Page 53 of Man of Honor

“Don’t be a dickhead—” Gage started, gripping the table so hard his knuckles turned white.

Gideon cut him off, fixing his brother with an annoyed look. “Quit pushing their buttons,” he said wearily.

“But he makes it so easy,” Dominic protested, all cool amusement, like he thought he was holding every card in the deck. “Last I checked, nothing was off-limits at family dinner. Are we making exceptions for boyfriends?”

“You got something to say to me?” I asked, locking eyes with him.

It was the wrong call; I knew it the second I saw the calculating gleam in his eyes. He studied me, searching for cracks and weaknesses to exploit. This was a game to him, one he’d perfected long ago.

“You’ve always been protective of Gage, haven’t you? It was cute for a while… but then he grew up, and you couldn’t keep your eyes off him. Not exactly professional, Deputy.”

Gage growled low in his throat, seconds from losing it. His leg was bouncing under the table, rattling the dishes so hard I was surprised Gideon’s wine glass didn’t topple. I pressed my knee against his under the table to calm him.

“I look out for Gage because I care about him,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “Things might have changed between us, but that never will.”

Dominic’s grin widened—all teeth, like a shark. “Oh, I don’t doubt that. But what’s your angle? What do you get out of always sticking your neck out for him? It can’t make your work life easy. Not unless your boss already knows where your loyalties lie. You were awfully quick to slap those cuffs on Ben, and no doubt you’d love to do the same to me. What will you do when it’s Gage’s turn, I wonder?”

It was bait, and I wasn’t biting. Not even when I wanted nothing more than to kick his chair over and plant a boot on his throat. “If you’ve got a problem with me, Dom, say it. But we both want the same thing: Gage safe and happy. Does he look happy right now?”

That landed; I saw it in his eyes when he glanced across the table. For a fleeting moment, I glimpsed the brother underneath the arrogance. The man who would do anything to protect his family.

I remembered the first time I’d met him. A teenager had been caught hot-wiring a motorcycle in the wrong part of town, and by the time deputies arrived, a biker gang had already beaten him bloody. That boy was a bruised, bleeding Dominic—a boy I later learned had no interest in motorcycles. Just over his shoulder, hidden by the crowd, his younger brothers were barely holding it together. Mason looked ready to puke. They were just kids, scared out of their minds, and Dominic had stepped up to take the blame despite having already turned eighteen.

I’d admired that loyalty once, but not anymore. Not when he was sitting here questioning mine.

Gideon’s low baritone broke the tension. “We’re not doing this tonight, Dom.”

Dominic relented with a small exhale, cracking his neck and reclining back in his chair. “Fine. I’ll play nice… for tonight.”

Gage’s leg finally stopped jiggling. I pressed my knee lightly against his, and the smile he shot me was filled with gratitude. It wasn’t often he let his guard down, but when he did, it felt like a victory.

I wanted to hold onto that smile, but the moment was cut short by the creak of the door. Gage’s head turned, and his grin froze. Then it vanished.

Mason stood at the threshold, face alight with rare energy. His blue eyes gleamed with an almost unholy light, and his cheeks were flushed, like he’d sprinted all the way here. Behind him, half in shadow, was a man I barely recognized. Taller and broader, yet diminished—pale, sunken, and drained. A husk of the boy I remembered, but still unmistakably Ben.

Just like that, nothing else mattered.

Chapter Twenty-Five

GAGE

I was staring so hard,my eyeballs felt ready to pop. The room had faded to a blur of background noise. No one else existed—just Ben. I couldn’t look away, but I was afraid to look directly at him. Terrified he’d see the guilt and joy and fear written all over my face.

If I’d been stronger, none of this would have happened. I could’ve killed my father with my own bare hands. Fed Vanderhoff his teeth. Confessed and forced Wyatt to arrest me in Ben’s place. Anything to keep Ben out of prison. He was worth more than I ever could be.

My head snapped to Wyatt, but if I expected to see a look on his face that matched the terrible guilt knotting my chest, I didn’t find it. There wasn’t an ounce of regret or hesitation in his expression, just happiness—and not for himself. He was lit up like a Christmas morning, like Ben’s return was the greatest gift he’d ever been given…and it was all for me.

God, I loved this man.

Worthy didn’t even begin to describe him. In one way or another, I’d been loving him for most of my life. I’d never be able to stop now. Even if he turned his back on me tomorrow, I knew I’d die loving him with my last breath.

When my paralyzed legs finally caught up with my brain, I leaped to my feet so fast my chair toppled backward. Dominic beat me to him, grabbing Ben in a hug so fierce his arms shook. He palmed the back of Ben’s head in one big hand, curling his fingers into his brutally short hair, and whispered something in his ear.

Nobody moved.

Watching a man like Dominic crack wide open felt intrusive.

Mason hung back, looking wrecked. The strain on his face had aged him a decade, but he was smiling, basking in the moment he’d worked himself to the bone for.

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