Page 222 of The Protective Gryphen

“Seriously, what do you want to say to me?”

Graham had to distract him. He went with the obvious to distract from the not-so-obvious—that Ian was upstairs with a stranger.

“Have a brother?”

It took a second, but then, Gryphen actually laughed.

“I don’t know the answer to that, honestly, so I can’t say yes or no.”

Graham was confused.

“You don’t know if you have a brother?” he asked. “That’s odd.”

Was it?

Maybe.

“No, I don’t know. My parents abandoned me at the age of four. I woke up to find them gone, and then, I went into the American foster system. Honestly, I don’t know what happened to them.”

What was this?

Graham couldn’t imagine.

“And you don’t want to know?” he asked, curiously.

Gryphen shrugged.

“I never thought about it. Would you want to find the people who bailed on you on Christmas Eve?” he asked. “Who walked away from a four-year-old and left him alone in a house to be found when he was screaming for his mother?”

Oh, boy.

Someone had been hurt.

No wonder he clung to his man unapologetically.

“Probably not,” he admitted.

“Yeah, me either. I have my family now, and it’s bigger, better, and perfect for me. I have a bunch of Marine brothers, a woman who is like a mom, and I have Ian. I’m happy, and I can’t wait to start our life when we get home.”

Graham was honest.

“Callen didn’t tell me everything, but he did say Ian was in hiding. Thus, when I had to get you here under the cover of darkness.”

He shared.

“His ex attacked him, sexually assaulted him, and left him for dead. He’s testifying when we go back. He’s got a battle ahead of him.”

And that explained why he was uncomfortable in the room with him when he closed the door. He’d done it in case Gryphen came down, but now, he saw why the man was afraid.

“Bless him,” he said.

Gryphen stopped that.

“Don’t feel sorry for him. Ian is the strongest man I’ve ever met in my life, and that’s saying a lot since I hang with Marines and Blackhawks. Honestly, he makes me look weak.”

What could he say to that?

“As for the kink, Graham, don’t we all have something that gets us heated up?”

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