Damien rubbed his thumb over her knuckles as she spoke, asking questions and chuckling when she talked about the silly things her dad would do to make life fun for her.She asked about his family and was rewarded with a genuine smile as he talked about his nephews.
“Do you visit them much?”
“I should go more, but work keeps me busy.When someone needs us, we have to go.”
“What do you do?”
“I work for Rose Protection Agency.”
“What does that mean?”
He breathed a laugh.“It’s not bad that you don’t know.Usually people don’t know about us, and if they do, it’s because they needed help.It’s simple, though.We protect people.Sometimes witnesses who need to testify, sometimes private clients, sometimes victims.”
“Wow.That’s a really important job.”
He nodded.“It is.It’s very rewarding to be able to help.”
“That’s not why you do it.”
His head snapped up to meet her gaze.He laughed softly.“Not entirely, no.”
“Why do you do it?”
He stared at the blank TV screen.His eyes seemed to lose focus before he spoke.“When I was in high school, I witnessed a shooting.A classmate was trying to be tough, thought he was doing the right thing getting involved with some dangerous people.He was trying to prove himself and ended up shooting a kid.It was an accident, the kid wasn’t the target or anything, but the kid died.He was only four-years-old.”
“Oh my God.”
Damien nodded.“It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen.I was friends with his older brother, and we were just hanging around.The shooter was in our grade, and they got into it at school.The people he was hanging around with hyped him up and told him to take care of it.Put a gun in his hand and spun him up.He was waving the gun around and shouting that he was going to take care of my buddy.The gun went off.He was being careless, but it was totally avoidable.As soon as it happened, he dropped the gun and ran.We did everything we could, but…”
“Wow.I am so sorry.”She squeezed his hand.
He glanced sideways at her.“Thanks.”He cleared his throat.“Anyway, that’s why I do what I do.I joined the military because I wanted to be able to help make a difference.When I got out, I was still looking for something.Rose offered me that.”
“It sounds like it’s a good organization.Captain Patrick was here in a hurry.”
“Marcus is good to us.We work together a lot.He and his wife are amazing people.”
“I haven’t met her, but I’ve heard of Shelter in the Storm.”
“They do a lot of great work there.It’s sad places like that are necessary, and companies like mine.There’s too much hate in the world.”
“I agree.”
He smiled at her as Harmony yawned widely.
“I am so sorry.”
He chuckled.“It’s okay.You’ve had a long day, and a lot going on lately.”
“That was really rude, though.”
“No, it wasn’t.You can’t help being tired.And I should be more aware.Why don’t you get some sleep?”
“Are you going to sleep?”
“I will.”
Harmony felt like a bad hostess for going to bed when he wasn’t ready to sleep yet.“I’ll stay up with you.”
