Page 95 of Breathe
Walt shifted in his chair at his boss’s biting tone.
Titus never lost his cool, but when he used a certain tone of voice, Walt knew he had better pay attention.
“Maybe five got away?”
“Find out and eliminate them,” Titus ordered.
“We will,” Walt promised. “What about Tatum? He’s still out there.”
“I’ll take care of my brother.” Titus squinted toward the window and the stretch of grasslands beyond. The sky of Kansas had fluffy white clouds shooting across a crystal blue sky.
“Can I ask you something?” Walt said, even though his gut was trembling.
“What?” Titus cocked his head and leveled those pale blue eyes on him.
Titus’ build was not bulky, but the man had powerful muscles that were all but hidden beneath his blue jeans and blue button-down work shirt.
Titus came across as tall and slender, and he was, but he was way more powerful than he appeared. Walt knew that firsthand.
“Why not just contact Genesis and tell them Micky worked for Tatum and not you? They can help us,” Walt said.
“That’s a long story, and I don’t have time to go into it, just do your job,” Titus said, his tone cold and biting.
“They have a hit out on you when it should be on Tatum!” Walt insisted.
Titus sighed and turned away. “Trust me, it’s better this way.”
One month later…
Summer came rolling into Nevada, bringing the heat with it, but Real didn’t mind after the cool weather of Colorado.
He and Azrael had traveled there and stayed a week, checking out the new facility, and while it had everything that the Nevada ranch had, they both agreed that it wasn’t home.
“I like our cabin,” Azrael had pouted as they stood on the porch of the ranch house in Colorado, watching the pouring rain come down.
“Me too. Let’s go home,” Real said.
And that had been that.
They had settled into their life at the ranch in Nevada. While they only worked on two short jobs together over the past month, they still managed to spend every evening in each other’s arms.
And he would take having Azrael in his arms over anything on earth.
“Take these two trays out to Patrick, will you?” Azrael said, bringing his attention back to their cabin kitchen, pointing at the two trays filled with deviled eggs
“Will do,” Real said, and plucked up the plates and dutifully walked over to the back patio door.
Boston jumped up and opened the screen door for him.
“For you,” Real told Patrick, who came hurrying over to take the plates. “Azrael said you know where they go.”
“I do.” Patrick nodded, and with Boston’s help, took the eggs from him.
It was amazing to see the changes in Patrick. The young man had landed on the ranch some two weeks ago along with the Genesis soldier Real had assigned to protect him.
To the men and women on the ranch, it was plain to see that Patrick was head over heels in love with the soldier. Jerome Clayton, Army medic, was just as gaga over Patrick. The good news was that Patrick’s ex would never draw another breath. It was a happy ending for Patrick.
Azrael had surprised Real and welcomed Patrick and Jerome into their home. Patrick had shown up with a pizza, minus mushrooms and green pepper, and the two men had become fast friends.
