Page 260 of Affair
“He’s exhausted. They really hurt him. I found some cream in the pack, and put it on his burns. Those assholes burned him about ten times with their cigarettes. That makes me want to cry and kill someone simultaneously.”
Oh, he understood that.
Gamble did the latter because sometimes, a good bloodbath did a Marine good.
Then again, that tended to be his first response when someone he loved was hurt.
“We’ll get him out of here later. We’re going to have to move out. The woods are alive right now. When they settle down in the middle of the night, we’ll head out. I heard quads not far away. We’re going to have to keep rufus quiet.”
At his name, he looked up.
“You’re a good boy,” he stated. “The best boy.”
Rufus did a doggy grin and rested on the makeshift bed to sleep some more.
“Are you hungry?” Gamble asked. “I can dive and get us some food.”
Poe handed him an apple.
“I’m good. This will be fine. Thanks for getting me some apples. Honestly, I’m curious about what happened tonight.”
Oh, boy.
Gamble was going to have to break this man’s heart by telling him his family was dead.
This.
Sucked.
Big-time.
“Well, I already told you about the horses. I didn’t tell you how Diablo kicked the shit out of one of the bad guys. I was tucked into the weeds, and the asshole was moving toward me.Diablo didn’t like it, and he put himself between us and kicked him.”
Poe ate his apple and listened.
“What happened then?” he asked.
Gamble debated on how much to share. They came from different worlds, and again, he didn’t want to freak Poe out to the point he thought he was a homicidal nutbag.
“I had to handle it.”
Now, Poe was curious.
“You’re hesitating and holding back from me. Do you think I’m going to be disgusted by you telling me you had to take a life?” he asked, taking a shot at it.
Oh, that was a concern.
How could it not be?
“We come from different worlds, Doctor. You save lives. I end them. Of course, I’m afraid. I don’t want you to look at me and see a monster. I’m walking a very delicate line here.”
Honestly, his words horrified Poe.
“Gamble, Mate,” he began, his accent thick. “You bloody well know you saved us. Had it not been for your quick thinking, and getting us out of there, who knows what would have happened?”
Oh, he knew.
They would have killed him, and then tortured Poe for what they were looking for at his place.
