Page 50 of The Protective Gryphen

Oh, he could definitely protect himself, but the last time the opportunity arose, it had been Will, and they knew how that ended.

When Gryphen pulled the door open, he was surprised to see Graham inside the kitchen.

Oh, and Graham was surprised too.

He held a knife in his hand as he was cutting something, and the second he saw him, it flipped, pointing down as they faced each other.

Gryphen could tell the way he held the knife that Graham wasn’t just a chauffeur.

He was a soldier.

That was a total combat-soldier move because he did the same thing in a hand-to-hand knife fight.

“What are you doing?” Gryphen asked, moving into the kitchen. He was excellent at hand-to-hand, so if this man came at him, he’d end him.

He relaxed when he saw it was him.

“Other than being surprised? I was making your dinner,” he said. “Mr. James said to take care of you both,” he added.

Gryphen saw the leg of lam on the counter.

The man had backed down, so he did too. He relaxed, and reached back for Ian’s hand. The second it was in his, he was good.

“We were under the impression that we were the only ones here. You drove off earlier with the limo.”

Graham put the knife down and went back to the kitchen duty.

“I drove the limo back to the hanger. I drove my car back here. I’m the caretaker here to make sure the castle doesn’t have any issues.”

Ian peeked around Gryphen.

Graham smiled at him.

“Mr. Patterson, I hope you’re enjoying your time here,” he said. “I think what you guys might call my job in your country is butler.”

Ian was having a good time until he got scared. Now, he was okay again. If this man was hired by Callen, they were safe.

Only, someone wasn’t happy.

“We don’t need a butler,” Gryphen said. “We also don’t need one who was a soldier.”

Graham knew that the man standing before him was speaking from experience. He knew how another killer moved.

“You were a Marine?” he asked.

Gryphen stopped him.

Yeah, it didn’t work like that for them.

“Once you’re a Marine, you’re always a Marine. What are you?” he asked, knowing Graham would understand.

He said two words.

“Black Watch.”

Gryphen said nothing.

From where he stood, Ian didn’t understand any of this. He couldn’t tell the man was a soldier.

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