Page 2

Chapter Two

Drake

I pulled up outside the dilapidated building, my stomach churning at the sight. This was no place for anyone to live, let alone someone still recovering from major health issues. I looked at the pizza joint, then looked at the address Rawlings had sent me. What the actual fuck was he doing here? With steam practically pouring out of my ears, I headed down the small alley that led to the fire escape and the apartment above.

The stairwell reeked of piss and weed, but I headed for the steps. Just as I stepped on the first one, a guy came out of the back door of the pizza place and looked at me in shock. I ignored him and took another couple of steps until he did the same. I rounded on him because neither Shae nor I needed an audience for this conversation. “That for 743C?”

He nodded. I grabbed two twenties out of my pocket and took the box, stuffing the cash into his palm.

The guy looked at the cash and swallowed. “It’s only sixteen bucks.”

“Keep the change,” I said and turned, jogging up the rest of the first flight, turning and setting off up the second. I raised my head, spotted the open door, and bolted up the second flight. He might have opened it for the pizza guy. But then I cursed, saw Shae curled up on the floor and knelt next to Shae’s prone figure, digging out my phone, heart pounding way too fast for someone always in control.

“Shae,” I nearly yelled, dropping the box and putting my fingers to his neck, only to have him bat my hand away as he sat up. “What the fuck?” I ground out, taking in his split lip and swelling cheek. I reached out again, but he jerked away, then winced.

“Who did this?” I demanded.

“None of your fucking business,” he snarled back, but I ignored him and pulled him to his feet. He let me this time and looked a bit unsteady, so I walked him to the small bed in the corner, slipping my phone back in my pocket.

“You got any first-aid stuff?” I asked, a little gentler. He shook his head, then winced again. “Looks like it’s the ER then. I can take you. I’m assuming you’re not gonna want an ambulance?”

“I’m not going,” Shae said.

I opened my mouth to insist but managed to close it before I did even more damage than I already had. It was my fucking fault he was here in the first place. Trying to work out what I could say that was the least likely to get my balls cut off, I said, “I got your pizza.”

He gazed at me like I’d lost my mind, and I shrugged. “You’ve got two choices. We either go to an ER and check you out or I take you to the team’s apartment for a few days until you tell me what happened. You aren’t staying here.”

“No,” Shae said flatly. “I’ve sponged enough off Diesel and Pink.”

He hadn’t, but any argument was pointless. “Fine,” I said and straightened up, catching the flash of disappointment in his eyes before he lowered them, and wondered if I was going to regret this. Not that I could do anything else. He wasn’t staying here. “Grab a bag.”

“I’m not going to the apartment.”

“No,” I said, still convinced I was insane. “You’re coming home with me.”

Thirty minutes later, I nearly groaned out loud at the comical expression on Shae’s face. Okay, so I knew he expected an apartment, and I had exactly that up to ten months ago when my aunty, who wasn’t even my real aunty, died and left me the farm. I had zero idea what to do with it, so I was living in the ranch house and allowing the pasture to be used by my neighbor, who ran a rescue for both dogs and horses. There was even a donkey who ruled the place, and despite them being nasty to dogs, Dolly simply ignored them.

My aunty would have hated living in a city, and she had just over eight acres when she died.

“This is yours?” Shae asked in awe as he climbed out of the truck.

“At the moment,” I said, grabbing Shae’s gym bag, which was all he seemed to have. Apparently, he’d left some clothes at Pink’s.

He glanced over. “You selling?”

I shook my head and walked up to the door. “Long story, but my Aunt Ellie’s son thinks he should have been left it in the will and he’s trying to take me to court.”

Shae followed me inside and gazed around. I shrugged, knowing what he was seeing. The space was enormous, starting with a small mudroom and a laundry area to the left, a half-bath, then the rest of the huge area was open plan. The only corridor led to the four bedrooms and three bathrooms. There was a large kitchen to the left that didn’t look like it’d been updated since the fifties, complete with a one-hundred-year-old farmhouse table that could seat twenty with both leaves in. The roof was sound, though. And I’d been slowly going through the house, redoing the secondary wiring myself after getting someone to redo the panel and the primary. Jay’s brother was a plumber and had already fixed the AC and the heating, but the whole house needed attention. In the thirty plus years since I’d left school and joined the army at eighteen, I’d barely spent any money, so even though the kitchen and bathrooms were going to cost me the price of a small house, I could afford to get it done properly.

Then I’d gotten the letter from the lawyer, and since I knew full well that as soon as Ryan got his hands on it—if he did—the whole lot would be sold to a developer for fancy houses, I delayed spending the cash, then I took the long job. I also wasn’t sure I was ready for a legal battle. Luckily, lawyers took their sweet time, so apart from a few letters we were nowhere near going to court, or me having to make a decision.

“It’s amazing,” Shae breathed out in obvious awe, and it made me smile. It needed a family though, and if Ryan had been a halfway decent human being, I’d have handed it over.

Although if he had been, Ellie would have left him the property in the first place. She once told me Ryan had gotten nearly fifty thousand dollars from his godmother so I reckoned he didn’t have much to complain about.

“This way,” I said and lugged his bag down the hallway, stopping at the second door and opening it. I winced at what had to be one of the barest rooms I’d seen, but the electricity had been completed both in here and in mine opposite. The end room was still, as far as I was concerned, Ellie’s room, and the fourth was full of old medical junk and had no bathroom. “There’s a bathroom here,” I said, opening the door, which was one of the smallest three en suites, but also had a decent shower. “No closet but—” I waved in the direction of the old wardrobe and matching dresser. “Towels in the cupboard in the bathroom. Help yourself to a shower.” The bathroom had originally been the closet, and one summer when I was fifteen, I’d helped Uncle Jim remodel it.

“Sheets in the bottom drawer,” I said, tempted to do it myself, but Shae seemed to be walking steady and apart from the split lip and bruising, seemed alert. “Hungry?”

He glanced at me and paused. “We didn’t bring the pizza.”

“It’s okay. I was expecting at least two weeks off after such a big job, so Moira next door filled my fridge like she always does when I let her know I’m back.”

“The horse lady?” Shae smiled.

“Yep, she’s good people.” I decided to give Shae some space and went back to the kitchen, texting Rawlings an update. He sent me a one-word reply, Good.

I opened the fridge and grinned. Moira hadn’t just gone to the store for me, she’d cooked as well. I took out the nearest dish labeled with instructions to put it in the oven for forty minutes or I could just zap it. Moira wasn’t a fan of microwaves and Ellie never had one, so I’d gotten a small countertop one. The biscuits were already on a tray and would definitely need to go in the oven, but they only took fifteen minutes.

Shae appeared when the biscuits were nearly ready. I looked up as he shuffled in, not looking too confident and probably wondering if he’d made a mistake coming here. I nodded to the chair and the giant first-aid box open on the table. Shae frowned. “It’s fine.”

“I know this has all been shit,” I said gently. “But I’m pretty sure the docs told you to be careful with any sort of infection.”

Shae’s lips flattened, but he pulled out one of the chairs so he could sit. “Did you know the whole thing with enhanced is they supposedly don’t get sick?” He looked down but I definitely heard the sarcastic mutter, “Guess I must be lucky.”

I’d gotten out the antibiotic cream for his lip, but even I could see the swelling was going down. His lip wasn’t split anymore, either. “It’s healing quickly, but I just want to cover all the bases.” And before I even thought about it, I wiped my hands with some of the sterile wipes, then lifting Shae’s chin with one hand, dabbed some cream on his lip with the other.

I froze the second my finger touched his soft lip and felt the shiver run through him.

What the fuck was I doing? Touching him? I should be crowned the king of mixed messages. I finished quickly, then made a show of washing my hands, by which time the biscuits were ready, and the microwave dinged. I pointed to the two glasses of iced water I’d poured. “I have juice as well, if you prefer.” I had some beer, but I wasn’t sure that was a good idea for either of us. And technically he was underage. Not that I cared. I’d fought with enough people who’d put their lives on the line then went home and couldn’t buy a goddam beer.

“This is fine,” Shae murmured, so I got the dish out and plated the chicken casserole, putting the biscuits on a separate plate, then helped myself to two of them so Shae got the idea. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Shae took a small forkful and tasted it experimentally. His eyes widened and the second forkful was much bigger. He demolished the bowl and three biscuits. I wasn’t going to say anything to put him off his food, but when he’d finished, he met my gaze and answered my earlier question. “It was Jez from work. He got fired because of me.”

I studied Shae’s face. “Why?”

“Because Dave took one look at my scar and decided I could do the work of three people. Jez must have found out where I live. It was just the one punch. I thought it was the pizza, so I opened the door."

“I thought you were sharing?”

Not that I expected an answer, but getting hit was another reason for him not to live there. “Not many that would risk swinging a punch with your scar.”

Shae just shrugged. “I haven’t shown any abilities. Guess he thinks I’m soft.” He hesitated. “I have to work tomorrow.”

I considered my response. It was like trying to avoid A.P. land-mines. “I have an alternative, but it doesn’t pay much.”

Shae glanced at me warily.

“I need two pairs of hands to do some work around here.” He could paint. Nothing strenuous. “Won’t be much pay, as it includes food and board.” I knew if he thought I was doing him a favor, he’d tell me where to shove the job. I could get Rawlings to stretch my time off to a month easily, six weeks if he didn’t need me. It would get Shae through another doctor’s appointment, make sure he was eating well, and above all, it would keep him safe.

I just had to keep my damn hands to myself.

Shae picked up his glass of water and I knew he was giving himself time to think. “Why would you do work on the place if there’s a chance you could lose it?”

I blew out a breath. Shae was too clever for his own good, and I winced as my mom’s snide comment rang in my ears. Although in years past my ears were usually ringing because of my dad’s fists more than her words. “I won’t lose it if I get my act together. I’ve got enough evidence that she made the will when she was of sound mind. Ellie expected what Ryan would try, according to her lawyer.”

“Then why don’t you?” Shae asked, tipping his head to the side as if trying to figure me out.

I scrubbed a hand down my face. “She’s not my real aunty. No relation at all.” Shae just waited patiently. “My dad was a cop, but he ruled the house like a barracks. Mom wasn’t any better.” I shifted in my seat. I hated this, but if I owed Shae anything, it was honesty.

“The house I grew up in was a couple of miles away. I used to spend a lot of time outside, so I guess like most kids I was drawn to the horses. Moira from next door caught me once pulling up tufts of grass and feeding the pony on the other side of the wire in a bare field.” He smiled at the memory. “She wasn’t angry, just explained he had something called laminitis, and they let him out here so he could exercise. If they put him in a pasture with a lot of grass it’d kill him.” I thought they were just being mean asses, but she told me the pony, Blueberry, was over twenty years old and she’d learned to ride on him.

“I knew so long as I did my chores and kept my room neat, my parents both preferred me not to be there, so I spent more and more time here. Jim, Ellie’s husband, was a roofer, but did just about everything else and always had a ton of projects going, so I was constantly busy.”

“And you didn’t get on with their son?” Shae guessed.

“He went to the same school as me, but he was a lazy ass and a bully. Never interested in helping his dad and I guess I was starved for any sort of attention, so I lapped it up.” I felt my neck heat. I’d never shared this much. Not even with Danny, who everyone seemed to spill their guts to. But I might as well finish the story. “Jim fell off a roof when it caved in and hurt his back. Ryan had gone to college, and I was already serving, so Ellie had no help. By this time, I wasn’t speaking to either Mom or Dad as they’d kind of washed their hands of me when I enlisted, but every leave I got I came here and did as many jobs as I could to help out. Ellie struggled because Jim wasn’t working, but she managed what she could.”

I drained my water. “I never expected Ellie to leave me this place. I suppose she did it because Ryan never once came home to offer help, despite Ellie practically begging him to. Sure, he sent Ellie fancy flowers on her birthday, but what she really needed was help to get Jim in the shower.” I’d made sure that when I was away, someone came in to help with the showers. Ellie thought she paid, but the bills she was sent were a fifth of the actual cost. “I never expected the house.” It would never even have occurred to me. “I was just trying to pay back what they gave me.”

Shae finished his water as well, probably sensing I’d done as much soul-bearing as I could stand. “Okay.”

“Okay?” I parroted, not understanding for a moment.

“Okay, I’ll take the job. But you take rent fairly.”

I nodded, wondering if he could see the shock on my face. I’d expected more of an argument. But winning this battle just meant I was setting myself up for a bigger one. Somehow, I had to make sure Shae knew we were friends. Just friends.

I’d done some impossible shit in my time, both in uniform and out of it. But I had a feeling this fight might be the biggest one of my life.