I stop pacing and turn to face him.
"But I need to know what happened to her."
Victor's expression hardens, just slightly.
"You don't need shit. What you need is here, in that room. That's all you need."
My jaw clenches. I want to argue with him, but the words stick in my throat.
"So what am I supposed to do? Huh?"
Victor leans forward and smiles.
"The same stuff you always did for her. The stuff we always teased you about since we were kids."
"What the hell does that mean?" I ask.
"You know what I'm talking about. You were the one who'd sneak into her apartment with flowers you stole from the neighbor's little garden. You made her laugh when she was sad. You stayed up all night just to talk to her. You made her breakfast a nauseating amount of times. Do that. Be that guy."
The frustration bubbles up. I turn away from him, looking down at her door.
"It's a lot. You got the girl back you thought was dead. Take it slow for both your sakes. We don't need to do this or that right now. Just focus on her."
I let out a bitter laugh and glance back at him.
"So diplomatic of you."
Victor's lips curve into a small smile.
"Well, there’s one thing I've learned. You help others get what they want or need first, and they'll give you whatever you want or need later. So," he says and stands, "forget about your needs. Help her first."
I shake my head, exhaling slowly.
"Jesus, brother, you've got my vote already."
Victor laughs and adjusts his cuffs.
"There's something else I want to tell you. Something I've been thinking about," he says.
"What is it?"
"Since you arrived here, I feel like I've been telling you what to do, what you should do anyhow. And here, telling you how it was going to go, what you should act like," he says and stops.
A reluctant smile pulls at my mouth. "Yeah. Fucking annoying as always."
"Well, the truth is, what you two have, not everyone gets, you know. And I felt I had to do everything in my power to get her back for you. I crossed the line by being forcibly overbearing a bit, like Dad. And that's not how we are."
"I don't think you meant anything by it."
"Well, if you wouldn't have gone against what I told you, and wandered through that place, you may not have ever gotten her back or saved all those women. So I'm glad you didn't listen to me or take my advice. Sometimes I forget you're not an eighteen-year-old hothead. So I'm..."
"Don't fucking say it," I interrupt him.
"You did what you thought was best to get her back, as did I, and here we are," I say, motioning toward her door.
He nods and repeats what I said. "Here we are."
"And enough of this emotional shit," I say, laughing.