Page 66 of Adored

It horrified him.

“I don’t know how to deal with all of this,” Poe admitted since it was only the two of them there. “I teach soldiers how to navigate the grief and severe PTSD, but I can’t seem to figure it out for myself and that befuddles me. I’m lost.”

Yeah, he could see that.

Instead of giving him advice, since he was no specialist dealing with grief other than having experienced it, Gamble held him, and kissed the man on his temple.

“Let me help you through this, Baby. Go take a shower. I got you messy. Afterward, I’ll help you out. Put your faith in me, and we’ll get through this,” he stated. “I promise.”

What choice did he have?

Poe was lost.

And scared.

Setting him free, Poe got out of their bed, and headed toward the shower. When he did, Gamble pulled out his phone from his pants on the floor and sent a text.

This wasn’t only about being here with Poe. It was about keeping the man safe.

Someone had a lowkey bodyguard.

‘Any word on Von Donore?’

He hit send, and got out of the messy bed. When Rufus hopped down, too, he went to his things and began pulling them back on.

Gamble was going to need backup on this, and that meant staying in the loop. It was only a matter of time before that piece of shit focused back on Poe.

When his phone chimed, Gamble read the message.

Elizabeth was getting back to him, and quickly. That told him that it was still all-hands-on-deck.

‘The Hunters are still tracking him. He hasn’t left the US, but we don’t know if he’s been in communication with anyone in Europe. Any word on the crypto key?’

Oh, he wished.

He tried to come up with a reply that Elizabeth wanted.

That wasn’t easy.

‘Nothing yet. I’ll keep looking. Just let me know if there is any chatter about Poe being in danger. I’ll have to figure out how to protect us here. I love him too much to let him be hurt. I’ll figure out a plan to leave if need be. I have no freaking clue where the code could be. I’m starting to believe that Liam Seville was in communication with his son, and he hid it. This is going to take time.’

And that was the one thing that Gamble suspected they didn’t have.

When he heard the shower turn off, he went to the closet and found Poe some suitable clothing for the afternoon ahead. The man liked to dress a certain way.

Dapper.

He was a very dapper gentleman.

Oh, and that got Gamble’s juices flowing. There was something about how the man was pristinely put together that made Gamble want to get him messy.

Putting the things on the bed, he waited for him to come out. When Poe finally left the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, his eyes were red.

Yep.

Someone had been crying.

“I love you,” Gamble said, understanding the pain he was feeling.