Page 12 of The Defiant Curse

“I’m just worried,” Michael admitted, sharing with his partner. “She’s the strongest person I know, and if she’s faltering, it has to be bad. I’ve seen her stand there when a drive-by shooting happens, and she doesn’t flinch as she takes out a shooter in a moving car. Then, get a burger after. If she’s running, Graham, she’s in bad shape.”

He was honest.

“I’ve heard a lot about her, but I assumed it was exaggerated.”

He stopped him.

“It’s not. She’s brave, loyal, and titanium. When strong women like her break, it’s spectacularly bad.”

Well, they’d fix that.

Together.

“We’ve got this, Laddie. The Lass is safe under my watch, too. That’s my mother-in-law. She has my loyalty the second I began working for her, but now, especially since I’m married to her son.”

He smiled.

“Thank you for understanding,” Michael stated. “She’s very important to all of us.”

His husband reassured him.

“She’s the reason I have my husband and this life. She gave us her stakes in this castle. Babe, she can come here and sleep between us for all I care.”

He laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

Oh.

Hell.

No.

“What in the Freudian bullshittery is that? I mean, let’s not go crazy,” Michael said, laughing. “That’s extreme.”

Graham winked at him.

“I am sorry about one thing,” he said.

That made Michael curious. So, he waited to hear where he was taking that.

“The castle is calm, and the mystery, other than the whole painting thing, is all that’s left. I kind of wish she was here to help us work on the case. That might take her mind off of it. Maybe she could help us figure out why she looks like Ceit.”

He stared at him.

What was this?

Uh…

“Did you just wish our castle was more haunted or back to being haunted in the first place?” he asked.

He nodded.

“Yeah, I think I just did, Laddie. Trust me, no one here is more surprised than me. The second it was out of my mouth, I started questioning my sanity again.”

Michael just shook his head.