Page 83 of Adored
“To this day, Poe, I can’t say her name. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to either.”
In the silence of the car, they both sat there.
Finally, Gamble broke it.
“I’m here because I want to be here. If I didn’t, I’d ask you to leave with me. If I thought it was too dangerous, I’d tell you to pack up. I want to be with you, and I can only hope you feel the same about me.”
Poe reassured him.
“I do. Since you showed up this morning, I haven’t felt dead inside. You are the only reason I’m holding up, Gamble. That’s it. I’m just putting everything I have on this relationship. If it fails…”
Gamble stopped him.
“It won’t fail. I told you. We’re getting married, and we’re going to have a life together. I just need you to let me protect what’s mine. In this case, that happens to be you.”
He nodded.
“Okay, then we stay here,” he stated. “Until it gets dangerous, or until one of us wants to leave. Because this isn’t home for me, Gamble. You are home. I miss my farm, and my house, and being at my kitchen table and having breakfast with you that I made. I’m a simple man. This life…it’s not simple. I never wanted this or the duty that it carries.”
He brushed some hair from his eyes.
“We’ve got this. Just hang in there, Poe. We’ll be okay,” he promised.
Now, all Gamble had to hope was they found the crypto key before Von Donore got to them.
Giving it a minute, Gamble waited until the calm had come back.
“Ready to do this?” he asked.
Poe nodded.
“Let’s just pick these caskets out, and go home. I just want to get back to the estate and away from all of this mess. I need to cross it off my list and start living again.”
Gamble understood.
Only, the hair on the back of his neck was standing on edge, and he had the distinct feeling they weren’t going to be safe there long.
Poe might just get his wish.
They might be getting the hell out of the UK.
Forever.
Chapter Five
The Estate
Monday
Six P.M.
After the daunting job of picking out the coffins for his parents, Poe ended up with two matching ones, and a whole lot of tears were shed during the process. It wasn’t easy by any means.
Luckily for him, Gamble held him up because without him, he would have just left with nothing done.
In fact, he’d carried the weight of the whole thing. It was Gamble who listened and purchased the caskets, and it was Gamble who made sure Poe was protected during that horrible job.
It was also Gamble who bribed the mortuary owner to make sure that if the media showed up there, that they were directed elsewhere.
