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surprised when Rhys reached over his shoulder and touched the back of his hand. “Then, one night, I couldn’t bear it anymore and I did…whatever it took to make Rhys feel better.” He inwardly groaned. That was pathetic. He cleared his throat. “I…” He didn’t know how to go on.
    “We talked of you,” Rhys said, shocking Jeremy with his straightforward revelation. “Jeremy told me about your…intimacies.” He’d been the one who hadn’t wanted to tell her, who wanted to leave Jeremy and Cordy and go away so he wouldn’t come between them. Was he beginning to realize he couldn’t come between them? That he’d always been a part of them? “I begged him to, you see. Because I was still in love with you. And he gave in.”
    “I didn’t give in,” Jeremy protested. “I told him because I love him,” he found the courage to say. “I couldn’t bear to see him hurting, physically or emotionally. His heartbreak over you was more than I could bear. By sharing every detail of our life together, I helped him make it through the very long nights.”
    Cordy didn’t say anything for the longest time. Her hand was still on Rhys’ shoulder, but it was still, her fingertips white from the pressure of her tight hold. “I don’t blame you,” she finally whispered. “I would have done anything, too, to make Rhys feel better.”
    “It became more than that,” Rhys confessed in a rough whisper. Jeremy waited but Rhys said no more.
    “Cordy,” Jeremy said slowly, “the thought of being able to have you was all that got him through.”
    “Have me?” she asked in a whisper, still not looking at either of them.
    “We made plans,” he told her. “Plans that included you. Plans for the three of us. Together.” Cordy’s only reaction was a broken, breathy gasp.
    “The Bey soon realized how incredibly close Rhys and I were. It’s hard to keep something like that a secret when you’re a prisoner.” Jeremy scooped up a small amount of salve from the jar and applied it to Rhys’ back. His hands were shaking at the memory. “Other men were far more intimate, actually,” he added, wanting to get both Cordy and Rhys thinking about what that meant. “It was a nightmarish place and fear and loneliness can drive a man to find solace among the most unlikely places. When he found out, his punishments and tortures increased, and the more I protested, the more he had Rhys beaten. He knew my weakness. Whenever I got out of line, Rhys was dragged out and whipped in front of my prison window.”
    “Oh God,” Cordy whispered. She covered her mouth with her hand and closed her eyes tightly. After a moment her hand began to smooth over Rhys’ arm again, and Jeremy saw it tremble. “You said you loved him. How does Rhys feel?” she asked in a shaky voice. She pulled her head up and faced them, looking at Jeremy and then Rhys, who had his eyes open now.
    “I’ve always loved him,” Rhys said quietly. “Perhaps not the way I do now. But things changed in Algiers. I don’t know how to explain it. He’s closer than a brother to me. I can’t live without him.”
    “I see.” Cordy licked her lips. “Jeremy?”
    “I love him,” Jeremy said with quiet dignity. “I can’t give him up.”
    Rhys tried to pull away from them both then, Jeremy’s words perhaps finally getting through to him. Jeremy pushed on his shoulder to keep him down. “I won’t come between you. I’ll leave, if that’s what you want.”
    “Where do I fit in?” Cordy asked, far more timid than he’d ever seen her. She was a little ball of insecurity, curled up in front of Rhys, her fingers barely touching his chest. Jeremy saw Rhys reach for her hand and kiss her palm.
    “I have loved you for a very long time,” he said quietly.
    “Then why did you walk away from me? Why did you give Jeremy the field?” she asked in confusion.
    “Because he was the better man for you,” Rhys said simply. “He had a very promising career, a