Chapter Two
The Estate
The U.K.
Same Time
Monday Mid-Morning
Truth be told, this had been exactly what Poe needed to feel human again. They saddled up Honey, and Gamble had opted to ride his beast bareback. That in itself was an adventure since Diablo had a mind of his own.
Honestly, Gamble should be fine since he was the only one Diablo would let ride him.
Together, they headed out.
It was nice to ride through the trees, and head down toward the river to enjoy the fall weather. Most of the time, it rained, but not today.
It was calm.
The little jaunt gave Poe some time to decompress. It was going to be a wild week for him. Later today, he had to go make burial arrangements, and have his family’s graves handled.
They were going to be buried with the rest of the ancestors, and beside Hemmingway.
Then, tomorrow the tea to memorialize his parents would be held for family and friends. On top of that, the other nobility would want to celebrate the Duke of Gordon changing hands.
To him.
It was a big deal to the people in that circle, and he would do anything to avoid it like the plague—including contracting the actual plague.
At least Gamble would be by his side, so that made this a coming out kind of a deal too.
Now, that, he could get behind.
His mother and father’s will said that they were to be memorialized, and that was what he would give them so that he could carry on their legacy.
He was the last Duke of Gordon, since he had no children, and there would be no more Sevilles born.
Their legacy ended with him because there was no freaking way he was knocking up a woman to get an heir.
PASS.
That shit wasn’t happening.
As they rode through the estate, it was quiet.
Honey and Diablo rode side-by-side, and the demon stallion was behaving.
For the time being.
“Where are we riding to?” Gamble asked, checking out the whole area. What he wasn’t telling Poe was that he was on duty.
Part of coming here was to protect him, and to find his man, but he was also still looking for that crypto key to help The Hunters.
He had allegiance to both sides.
They needed it because everyone knew that Von Donore wouldn’t stop until someone had it.
Mainly, him.
Poe looked around.
It had been a while, but he knew this path well.
“We’re going to the cemetery,” he admitted. “My ancestors are buried there. The graves go back to seventeen seventy, when the Duke of Gordon buried some of his family. You know how those times were. Very germy.”
He laughed.
“The infrequent showers weren’t helpful,” he said. “Handwashing is your friend and that’s half of the battle.”
On that, they agreed.
Poe couldn’t imagine showering once a month. That was gross.
The man smells alone…
Pass.
As they moved closer to the cemetery, Diablo got antsy, and Gamble had to hold onto his mane to make sure he didn’t fall off.
It was like he knew the area.
It was clear that he was feeling all of the same things that Poe was feeling about losing Hemmingway.
When he let go of Poe’s hand, so he didn’t drag him off of Honey, Diablo went charging toward something and his rider was at his mercy.
Gamble stayed low, tightened his thighs around the horse’s sides, and let him lead.
Not far away, Poe chased on Honey since he was worried the horse might buck Gamble off of him. With the menace, one never knew.
When he came to the gates of the family cemetery, Diablo came to a stop.
It was clear the horse wanted to be there.
“What’s up, Diablo? Do you need to go inside the cemetery?” he asked.
The horse stood there, refusing to budge, and as Poe arrived beside him, he was confused.
“What happened?” he asked. “He took off way too fast.”
Gamble suspected one thing, and one thing only. People mourned, but so did animals too.
“Diablo wanted to be here.”
Getting off of his back, Gamble walked toward the gates of the cemetery, and moved out of Diablo’s way. Immediately, the big horse walked through the family memorial, toward the grave that had been most recently put in three years ago.
At it, he laid down.
When Gamble reached him, the horse was practically on top of Hemmingway’s grave. His nose was on the marker like he could smell him.
Poe approached, leaving Honey outside the gate to the old cemetery.
“Is he okay?” Poe asked. When a horse laid down, it was rarely a good thing. In this case, seeing Diablo down was alarming.
Gamble glanced over.
“I think he’s saying goodbye to someone he loved,” he admitted, understanding grief.
He’d gone to his child’s grave and laid on it much like this before The Hunters brought him back to save him.
“He misses Hemmingway.”
Poe sat beside the horse, and put his hand by his nose to comfort him. When Hemmingway died, it took time to get his remains returned from war. When they got him back, they immediately buried him.
No one opened the casket.
No one said goodbye the proper way that was needed to heal, and that meant the animals didn’t grieve either. Diablo never got to say goodbye.
“I miss him too, Diablo. I miss him every day of my life, so I know how you feel. Sometimes, I forget that I’ll never see him again. There are times I walk past a mirror, and I don’t see me. I see him. I used to just know when he was going to call me. Now, I never get that feeling anymore.”
Gamble let them have their moment.
They both needed it.
The tombstone was still white while all the others had a green patina from age. Mother Nature had not aged it in the three years.
Well, not that much.
The big horse rolled over the flowers that had been planted there likely by Poe’s parents.
In the upper part of the marble cross hung the one thing that Gamble understood.
The Victoria Cross, the highest military honor in the UK, was there as a reminder of Hemmingway being a war hero.
Oh, and they didn’t know the half of it.
It had been set into the marble to show all who came here that Hemmingway wasn’t just a soldier.
He was an exemplary hero.
Diablo laid there, chuffing and snorting, and it sounded like mourning to the two men.
Gamble sat beside him, and ran his hands over his horse.
“I’m sorry you didn’t get to say goodbye, Diablo. You too, Poe. I wish I could give you that,” he admitted.
Poe was honest.
“We’re getting to say goodbye now,” he offered. “I wouldn’t have wanted to see him, Gamble, Mate. He wouldn’t have looked like himself.”
No, he wouldn’t have.
“It was better this way,” Poe added. “We got to say goodbye now.”
Wasn’t that the truth?
“That’s all that matters. Hemmingway knows and is around. How could he not be?” Gamble asked. “He left his twin and his horse behind. I know I would haunt this place to see a brother again.”
Poe wiped his eyes, and they sat there in silence. He stared at the stone and thought about his brother. There was a hole in his life, and it was from Hemmingway’s death.
It would always be there.
Always.
His man was curious.
“What were you both like as kids?” Gamble asked, knowing that Poe had done something similar when he’d been lost in the grief.
He distracted him with good memories.
“Trouble,” he stated. “Hemmingway was the brave brother. He’d fallen out of countless trees, and into many ponds. He could swim, and liked to do dangerous shit. Thus, why he was the man he was. Flying Apache helicopters with American Marines was fun to him. When they said he went down in one, and that he’d held it steady to give the Marines on board a chance to bail, I believed it. That sounded like him.”
Gamble let him talk.
Poe needed this.
“I never expected him to have died onboard, and the Marines he trusted to break his neck and kill him for some stupid code. Honestly, for his life, my father would have paid them the money. Hemmingway was worth so much more to us than money.”
Gamble understood.
“It’s because he stole it,” he said, and when Poe looked over, he explained. “Men like Von Donore…they are vain. He insulted him by being able to take the money, and outsmart him. That’s why he died. It had nothing to do with the money. Oh, he’ll say it did, but the bottom line was Hemmingway insulted his masculinity. In this case, Von and his ego had to win.”
Poe knew he was right.
Still, his father would have given him that money for Hemmingway to live.
“Did the Hunters find it?” he asked, suddenly since Gamble just said Von escaped.
Gamble shook his head.
“No, they didn’t. We just missed you,” he admitted. “We came into the front of the building, and you snuck out the same way. I traced your blood,” he said, pointing to the bandage on his palm. “I was so close to catching up to you. When I got to the limo, Elizabeth told me you were gone.”
Poe remembered being in the room where he dragged the dead Marine who stood between Poe and his freedom.
“I cut it getting out of the room,” he admitted. “Prying the door open.”
Yeah, they were aware.
“Anyway, we came in, and I found your blood. Eve and I tracked you, and it was coming down. I found the dead Marine. Good shot.”
He was honest.
“I wanted to live to get back to you. I didn’t like taking anyone’s life, but I had no choice.”
Gamble went there.
“But you ran.”
He nodded.
“I couldn’t ask you to do this,” he said to Gamble. “I couldn’t dump the burden of this on you. Maybe it was the trauma of the whole day, or maybe I just lost my bloody mind, but I couldn’t saddle you with this.”
Gamble was confused.
“What is the burden, exactly? Because if it’s being rich, oh, no…”
Poe was serious.
“I’m going to be scrutinized. If you’re with me, the world is going to know about you. If Von Donore sees you with me…”
Gamble stopped him.
Yeah, no.
There was no way he was going there.
“First, he’d have to prove it’s me. I have the same military records as Gamble Holloway. Arthur Doyle served the same missions, and did the same job. Secondly, he’d have to outsmart Elizabeth. The blood samples that went to the ME are mine. As far as the world is concerned, Gamble Holloway died from someone beating him up. He has a spiffy new marker in Arlington.”
Poe let him talk.
“Thirdly, if you think I’m worried about a bunch of uptight nobility and media talking about your gay lover…I win on that one because you’re incredibly sexy. My cover will hold up. Elizabeth is tenacious when it comes to covers. I trust her with my life.”
Poe couldn’t believe he’d gotten this lucky. The man genuinely loved him.
Clearly.
“So, you could have trusted me to ask. I would have left America in a heartbeat to be with you. You’re going to be my husband one day. Why wouldn’t I leave with you to come back to your home?”
He said the ‘H’ word, and it caught him off guard.
Poe stared in shock.
“I’m sorry, Mate. What did you just say?” he asked, needing to hear it again.
Why?
To make sure that he actually meant it.
If he did…
Holy shit.
Poe was celebrating.
“I swear on your brother’s grave that you’re going to marry me one day, and we’re going to be a couple until death do us part.”
Which might be sooner than later if Von Donore came after them.
Poe blinked but said nothing.
How could he?
He was completely caught off guard.
“What’s wrong, Doctor? More worried about your image than mine? Because I don’t give a fuck what people say about me. I think you do—which is funny since you’ve been gay your whole life, and I only became bi-sexual recently.”
Poe couldn’t believe what he was saying, and it had nothing to do with being gay. He was accustomed to comments and shittiness.
This was about the husband part.
“You really want to marry me?” he asked again.
Gamble grinned.
“Ivy league education, huh?” he asked, busting his ass. “And here I’m just a Marine and managed to understand that sentence.”
Poe stopped that.
He wasn’t letting Gamble put himself down. The man was a decorated war hero, and he was smart.
He’d kept them alive and away from mercenaries.
“First, you’re not ‘just a Marine’,” he admitted. “You’re a damn good Marine who kept us alive and out of danger. So stop with that nonsense. Secondly, you’re incredibly smart, Gamble, and had you been given the same opportunities in life as I was, there would be no question about your abilities.”
Gamble listened, and he noticed the man didn’t say he wasn’t marrying him.
Well, that was a good sign.
It looked as if he could carry on with his plan. After all, he’d never asked a man to marry him before. This was new territory.
“I’m just saying, I would have come. Next time, ask me. Don’t assume.”
Poe got it.
“I won’t. I’m sorry that I underestimated you. In my defense, Gamble, I was under some duress.”
And that was the ONLY reason Gamble wasn’t angry about it. Poe had just found out that his brother’s ‘accident’ was homicide, and that his parents had been killed days earlier.
That would make anyone do questionable things that were not the norm.
“My point is, I’m not embarrassed of who I am. Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?” he asked, holding his breath.
Poe stared at him.
“I’m not. In fact, be my person at the memorial for my parents, and at the small event after to celebrate me becoming a Duke,” he said. “Be my date. I’ll come out to everyone there, and I’ll own who I really am after the memorial for my parents.”
Gamble wanted to make sure.
“Is that really what you want?”
Oh, it was.
Now that Gamble was here, he didn’t feel empty and alone. He felt whole and alive. That told him everything he needed to know.
He.
Needed.
Him.
Poe said nothing.
At first.
Why?
He was trying not to giggle like an idiot because he was feeling all kinds of things that made him giddy as hell.
Finally, he composed himself.
“Absolutely. I want you to be my person. My other half—my better half.”
Gamble’s heart skipped.
“Are you sure?” he asked for the final time.
Sometimes, actions spoke louder than words. Leaning over, Poe kissed him. When their lips met, he knew that this was the man he was meant to be with for the rest of his life. He recalled how he felt before Gamble got there, and now, he felt alive again.
Oh, he was still lost in the grief, but he wasn’t sinking in the quicksand. Being here with Gamble made life easier and enjoyable.
“I’m positive,” he stated. “Be my date. I’m not ashamed that I’m gay. I just didn’t want them to talk shit about you in the media. You know how the tabloids are here.”
That he did.
Only, they wouldn’t find anything bad about Arthur Doyle to talk shit about.
“We’ll have to get you ready for it,” Poe admitted. “You can’t wear street clothes. We can stop at the tailor…”
He grinned.
And stopped him.
“Oh, Doctor, don’t you worry about me. You just handle yourself. I’ll not disappoint. I already have something spectacular planned. Marines are always prepared.”
“So you’re coming naked? Yay. We won’t be making it to the party if that’s the case.”
Gamble didn’t expect that, and he laughed.
“I mean, if the emperor wants me to show up in my new clothing,” he teased.
“Ah, another literary joke. You’ve lived up to your name, Arthur. Your point.”
He winked at him.
As they sat there, it was peaceful in the cemetery, and it was also cathartic.
They remained there a few more minutes, and when Diablo got up, they took that as their sign that he was done mourning Hemmingway.
“Ready, trouble?” Poe asked the horse.
Of course, he didn’t answer. Only, when he followed Gamble and Poe out of the cemetery, they closed the gates, and stood there.
“I have to have the graves opened. I’m going to have my parents laid beside Hemmingway.”
Gamble understood.
“When we die, we can be put beside them too, if non-nobility is allowed,” he stated, not sure of the protocol.
Poe was honest.
“If we marry, you’ll be a Duke too. You’ll be nobility by marriage, so you can be buried beside me here in the family cemetery.”
He grinned.
“Good. I can chase you around the cemetery in the afterlife like I plan on chasing you around while we’re living too.”
Poe had bad news for him.
“I don’t believe in ghosts.”
Gamble gasped.
“Poe, not in front of the dead people,” he said, busting his ass. “We were in New Orleans. That’s the most haunted place I’ve ever lived. You’ve never seen anything spooky go down?”
Poe shrugged.
“No, and again, I don’t believe in ghosts.”
Well, Gamble wasn’t going to try and convince the man otherwise. If he didn’t, he didn’t. That wasn’t his job to make him believe. Only, he’d seen some shit in NOLA that he couldn’t explain.
Or in the jungles of very old countries.
For now, it was his job to get him to marry him and for them to stay off of Von Donore’s radar.
Gamble had to keep him safe.
That was the bottom line.
As they got back on their horses, Poe was curious, so he went there.
“And it doesn’t freak you out that you’re going to be a Duke?” he asked. “You know, if we get married?”
“If?” Gamble asked.
Poe laughed.
“I mean, you didn’t ask. You just mentioned. That seems to be a Gamble issue, not a Poe issue. Take that up with him.”
At his words, Gamble was curious.
“If I asked, say, sometime soon, would you definitely say yes to the question?” he inquired nonchalantly.
Poe shrugged.
“I don’t know. Ask and find out,” he said, winking at him. “I do know that you shouldn’t be getting milk for free from the cow. You should put a ring on the Heffer, and in this case, I’m said Heffer. In case you were curious.”
Gamble actually laughed.
How could he not?
“Well, I’ll keep that in mind,” he stated. “Care to show me the rest of the estate? I’m curious about what’s inside the castle. I’ve never been in one before.”
Poe was good with that.
Honestly, he was giddy with the idea that this man gave up his whole life, and was more than willing to start a new life here with him.
That was exciting.
It almost made him forget that he’d had a life back home that he loved.
In America.
Where he lived.
Thankfully, he had dual citizenship, and could come and go as he wished. Gamble would too if they married.
Well, Arthur Doyle would.
As they rode on, he pointed out certain places in the estate that might interest Gamble.
There was a big pond.
“And that is the place Diablo and Hemmingway got into trouble all of the time. You’ll find that if you stand in front of it, and Diablo is near, you’re going in.”
He grinned.
“Want to take a dip with me, Doctor?” he asked, knowing it wouldn’t be the first time he and Poe went swimming in a pond. “We can skinny dip.”
He laughed.
While that was intriguing, and he would love to see a naked Gamble dripping with water, he knew the truth.
“Uh, we could just use the actual swimming pool that is inside the castle. That water is going to be cold, Mate. I like my balls to stay outside of my body so that I can readily use them.”
Gamble laughed.
“Duly noted, Duke of Gordon. We’ll skinny dip inside the castle then.”
Sign.
Him.
Up.
As they got closer to the castle, they saw the other horses in the field doing what they did best.
Grazing.
Poe whistled because he missed them too.
King and Snow heard him, and trotted toward the gate to meet them. None of the other horses, but Diablo had been here before, so they had likely been exploring.
When they dismounted, they headed toward the gate, and Poe kissed both horses on their noses.
Yeah, he’d missed them. It was only a few days, but it felt like a lifetime away from them and Gamble.
“I don’t know how you got them on a plane, and here, so quickly, but thank you.”
Oh, well, Gamble was honest.
“It wasn’t me. Elizabeth did it. I was just another passenger on the military craft. They were loaded into stalls, and Diablo was calm, surprisingly. The other three were good too. We didn’t have any issues.”
That was good to know.
If they moved between homes, they’d have to be ready to travel back. After what happened to his father’s horses, he couldn’t bear to leave his behind.
They were like his children.
“Thank you for bringing them home to me. If we’re going to live here, I want my family here. That’s them and you.”
Gamble kissed him on the forehead, and slapped him on the ass.
“Ditto, Doctor.”
At that one action, Poe’s dick hardened.
God.
He missed this man.
So.
Damn.
Much.
When Poe opened the gate, he let the horses follow him back to the stables where his father kept his horses before everything was decimated.
“Pick a stall, Ladies and Gentlemen,” he said, opening doors for them.
Immediately, Diablo went into his old stall, and Gamble closed him in. Honey was given the one next to him, and Snow and King were across from them.
As Poe stood there, Gamble was curious.
“A penny for your thoughts,” he offered.
Poe turned.
“Can we get more horses sooner, rather than later?” Poe asked. “I would really like to see little foals running around and have them grow older on the estate. I’m sentimental and love animals.”
Honestly, Gamble was confused by that question for a few reasons.
“Why are you asking me? This is your estate, Poe. You can get whatever you want.”
Poe stopped at that answer, and it didn’t sit well with him.
“I see,” he said, shortly.
When he went to go brush Honey down, Gamble grabbed his arm.
“What did I say that upset you just now?” he asked. “Because you got icy. Help a guy out. You’re my first boyfriend.”
This was new for Gamble, and he was learning to be a partner again. Only, he saw the look of hurt, and he needed to know.
“I just thought we were a couple, and this was ours. I made a mistake.”
Gamble stopped him from moving.
“I didn’t want to assume. This is your home, and I want you to be happy here. I can adjust.”
Poe didn’t look any happier, and Gamble was struggling to bring that happiness back. He was going to need a little help.
“Babe, just lay it out for me,” Gamble said. “I’m not good with relationships. My last one ended with Storm killing my child and herself. I need a little grace and leeway here until I figure it out.”
Gamble was right.
Poe had forgotten that he’d been the one putting him back together again, and that he was just angsty from the whole situation. That wasn’t fair to take it out on Gamble.
“Are we staying here?” Poe asked. “Like forever?”
Gamble assumed.
“I figured as much. You came here and said you had a duty. I changed my name and brought our horses. That says long-term to me. They aren’t like carry-on luggage. They don’t ship easily in overhead storage.”
Poe was honest.
“Then, if we get married, this is your home too. I was just a little surprised and wary that you might not want to be saddled with this mess. It’s a full-time job. We have a staff here, and we rent out the estate to festivals, and farmers harvest the land.”
Gamble shrugged.
“I like it here. It’s pretty. Sign me up—if we get married,” he said.
Poe slowly nodded.
“Okay,” he said.
Gamble wanted to ask then and there, but he needed to make it special.
“Again, would you say yes?” Gamble asked, trying to get him to answer.
And again, Poe was obtuse.
“Ask and you’ll find out.”
Oh, well, he would.
“I’d bet that it happens,” he admitted. “I have a hunch it’ll happen before you know it.”
The fact was that in his rucksack, he had brought a few things with him.
His blues.
A suit.
A ring.
Oh, and a gun.
Sue him.
Elizabeth got him there, and if Von Donore was around, he needed one.
They weren’t sure the Duke of Gordon had any guns for hunting or collections, so he wasn’t willing to chance it either.
As the horses were brushed down, two men came into the stables, and Poe called them over.
Gamble was wary of everyone new, and these two had his full attention.
“This is Arthur Doyle,” he said, introducing Gamble to them. “He’s my boyfriend, and he has as much authority here as I do,” he said.
The men shook his hand.
“This is Collin Devonshire, and Paddy O’Flannery,” he said. “They are in charge of the stables and making sure the horses are good—now that we have horses,” Poe admitted. Up to that morning, he’d yet to buy any.
“Aye,” Paddy said. “When did horses arrive?” he asked. “Are they here for good?”
Gamble handled this.
“They came back from America with me,” he admitted. “There will be more. Poe wants more horses, and what my boyfriend wants, he’ll have.”
Poe actually grinned.
Gamble didn’t.
Why?
He didn’t want a boyfriend.
He wanted a husband.
Well, he’d rectify that.
“We brushed down these two,” Poe said, showing Paddy and Collin the two horses. “This is Diablo, and I wouldn’t go near him,” he warned. “He only likes Arthur,” he added.
Collin waved his hand, brushing that comment off like he knew best.
“I have a way with horses, Sir. I can handle him. Don’t ya be worrying about that now.”
The second he moved toward the gate, Diablo went back up on his back feet, and grunted in anger as he slammed his one hoof against the gate.
Immediately, the man backed away.
“Or not. He is the devil,” Paddy admitted, as his friend was almost hooved.
“And that is why he’s Arthur’s horse and I told you not to go near him. Arthur will handle him. Few can handle Diablo,” Poe admitted as Gamble went into the stall and calmed him down.
Honestly, it didn’t take long.
So Poe kept introducing them.
“This is Honey. She’s a sweetheart. She likes A P P L E S,” he said, spelling it out for them, and as soon as he did, her ears went up.
Poe just shook his head.
“She’s incorrigible.”
That she was.
The grooms laughed.
Well, at least they wouldn’t be hooved by the horse. That was always a good thing.
“This is Snow, and she’s easygoing, for the most part. King is Diablo’s father, and while not as feisty, he’ll stomp you if you upset him. All three of these horses can be saddled. Under no circumstance are you to even try to saddle Diablo. He’s a bareback kind of a horse.”
The men understood.
“We’ll take good care of them, Sir,” he said, petting Honey and Snow.
Paddy kept staring at Gamble, and he was curious.
“Yes?” he asked.
“Are you Native American?” he inquired.
For Gamble, this was a loaded question.
“Yes, why? I’m half Native.”
The man pointed at the demon horse.
“You have a way with him. He likely knows your connection to the animals.”
Maybe.
Gamble had always been good with animals. That was one of his few redeemable skills.
He could survive in the wilderness for long periods of time, and he could make a dog be his buddy. That was about it unless there was a gun involved.
Animals liked him.
Look at Rufus not far away watching him with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
The mutt was his best buddy when they were moving around a stable.
When Gamble came out of the stall, he was standing very close to Poe. In fact, he had his arm around his waist and his hand on his hip.
Why?
Oh, well, there was one good reason.
He didn’t know these men, and he wasn’t sure how they were vetted. Maybe he was paranoid, but he was going to make sure Poe was safe here.
At his home.
“Have a good day, Gentlemen,” Gamble said, wanting to put space between them—just in case.
The men nodded.
Holding his hand, Gamble and Poe walked out of the stables, and headed toward the main home. Gamble had yet to be inside of it, but he knew it was big.
It was a castle, after all.
As they approached, there was a crest on the door, and Poe led him to it.
“Welcome home,” Poe said, sharing the estate with the man he hoped he was marrying. He wanted them to have a good life here.
Once in the door, Gamble stopped dead in his tracks.
Holy shit.
It not only looked like a castle, but it was a legitimate castle inside too.
That told him one thing.
Poe was rich.
Like rich-rich.