Page 47 of The Valiant Knight (The Ravensmire Chronicles #2)

Now, he’d repay the favor.

“I’ve been where you are, Graham. I wanted to die so many times as I wandered alone.”

He chewed his toast.

“What stopped you?” he asked, genuinely curious. He had a wife, kids, and a good life. Graham would trade with him in a heartbeat.

He was born gay, hated for that, had to take lives, and survive PTSD. Add in losing D’Artangnan, and he was a hot mess.

Tony said one word.

“Family.”

Well, he was shit out of luck there, now wasn’t he? Since he didn’t have any, the chances of surviving this were slim to none.

Great.

Family was foreign to him since his own parents kicked him out because he was gay.

Unfortunately for him, no one wanted a gay son who was a huge disappointment.

“I don’t have any. I went into the military because I was alone, and I had to survive. Being gay isn’t easy when your parents put God over their own flesh and blood.”

He imagined not.

They had plenty of Marines that the Blackhawks took in because they were gay.

Michael.

Raphael.

Saint.

Gryphen.

They protected them, but in return, they were protected right back.

“You have family. Gryphen was frantic over you, and Ian was also worried sick. The Blackhawks are going to take care of you. You work for them now. This is your home, and they will make sure you’re okay.

That’s family, Graham. You aren’t alone, Mr. Lainey.

You have a good job, and you have a circle that will protect you. ”

He said nothing.

Why?

He didn’t want a circle.

He wanted to go back in time and stop himself from destroying his whole life.

“Do you know how much you’re loved when a man recovering from being shot is going to try to get to you? Gryphen was trying to get on a flight to save you. Do you know how much you’re cared about when he’d send someone to find you, and try to keep you alive over the phone?”

A tear dripped onto his hand.

Tony kept going.

“You’re loved. You fell into a band of brothers.

You picked up a Marine as a friend, and I’m sure you know that they don’t give up.

They are the most stubborn, tenacious people on the planet.

He’s dug in, and he’s going to help you whether you want him to or not.

Right now, he’s buying you one of those edible fruit arrangements that says, ‘sorry you’re sad’ . ”

It made him laugh.

Why?

He could picture it.

“You have family, and I’m going to be one hundred percent honest. You can’t drink. It makes you go back there, and that’s bad. Give it up. Trust me. Your choices are suspect when you’re that deep into the scotch bottle.”

He was aware.

Tony put his hand on his back like a father would, and he rubbed it.

“You can do this. Elizabeth texted me. She’s going to do what you asked, and find D’Artangnan for you. Give her time. What if he’s single and thinking about you?”

He laughed sardonically.

“He was perfect,” he said. “He was sweet, romantic, and amazing in bed. Our sexual styles meshed like no one ever has. I know that he’s not single.

He’s moved on because of me. I threw away the greatest love of my life because I was pissy that he was going to go back to the States instead of living here with me. ”

Tony was honest.

“Maybe D’Artangnan at that time, and Graham at that time weren’t meant to be a couple. Sometimes, we have to wait until fate lines us up. Elizabeth and Chris were hot and heavy for a decade, but that wasn’t the right time. They had to break up for a while to come back together.”

“If you tell me if I love something to let it go, and if it comes back to me, it was meant to be, I’m puking on you.”

He laughed.

“I have a toddler and young son. I get puked on a lot. I’m not easily spooked by vomit.”

Instead of commenting, he ate more toast.

“If you check out, Graham, there’s no coming back. You’d hurt the people you left behind. People here love you.”

He went to get up.

“I have to do my chores.”

Tony proved a point. He pushed him back into his seat and kept talking.

“They’re done. Finn chopped the wood, Gabby fed the animals, and they are bringing dinner home after they do some research. We’re covered.”

He was grateful, and confused.

“Why? They are guests here. It’s my job.”

Tony got up and poured him more coffee. He wasn’t nearly as green as he had been when he came into the kitchen.

When he placed his mug down again, he gave him the bad news.

“You’re shit out of luck, my dude. They are your family too. You made connections, and once you do, they are invisible links in that chain that’s your life. If one of your soldier buddies called you and asked for help, what would you do?”

That was easy.

“I’d go.”

Tony patted him on the back.

Slowly, Graham ate the last piece of toast.

“Do you want more?” he asked.

He shook his head.

“No, I’m good.”

When Tony sat down, Graham didn’t look over at him, but he did speak to him.

“Your kids are lucky. If they turn out gay, don’t kick them out. They’ll need you. It’s not easy out there. That’s why so many men join the military. It’s to prove their masculinity and hide.”

He hugged him because his heart broke for this man. While Tony took things with a grain of salt, most of the time, he understood when someone was in pain.

The need to comfort was always there.

He’d learned that from the two people who taught him how to survive and be a family.

“A good parent will never turn their kid out, or leave them behind. We don’t all get good parents, Graham. If you ever become one, remember that. Be the parent you needed at this time, and not the parent yours were.”

Graham held him.

It had been a long time since someone hugged him, and he felt like he deserved it.

“Thanks, Tony.”

He kissed him on the temple.

“If you need me, you call me. I don’t care what time it is, or what it’s for. If I can help you, I will. I promise. And if you ever find love again, and you settle down, do me one favor,” he said, slipping him one of his work cards with his personal number on the back.

He looked over.

“What?”

“Name a kid after me. Anthony is not my real name. It’s Wilbur Bartholomew Egbert Spanky McSpankerson the third.”

He stared at him.

And Tony started laughing. The look on his face was priceless.

“Kidding. Call that kid Tony for short.”

He got him to smile.

Well, that was a start.

“Now, since your work is done for the day, help me put this skull back together. It’s like a puzzle. Then, we’re putting Ceit’s skull back in her crypt. Last night was a shitshow.”

He looked worried.

“What happened?”

When he told him what nearly happened with Gabby, his eyes were huge.

“Oh, shit. Is she okay?” he asked. “It’s never been that bad before. We’ve stirred them up by opening that part of the castle up.”

Yeah, or they just wanted their story told. That tower seemed to be the epicenter for something.

Was it Ceit’s death?

Or was it something more?

If they could clear the air, maybe it would settle down before Elizabeth sashayed her ass here and saw the crazy going down.

She’d burn this castle to the ground and dance around it in her cowboy boots.

Tony nodded.

“Look at you caring like they are family,” he said. “Crazy, huh? And you said you didn’t have family.”

He shook his head.

“You’re a dick.”

Yeah, well, tell him something he didn’t know. What he did know was Graham was a bit better.

And he might just make it yet.

* * *The Ravensmire Castle* * *

The Village

Same Time

Research Time

As they reached the church, there was a note on the door from Alfie McCullum, the minister, and it was bad news for them.

Apparently, he was out running errands, and had locked the place up until he was back later.

Well, that wasn’t going to help.

Now was it?

“Well, crap,” she said, sighing. “It looks like we can’t dig around in the books.”

He reminded her.

“From that message from Ian, he said that they exhausted the book situation. We might have to do it all online.”

He had a point.

While she didn’t mind doing it online, it sounded fun to be an investigator.

“You’re right,” she admitted.

The whole time they were standing outside of the church, Finn was standing beside her, his hand protectively on her back.

Why?

Because he could.

This woman was going to marry him, and he knew how damn lucky he’d gotten.

“This sucks,” she stated. “We have to get some research done on Ciarán Begbie. We only know what that one note from Ceit to Duncan said, and then what Ceit told me in the storage room. If you guys are right, he would have been on the battlefield with Duncan, and might not have been the one who hurt her.”

Finn considered it.

“Unless we find cold hard evidence that says otherwise, mo ghràdh, we can’t say he killed her. We need proof and a reason why. Ceit said there were four spirits there. We still have to figure out who the last one is.”

She knew he was right.

That might be as far as they get on this mystery, but she could keep working on it later.

Why?

She was moving here.

When Finn was at work, she could have a side mission when Elizabeth didn’t have a case.

This was working out perfectly.

“You’re right. It’s a good thing I’m marrying you and moving here. What we don’t get done by the time we fly back, I can pick up later.”

That she could.

“Absolutely, mo ghràdh. Graham is going to need someone to check on him. I don’t know if that castle is a good thing for him alone.”

She knew what he meant.

“As for online research, I can go back to the castle, and go into the archives that way,” she admitted. “I just need some time and a computer.”

For some reason, he didn’t want to go back there yet. They had planned on spending time together, and he really wanted to do that. Plus, he really wanted to keep her out of that mess all day today.

So, he improvised.

“We can swing by my office, and get my work laptop,” he offered. “I have a work computer. You can use that, and we can head to my place. I need to get things for the rest of the time that I’m at the castle anyway.”

She didn’t mind that.

“Okay.”