Page 33 of Without Fail

Being caught off guard pissed him off and he suddenly wanted nothing more than to punch Marshal in the face.

“I have three.”

Fuck…

Ryker squeezed his fists, schooled his facial features, and was careful to keep his eyes blank. Three children?Where the hell were they?he silently thought.

“What are their ages?” he asked tightly.

“Tristan is sixteen. The twins Colin and Owen are four.”

Four years old…that meant Marshal’s woman had been pregnant not too long ago.

“That sounds…like a very nice family,” Ryker said through his teeth.

After a long moment, he gave Marshal a small smile and looked away.

“Thank you,” Marshal said slowly, feeling unsettled.

Ryker was shutting him out and something simmered just below the slender man’s calmness.

Feeling like a vice was suddenly gripping his chest, Marshal carefully turned back to Aspen. “If you’re okay with it, I’d like to have you meet Tristan.”

“Sure. Here?” Aspen asked tentatively, darting a glance at Ryker, who was still gazing out the window.

“No, staying here is not a good idea.”

“That’s right,” Ryker murmured in agreement with him. “Staying here will get you caught. Marshal can keep you safe, he and his family. Your father will never look for you there.”

With those words, Ryker rose to his feet and walked out of the room.

Marshal wanted to go after Ryker and explain about Megan, but now was not the time. And really…hadn’t he set boundaries this past week? Did he owe Ryker any explanation about his private life?

He’d been extremely careful through the years to keep the details of his private life from Ryker. So why had he spilled it now?

Because of the kiss? Because he was tired of the lies? Perhaps it was both reasons.

Fuck.He returned his hat to his head.

“You ready?” he gruffly asked the boy and Cohen.

“Yeah, I think it’s a good idea to get out of here,” Cohen said and drew Aspen up from the couch.

Marshal walked toward the door, rubbing at the sudden heartburn filling his chest. He’d had too much damned coffee this morning, that was all that was.

It certainly wasn’t guilt.

Forty-five minutes later, Marshal pulled into the driveway of his multi-family style ranch house located on two hundred acres just outside of the Denver city limits.

He noticed right away that the front walkway had been shoveled free of snow. Tristan had done a good job of it by clearing the powder out to the driveway. Although his son hadn’t taken the trash to the pick-up location at the end of the road, his son had at least done the main chore of clearing away snow.

He shut off the engine before he glanced at Cohen and Aspen. The pair were gaping at his home and the surrounding area. Marshal smirked and grabbed his phone before opening his door.

Out of all of Ryker’s friends, Synclair Brick and Cohen Armani were the two Marshal trusted the most, so he had no problem bringing Cohen here. Still, he would be placing a bodyguard at his home for the foreseeable future. That would ensure nothing happened while he went back to work at the Langston estate.

It was risky bringing Aspen here because of Winchester Armani, but with the level of security Marshal kept, he felt hecould do the best job of keeping Aspen hidden until he could figure out what the fuck to do.

“Let’s go,” Marshal said, sliding out of the SUV. He motioned for the pair to follow.

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