So, he kept digging into his mind, not sure how he found this information, but he’d let it play out.
“Did you sign up for duty to be an Archangel?” he asked again, as he could hear the words in his head as if they were being whispered there for him. “For us?”
D’Artangnan grinned.
“Babe, I’m not supposed to talk about it. It’s classified work, but they are going to pay me so much money. We won’t be poor and have to live in a place like this. We’ll be flush. I’ll take care of you! We can have a big house, and…”
Tears filled Graham’s eyes.
God.
This is how it could have gone had he told him about it. Had he just clued him in, or had he trusted that this was really love, they would have made it.
They would have survived this turning point—instead of going to Hell in a handbasket over anger, suspicion, and lack of trust.
Why hadn’t he just done this the right way?
For them?
Graham focused on his Marine.
“For me?” he asked, going there. “You’re doing all of this for me?”
D’Artangnan nodded, and he took Graham’s face in his hands.
As he stared in his eyes, he was honest.
“I know you have six months left, Babe. I know that you’ll have to be here alone, but I’ll go back to the US, and I’ll get us set up. I’ll bust my ass to put that money in the bank, and I’ll set us up really good. I’ll be making five times what I do now. We can use that to figure this out and make a family.”
Graham couldn’t breathe.
This killed him.
That day, D’Artangnan had been doing this for them? Again, he didn’t know how he knew, but it was too real not to be true—and it was more this man’s nature.
When he’d accused him of keeping secrets, and told him to leave, he only wished he’d known about this. His sweet D’Artangnan, the love of his life, had been doing this for him, and only him.
He’d had the greatest man in the world, and let him slip through his fingers.
“I can’t leave Scotland. I have to stay here. This is my home.”
Honestly, he couldn’t believe he was saying this now. Looking back, he’d leave and go to the US with D’Artangnan in a heartbeat.
The alternative had sucked.
What wouldn’t he do to go back in time and change his world for the better?
D’Artangnan kissed him softly on the lips, and then stared into his eyes.
“I’ll come back. You can trust me, Babe. We can survive this. I’ll make sure I work a year, and we’ll have enough money to buy a house here. I’ll retire for you. I’ll come back and we can be married. I’ll give up my citizenship for you. You’re the love of my life.”
His heart ached.
Why?
Because he believed that the man would have done that in a heartbeat.
That was just his nature.
