Julien—if you don’t have any energy.”
Priest gave a clipped nod, and Robbie got off the bed and came over. When they were practically toe to toe, Robbie put a hand to Priest’s chest and shut his eyes. As the steady beating of his heart thumped against Robbie’s palm, he let the feeling of it course through him.
“This,” Robbie whispered, and then opened his eyes. “This is what’s keeping Julien alive right now. Your heart.” Robbie reached for Priest’s hand and placed it over his. “And mine. He’s counting on that. He’s thinking about that. And you need to believe it and keep this heart of yours strong for him.”
“For us,” Priest said. Robbie swallowed, and Priest reached for the back of his neck and tugged him into an embrace. “I will be strong for us. I will bring him home today for us. But I need you to promise me something.”
Robbie turned his face up. Priest’s strained expression told Robbie that whatever he was about to say was something Robbie wouldn’t want to hear.
“Don’t ever stop thinking of me in a way that makes your eyes this sure.”
Robbie trembled and opened his mouth to speak, and though Priest put a finger to his lips, Robbie still whispered, “Never. Why would I ever—”
“Because Jimmy has a way of making people…do things.”
Robbie shut his eyes and put his cheek by Priest’s. “Whatever you do, I know you’re doing it for Julien. How can you think I would ever love you less for that?”
Priest kissed Robbie’s temple. “Because I know how far I’ll go. You don’t.”
Priest’s words sent a shiver of trepidation through Robbie, but he nodded, understanding what Priest was telling him—he wasn’t coming back today without Julien, no matter what price he had to pay.
* * *
A COUPLE OF hours later, Priest stood inside the elegant lobby of National Bank with Robbie by his side. Neither of them had said a word on their way over. In fact, neither of them had spoken since that last conversation in the hotel before breakfast.
But as they stood there now, Priest took Robbie’s hand, wanting him to know he was with him through this, even if he was finding it difficult to convey that with words. As their fingers touched, connecting them, Robbie looked at Priest and offered a small smile, and Priest wished like hell things were different.
He wished he was a different man, a normal man, anyone but the son of a monster. But if that were the case, he never would’ve met Julien or Robbie. He would’ve lived through the horrors of his childhood a million times over if it always led back to them.
As he and Robbie moved up the line, one of the security guards looked them over, and Priest knew why they’d caught his attention. His suit from the day before was rumpled to shit, his eyes were bloodshot, and wrapped around his knuckles was a piece of bedsheet Robbie had ripped up for him, because he’d refused to stop on the way for a bandage.