Page 126 of Assassin

He shrugged.

“Every living thing deserves a second, third, and fourth chance.”

That comment was for Gamble, and if he got it, he made no mention of it.

Instead, he focused on the horse.

“Can I touch her?”

Poe waved his hand.

“Absolutely. Have at it. She loves people. She’s a steady and slow kind of horse. These are her retirement years in my stable.”

Gamble ran his hands over her coat, and she was so shiny. When Poe handed him an apple from a box not far away, he fed it to her.

“She’s pretty.”

“She’s my only girl. The other three are males, and feisty as fuck, unfortunately. If I want to get bucked off, I ride them. If I want to be carried with no worries, I take Honey. She’s as gentle as they come. I like to think she knew they were going to end her life, and I saved her.”

Gamble was curious.

“Did you grow up riding?” he asked.

The man nodded.

“My family has always had horses. It’s kinda a family thing,” he admitted.

He fed the horse another apple, and it was very cathartic.

“Do you have any other siblings, other than your brother who died?” Gamble asked, curious about the man who was helping him—or would be in sixty days if he failed.

“Just the one,” he said. “Like I mentioned, he died in battle in Afghanistan. He flew a helicopter, and was on a joint mission with American soldiers. They were shot down, and he went down with the helicopter. He held it steady long enough over a lake for the Marines onboard to get out. He was the only casualty.”

He glanced over.

“I’m sorry.”

Poe wasn’t sure why he showed him, but he pulled out his wallet, and opened it. Then, pulled out the picture.

“That’s my twin brother, Hemmingway Seville. My mother…she liked writers. I was named after Edgar Allen, in case you thought Poe was just creative. It’s not.”

He looked at the picture, and they were identical. He was in a suit and tie, and his brother was in British military fatigues. They stood side-by-side, and his soldier brother had his arm over his shoulders.

There was love there.

When he handed the picture back, Poe gave him another. This time, it was him and his brother in riding gear, along with his mother and father in it too.

“A family of riders.”

He smiled.

“Like I said, horses run in the family.”

When Gamble took it, he flipped the picture over.

‘The Duke and Dutchess Gorden with their two heirs, Hemmingway and Poe Seville.’

“Oh,” he said, looking up. “Is that legit? They are those kind of horse people? Royalty?”

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