章 23: Chapter 23

Cal let go of his hand and pulled him close.Derek realized the tears on his own cheeks only when he put his face on Cal’s shoulder and Cal’s T-shirt got wet.

“So you went with them,”Kit murmured,reaching for Derek’s hand over his dad’s lap.

“Yeah.You know how they operate.Private jets and covers ops and all that stuff.I checked a few years ago,I was pronounced dead a decade after I went missing.My parents…they divorced soon after.My dad passed away a year later,and my mom remarried.I don’t….”

“You lost everything,because of the secrecy,”Cal murmured into Derek’s hair.“I’m so sorry it happened to you.”

“Me too,”Kit said,squeezing Derek’s fingers.

“I got kicked out of my home for being gay when I was fifteen.Someone my parents knew had connections with the Council,and as soon as I hit the streets,I was scooped up again,”Cal spoke in a quiet voice.

“In Scotland?”

“Yeah.It wasn’t quite such a journey for me to Italy,although I wasn’t in Council’s city until much later.”