Chapter Nine
Sixty Minutes Later
Tuesday
Eleven Thirty
Officiant’s Office
Wildly enough, the whole process didn’t take too long, and since they’d said their vows earlier, they only had to go in, show ID, and sign the papers to make their wedding legal. Oh, and wait for all the paperwork to be done.
It was so simple, and yet mattered so damn much to both of them.
Later, when this whole Von mess was over, they would definitely have a ceremony with all of their family.
Because Gamble’s family was now his too.
That alone stole his breath.
All he could hope was that when he finally met them, they welcomed him with open arms and loved him like he already cared about them.
As the ink was drying, Poe wanted to cry. He wanted to rejoice over how much had happened since a week ago when he believed he was going to have to let Gamble go.
Now, he didn’t have to.
Then, he was still his therapist, and now, he was the man’s husband.
While it was a whirlwind romance, clearly, nothing had ever felt so right in his life.
Deep down, he’d known then, and he knew now that Gamble had been worth it all, and he was ever so grateful for Elizabeth Blackhawk for calling him that one day and asking if he could do her a favor.
She was the reason Gamble was his. She bound their lives together, and along the way, they fell for each other.
A soulmate had been found.
Yeah, Poe would owe her one for the rest of his MARRIED life.
As they walked to the door of the office, hand-in-hand, they were married, and the paperwork had been filed officially.
Gamble and Poe were now a couple.
In front of the exit, Gamble was silent and not saying a word.
“Are you okay?” Poe asked.
He was honest because they were now married, and he wanted a marriage not mired in secrets and lies.
“I don’t know,” he admitted.
Poe stopped him before he left the building, and led him to a bench. It didn’t take a therapist to know that someone was tripped up on something.
All Poe could hope was it wasn’t regrets.
That might kill him.
Taking a chance, and trusting his mate, he went there for him.
“I’m here, Gamble. Talk it out,” he offered.
He took him up on that offer.
“It feels surreal. I never expected to be happy again, and here I am. Then, I’m scared about the whole crypto key thing, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out where it could be. I’m an emotional powder keg, and I’m trying to process it all. I came here alone, and I’m going to be leaving with you.”
Poe touched his leg.
“I know how you feel about all of the emotions. All I can say is that I hope you aren’t sorry that you chose to marry me.”
He stopped him.
“Never. I love you, and I know what I feel. I just am shocked as shit that I made it, Poe. I survived the death of my child, and the devastation in the aftermath. When I wanted to give up, you never let me. How do I repay that? How do I say thank you for saving me and loving me so much that you put me back together again?”
He was honest.
“You love me and stay married to me until we die. Hopefully, that will be at the same time from old age in bed as crotchety old men.”
That sounded like the most beautiful life. All Gamble wanted was to get old with someone he could trust. Someone who would make him see love and joy again.
That was Poe.
Because he needed to, Gamble leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips. When he broke it, his husband was curious.
“What will help you get through this?” Poe asked. “All you need to do is tell me.”
Well, since he asked…
Gamble stared into his eyes.
“Don’t die on me.”
Oh, and he knew why he said that. To reassure him, Poe touched his face.
“I won’t. I promise. I’ll fight like hell no matter what, and we will have long lives together. I’m not going to hurt our children, or break you. I’ll do anything I can to keep your heart safe, like I know you’ll do to keep my person safe.”
That was the absolute truth.
Gamble would die for Poe.
In.
A.
Heartbeat.
As for him fighting like hell to live, that worked for him.
“Okay. I can live with that. I’m sorry, that fear just came back. I’m sorry I rained on our wedding day.”
He grinned.
“Soldier, you’re never ruining this day. That’s not possible. I’m a married man, and the dude I’m shacked up with is incredibly sexy. I won the husband lottery today. It doesn’t get any better than this.”
Gamble rested his forehead against Poe’s, and he took in the moment.
It was beautiful.
“Come on, Mate. Let’s go have coffee, and stay in the public eye. I want my man to get us back to the US later where we’re safe.”
Oh, and he would.
He’d guard this man with his life.
Standing, he held out his hand, and Poe took it. Together, they walked across the street, and the media kept taking pictures of them. They were shouting to Poe, asking him about being the new Duke of Gordon, but mostly how he felt about his parents being killed.
How the hell did they think he felt?
Were they crazy?
The US media and the UK paparazzi were NOT the same. In the US, they stayed back.
Here…
Holy shit.
In fact, Gamble had to elbow some asshole that was up close and personal with Poe. The man couldn’t take a hint, and he was asking intrusive questions.
It was when he asked if it was an inside job, that Gamble let him have it.
The dude landed in a puddle, tripping over Rufus, who was merrily barking at all of them as he followed on his leash, limping along.
“Good shot, my love,” Poe said, laughing under his breath.
He thought so.
Gamble wouldn’t be sad to leave the UK where it was much quieter and less annoying. That was for damn sure.
At the Café, they went inside, and took a seat by one of the big glass windows. Once seated, Gamble went and got them drinks and something to eat.
It was brunch, and just something light to tide them over since their breakfast picnic hadn’t ended how they wanted.
Naked.
Plus, they had to consider that they had tea later.
As Gamble put their drinks down, and the really big scones, he fed Rufus a few dog biscuits the owner gave him for the dog.
Rufus was a pig in shit under the table, having his own snack. Never let it be said he wasn’t food motivated and living his best life.
As they sat there, the people outside of the window were being ignored. They were tapping on the glass, and pointing at the men’s matching rings.
Clearly, they were putting two and two together, as the shiny gold bands stood out.
Oh, well, let them speculate.
That was on them.
Not him.
As they ate, Poe fed Gamble some of his scone, and he did the same back—almost like wedding cake.
The whole time, Poe was curious.
“Can we do some shopping?” Poe asked, as he slipped his fingers into Gamble’s and enjoyed the way the bigger man held them.
Gamble sipped his coffee, and was lowkey admiring the ring on his finger.
It felt good.
How could it not?
“Sure. What do you want to buy?” he asked.
Poe went there.
“I want to pick up some things for your family for when we go back. I want to get them something to let them know they’re my family now too.”
Gamble was honest.
“They’re going to love you. They love me, and our partners are always accepted. I can’t wait for you to meet them. In fact, I was thinking.”
Poe lifted a brow.
“About?”
“When the Von Donore bullshit is over, how about we come back here, and we do our wedding on the estate?” he asked. “My family could use a vacation. It’s been a long few years. If they can come back, would that work for you?”
He grinned.
“Our home is their home, Gamble. I’d love to have them come stay with us. It would be amazing to have a garden wedding.”
He grinned.
“You had me at wedding,” Gamble admitted. “I think I’m looking forward to seeing you in something dapper, my one and only.”
That gave him goosebumps, and it always would. That was a fact.
“So, it’s a deal. We come back here and tie the knot.”
That worked for Gamble. He was pretty sure the family would love to be there, and he’d pay good money to see Elizabeth running wild in the UK.
“Deal, Baby.”
Only, now, Poe was curious.
“Can you tell me about them?” he asked. “You know, your family. I am really curious,” he admitted, having more of his scone, and slipping some to Rufus under the table at their feet.
Normally, you didn’t talk Hunters outside of the group and with good reason, but they were married, after all, and Poe would meet them soon enough.
“Maura and Jagger are the bosses. Well, Maura is. Jagger is Mikey O’, the mob man. They switch control up depending on the situation.”
Oh, he remembered them from the day he picked up Gamble.
For now, though, Poe listened and sipped his tea. He loved hearing about Gamble’s people. They’d fought hard to keep him alive so Poe could help him, and that mattered to him.
“Then, there’s Zayn. He’s paranoid as can be. He’ll take time to warm up to you, despite how safe everyone tells him you are. He’ll think you’re a spy trying to get to his flower garden.”
Poe looked confused, so Gamble had to explain.
“Those are his children. He names them after flowers. He’s this big dude, full Native, and crazy as the day is long, but a good guy. His wife Stella is a doctor—the medical kind. She patches us up as best she can when we get stabbed, shot, or blown up.”
Poe stopped drinking his tea.
“Uh, does that happen a lot?” he asked.
Gamble laughed.
“You don’t want to know,” he admitted. “More than it probably should. We deal with some really bad dudes. As for Stella, though, she kept giving me IVs and trying to get vitamins in me even when I didn’t want to live.”
Well, then, he loved her already.
“Then, there’s Dakota. He was the leader, but his wife went loco, tried to kill all of us, and died in a medical transport from the loony bin. He’s now married to Eve, who was special ops for the government. She’s deadly, but sweet, and they just had a baby. In fact, they have two kids.”
Poe kept asking questions because he wanted to learn all about them.
“So he stepped down?”
He nodded.
“The point of the Hunters was to rehab people, and help the city. They were all supposed to move on, but they didn’t. Storm and I were the first to leave, and you see how that worked out.”
Oh, he did.
Then again, because they did, Gamble was placed in his path, and for that, he was grateful.
“Next up is Rogue Ravenscroft. He’s the playboy of the group, or was until he fell for another special ops Marine.”
He knew of him.
“I’ve seen him on the news. He’s a philanthropist, and his family owns a big furniture shipping company that has an office here, I believe.”
Oh, well, about that.
“Actually, he’s our thief and one of our tech people. There’s not a building that he can’t get into. He’s married to Jinx, and yes, that’s her real name. They have babies together too. Rogue’s first wife was a cop, and she was gunned down. He found love with Jinx as she was at Chartres to rehab.”
He was fascinated with all of this.
They were an interesting group of people.
Since his head was turned, the media couldn’t see his mouth, and there was a reason he was sitting that way. He had to protect his family.
Poe’s mouth was hidden behind his cup, and it proved that he had to do that before.
“Then, there is Remington Bowman, and his wife, Calyx. They just got married. Elizabeth told me about the family updates when I spoke to her last. He was a CIA operative, a spook, and his family was killed when an asshole found out where they were. Now, he’s started over, recently.”
“That’s a big family.”
He stopped him.
“Oh, there’s more. There’s Merry and Boone. Boone is an ex-cop who was partners with Rogue’s first wife. He lived, but lost his eye. Now, he wears a patch, and is the logical one in our group. Merry is our lab rat. She runs trace, plays with computers, and does her thing. She can crack the uncrackable.”
This was wild.
“Then, there’s me. I’m the ghost. I can get into any place, and I can get shit done. I can hide in plain sight, and I can also extricate when need be.”
Poe was curious.
“So you can fight?” he asked, not having seen him do that yet. It was all sneaking up on people.
“I can when I need to. I’ve killed plenty, Poe. I’ll keep doing it to keep the US safe, and New Orleans protected. That’s my duty.”
And Poe was glad he was going to do it. His duty was so much more important than his.
“Bad people?” he asked.
Gamble nodded.
“Really bad people who don’t care who they hurt—women, children, and innocents. That’s why we’re so important.”
Now, he was curious.
“So why would you walk away from that?” he asked.
Gamble stared into his eyes.
“For only one reason would I turn my back on my family and country, Poe. For you, and the love I feel for you.”
This was overwhelming him.
For the first time in his life, someone chose him, and this man loved him.
“Will I fit in?” Poe asked. “I want to fit in so we can stay with them while we’re in hiding.”
He warned him.
“The only problem, Poe…”
He waited.
“Once you stay with them, you tend not to want to leave. I can’t really just walk away. They need me, and Elizabeth runs that shit show. We’re there to do a job, so if we come back here, I could have to leave if they call for me. I have to go because they would come for me if I reached out to them.”
Oh, he understood.
He touched his hand.
“Then we stay there, and we do what needs to be done. You said you have a place near my office. We don’t ever have to come back here, Gamble. I mean, we’ve peppered the place with bodies. What kind of psycho would come back to get caught?”
He laughed.
And then raised his hand.
That amused his husband.
“I want to help too. I want to be part of your world, since mine doesn’t make me happy anymore.”
“You promised that you’d help soldiers.”
He pointed out one thing.
“And didn’t you say that soldiers came there to rehab? Isn’t that exactly what I do? Wouldn’t it just be people Elizabeth said needed help? I would be able to assimilate based solely on my job, exclusively of our marriage. I just happen to be able to do both—personally and professionally.”
Well, shit.
Poe was right.
“You’d do that for me?”
Poe smiled.
“On one condition.”
He waited.
“That you love me forever, and we have an amazing life filled with so much joy. I want to start living, and I need you to do that.”
And there it was.
He wanted nothing but his heart.
“Deal,” he said, touching his cheek tenderly. “I love you, Poe William Seville-Doyle.”
His heart skipped.
“And I love you, Arthur Seville-Doyle.”
Gamble was curious.
“Not my middle name? Really?” he inquired, teasing him.
Poe was confused.
“You didn’t tell me your middle name.”
The man he loved just stared at him in amusement, and that clued him in.
“Are you serious?” he finally asked, getting it. “Conan?”
Gamble shrugged.
“I mean, I go all the way, or I don’t go at all. Of course, Elizabeth and I laughed about the whole thing, but yeah.”
Poe just shook his head.
When they both finished their scones, and gave Rufus the last piece of Poe’s, they were ready to go.
“Shopping?” he asked. “So you can get our family some gifts from our trip abroad?”
Poe grinned.
It was such a normal act, in the middle of chaos, but he loved it. Gamble made everything better.
“Yeah, let’s go shopping, and then home for my parent’s memorial tea. I can’t wait to fly out of here tonight, and start our married life back home—in New Orleans.”
That worked for Gamble.
He needed to get them the hell out of there.
And back home where his family could help keep Poe safe.
Forever.