Word had come in when their unit was being disbanded, and the soldiers were being sent back to different bases. They’d managed to end up at bases close to each other, and had been able to get off-base housing.
Together.
But Michael knew it was only temporary.
Graham was going back to Scotland for his last six months of duty, and Michael…
He was going home as in back to the US to reassimilate with normal people, and a not-so-normal job.
D’Artangnan Graves, him, was given an opportunity like none other. With his abilities and skills, he was asked to become an Archangel.
The only catch?
Oh, and it was the worst one possible too.
He couldn’t tell anyone of his classified assignment back in the US.
NO.
ONE.
He was being put on protection duty for the Director of the FBI, to ensure he was not injured.
For him, it was an easy duty, and after all he’d seen in the countless tours of the Middle East, he needed a break.
His mental health demanded it.
It would be nice not to be balancing on the razor’s edge all of the time.
When you spent days being shot at, nearly being blown to kingdom come with IEDs, and you didn’t know if you were going home alive or in a box…
You wanted a simple duty to heal those damages.
So, he took it.
The reward in this duty was that he’d be flush with cash, and then he and Graham could find the life they both craved so much.
Together.
So, D’Artangnan took the duty, assuming that Graham would follow him or at least trust to know that he wasn’t going to hurt him.
After all, they were madly, stupidly in love. They talked about marriage, and a life outside of the war zone many nights in their off-base apartment.
The cash he was being offered would be life-changing, and he had wanted that for both of them.
Without hesitating to make their lives better in the next year, he had signed on the dotted line and was sworn to secrecy. Michael had taken a second oath to protect the people the government assigned him to.
It had been one of the happiest days of his life. Because of that choice, they would be able to live anywhere, do anything, and have the money to make it happen.
When he’d told Graham he was going home, and had been given the ultimatum…
If he left, it was over…
It caught him off guard.
Did he love him that little that he couldn’t come with him?
Did he love him that little that he couldn’t trust in him?
