Page 184 of The Wild Charge

Enough room to make a break for Reese? Tenny ached to do so, but he waited, forcing himself to take a measured breath.

“I think,” Devin continued, “that you’re bored. I think you’re bored to tears, mate, because you came on to work for Waverly and his lot, and you and your boys don’t get much chance to use your skills. It’s nothing but dragging girls around and busting kneecaps, right? There’s nofinesse. No challenge.

“But then we came along, and suddenly you had something todo. These boys” – he gestured loosely to Tenny, and to Reese – “were worthwhile opponents, finally. You got to turn your boys loose. You started havingfunagain.”

Fun. The word was a contained explosion inside Tenny’s mind. He’d always been sogoodat what he did; he’d always beenproudof his abilities.

But fun was putting one of Emmie’s young ones through a perfect pirouette. Fun was traumatizing Boomer and Deacon on a daily basis at the clubhouse. Fun was, despite all odds, bickering with Fox, hurling insults without consequence.

Fun was watching a groove appear between Reese’s brows as he struggled to understand something wholly human that was wholly alien to him. Fun was earning one of his rare, tiny smiles, the kind that went unnoticed by everyone else, but which lit Tenny up from the inside out.

Reese: it all came back to him. Everything worthwhile in his life, his new life, was centered around him.

Being proud of his skills didn’t mean liking them.

Devin was still talking. “That’s why you wanted Reese back, right? Because those other two – they didn’t turn out like he did, did they? Too much mouth on them. You shoulda heard the older one running on downstairs.” Hetsked, and Tenny felt a sudden, unbidden surge of kinship toward the man who’d sired him. “Novice stuff. Poor little lad.”

Hunter’s jaw flex, muscle in his cheek leaping, but he held steady. He waslistening.

“You don’t care about Waverly, or his business. All of this” – another gesture – “proves that. Even now, the man who cuts your checks is having all his skeletons dragged out of the closet for the world to see, and here you are, torturing the son you gave away. This place is nothing but a convenient workspace for you, right? When Waverly’s ruined, you’ll pick up and move on.

“But Reese” – Devin tilted his head, note of smugness coming into his voice – “he doesn’t want to go with you. He’s a changed man, since you last saw him. His own man. And he doesn’t answer to you. If he did, he wouldn’t be all those lovely shades of black and blue right now.”

Hunter’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. His forehead gleamed with sweat; Tenny could see the rivulets trickling down from his hairline.

Reese’s blood dripped.Plink. Plink. Plink.

“Far be it from me to tell a father what to do with his son,” Devin said. “God knows I’ve never had a clue what I was doing. But Reese doesn’t belong to you anymore – because he doesn’t want to. He wants to come home withmyboy.

“So it’s like I said before. Let’s settle this between us. Father to father. Leave the children out of it.”

Hunter’s nostrils flared as he drew his next breath.

“Come on,” Devin goaded. “You know you’re dying to see if you’ve still got the old magic. I know I am.”

It wasn’t going to work. There was no way anyone was mad and stupid enough to accept that sort of challenge. Hunter would shoot one or both of them; if he got them both, then he’d unchain Reese and spirit him away. Tenny supposed, if he was dead anyway, then he wouldn’t even be around to throw a tantrum about that.

But Hunter slowly bent at the knees, crouched down, and laid his gun on the floor. Beside him, Devin did the same.

Tenny’s heart lurched wildly. What?What?

“Go on, then, son,” Devin said, as he straightened. “Go get your man. I’ll handle this one.” He turned his head just far enough to shoot Tenny a wink.

Tenny hesitated, because none of this felt real. Devin stared back at him.Go, his look said, steady and fond.I’ve got this.

Tenny went.

All his years of training told him he should secure the scene first: check for booby traps, or any other hostiles lurking in the shadows. But instinct pulled him straight to Reese, hands empty, reaching, trembling.

He cupped his cheek, as gentle as he could, and watched Reese’s good eye flutter open, even as his skin twitched, like a horse with flies; a tiny flinch of pain.

Tenny’s next breath rattled; Reese’s had a wet, wheezy quality to it, warm and sour against Tenny’s face.

“Hey. Hey. You with me? Can you hear me?”

Reese hummed. Voice papery and dry as he croaked out, “Are you real?”

“Yes, darling, I’m real.” He pressed their foreheads together, to feel the damp heat of his skin, to ease his own shaking. He ghosted his free hand down Reese’s side and felt the twitch and shiver of another flinch. “What’s broken?”

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