Chapter Seven
The Estate
Tuesday
Three A.M.
To be honest, Gamble wasn’t sure what had awoken him, but something pulled him from his slumber. It had originally sounded like whimpering, or maybe it was a whole-ass conversation.
Only, Gamble wasn’t sure.
As he lay there, listening, it absolutely wasn’t Poe who was still next to him.
Hardly.
He was sleeping deeply, and that told him it had to be from somewhere outside the room.
That’s when he heard it.
Diablo.
The horse was stirred up, and that wasn’t the norm at that time of the night.
Oh, his horse was a nightmare on a good day, but not at three in the morning. For the last three months, he couldn’t count one time that the horse disturbed anyone at night. He was more of a daytime menace.
The middle of the night was his downtime.
Now, Gamble was worried.
Slipping out from beneath Poe, he pulled on his shoes, and grabbed his flannel shirt.
Then, he closed the door behind him, leaving Rufus in charge. If someone was on the grounds, and near Diablo, he needed to protect his horse.
Von Donore was a dickwad and the kind of scumbag that would enjoy hurting an animal.
Heading toward the security panel that was inside the front door, Gamble saw that everything was still on, and that was a good thing.
Only, that’s when he heard it.
Laughter.
Only, it wasn’t close by.
It seemed to echo through the house, distorting the original location.
If that wasn’t bad enough, he also saw a shadow move from his peripheral across the big windows that overlooked the stables, and his heart started racing.
The temperature had dropped in the castle, and he felt a cool breeze.
And more laughter.
Yeah, someone was out there.
Thankfully, he was armed. Oh, illegally, but what the British police didn’t know wouldn’t get him thrown in jail for ten years.
Or more.
At the door, he turned off the security, and he moved toward the stables. Outside, Gamble looked around, and the sky above was filled with stars and the bright moon. While it was dark, he was able to see fairly well.
That’s when he saw it again.
Another shadow.
What the hell was this?
Immediately, he thought that someone had gotten into the castle, but that couldn’t possibly be. The alarm had been on until he left.
Tracking it, the shadow moved toward the stable, and once more, Diablo was going nuts.
Only, it wasn’t in a bad way, but instead, in an excited manner.
That was…odd.
That’s how Diablo sounded whenever he was around him or he came into the stable each day. Something was definitely odd here.
Moving toward the stable, he found Diablo looking over his gate, and when he saw him, he made that same exact sound.
What was this?
His horse wasn’t distressed.
He was happy.
Again, what the hell?
As he moved closer, he saw a figure standing outside the opposite side of the stable opening, and when he looked, for the first time, he was caught off guard.
It was…Poe.
What was he doing out of bed?
And how did he get past him to the stable?
Only, the more he studied the figure, the more it was crystal clear that this wasn’t Poe.
The man appeared to be translucent and in British military fatigues.
Oh, holy fuck.
This had to be Hemmingway.
As someone who was part Native, he believed in ghosts and spirits. He’d seen some shit in ancient places that he couldn’t explain, and this was one more thing to add to the list.
His lover’s dead brother was haunting the stable.
Oh, boy.
As his horse saw the figure, once more, Diablo went haywire, scratching at the gate with his front hoof, trying to get out.
Gamble just put his hand on Diablo’s neck, and watched as the apparition stared at him.
At first, neither spoke, as if the ghost wasn’t quiet sure Gamble could see him.
Well, he could.
Finally, he took a chance.
“Hemmingway?” he asked.
There was the same laughter that he heard, and it was different than when Poe laughed.
“I’m Gamble,” he said. “I was a soldier too.”
The man just stared at him.
“I’m your brother’s lover.”
God.
But that sounded tacky as shit. Mental note, he was proposing tomorrow. He was sick of the lover and boyfriend bullshit.
Instead of answering, Hemmingway pointed off toward a path that he and Poe had used today. He knew right where it led to.
The cemetery.
Well, shit.
Then, as quickly as he was there, Hemmingway was gone.
Into.
Thin.
Air.
Gamble wasn’t sure what to believe, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t asleep. For now, he had to make up his mind. Stay there and protect Poe, or risk this wild goose chase after a dead man into the trees?
It took him a good ten seconds to make up his mind. Grabbing the blanket that he used to ride Diablo, he knew that Hemmingway might be able to help him.
So, it was time to ride.
As soon as the gate was open, the demon horse took off, and Gamble had to drop the blanket and grab onto the horse’s mane to get on his back before he was gone.
It looked like they were going to race toward the cemetery, and after what the horse thought was his owner.
His old owner.
Gamble held on, and the trail was wicked and wild, but he had been right.
They were going to the cemetery.
As they approached, the gates were open, and Gamble knew that wasn’t supposed to be the case. They’d closed them when they’d left earlier today.
Without an iota of hesitation, Diablo rode through them, and he slid to a stop by that one particular grave.
The stallion went up on his back legs, and Gamble managed to stay on him by some act of luck—or that Diablo wasn’t trying to toss him off to break his neck.
“Jolly good ride,” a voice said.
Oof.
Too soon.
Speaking of broken necks…
Getting down, Gamble stayed beside Diablo even as the horse wanted to walk to his old owner.
“Stay,” he said, running his hands over his flank to keep him nearby.
Hemmingway laughed.
“I’ve missed seeing him run,” he admitted. “I nearly broke my neck a good fifty times on that magnificent beast.”
Umm…
That was kinda ironic since Hemmingway had ultimately broken his neck.
“Hemmingway?” he asked, making sure.
The man smiled.
God.
He looked so much like his brother. They had the same crinkle around their eyes, dimple in opposite cheeks, and both men had baby-blue coloring too.
Gamble loved Poe’s eyes, but somehow, he didn’t have the same reaction to this man—even though he was his identical twin.
Poe was the one he craved.
The heart knew, clearly.
“Yes, Mate, it’s me, and I’m well aware that you’re my brother’s lover. That’s such a tacky word,” he stated.
Yeah, well, tell him about it.
“I hope to make it husband soon enough,” he admitted. “If he’ll marry me.”
Hemmingway moved around, heading for his grave.
“Oh, he will. You’re his Prince Charming. I’ve been watching my brother. He’s never looked happier in all of his life, and I knew him best.”
That was good to know.
As for the two men, the voices were different, but the vessel…well, the painting didn’t exaggerate. They were most definitely identical from the walk to their freckles.
“I don’t know if I’m dreaming.”
Hemmingway sat on his tombstone, his legs dangling over the side covering his name.
“You’ll figure it out,” he said. “Until you do, we need to have a little talk. So, husband, huh?”
Gamble just stood there.
“That’s the plan,” he admitted.
This whole thing was insane. Here he was, talking marriage with a dead man—a dead man who looked like his living man.
Yeah, he had to be asleep.
There was no way he was awake.
Hemmingway laughed.
“You can relax. I approve. I’ve always known my brother was gay, Gamble. I’ve seen him checking out men plenty of times before, and he was never interested in the ladies I brought around for us. I’ve really never seen him this happy with anyone but you.”
What did he say to that?
“Thank you, I guess.”
Hemmingway was curious.
“Are you going to be with him forever?” he asked. “Or is this some sleazy, one-night kind of a deal? I know you said husband, but my brother is very rich now.”
Oh, brother.
“I don’t want his money. I have my own money. I want him. I want his heart because he is the gentlest of souls. He makes me feel like I matter, and that I’m worth that love.”
Hemmingway listened.
“I wish he knew he was worthy of love too,” Hemmingway admitted. “For eons, he’s always felt that he was flawed because he liked men. He judged himself by me, and that was painful for both of us. My brother is bright, funny, and the kindest person I know. His only flaw is that he was saddled with a twin.”
Gamble heard the remorse.
“I’ll love him forever,” he admitted.
Hemmingway grinned.
“Yes, I saw you two going at it in the tub. Kudos to both of you for not slipping with that oil and breaking a bone as you thoroughly loved him, and him you.”
Okay, Gamble knew this had to be a dream. Why he was having it was a whole other story, and now, he needed to figure this out.
Was his brain trying to tell him something?
“Like I said, I’m going to marry him. I’m proposing tomorrow before he has the wake for your parents. Are they floating around too?” he asked curiously as he looked around the cemetery.
It was creepy at night.
“Yeah, mostly. They are newly dead, so they struggle to appear. You get me for now. My bond to Poe is stronger than theirs. We shared a heartbeat, and we shared our lives. I miss him terribly.”
Gamble didn’t have siblings.
Not that he knew of, anyway.
Who knew what his egg and sperm donor did in their downtime?
“He misses you too.”
Hemmingway stayed seated as they spoke.
“My brother is going to need you. Tell him I’m sorry that we all left him behind. Had I known that my actions would get my parents killed, and put him in danger, I wouldn’t have done it. I would have followed chain of command. Then again, he’s not going to believe we spoke. He doesn’t believe in an afterlife.”
He was aware.
“In his defense, he’s a doctor, so…”
Probably.
Only, Hemmingway had an idea.
“Tell him that Sparky met me when I passed. That might help him out.”
He had no clue who Sparky was, but he had something else he needed to know.
“Where is the crypto key, Hemmingway? I’d love to get it and get us both out of here. We can’t be safe here for much longer.”
Hemmingway sighed.
“I made such a mess, Gamble. Please know that I died for King and cross. That was the most valuable thing for me. I thought I was being safe, but I wasn’t, so I died doing something good.”
Yeah, and that didn’t tell him where the damn crypto code was.
Now did it?
“I want to get your brother out of here, and I need the crypto key. Where is it in the castle?” he asked again, almost desperately.
Gamble’s gut told him that they were screwed if they didn’t get the hell out of there.
Before he could answer, the air got very cold all-around Gamble. The man he’d been talking to turned his head, as if he was seeing something near him.
“Oh, no,” he said, talking to someone Gamble couldn’t see.
Then, Hemmingway leapt off of the tombstone without any warning, making Gamble actually jump.
“You have to go!” he said.
Gamble looked around.
“What? Why?” he asked.
“Poe’s about to be hurt. Wake up, Gamble. Wake up now!” he shouted. “There’s someone in the castle, and they’ll kill you and take Poe!”
Well, shit.
Everything changed around him, and that’s when it happened.
Gamble sat upright in bed, and he had been dreaming. When he looked around, he saw Rufus was awake, his ears perked up.
It was clear that he’d heard something downstairs. It appeared that he wasn’t too late.
Thank.
God.
Getting out of bed, it woke Poe.
“Are you okay?” he asked, sleepily as he missed the warmth of his man’s body near his.
It looked like rest time was over. Had he only had five more minutes of dreaming, he might have found the crypto key.
If any of that had been real.
“Someone’s in the castle, Baby. Stay here with Rufus, and make sure you keep the door locked, and don’t open it unless I say ‘Diablo’. Got it?” he asked, digging his gun out of his pack, and slipping on his shoes.
“Yes, Gamble, but be safe for me.”
Oh, he would.
So not to be naked, Poe began pulling on some clothes, and when Gamble gave him a kiss and then set him free, he was scared as the man was out the door.
This was bad.
Having someone in their home…
That freaked him out.
Poe cuddled their dog, and prayed that Gamble would be okay.
Oh, and that Von Donore wouldn’t take him away.
Again.
As Gamble headed down the stairs, he was listening to everything in the castle all around him as he tried to pinpoint the ‘problem’.
The lights were still out, and as he moved in the shadows, he kept seeking out the intruder.
He could hear someone rustling about, and tossing shit everywhere.
Oh, it was most definitely coming from the library.
As he moved toward it, and stood in the doorway, that was when Gamble saw they definitely had a problem. He was standing by the desk in the library, ripping it apart.
Drawers were on the floor, and papers were everywhere.
That pissed him off that someone was desecrating Poe’s home.
Their home.
Apparently, this piece of shit was also looking for the crypto key code. Yeah, it was official. Von Donore definitely knew they were there, and that the code still hadn’t been found.
Shit.
Earlier today hadn’t been some coincidence where a hunter was out hunting and came across them. They had been watched.
The jig was up.
With this happening, that kicked up the timeline, and it was evidently clear that time was really running out.
When Gamble moved into the doorway, his shoe must have brushed something on the floor because it gave his position away.
Immediately, the hooded figure wearing a mask looked up.
In his one hand, he had a gun and shot at Gamble, who moved just in time behind the wall. The stone chipped, and pieces ricocheted around him.
Gamble got ready to fire, and as he stepped out, the man bum rushed him to get past him. He slammed into him, and that took Gamble down.
Someone was fast on his feet, and likely had military training.
Gamble slid across the floor as the intruder was running for the main foyer door.
Fortunately, Gamble got off a shot, and he knew it hit him in the arm, but as to how bad…?
He wasn’t sure.
Well, shit.
This appeared to be a footrace.
Running after him after getting up, he was able to watch the man jump some shrubs, scale the gate that lined the entranceway to the property, and into a car that immediately took off.
Standing there, he knew they had one hell of a problem.
Well, shit.
Now, it was only a matter of time.
Before someone got hurt.
* * * Poe & Gamble * * *
Same Time
Inside The Castle
The commotion downstairs did one thing. Poe was freaked out.
He’d heard the gunshots, and then nothing after that for a short period of time. For a brief moment, he wanted to go downstairs, but he talked himself out of it.
That was until Rufus started clawing at the door.
Well, that told him all he needed to do. Gamble might need him, and he would get to his man. After all, he was still recovering and not back to where he’d been working for The Hunters.
He might need backup.
At any other time, that would be laughable, but for now, it made sense in his terrified brain. He’d taken out a bad guy with an ax, so now, he just needed to man up and help his guy.
Heading down the stairs, there was a metal sculpture on a tall table, and he picked it up to use as a weapon if it was needed.
Sculpting had been one of his mother’s hobbies. She’d made it, and he didn’t want to destroy it, but if it meant Gamble’s life or that weird ass sculpture…
Screw it.
It was going to the rubbish heap.
As he moved down the stairs, he heard someone in the library, and they were breathing heavily.
Of course, Rufus was nowhere to be found, and had run down there and left him behind. There was no doubt where his loyalties lay.
Not with him.
The dog was ridiculous.
His.
Hero.
As he heard footsteps coming out of the room, he drew the sculpture back, and swung wildly at the shadow.
And missed.
The bigger shadow took him down, trapping him on the floor on his back.
When he opened his eyes, he saw it was Gamble, and then he realized what he’d almost done.
“Oh, my God. I nearly killed you!”
Gamble was amused.
How could he not be?
“One, I heard you coming. Two, Rufus came in and went to the couch, so I knew you were coming. Three, your swing was off.”
WAY.
OFF.
Poe blushed as he was trapped on the floor by his man. Honestly, there were worst places to be.
This was NOT one of them.
“I thought someone had shot you.”
Still, Gamble didn’t move. He had been so goddamn scared that something was going to happen to Poe that he came in, cleaned up the office, and was going to have a panic attack.
Privately.
“We had an intruder. They got into the place. How is the question.”
Poe knew.
“Either the door was open, they broke a window, or they had the code to unlock the door and bypass security.”
Gamble considered what he said, and those were all feasible possibilities.
“Good point.”
To be blunt, Poe was distracted. There was a sexy man on top of him—HIS sexy man.
To be honest, he wasn’t thinking about an intruder anymore, but their bodies pressed together.
“Gamble, Mate, can we get up? You’re making it damn hard to think with you on top of me. I’m not thinking about that particular situation. I’m thinking about another one.”
He blinked, and then, Gamble grinned.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Doctor, am I distracting you?” he asked, capturing his mouth, and destroying him with a kiss.
Oh, holy shit.
Poe was absolutely mad about this man. He drove him crazy without even trying.
When he slowly broke the kiss, it was the moan from Poe that told the tale.
Yeah, Gamble needed to put a ring on it. He wasn’t allowing this feeling of absolute euphoria to go away. He was in heaven.
“Christ, man,” Poe whispered. “How does anyone get anything done around you? All I’m thinking about is your mouth and body.”
Gamble was honest.
“Don’t stop,” he said. “I like feeling wanted.”
Oh, well, he was.
Granted, he could stay like this forever, but he knew they had to get back to the problem at hand.
The intruder.
So, Gamble pulled him to his feet, and they went inside the room. Then, he sat his man down on the couch next to Rufus.
“I’m going to look around and see if anything was broken like a window or lock. Sit your sexy ass here with the dog.”
Poe grinned.
“You think my ass is sexy?” he joked.
Gamble just laughed.
“I think we know the answer to that. I was just pressed to your body,” he admitted.
Yeah, Poe liked feeling wanted too.
As Gamble headed out, Poe sat there looking around the room. It was clear someone was desperate to get their hands on that key.
Gamble wasn’t gone more than five minutes when he came back in.
“There isn’t an unlocked door in the castle, other than the front one. There’s not a broken window either. That means one thing.”
Someone got the code to the door.
It was time to address that.
“How did someone get the code, Poe? Did you change it when you got here?”
Gamble sat beside him, and put his big hand on Poe’s leg to connect them.
“I did. I called the company, and switched it to another number. It’s your birthday,” he admitted. “I was missing you when I got here, and that’s what made sense to me.”
That was sweet.
But they still had a problem.
“So then, how did it happen?” he asked, knowing Poe would understand what he meant.
Poe considered it.
“I either left a door open, or someone who works here has the code. I gave it to the staff for when they arrive if I’m asleep or out riding.”
Well, shit.
“Today, we need to change it. You didn’t leave the door open. Personally, I did a closing shift and walked the whole place. I checked the locks when you were asleep. I patrolled the castle. Everything was secure after we had sex. From now on, until we find that Crypto code, or until tonight, when we get the hell out of here, you’ll have to let the staff in.”
His words got his attention.
“So, we’re definitely leaving?” he asked.
Gamble nodded.
At first, there was the possibility that the person spying on them was a simple hunter. Now, not so much. They were getting brazen with each night.
Gamble wasn’t taking a chance with losing Poe again.
“When the dude shot at me, and I shot back, it occurred to me that they wouldn’t just grab you to take you back to Von. They’d possibly kill you out of desperation when you couldn’t make the key appear. It also proved that Von Donore knows we’re here. We’re not safe, and I’m not willing to risk us for fifty million. That’s chump change to you, and you’re invaluable to me.”
He could see the man was genuinely worried. His face said it all. Gamble was stressed.
“Oh, Jesus,” Poe muttered. “I’m so sorry about this,” he stated.
He reassured him.
“Baby, it’s okay. I just don’t feel secure with us being here more than tonight. Von Donore will likely come back with more people after dark, and I’d like to be out of here.”
That brought up a question.
“Should I cancel the wake?” he asked.
Gamble considered it, but he knew how adamant Poe was to give his mother her final wish.
“We should be okay. I know if I was coming here, I’d do it during the night hours. When everyone was least expecting it—not in a garden and ballroom full of people. We should be okay to do the wake and your cocktail party afterward. What worries me is someone got in here and there. That meant they are watching us.”
That hung there.
“So, it has to be someone I hired?” he asked.
He stared at him.
“Likely it was someone who was bought out, and they gave them the code. Since you used my birthday, that means your parents didn’t have anything to do with telling someone the code. It has to be someone here. Now.”
Poe was honest.
“I don’t like this. It creeps me out.”
Oh, well, about that. Poe was about to be a little more creeped out when Gamble was done talking to him about his dream.
“We’re lucky to be alive. We could have been asleep,” he began.
On that, Poe agreed.