Chapter Eighteen #6
“I wouldn’t do that if I was you, Lads. Last time, I wanted to die. This time, I want to live. There’s no creature more dangerous than one with something to lose.”
They both laughed.
Meanwhile, Riley was back on his feet, cradling his arm.
“I’ll give whoever cuts him open five hundred dollars,” he offered. “Just make him bleed for stealing what’s mine,” he stated.
The two thugs would take the money, and the man’s ass. They’d been promised a good fuck, and they were going to get it.
One way or another.
When one of the men threw a knife at Graham, he effortlessly snagged it out of the air.
“Now, you’ve tried to kill me. Let the games begin. You’re not leaving alive.”
As one of the men rushed him, he took him down, easily, punching out his teeth, and then booting him brutally in the balls.
The man dropped to his knees, his toothless mouth moving like a fish out of water.
His soundless scream didn’t alert anyone.
When the second man came at him with some board he found in the alley by the dumpster, he swung.
And missed.
With fast, effortless moves, he grabbed the man’s arm, twisted, used his elbow to slam into the bone, and shattered it in half.
The man screamed in pain.
That was when Riley grabbed his knife from the ground, and bum-rushed Graham once again. As he got close, Graham let him make a stab at him. That’s when he locked his good arm under his, and they were up close and personal.
“Ya, ain’t getting me husband, shit-for-brains,” he said, the Scottish accent so thick, it was almost difficult to understand what he said.
Then, he punctuated it by slamming his head against Riley’s, breaking his nose.
That’s when Riley went down at his feet.
From behind him, someone cleared his throat, and Graham spun, ready to keep fighting.
Only, it wasn’t foe.
It was friends.
“He fights dirty,” Gryphen said. “I like that. Now I know why you told us just to watch and not interfere. He’s a menace to dumbasses everywhere.”
That he was.
And he was his husband.
“Babe, do I have to handcuff you to the headboard when I go to sleep?” he asked, opening his arms for his husband.
And Graham walked into them.
Yeah, Michael had just wanted to be there to make sure his man didn’t go to jail for homicide. That’s why they dragged Finn with them.
The cop had witnessed it all.
Someone was fucked.
Riley, his ex, had just tried to assault a Scottish citizen with a knife in an alley.
Oof.
Someone wasn’t going home anytime soon, and that worked for him.
“I see you saw my phone,” he admitted.
Michael just held him, as Riley stared up at him from the ground with a face full of blood. There were tears in the man’s eyes.
And he didn’t care.
“He wasn’t lying?” Riley asked. “You married him?”
Michael shrugged.
“He was and is the love of my life, Riley. You were the rebound guy. He was always the one.”
The man just sat there bleeding, and it was clear the words hurt.
Well, he had that coming.
For Michael, seeing Riley didn’t even make him feel anything—not love, not hurt, not empathy.
He lifted Graham’s chin and stared into his eyes.
“Yes, I saw your phone, Babe. I thought I’d have to come be an alibi, but I see you didn’t finish them like those assholes in Djibouti.”
He laughed.
“I wouldn’t have had to finish those pirates in Djibouti had you finished pissing in that alley a little faster,” he said as Michael kissed him.
Graham melted into the kiss, and he was so grateful his mate and husband had faith in him.
When he broke it, Riley was crying.
“So it’s really over?” Riley asked, so upset that the man was gone, and so was the money.
Michael was watching Finn cuff his ex, and he knew that backup was coming for the other two.
“It was over the day you betrayed me and my family. I told you that when you stood over my hospital bed. I don’t forgive people who betray me.”
Finn yanked Riley to his feet, and he yelped from his broken wrist.
“But he’s a whore!” he protested. “He slept with so many people!”
Michael just grinned.
“And he’s fantastic in bed. You should take a lesson and practice more. Oh, wait. I’m going to say you’ll get lots of practice in jail. Don’t drop the soap, Riley.”
Gryphen just laughed as he leaned on the dumpster. Yeah, he was glad Michael had been right, and he’d been wrong.
Finn shook his head.
“I have to file this paperwork. Are ya pressing charges, Lad? As your best friend, I insist.”
Michael stopped him.
He had a better plan.
“Call Elizabeth Blackhawk. This piece of shit hasn’t only been slandering me in the media. He’s been going scorched earth on the Blackhawks. I bet she’d love to have him back in the US and in her jurisdiction.”
Finn grinned.
“Oh, well, less paperwork for me.”
Graham pointed at the two men on the ground too scared to move.
“I’m not pressing charges on Riley’s helpers. They’ve learned their lesson. They won’t look at me again. The one is gonna be singing soprano.”
When Graham lunged at the men, to scare them, they both cowered together like he was going to hit them.
“Remember that. I know where to find you, and I will,” he said. When he crouched down, he grinned. “I was Black Watch,” he whispered, just to see the terror on their faces.
Oh, they were done trying to mess with him.
As they waited for the patrol car to come pick the assholes up, and to take Riley in so he could get sent back to the US, Michael leaned against the alley wall with Graham between his legs.
“This was one way to spend our honeymoon,” Michael admitted.
Graham grinned.
“I don’t know. I’m with The Mysterious Graves, and there’s nowhere I’d rather be.”
He’d second that.
“Only, there are two Mysterious Graves now. I’m not sure Scotland is ever going to be the same.”
Honestly, Graham hoped not.
When Gryphen whistled, his friend glanced over.
“Yo. The pub is still open. How about we grab a few pints while we wait for Finn to clean up this horrific mess that you’ve made?”
Graham laughed.
Why?
Finn flipped them all off.
“Arseholes.”
Yeah, they were.
But they were happy arseholes.
“That’s what you get for stealing the girl when we were twelve,” Graham teased.
Oh, only, his husband wasn’t having it.
“Pardon?”
Like a good Marine, Gryphen distracted them.
“First round is on Graham,” Gryphen said, changing the subject as he slapped Graham on the ass as he walked past him.
“HEY!” he said. “I didn’t bring my wallet! I rushed out to defend my honor!”
Michael laughed.
“I mean, he likes kink too, and that is a fine ass, Mr. Graves. I’ll buy you a drink,” he said, slapping him on the ass too.”
His heart skipped.
“Well, I’m not telling my husband no,” he said, winking at him.
Thank God for that.
The three men headed in, and for the first time, in a long time, Graham felt damn good.
They’d solved all of the mysteries in the castle, minus how to break the curse, he’d gotten his man back, and he was happily married.
It looked like it was case closed. All that was left was finding someone to break the curse.
But until then…
Graham would have some fun.
With his husband.
Until death did they part.