Well, then, the man was on the same page. He knew Graham had never let that love go.
“It’s a good plan,” Gryphen admitted. “I’m behind you on this. The universe put this together, and now, you are being given a second chance. How you handle it will mean the difference in both of your lives.”
He was aware.
For Michael, it was time to pick up where he’d left off and not restart. He knew the man Graham was, and that would never change.
He’d once been his best friend.
Now, he’d work hard to make him his husband. Even if it took Graham years to trust him again.
“He left me the box.”
Gryphen lifted a brow.
Oh, he knew that had to be big. He also knew about it, and he was curious.
“What was in it?” he asked, “if you don’t mind sharing.”
He didn’t.
Michael told him.
“He wrote me letters. Then, at the bottom, there were two rings. He engraved mine, and he wore his for God only knew how long. It was clear that he planned on loving me forever. Hehad hope when I was gone, and he hired private investigators to find me, Gryph. He never stopped. In seven and a half years, he kept going.”
Oh, he was aware.
“That seems like the love of a lifetime,” Gryphen admitted. “If Ian left me tomorrow, I’d keep looking for him until the day I died. Like when I was in that coma, he didn’t leave my side.”
Michael was aware.
He’d sat beside Ian, waiting and hoping his friend pulled through not only for all of them, but for Ian. The man had been devastated.
Michael shared what else happened.
“This morning, I went into the lake.”
He lifted a brow.
Uh-oh.
“Alone?”
He nodded.
“And it nearly killed me. Something grabbed me by the ankles, and I couldn’t get free. You know me, Gryph. I lifeguard the Blackhawk kids because I can hold my breath a long-ass time, and I’m the only other person who can swim like a fish like Elizabeth. Still, I nearly died in the water.”
That worried him.
When he and Ian were here, it wasn’t nearly that dangerous.
Not.
Even.
Close.
Something had changed—and for the worse. It was targeting everyone now.
