Page 143 of The Protective Gryphen

When his phone chimed, signaling he had a text, he pulled it from his pocket.

‘Darn. Okay, that works. That gives me time to work here on the mystery. Thank you for doing this for me. I appreciate it. I also heard you hit on my man. Don’t make me get mean, Graham. Keep it in mind—I.’

Well, that was handled, and it amused him to no end. Yeah, he liked these two.

The smaller man had balls, and that was something he knew Gryphen would need when he had moments where he felt out of control.

They all needed that anchor.

Unlike him, who was drifting out to sea all alone.

Glancing at his watch, he did the math, and it was just after eight in Washington DC.

Dialing, his phone call was answered pretty quickly, but he still hoped he wasn’t bothering his boss.

“Hey,” Callen said. “Is everything okay?” he asked, worried about the two men they’d sent there.

“Aye, it’s right as rain, Sir. Are you busy, Mr. James,” Graham asked. “I have some things to discuss with you, but they can wait if you’re working.”

He reassured him.

“We closed our case last night, and now, we’re prepping for our son’s wedding. I’m clear. What’s up?” he asked.

“Everything is going well here. Gryphen is holding up, and Ian is fine.”

Callen relaxed.

After speaking to Gryphen, he’d been worried all night, and he wasn’t the only one. His wife was stressing a wedding, Will Jackson, the case they just closed, and Ian’s well-being.

He hated seeing her bear so much burden.

“Perfect. If they need ANYTHING, we want you to handle it for them. There’s no questions asked when it comes to either of those two men. Think of them as my children. My wife loves them dearly, and your utmost concern is them.”

That was exactly what he was trying to do.

Again, he wasn’t sure how it would feel to have people care that much about him. That was missing from his entire life.

“If you need help with anything, call me. I don’t care if it’s the middle of the night. Just not during the actual wedding. My wife will skin me alive.”

He laughed.

“Well, Sir, since you brought that up…”

Callen waited.

“Gryphen is planning a romantic dinner tonight, and he needs a distraction. Is there anyway you can get your lass to call and talk to Ian to get him away from Gryphen for a wee bit?” he asked.

Callen laughed.

Oh, well, that was easy.

“I can do that. She’s only asked about twenty times if he’s okay. I can practically guarantee that she’ll be more than happy to distract the man all the while questioning him to death. She wants to Mom the hell out of both of them.”

Yeah, he had no clue what that was like.

“Perfect. I would say around eight our time, so around three your time.”

Callen needed more information.

---