'I see why you're so invested. If I had someone like her going out and getting me coffee, I'd leave it all behind, too.'

'Shut up, Donnie.'

Joost didn't turn to the man whose head was out the window. She hurried to the nearest cafe and disappeared around a corner. His morning cigarette having been finished minutes prior, Donnie pulled himself back into the apartment and shut the window.

When Joost woke up this morning, it didn't take long to remember what had happened. The bandages around his shoulder and middle retrained his movements but the aches were still there. He groaned as he sat up, leaning back against a pillow to see his bedroom door sitting open. With his good arm, he reached for his glasses beside him and was soon able to see part of his living room.

Joost wasn't happy to see Donnie limp into sight with Elke in tow. But he had no choice but to accept the man's help in heaving him out of bed. Donnie's bad leg made it so that Elke took his place, something Joost was thankful for. Her small hands steadied and lowered him onto the sofa, where he had remained with his head laying back.

'I'll leave you guys to talk,' Elke had said, her gaze lingering on Joost for longer. 'Do you need me to get you anything?'

'No, thank you. Be careful.'

His eyes followed her to the door. When she was gone, Joost stared at the wall as a place holder. It hurt to move and Joost couldn't bare to even turn to see Donnie at his window. He knew the conversation that was coming as well as the one he would be having with Elke later. If it were up to him, Joost would have sent Donnie out to get the coffee, leaving time for Elke to obsorb everything. But it was out of his control and Joost had no choice but to lie back against the cushions in discomfort.

Donnie threw himself down beside Joost without a care. The blonde clenched his teeth as the cushion's sink from the weight stretched his side's wound. With his leg outstretched and with an arm along the back of the sofa, Donnie faced Joost with an air of what was to come.

'So,' he started. 'You want to tell me exactly what you were thinking last night?'

Joost let his head roll in it's place against the back cushion. He eyed Donnie, the man who had botched the whole operation. He didn't blame him for what he did because Joost had, indeed, changed his mind.

When he saw the way Nathan acted with those two men, Joost had answered the long-running question. He knew that he was going back on his word to Donnie, but in the moment, Joost was so focused on his revelation that he didn't care.

'I know why Acid's here. I know why he's been using amateurs and botching our deals,' Joost said and Donnie's eyebrows rose.

'You figured it out just from last night?'

'You heard that none of Acid's men have been seen anywhere in Europe, right? You found out that he was alone here?'

'Right-'

'And that the informat from the meet said about guns?'

Donnie nodded along to Joost's questions.

'He's working for someone. I think someone's killed off all his men and is using him. Why else would he risk being here? Why would he use all these people with no experience or criminal records? He was meddling with our deals to keep us busy because he has no one else to cover for him.'

'But who? Who would be able to do that to him? Acid's crazy.'

'I don't know, but whoever it is, those two guys with him last night were working for them. Acid was being watched. They were there to make sure he got the money. And if it is for guns, then we've got an even bigger problem on our hands. If the feds find out we're linked to it, if you're linked to it, then Acid's going to do what he does best and make sure we go down for it.'

Sitting back, Donnie took in Joost's words. It made sense. All of the informats Donnie had met with had said the same thing; Nathan was in The Netherlands alone and no one knew why. If someone was behind the scenes directing him, or threatening him, then it made sense why the Belgian would put himself in so much danger. It could be because he had no choice.

'But the money,' Donnie brought up. 'If it is for guns, then why Elke? Why did Acid choose to use her as a drop-off?'

'Maybe it's all he had to work with. When that fucker, Roan, got involved, Acid had to use whatever he could. All the hiding places and safe spots are our hiding places and safe spots. We would have found it. But Acid saw Elke, heard from Roan that she moved into the city, was naive to the whole thing, and took his chances.'

'Must have been a big fucking shock when he saw you lived next door.'

'That's why he sent the goons around to steal the money back. Now that he's failed, whoever he's working for is here with his own men.'

Although Joost had been unconscious for the night, he had been able to gather his thoughts well. Just from Nathan's behaviour last night, Joost had come to the only conclusion that felt right. Everything from the past few months had been peculiar and out of Nathan's character.
They had known him before he sold Donnie out and even then, he was the more unhinged of the three.

Donnie was the brash, rough one who hated beating around the bush. Joost was the reserved, logical one who was a believer of waiting for the right time to strike. And then there was Nathan, who was sneaky and sly, his habit of double-handling getting them into tricky situations. After a few mishaps, Nathan adopted some of Joost's forward-thinking and made the three of them the powerhouse of Europe's western coast. With Nathan's Belgian contacts and Joost and Donnie's Dutch clients, they were unstoppable.

But it proved to be a dangerous recipe as Nathan then used these traits to sell Donnie out.

'So, what was your plan?' Donnie asked, bringing the conversation back to the original subject. 'You were going to let him take the money and then find out who he's working for by...?'

Joost's silence made Donnie groan. Joost hadn't thought of after Nathan took the money. He only knew that he needed to keep him alive to find out who it was that was puppeteering him. They couldn't lose their only lead. If guns were on the table, then they needed an intervention. Dutch authorities wouldn't care to hear that the commodity was making its way through the country. Now it was a game of not just protecting Elke, but protecting themselves from being framed.

'I'm sorry, Donnie, but if you killed him, we would have had nothing,' Joost said in honesty. That was the difference between the two men. Donnie never apologised and when Joost did, he was always sincere about it.

The most Joost got was a sigh, shifting the icy edge of Donnie's stare. The brunette winced as he adjusted his leg and glanced towards the door where Elke would soon be returning through.

'I guess I can't be mad about that. I did get you shot, so...'

'Are you sticking around? Are you still going to help?'

'I still want him dead, Joost. When you've found out who he's working for, not even you will stop me from killing him,' Donnie pointed a finger at the man next to him. 'And besides, I'll admit that I don't want to see Elke dead at the end of it all. She's sweet.'

Joost swallowed at the thought and tried to focus on the words that surprised him. Donnie stood from the sofa and limped out of the living room. Joost watched him go, wondering if the bullet had altered Donnie's brain chemistry. He had never used such a compliment before, especially when it was about a woman. Something crude and masochistic was more his style and usually referred to a woman's body. But sweet? That was new for Donnie.

Before he reached the door, Donnie stopped as it opened on its own. Elke stepped through with coffees in hand and a smile graced her lips at Donnie's appearance.

'Hey, Donnie,' she greeted and handed him his drink.

'Hey, Elke. Thank you. See you later.'

He limped by her with a friendliness Joost was baffled at. Donnie talked to Elke like she was his mother or sister. Never had Joost seen the man be so friendly to a woman.

As the door closed, Elke stood with two coffees left in the cardboard holder. Her smile faltered at the sight of his bandages over his bare torso.

It hurt to see Joost in this state. From what Donnie had told her, he hadn't been shot by his own doing. Elke hated to think how much pain he had been in and how agonising it was to dig out the bullets. The spots of blood that seeped through did nothing for her concern and she tried to recall the First-Aid training from her teenage years. However, Elke didn't know how she would fair in the face of what lay underneath Joost's bandages.

Elke increased her speed into the apartment when she saw Joost move to stand. She put down the coffees on the counter and tried to get to him before he groaned.

'I'm okay, liefje. I can stand,' Joost reassured in a sigh. Standing up right, the strain on his muscles eased and relief soothed his pain. He looked down at Elke who had stopped in front of him. Her act to help was seen in her outstretched hands that coasted his sides. It made him feel even worse knowing that after all he had put her through, Elke was still concerned and willing to help.

'Do they need changing?' she asked, eyeing the bloodied material.

'Yeah, but not right now. I have a lot to explain,'
Joost said. Elke looked up and met his eye, her concern still evident but overshadowed with anxiety. She wasn't prepared for what she was about to hear but she would listen anyway.

Joost reached his good arm up to rest on her shoulder. If he could manage to cup her cheek, he would. Instead, Joost pushed the hair that sat in front of her chest and stroked his thumb over her collarbone. It was loving and preemptive of being the last time he would be able to feel the smooth ridges of her skin.

Elke had every right to abandon their relationship after today. He lied to her, put her in danger and put her through so much stress and agony. She didn't deserve any of it and Joost had been selfish to keep it from her. She could have avoided it all if he had just warned her of what Roan was involved in. She could have stepped away then and have been safe.

Savouring how Elke stood in front of him, her brown eyes large, Joost was convinced that his wounds would feel like nothing if she left him. But with a stroke of luck, maybe Elke would stay.