Somehow, he managed to find the words and get them out.
“I work here. I’m the caretaker.”
Jesus.
H.
Christ.
That confirmed what he’d been thinking. His ass had been set up by hisFAMILY.
“What are you doing there?” Graham asked the exact same question.
Yeah, Michael was asking himself that at that very moment, and he wasn’t liking the answers he was coming up with.
He knew he needed to make a choice, and there was only one in his mind.
“Don’t worry. I’m not staying,” he said, finally making his mind up.
There was no fucking way he could do this. His soul was in tatters, and the second he saw Graham, he knew if he stayed, he’d rage.
This man broke him in ways he couldn’t even articulate. He’d been in pieces when his other half gave him that ultimatum, shoving him out of his life.
It all came back to him with one cold, hard truth.
Their three years together had meant nothing, and he wasn’t doing this again. In his fragile state, the last thing he was going to do was face down the one person he’d given his whole heart to all of those years ago.
He couldn’t handle it.
Without a word, Graham just watched the man he still loved go bright red.
And leave.
AGAIN.
In that moment, he wanted to be ill. It was like history was repeating itself, and he was trapped in its vicious cycle. He came, he saw, he left.
Over and over again.
And the same outcome happened.
Turning without saying another word, Michael whipped open the door, and headed out. He left that kitchen, trying to escape what he’d just experienced. So, he began, walking back around the castle to where he left the motorcycle.
It didn’t even matter that he’d left the backpack on the kitchen floor.
He just had to escape.
And fast.
Jumping the bike to life, he tore out of there, blowing down the driveway and toward the only exit. When he reached it, he used his watch to unlock it, and then hauled ass through the gates.
Michael left his past behind.
AGAIN.
As he made his escape, his heart was pounding in his chest, and he was ready to have the mother of all panic attacks.
Oh, and it was coming.
