Page 259 of Assassin

* * * H U N T E R – C R O F T * * *

Poe’s Property

A Few Acres In

Friday Morning

If there was one thing Poe really believed, it was that a horse was a very smart animal. He let Honey lead the way, and she brought him right to Diablo.

And the man who rode off with him.

As Poe dismounted, ready to talk to the man, that’s when he saw that he was armed.

Oh, shit.

In his lap, there was one of his antique guns. The bad news was they all worked.

The good news…

He was someone accustomed to talking a person off of a ledge.

It appeared that this was going to be tricky, and as soon as he could, he was locking down his things from Captain Sticky-Fingers.

Heading his way, he made sure Gamble could see his hands, and know that he wasn’t carrying a gun.

Their eyes met, and there was that kick to his chest that proved he was also culpable in this mess. He’d opened the door, and Gamble walked through it in his broken condition.

Now, he had to fix it.

“Can I join you?” he asked.

On the man’s cheeks were tears, and it was clear that Gamble was going through it.

Yeah, this had the potential to go bad.

FAST.

At his question, he shrugged, and Poe took that as an open invitation. If anything, if Gamble tried to eat that gun, he could likely wrestle it away from him.

Maybe.

“I see you found my gun collection,” he said, staring at the man.

He didn’t answer that, but he did say one thing.

“I’m sorry.”

The misery and pain in his voice was heartbreaking. Poe could hear it, and he wanted to take it away. This was now a slippery slope.

Why?

He clearly was falling for this man, and he absolutely couldn’t do that.

After that dream, he had to put space between them, but not make it obvious. He couldn’t fall for every broken soul and make it his personal mission to fix them.

That was his job.

Not his personal life.

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