Chapter Ten
Chartres Street
Same Time
Trouble Brewing
I t was shit like this that was maddening to him. Thomas Benard was pissed, and he didn’t know what to do about it, other than rage around like some kind of freaking lunatic.
This had all gone way too far, and now, he was having regrets.
SERIOUS ONES.
Truth be told, he didn’t think that Gene would leave New Orleans and he certainly didn’t think that Elizabeth Blackhawk would let her husband have some side piece. The man was a whore, and she didn’t even stop it.
As for Gene, he loved it here.
Or he did, until his trashy-ass ex showed up to ruin that for everyone.
Including their marriage.
Now, even as Tommy tried to call Gene to talk some sense into him, two days after he left NOLA, he couldn’t reach him.
His number was changed.
He actually changed numbers!
Oh, there was no doubt why that had happened, and he was betting it wasn’t Gene’s decision. He was betting there was an outside influence.
It was definitely Ethan Blackhawk.
Tommy couldn’t believe this at all.
That Native had stolen his man. He’d literally swiped him out from under him.
Oh, deep down, for weeks he knew it would happen, but he’d had hope that it wouldn’t.
He’d trusted Gene.
Now, the media had them in DC yesterday, having coffee together in a café. They were sitting across from each other, and Gene was staring at him like…
Like he was special.
Like he was the one.
That photo said it all.
What?
The?
Hell?
Gene couldn’t possibly be over him that quickly. There was no way he could dump him and leave without having some feelings.
Right?
So now, Tommy wanted to find his number, so that he could have a talk with his ex.
The bottom line was that he wanted him back.
He was willing to negotiate with him, and somehow, come up with a good compromise. The motivating factor was that he wasn’t letting that whore Indian have his man.
PASS.
That family was a sick cult.
Now that he was back to work as the homicide captain, running the division that his ex, ironically, also ran, he realized that he loved Gene.
Like die without him loved.
It was peaceful and calm, and the city was under control. There was nothing happening that could blow up under his nose.
Gene had been wrong. He wasn’t going to die doing this job.
That was clear.
Now, life would be fantastic if his personal life were to return.
Only, there was someone who stood in the way.
Ethan.
What did a guy have to do to get his man back?
Start a riot?
Kill the man?
What?
All Tommy needed was to see him again. If he could have five minutes alone with him…
There was no doubt he could fix this. He could talk him down off of this insanity filled journey.
Ethan was married.
Tommy was not.
Ethan had a slew of kids.
Gene didn’t want kids.
What the hell was going on with his ex?
Was this a midlife crisis?
It had to be.
Heading up to the door at Chartres, he began banging on it using the knocker. The whole time, he waited for someone in the family to answer.
The bottom line was that he would keep coming here over and over again until someone helped him.
They’d been his family too.
Right?
Only, no one was answering.
Jesus.
What did a guy have to do to get answers to questions that he shouldn’t have to be even asking?
What kind of asshole changes his number the very day after a breakup?
They could be getting married if Ethan Blackhawk would just fall off the face of the goddamn earth.
Was that too much to ask?
He was banging the door harder, and with each hit, his temper grew worse and worse.
It was pissing him off that he’d been so close to having a husband, a marriage, and a good life.
So.
Damn.
Close.
That it was ruined over a fight, and that Gene was more than happy to ride off into the sunset with his ex…
It made him want to punch the man in his pretty, perfect, sharp-cheekbone’d face.
When no one answered after his relentless banging, Tommy looked at his watch, and knew his lunch break was just about over.
He’d have to deal with this later.
Oh, and he would.
This was far from done. There was no way this was even close to being over.
Bet.
On.
It.
Getting back in his car, he headed down Chartres, and didn’t look back.
He should have.
Why?
Because he wasn’t alone.
The house had a babysitter after all, and that was all because Elizabeth was paranoid as fuck.
And she’d been right to be.
Someone was coming unhinged over a breakup, and that never ended well.
EVER.
Pulling out his phone, Reaper called in to his boss to let her know what just went down.
He told her what his gut was screaming.
Ethan needed to lay low for a while, and certainly not return to New Orleans.
Because Tommy Bernard was riled up.
And coming undone.
At the seams.
* * * H U N T E R – C R O F T * * *
At Poe’s Home
After Lunch
The day was quiet, and as a psychologist, that was always a good thing.
It allowed him to find some time for some of the chores he had neglected the last few days.
So, after making homemade pizza, that Gamble ate without a single complaint, he talked to him a little while, until the man yawned.
He was still weak from trying to wither away.
So, he helped him back into his room to take another little nap to recharge.
He had time.
It wasn’t like they were going anywhere the next sixty days. At some point, he was going to try and get Gamble out of the house, and into public again.
That was a little far off yet.
In due time, when the man was ready.
For now, that was not the case.
After checking on Gamble one more time, he was sleeping peacefully, and that meant he had a few minutes, so he opted to take care of his animals. He’d also be thinking up a strategy to save Gamble, a soldier.
See…
Poe was a pacifist, so he sometimes had a difficult time relating.
He never really liked the idea of war, mainly because he saw the ramifications when people came home from it broken and damaged.
It was his job to put them back together again, and it sucked watching men and women return in pieces.
The outcome was brutal.
If he could have one wish, it would be to stop wars, and no one having to die for a flag.
Or piece of paper.
Coming out here to feed his horses always made him feel a million times better. Animals were pure spirits, and they were always decent.
They loved unconditionally and were perfect.
As the dog barked nonstop, Poe sighed.
Well, they were perfect except for the random junkyard dog that someone dumped on his property.
Case in point, one of the residents of his property. The mangy beast was his now, and he was surly and bitchy.
While he didn’t advocate dumping animals, Rufus was a special kind of annoying. He had to say his name a thousand times a day.
Rufus, don’t piss on the horse’s leg.
Rufus, don’t try to eat the ducks.
Rufus…
It was never ending.
Like now.
“Rufus, don’t annoy the horses,” he said, as the mutt did just that like he had no common sense.
Because he didn’t.
To get the work done, Poe dumped grain in their buckets, and jumped when Rufus went insane, barking like a crazed dog.
He turned so fast, and standing in the opening of the barn was Gamble.
The man was leaning against the doorjamb but had found the strength to get down there.
That was impressive.
“Rufus, stop!” he ordered, but the dog went running at Gamble, and he had to chase him.
Gamble had tried to sleep, but he heard the sounds from outside the man’s home, and he’d been curious.
As Rufus ran at him, Gamble crouched down, landing on his ass when he tipped backward.
When he did hit the ground, Rufus was on him, and Poe nearly had a heart attack.
The dog was barking, and on the man.
“Oh, Jesus,” he muttered, finally reaching him, only to find Rufus was indeed attacking.
With his tongue.
He was licking Gamble, and the man was being mauled with dog drool. His laughter filled the barn, and it was warm, enticing, and something Poe had yet to hear before now.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, grabbing Rufus by the collar and pulling him off of Gamble.
It wasn’t easy either.
He kept explaining.
“Someone dumped this menace, and I didn’t have the heart to take him to the shelter. He stays with the horses to annoy them.”
Gamble sat up, and he was fine. He was a lover of dogs, and he enjoyed them. The Hunters had one roaming around, and that always made him happy to see it.
“You can let him go. He’s not hurting me,” he reassured as Rufus went right back to him and climbed into his lap to get scratched behind the ears.
His tail was going, and he was drooling like he’d never seen before.
Poe watched, and it was his first look at the man Gamble had once been. Gone was the pain, and in its place was actual joy.
“I like dogs,” Gamble said. “I had one when I was a kid. He was this hideous mongrel but the most loyal dog in the world. He died from cancer, and to this day, I think about him.”
Poe let him talk, and he actually sat across from him, so they would be facing each other.
This seemed like a good therapy moment without him making Gamble nervous.
Sometimes, you had to do things on the DL.
Even in therapy.
“Dogs understand,” Gamble said, continuing to talk. “I don’t know how, but they know when you’re hurt, sad, happy, or struggling.”
It was clear that Rufus had homed in on that. He was curled up in the man’s lap.
“Animals are sometimes better than people,” Gamble said, his voice cracking.
Poe gave him a moment, and then continued talking to him.
“Did we make too much noise to wake you up?” Poe asked.
“I heard you check on me, and then I heard Rufus. I was curious about the horses.”
Poe knew that along with dogs, horses knew when people were struggling too.
The one in the stall not far from Gamble was trying to sniff the man. It was clear that Gamble was different when he wasn’t focused on pain.
“Well, Rufus likes NO ONE . He pisses on my loafers, and he tried to bite Reginald on the ass. We are definitely not his favorite people, but you appear to be.”
Gamble actually laughed.
The mutt was falling asleep on his leg, and he was enjoying petting him.
At Poe’s words, he reassured the dog.
“You’re just cranky, Rufus. I get it. I’m cranky too,” he admitted. “It happens. You had a rough life before being dumped, didn’t you?”
Poe watched as the man connected with the animal, and how Rufus was laying on his lap, staring at Poe as if daring him to tell him to move.
“He likes you,” Poe said. “A lot. He must think you’re a decent human being.”
Gamble ran his hands over the dog.
“A broken clock is right twice a day,” he admitted, thinking about all of the bad things that he’d done in life.
“Can I ask you something?” Gamble asked.
Poe nodded.
“Do you think my daughter died because of all of the people I’ve hurt in my life? All of the missions where I killed someone? Where I did horrible things? Was she the collateral damage because of me?”
Poe heard the pain.
“Did you just run around willy nilly killing people for fun?” he asked. “If you say, yes, I’m going to be really twitchy tonight when I go to bed.”
He laughed.
“No, I was a soldier. I did what I was told to do, and nothing more.”
Poe understood.
“Then, no. It wasn’t your karma. Had you been a shit human, and terrible, I still wouldn’t think it was your karma. We make our own, yes, but the universe has plans, and we’re helpless to stop what’s already in motion.”
“You’re not going to tell me that everything happens for a reason, are you?”
“I’d planned on it. Bad idea?” he asked.
Gamble nodded.
“Pretty much.”
Poe could tell that Gamble Holloway wasn’t a horrible human being by the way he was reacting to Rufus, but he knew this was a touchy subject, and he needed to help the man.
“If we quiet down, do you want to go back up and rest?” he asked, changing the subject.
He was honest.
“No. When I close my eyes, I see it. I didn’t feel like torturing myself anymore. It wasn’t so much the noise, but my brain.”
He understood.
“And thanks for the pizza. It was good.”
This was the most he’d said to him since being there. It appeared that someone was chilling out.
That gave Poe hope.
He needed to keep this going.
“Want to meet the horses?” he asked.
That was all he had to say.
He nodded and nudged the dog out of his lap.
When Poe got up, and reached to help Gamble up, Rufus growled at him.
“Oh, I don’t think so, Rufus. When you wandered onto my porch, you were flea ridden, starving, and alone. I took care of you. You don’t get to bite me or get bitchy. We’re in this mess together. Don’t forget it.”
Gamble let Poe help him. When he was up, both men brushed themselves off.
Gamble’s head was right next to the horse behind him, and she was trying to eat his hair.
“Uh, did you feed the horses today? My hair is not straw.”
He laughed.
“That’s Honey. Why do you ask? Because she’s the color of honey. I wasn’t really creative with names. She was injured, and they were going to put her down because the cost was too high.”
“And you saved her?”
He shrugged.
“Every living thing deserves a second, third, and fourth chance.”
That comment was for Gamble, and if he got it, he made no mention of it.
Instead, he focused on the horse.
“Can I touch her?”
Poe waved his hand.
“Absolutely. Have at it. She loves people. She’s a steady and slow kind of horse. These are her retirement years in my stable.”
Gamble ran his hands over her coat, and she was so shiny. When Poe handed him an apple from a box not far away, he fed it to her.
“She’s pretty.”
“She’s my only girl. The other three are males, and feisty as fuck, unfortunately. If I want to get bucked off, I ride them. If I want to be carried with no worries, I take Honey. She’s as gentle as they come. I like to think she knew they were going to end her life, and I saved her.”
Gamble was curious.
“Did you grow up riding?” he asked.
The man nodded.
“My family has always had horses. It’s kinda a family thing,” he admitted.
He fed the horse another apple, and it was very cathartic.
“Do you have any other siblings, other than your brother who died?” Gamble asked, curious about the man who was helping him—or would be in sixty days if he failed.
“Just the one,” he said. “Like I mentioned, he died in battle in Afghanistan. He flew a helicopter, and was on a joint mission with American soldiers. They were shot down, and he went down with the helicopter. He held it steady long enough over a lake for the Marines onboard to get out. He was the only casualty.”
He glanced over.
“I’m sorry.”
Poe wasn’t sure why he showed him, but he pulled out his wallet, and opened it. Then, pulled out the picture.
“That’s my twin brother, Hemmingway Seville. My mother…she liked writers. I was named after Edgar Allen, in case you thought Poe was just creative. It’s not.”
He looked at the picture, and they were identical. He was in a suit and tie, and his brother was in British military fatigues. They stood side-by-side, and his soldier brother had his arm over his shoulders.
There was love there.
When he handed the picture back, Poe gave him another. This time, it was him and his brother in riding gear, along with his mother and father in it too.
“A family of riders.”
He smiled.
“Like I said, horses run in the family.”
When Gamble took it, he flipped the picture over.
‘The Duke and Dutchess Gorden with their two heirs, Hemmingway and Poe Seville.’
“Oh,” he said, looking up. “Is that legit? They are those kind of horse people? Royalty?”
He nodded.
“Should I be calling you something different like Duke or…?” Gamble asked.
Poe laughed.
“Absolutely not. It was luck of the draw when it came to genes. My father was a famous polo player, and he would play with the other royals. My mother breeds horses, and she’s created a few champion lines. Like I said, it’s a family thing, but I don’t really go by any royal titles. Mainly because my family is alive, and technically, my father is the Duke. I’m just…Poe.”
Gamble handed the photo back, and he didn’t expect any of that. The man seemed to be very much a doctor, but he definitely had a few layers.
“What’s that horse’s name?” he asked, pointing to an all black one not far away.
Poe laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
“Diablo. Want to take a wild guess why he’s been saddled with that name?” he asked. “The hint isn’t because of the color of his coat.”
“Because he’s pretty?”
Poe snorted.
“More like HE’S THE DEVIL ,” he said, feeding him an apple. “Wicked as the day is long, but so goddamn perfect. He was my brother’s horse, and my mother specially bred him for Hemmingway. No one could ride him but him. My parents wanted to sell him because looking at him hurt, but I wanted to remember my brother barebacking that monster like it was nothing.”
Gamble touched him.
“He’s big.”
“Yeah, and bold,” he said, as the horse nipped Poe on the shoulder, but he didn’t even flinch.
As Gamble pet him, the big horse put his head on his shoulder, nuzzling him.
Poe had never seen it do that to anyone but his brother. It was clear someone was a horse and dog whisperer.
“And him?” he asked, kissing Diablo on the head, and moving on.
Poe shared.
“This is Snow,” he said, moving down to the next horse.
He was all white, and had icy blue eyes.
“He was born during a blizzard, and it took all I had to keep him alive. His mother didn’t want him, and she refused to nurse him. Those were the longest months of my life. Now, he will let me ride him, but only when he wants me to. He’s ungrateful, but I love him to pieces.”
Gamble had come down to the barn for a few reasons. The first being he wanted to see the horses, but also because he was curious about Poe.
This was his way to study him in his own habitat. This was the man he’d be here with for sixty days, and he was sure there would be some wild moments.
He knew his demons.
“You really bottle fed him?”
He nodded.
“He’s a daddy’s boy,” he said, patting him on the side. “He’ll follow me around, but like I said, he’s selective with riding. He isn’t good with a saddle. I can only ride him bareback—again when he wants.”
Gamble was honest.
“He’s beautiful.”
“Oh, and he knows it,” Poe said. “His biggest issue is he likes speed, like Diablo. They will race. If you’ve ever been on a runaway train with no seatbelt, that’s what it’s like riding them.”
He gave Gamble an apple, and he fed it to the horse. Then, he ran his hands over his neck.
“Want to brush him?” he asked.
“Can I?” Gamble asked.
“Absolutely. I have to do this every day. Maybe while you’re here, you can help me. It takes so long alone.”
“Okay,” he said, taking the brush.
“I’ll do Diablo because he’s just mean,” he said, pointing at the horse.
It neighed.
He let Gamble into the stall, and he brushed that horse down better than he did, and he didn’t show any exhaustion at all. It was clear that these horses HAD to be part of Gamble’s recovery.
“Last but not least, this is King. He created that menace, Diablo. He fathered him, and he’s just as spiteful as his son—but worse.”
Gamble was curious.
“Why do you keep them if they are difficult?” Gamble asked, trying to pet King, but he wasn’t having it.
“I like a challenge. I’ll break them in at some point. If you want to ride, you’re more than welcome to get on Honey. Like I said, she’s a sweetheart.”
He leaned down to scratch Rufus’ ear. The dog was following him everywhere.
“Thanks.”
“Do you think you can handle Honey?” Poe asked.
He nodded.
“Yeah, I do.”
Oh, this was going to be perfect.
He could tell.
The man was going to have a reason to live, and responsibilities to the horses.
Purpose.
“Feel free anytime. Honey will take you on a tour and then bring you right back. She is snack motivated. Just tell her it’s time for apples.”
She made some noise.
“See?” he said, feeding her one.
“Thanks,” he said. “You have a nice place, Doctor. It’s calm here.”
Yes, yes, it was.
That was for his own mental health.
“Poe, please. I’m not formal, and while we both know what my job is, most of the time, I’m just this man. I like to ride my horses, and make food. I’m simple.”
“Not royalty?”
He shrugged.
“It was a title. It’s not who my family is. If you walked up to my mother on her farm, you’d think she was actually the person who tends the animals. She walks in more horse shit than anyone I know.”
Again, that was surprising.
British and a Duke?
Really?
“As for my father, he’s this stodgy old fellow who likes to tell tales of riding horses way too fast, and stealing the hearts of the ladies. In front of my mother. He pokes her, and she rallies back, telling him he can’t get his ass into a saddle alone anymore or that she only married him because how his hind end looked in polo pants.”
Gamble listened.
Yeah, he was learning a lot.
What made him most comfortable was that he didn’t feel like he wasn’t safe. This was a pretty calming place where the demons weren’t chasing him down.
Thank God.
“How much land is there to ride?” he asked.
“A little over fifty acres. Some is swamp, but for the most part, it’s flat land. The horses know were they can go and can’t go.”
Poe touched his arm.
“You know that this was a session, right?” he asked. “And that they don’t have to be traumatizing. It’s about opening up, and getting it off your chest.”
Gamble nodded.
“I know. This is also where you tell me it’s not my fault, and I need to let it go.”
He stopped him.
“Actually, no. That’s not how I run my sessions. Ever take your shirt off, meditate, and do some yoga to center yourself?”
He stared at him.
Then, looked around. When he focused on Poe, he pulled up his other sleeve and there was a Marine flag and tags.
“Sir, you might be confused. I’m a Marine. We don’t meditate with our shirt off. I’m not into pina coladas and munching granola. I like beer, a steak, and a run.”
It made Poe laugh.
“Oh, you’re a funny one, Mr. Holloway. Let’s just say that your time here won’t be like any other place you’ve been,” he said. “That I can promise. Oh, and you will love granola for breakfast. I make my own.”
Gamble was realizing that this was an odd place. The demons hadn’t shown up yet.
As for the granola…
They’d see about that.
“Shall we go in, meditate, and work on downward dog?” Poe asked.
He stared at him.
“As long as you don’t try to tell me my heart will heal, I’ll love another woman again, and I’ll go on to have more kids. That’s never going to happen.”
He reassured him.
“Actually, that’s not for me to say. That’s for you to decide. If you are never getting back on that bus, so be it. I’m here to help you empower your life, not make it what it was. The old Gamble is dead. Here’s where you remake him. Here’s your second chance to be a new man.”
He was surprised.
“Uh, okay. I guess.”
Poe held out his arm, even though Gamble was bigger—or was when he had his weight on him.
“Shall we?” he asked. “I’ll keep you from falling.”
Without hesitating, Gamble took it.
Why?
He was intrigued as to why this man wasn’t going to force him to relive his past.
Was he really going to let him die and be reborn someone new?
This he had to see for himself.
* * * H U N T E R – C R O F T * * *
Washington, DC
Her Day Off
In The kitchen
When Elizabeth Blackhawk’s phone rang, it was almost never good news.
It was just something she’d grown accustomed to since being forced into the deputy directorship.
Now, with the mess in Boston and New Orleans , it could go from bad to worse in a heartbeat.
There was no hiding.
So, she took the call. As soon as she saw the number, she knew trouble was brewing.
NOLA trouble.
Reaper didn’t call unless there was a situation. The man was anti-tech, and preferred to do things face-to-face, but with her up North…
The phone it was.
When she answered it, the call, like she suspected, was quick, succinct, and right to the damn point.
They had a problem, and unfortunately, she’d called it beforehand.
Damn it.
She hated that she was right.
Only, she had been.
After speaking to her old friend, and hearing how Thomas Bernard was making one hell of a spectacle of himself outside the Hunter’s home, she knew this was on the cusp of exploding.
Elizabeth’s job was to anticipate and handle anything heading their way.
Oh, and she dreaded dealing with the man.
Why?
Because she actually liked Gene, and she’d told Tommy that if push came to shove, she’d do more than give him a shove.
She’d bury him.
Elizabeth had warned him that she had to protect the missions in NOLA at all costs. It was the countries first line of defense against anything hitting their ports.
The same was true for Boston .
At first, her hope was he’d believe that and stop doing stupid shit.
Now, she could see that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.
What to do?
What to do?
That was the question.
She had a couple of options, and all of them involved her getting her ass back on a plane.
Damn it.
As she stood there in the kitchen, staring into the living room where all of her kids were on the couch—Uncle Gene with them, Elizabeth knew that this had to be handled carefully.
If not, there would be pain for multiple people, and her job was to not only protect the United States of America, but to protect her family.
This was going to be tricky.
As Ethan came in, he saw the look on her face and knew something was up.
“Uh-oh. What happened?” he asked, knowing his wife didn’t look perplexed for nothing.
When she didn’t answer him, the panic set in.
Silence was always a red flag.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Elizabeth knew she couldn’t lie to him, but she also didn’t want anything she said to affect his relationship with Gene.
With just the couple of days they’d been home, the man was completely different.
Ethan was calm, and seemed like he’d found his groove. There was little tension, and he was…
HAPPY.
The bottom line was that they all wanted that for him. A calm Ethan was a happy family. The demons that had chased and haunted him seemed to be at bay.
Now, she had to be honest with him, so she eased him into it.
“Nothing, really. I’m just handling the situation in NOLA.”
Yeah, she was holding back.
He’d been married to her for fourteen years, and this face…it meant one thing.
“Bad news?” he asked, sensing her discomfort. “What aren’t you telling me? You’re not leaving to go there, are you?” he asked, panic building.
Well, she couldn’t lie to him.
Instead, she lowered her voice.
“I may have to. EJ, Reaper just called. Tommy is getting erratic, and it’s only been a couple of days. He’s going to be a problem for The Hunters.”
Well, that wasn’t good.
Not.
At.
All.
They’d made the conscious decision, as a family, to protect Gene no matter what.
The collective would protect itself.
That was the bottom line.
“What are you going to do?” he asked, knowing this had to be her call.
The Hunters couldn’t be burned in NOLA. They were holding the port open, so the bad guys didn’t get in.
Yeah, it was dire.
“What choice do I have?” she asked. “If he goes off the rez, I gotta end him. I can’t risk Tommy doing something stupid or coming up here and hurting you. He’s going to put this all on you, EJ, and you’ll be his target.”
He reassured her.
“I’m safe.”
Was he?
She didn’t think so.
They’d played reindeer games with jealous, insane people, and Tommy was acting like one of them. That always made people do erratic things.
He was being consumed with jealousy, and that never ended well.
“If I have to pull the trigger on this, Ethan, will Gene be able to hold up? Is Gene going to be able to handle it if he finds out Tommy didn’t live?”
He stood there.
“Are you really going to take him out?” he whispered, shocked that she’d say it.
Oh, he knew his wife was the president’s personal handler, but this was Gene’s ex.
“If I have to, EJ, I have to. If he risks The Hunters, I have no choice. We have Tommy versus a dozen people we love and need to keep working to protect the country. This puts me in a really bad place.”
Jesus.
He didn’t envy her.
Oh, he’d been there, but he got out because he couldn’t do the job like she could. The choices that had to be made were difficult and weighed on him.
Now, the hard decisions were hers, and hers alone. For that, he was so sorry.
Now, The Hunters, like the Crofts, were her responsibility.
Because she needed an answer, he gave her one to answer her question as to if Gene would be okay.
“Now, no. I need time, Elizabeth, to acclimate him. You have to give him some time to forget about his past. If you kill switch TB, there will be fallout,” he said, not even using his name.
She needed to know.
“For the Hunters or for you?”
That caught him off guard, and she was staring into his eyes, and already, she saw the struggle he was facing. They’d opened Pandora’s Box of his past, and the secrets were about to escape.
Her gut said he had a few that he hadn’t told his family about, and she wasn’t sure he ever would. Then again, his past before her was his.
NOT hers.
“We’re just friends.”
She knew that was not how he felt. She could see him with Gene, and he’d been a different person.
Elizabeth was a gambling kind of a woman, and she’d bet dollars to donuts that her husband was still in love with his ex.
Like love- LOVE .
Like what he felt for her and Chris.
At some point, that was going to come to a head, and they’d have to deal with it.
“EJ, if I have to take him out, where does your allegiance lie?” she asked, not having a choice. This couldn’t rip their family apart.
They had kids.
The bottom line was that she and Ethan were the foundation for it all.
At her words, he lifted her chin to reassure her.
“I will forever stand with my wife. I will never do anything to hurt or betray you.”
Yeah, she didn’t buy that. Love was a powerful thing, and she knew how Ethan felt about Gene.
He was in love.
When she heard him coming, she jerked her head toward the doorway to warn him. When Gene walked in, he came to a stop.
“Oh, did I interrupt something private?” he asked, seeing only them in there. “I was just coming in for some coffee.”
Ethan crossed to him and took his hand in his.
“No, you didn’t, Gene. I was here for the same thing. Let me hook you up with one. Elizabeth, would you like to join us for an afternoon coffee break?”
She smiled, covering that dread she was feeling. What choice did she have?
This was her family, and her responsibility.
“Like you have to ask. Bring on the coffee. I think I have some stashed baked goods that the boys didn’t find yet. Anyone want some sugar?”
Gene kissed her on the forehead.
“Now, that’s a lady after my own heart. The day I say no to baked goods, have my head checked. I’ve clearly lost my damn mind.”
Jesus.
She only hoped this lady could keep his heart intact. Thomas Bernard was kicking over a lot of rocks and making a mess in the city.
Unfortunately, that was going to get him into a lot of trouble.
NOLA was dangerous.
And the man was…
Clueless.