He laughed at that because if he didn’t, he’d weep. His heart was already sympathizing, and his body and brain was remembering the best man he’d ever been with in his whole life.
It was the one he gave his heart to, and never got it back.
So, to avoid it, he hung up the phone.
Why?
He didn’t know if he could handle trusting the man, if there was even a slight chance that he was going to blow his world out of the water.
AGAIN.
Instead of thinking about that, he took the brown leather book, and he headed toward the kitchen to be where there wasBRIGHTlight, and no one could sneak up on him.
What he needed was a cup of coffee.
As he made a pot, knowing it was going to be a long night, he jogged up the stairs, again, to the suite, and peeked inside to check on the man.
Still, Graham hadn’t moved.
He was out cold and that was probably for the best.
He didn’t need to play‘find the ex around the haunted castle in the dark’as the evening’s plans. There was enough on his plate.
When he reached the kitchen, the coffee was made, and he poured it into a cup and sat down at the island.
That’s when he saw it.
On the counter, sitting on a very plain box was his Purple Heart.
Oh, and that caught him off guard in ways he couldn’t explain.
What the hell?
He’d not put that there.
And he knew for a fact that Graham had dropped it. Michael had watched as it fell from his hand, tumbling into the abyss.
There was no way it could be back from that tumble down the cliffIN THE DARK.
That meant one thing.
This had to be another ghostly intervention.
While he was likely going to regret what he was about to do, he went there.
“Duncan and Ciarán, did you retrieve the pin?” he asked, and then held his breath to see what would happen.
That’s when it did.
The Purple Heart fell off of the box, and slid toward him. It happened so fast, Michael actually jumped—and went for a sidearm—that he didn’t have.
Oh, it was a bad time to feel this vulnerable.
All around him, there was a chill that went down his back, almost like someone was right there, staring over his shoulder.
And he didn’t turn around.
No.
