Page 58 of Beyond Rosy Irish Twilight

“So, Chase is coming home tomorrow.”

“Already?”

“He’s grumbling about being in the hospital. He said Lock could take care of him here.”

I didn’t really want to ask any questions, but knowledge was power. The more I knew about these guys, the better I would be able to handle being around them. “So, Lock is a doctor?”

He shook his head. “Medic. At least, he was in the military. He doesn’t practice as much now.”

“Why not?”

He shrugged. “Already seen too much bloodshed? Who knows. I guess when you’ve seen a guy’s leg blown off, it gets to you after a while.”

I grimaced at the thought. Even if my father had allowed me to go to college, I never could have studied to be a doctor. I didn’t like blood. I could handle it, but I didn’t want to see the insides of someone.

“You seem to be very good in action…aside from getting shot.”

He snorted. “Not my first time.”

Patrick studied the board for a moment, his eyes never leaving his pieces. I realized I really didn’t know that much about him. He was friendly and kind, which was very unlike any of the men that worked for my father, but he also had this jovial nature about him. He didn’t belong in a business like this. “Where did you learn to fire a gun?”

He hesitated for a second and his eyes met mine. “Military.”

My jaw dropped. I knew he wasn’t like the others, but I was not expecting him to say that. “And you ended up in this line of work because…”

He shrugged, still not looking at me. “Because I followed the money.”

I didn’t buy it for a second. I could see Asher going that route. He was definitely harder than the others. Even Chase had that rough demeanor to him, but Patrick? There was something he wasn’t telling me, and I was going to find out. I just had to figure out the best way to get to him.

“Have you ever been in love?”

He was silent again, but his eyes met mine and the humor dropped from his face. “Once.”

“It didn’t end well, I take it.”

He shook his head. “She’s dead.”

For just a moment, I thought I saw something inside him, something deeper than he’d ever shown me. Pain flickered in his eyes, along with something else. Guilt. But then he looked back at the board and whatever he was thinking was gone. He chuckled as he made his first move, which was actually a really good move. I expected someone like him to not understand how to play chess, but it was clear this was not his first time.

I forgot about questioning him since he clearly didn’t want to talk about it, and focused on the game. I wasn’t sure how much time passed, but the sun had risen further in the sky and my eyes were growing tired. I was leaning heavily on my palm as my eyelids did a slow blink.

“We should table this for now,” Patrick said with a yawn. “I could use a nap.”

He slid his chair out and stood, holding his hand out for me. I broke out into a cold sweat at the mere idea of walking through that door. Out here, I was safe for the most part, but if I stepped through those doors…My heart was already racing and I was sure Patrick could see my heart racing. The single grape I had eaten threatened to make its way back up my throat.

“Um…” I slid back and walked further away from the house. “I think I’ll just stay out here in the sun.”

“But there’s a bed inside,” he said easily.

“Yeah, but…I don’t want to sleep too long,” I lied. “I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”

He didn’t believe me. I could tell by the way his eyes studied my face. Thankfully, he nodded and strolled over to one of the pool chairs. “What the heck. It might be fun to snooze in the sun. Haven’t done that since my military days, and there definitely weren’t lounge chairs.”

I took a deep breath, relieved that he let it go. I wouldn’t always be able to sleep outside. I would have to go in at night, and when the weather turned cooler. But I could work on that. For now, I just needed this breather. I sat down in the lounge chair and ignored the way Patrick watched me from behind the sunglasses he’d slid on his face. I wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t staying with me because he was bored. He was back on duty, even if he was injured. And faking it around him was going to be harder than I thought.

23

ASHER

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