Poe & Gamble
Three Hours
Later
Post Tea Memorial
They had spoken to just about everyone there, and that wasn’t an exaggeration. Poe made the rounds, and Gamble joined him, unwilling to leave his side.
They made small talk, and it was exhausting.
If this was what the duke life was like, Gamble wanted to get the hell out of there. He’d never met a bigger group of pretentious, stuffy asshats in his whole life.
They smiled at Poe’s face, and talked about him being gay behind his back.
That pissed him off.
Give him a pack of crude Marines any damn day of the week.
Only, Poe clearly knew it, and told him not to worry. Someone had a much thicker skin than he did. All Gamble wanted to do was punch some lords and ladies in their pieholes.
Where was Zayn when you needed him?
Now that the tea was over, and the sun was getting ready to start setting, the party would begin.
Drinks began coming out, and the stuffy nobility let their hair down.
Well, as much as they could.
There was undignified laughter, some snorting, and a few public displays of affection that were shocking, considering the sticks up their asses.
Okay, that wasn’t shocking at all since it was him and Poe who were sneaking kisses in corners, but sue him. It was their home, and their wedding day.
When the Duke of Norfolk came over, and for the life of him, Gamble couldn't remember his name, he had three glasses of champagne in his hands.
“Poe, my boy, how are things?” he asked, smiling. “Are you surviving your first party as a Duke?”
Barely.
Poe wanted out of there.
Instead of going there, Poe reintroduced him to Gamble.
“My love, this is Edward Jaccoby, the Duke of Norfolk.”
Gamble held out his hand and shook it. When he did, the man flinched.
“Sorry, we don’t bow as Americans. We shake hands,” he joked. “Sorry if I hurt you,” he stated.
The man laughed.
“Oh, no, you didn’t. I fell off my polo pony this morning, and hurt my arm,” he said, putting his hand over his sleeve.
Then, he focused on the other man.
“Oh, Poe, your father would have loved him,” he said. “He’s got spunk.”
Yeah, no one had ever described him that way.
Oh, he had a gun.
And he had knives.
But spunk?
Nope.
Most of the time, he ran on sarcasm and devious ideas. That’s the way he liked it too.
“Here, let’s toast the happy couple,” Edward said, handing them each a flute of bubbling champagne. “Your father would be pleased as punch that you found someone who made you happy. Let’s drink to your marriage.”
They all clinked glasses off of each other. Then, sipped their drinks.
“So what are your plans?” Edward asked. “I meant with your title, not your marriage,” he said, winking at Gamble.
He didn’t wink back.
Honestly, he didn’t like him. The man seemed…smarmy.
When Gamble put his arm on Poe’s back, warning him, he got the picture.
Poe was anything but honest.
“We’re going to live here and be happy,” he admitted. “We can’t wait to start our lives here as a couple.”
The older man smiled and clinked his glasses off of theirs again. When he kicked his back, he stopped a waiter, and grabbed three more, making Poe and Gamble kick theirs back too.
“Jolly good!” the forty-year-old man said. “This is beautiful land. Let’s toast your mother too,” he said, holding up his new glass as they did the same. “To the lovely Penelope, and her amazing charities that she ran.”
At his words, Poe had tears in his eyes.
“Here here,” he said, sipping his next glass of champagne.
They all did, only that was when they knew something was wrong.
Gamble got woozy.
REALLY.
WOOZY.
All around him, the room began spinning. There was no way he was getting drunk from a chugged glass of champagne unless…
Oh, shit.
The man had been holding the arm that he’d gotten when he shot the intruder that morning. A friend of Liam Seville might have been able to get the code from someone newly working there.
Oh, this was bad.
His body was going numb, and he couldn’t speak. He wasn’t sure what was in the champagne, but it was working on Poe too.
Seeing him waver, the man called over another guy, one of the waiters. When he arrived, he put Gamble’s arm over his shoulders.
“Yes, take him somewhere private where no one will hear him,” he said quietly, as Poe let the glass slip from his fingers.
He caught it.
“I’ll get you to a friend who will take good care of you, Poe. Oh, and in case you were wondering,” he admitted, “you were worth a few million alive.”
Poe was helpless as he watched Gamble being dragged away, as the waiter telling everyone he had too much to drink.
“Don’t worry, Poe, the drugs won’t last long. You’ve been a bad boy, and have something that my friend wants.”
Poe couldn’t move. His body was paralyzed.
He watched as Gamble was led away from him, and the edges of his vision went gray.
Oh, shit.
They’d been wrong.
Von Donore didn’t just send his goons here, but he’d managed to bribe someone who was a family friend. The scouting party wasn’t for tonight, late into the evening, it was for the party.
Now, they were fucked. There was no way Poe would survive this.
He just knew it.