“I’ve missed you.”
Michael kissed him on the temple.
“I missed you too. We’ll have a long life together,” he offered. “Well, unless I take a bullet again for a Blackhawk,” he said, joking.
Graham didn’t find it funny.
Not.
At.
All.
He stepped back and stared into his eyes. In them, Michael saw fear.
“It’s something we’ll have to keep in mind. With a big paycheck and bonuses, I risk dying.”
Graham didn’t want money.
“Then, we stay here. I don’t want to lose you. I don’t give a shit about money, D’Artangnan. Please. If I lose you, I’m lost forever.”
He touched his face.
“Okay, my love. I hear you. I’ll retire. I just need to tell Elizabeth. She suspects it, but I wanted to clear it with you.”
He stopped him.
“Do you want to retire? This can’t only be about me. You should have say in it too. Again, we’re partners now.”
Yes, yes, they were.
“I’m going to miss them. You know I don’t have a family. I was dumped in an orphanage. They’ve been my family for those seven and a half years I didn’t have you, but I will say, the last one was close.”
Graham sat down and looked ill.
“Someone was trying to kill Christopher. I stepped between him and the bullet, and because he was shorter, it hit my shoulder. I nearly bled out. I’m lucky to have any use in my arm. They paid for the best doctors and rehab for me.”
He said nothing.
“Speak to me.”
Only, he didn’t get a chance.
With the worst timing, Graham’s phone rang. Only, it was a number he didn’t recognize.
Immediately, he thought it would be some man trying for a hookup. The calls mostly came at night, and it was heading toward evening.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“It’s a number I don’t know,” he said.
Michael took the phone. Only, instead of getting ready to tear someone a new one for calling his man, he saw it and knew.
He laughed.
“She’s got uncanny timing. That’s Elizabeth. Why is she calling you?”
Graham didn’t know.
