Taking a deep breath, he resigned himselfto going home.After carefully returning the letter to his wallet, Travis backed out of Brantley’s driveway, keeping his foot steady on the accelerator rather than slamming it to the floor the way he wanted.He needed to remain calm, to think this through.
Should he tell Gage?Would Gage benefit from having this information?Doubtful.It would only hurt him because every time they dredged up the past, they both experienced a setback.To the point Travis had to wonder whether they would ever move on.
He could pretend the conversation with Brantley never happened.Not until there was some definitive proof.Because,come on… Kylie alive?Yeah, it would be an answer to his prayers, but Travis knew that it wasn’t possible.It was Holt’s fiction wreaking havoc with reality.The man was clearly off his rocker if he thought for one second that some rogue group of corrupt government officials kidnapped his wife and was holding her captive somewhere in an effort to take down Max Adorite.
Max fucking Adorite.The head of the Adorite Crime Family.Or the Southern Boy Mafia, as the media preferred to call them.
Travis knew Max.He wouldn’t say they were friends, but they were probably more than acquaintances.After all, Max had done Travis a solid by tracking down the woman who killed Kylie and taking her out of this world for good.Travis owed Max for that, and he knew he would one day be called upon to pay that debt.
Not that he minded.He didn’t lose a minute of sleep over the fact that Juliet Prince was dead.
But Travis wasn’t supposed to know that Brantley was running on the assumption that some crooked FBI agents were holding Kylie captive somewhere.That wasn’t the information Brantley had given him to justify his crazy assumption.No, that was the information Travis had gleaned from the electronic board in the conference room.The one they probably didn’t want him to see.
But he’d seen it.
Now that he had, Travis couldn’t deny he had the urge to call Max, find out what the fuck the man knew.
He headed back toward the town proper, windows down so the cool breeze could clear his cluttered brain.By the time he reached the house, he felt better.Calmer, at least.There was still a burning sensation in his gut, the one that usually led to him going off half-cocked, but he was doing his best to ignore it.
As soon as he pulled into his driveway, he felt some of the stress lift.That was what happened these days when he came home to Gage and the kids.
When he stepped inside a minute later, he heard laughter coming from the kitchen.He followed the sound, eager to see his children, his husband.
“Hi, Daddy!”Avery shouted as soon as he walked into the room.
“Hi, Pop-tart!”Kade called, making Maddox laugh as he always did when Kade called him that.
“Hi, Pop-sicle,” Haden said, grinning from ear to ear.
The kids were experimenting with what to call them, insisting they both couldn’t be called Dad or Daddy.Because Travis referred to his own father as Pop, they were keeping along those lines for some reason.
“What’s for breakfast?”he asked, his gaze darting to Gage, hoping the man didn’t hear the tension in his voice.
Gage, leaning against the counter with a cup of coffee, met his gaze, held it.Yeah, he definitely heard it.The former police officer had damn good instincts.
“I’m havin’ cereal,” Avery supplied.
“Waffles!”Kade shouted with glee.
“Ceweal,” Haden offered.
“Where’s Kate?”Travis asked.
“In her woom,” Haden answered.
“Room,” Avery corrected.“R.Rrrrr.Ruh-ruh.Room.”
“Ruh-ruh-woom,” Haden mimicked.
The kids giggled.
“Have you checked on her?”Travis asked, moving closer to Gage.
He could feel his husband’s steady gaze as it caressed his face, an attempt to read his mind.
“I was about to.”Gage lowered his voice.“You okay?”
Travis shook his head.As much as he wanted to leave Gage out, to pretend not to have this potentially life-altering information, he knew he couldn’t.They’d been through too much together, and though neither of them had gotten over losing Kylie, they’d found solace in one another.They worked together as a unit, taking care of the kids and each other.He owed it to Gage to be honest with him.
