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Patrick watched them amble down the hallway together, their anger already blown away. He rubbed his temples and returned to the debriefing room, dropping into the chair beside Fal’ran. “I know Sazahk needs more extensive excursions, but I can’t send him alone.”
“No, but you can’t send Bar’in with him, either.” Fal’ran rubbed circles over Patrick’s back. “Or Tar. Or me. Or even all of us. We’re no good to him without more training.”
“I might have someone,” Dom spoke up. “Who can protect Sazahk out there.”
“Yeah?” Patrick raised his eyebrows at the screen. He had a few former colleagues ready to retire from soldiering, but most of his generation had fought in urban environments. “Who?”
“Same man who protects me.” Dom brought up the headshot of a human man with rangy, handsome features and flinty eyes. “Kevin Garin. He was my brother’s bodyguard until my brother ran off. Now he’s mine.”
Patrick remembered him scowling after Oliver Turner as Oliver swept down the gangway. “What are his credentials?”
“Human Special Forces.” Dom switched out Garin’s headshot for a heavily redacted resume. “I don’t know much of what he did, but I know it involved extensive time in harsh environments with little support.”
Fal’ran leaned back in his chair. “And he’s got experience protecting high maintenance types.”
A light blush appeared high on Dom’s cheekbones, but he nodded. “He’s good at what he does. My father wouldn’t have kept him on after the Oliver fiasco if he wasn’t.”
Patrick rested his elbows on his knees with a grimace. “He sounds perfect, but he’s already got a job. I doubt he’d jump ship for a Klah’Eel government salary.”
“He won’t have to.” Dom shook his head. “I’ll keep paying his salary. He’ll stay an employee of the Turner family, but I’ll assign him to Sazahk.”
Patrick searched for the flaw in the plan but found only relief. And gratitude. Kevin Garin’s salary likely didn’t dent the Turner family fortune, but Dominic Turner was still one of the most hated men in the sector. For him to give up a man that kept him safe was significant. “That’s generous, thank you.”
Dom ducked his head and hid the pleased smile on his face. “It’s the least I can do.”
“Sounds settled then.” Fal’ran clapped his hands, a habit he’d picked up from Patrick. “You’ll find a new bodyguard, then you’ll send us Garin for Sazahk. You think Sazahk will like him?”
Dom snorted a humorless laugh. “No.” He shook his head and chuckled again. “No, Sazahk is going to hate him. But he’ll hate having his research thwarted more.”
“Well, at least he’ll be too far for me to hear him complain.” Patrick stood and rolled his tight shoulders. “Send Garin over. Thank you, Dom.”
“Of course.” Dom's bashful smile grew, and he hung up.
“Admit it.” Fal’ran stood and poked Patrick’s ribs with a grin. “Having a corporate princeling on the team has its perks.”
“Enough, you.” Patrick scowled and caught Fal’ran’s hand. But privately, he marveled at the galaxy’s insanity. Being on a first name basis with the Turner brothers was not a future he’d foreseen for himself. Then again, he hadn’t foreseen a cozy home with a handsome man half his age, either. “Dinner?”
“In a bit.” Fal’ran laced their fingers together. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to do first.”
“Yeah?” Patrick let Fal’ran lead him down the hallway toward the stairs. “And what’s that?”
“A promise I haven’t had the time to make good on.” Fal’ran threw a smirk over his shoulder.
Patrick grimaced. They hadn’t had time for much at all lately. “It’s been a busy few weeks.”
Fal’ran squeezed his hand as he pulled him up the stairs. “Good weeks, though.”
A smile tugged Patrick’s lips up. “Good weeks.”
Incredible weeks. Wonderful in their mundanity. Weeks Patrick wanted to repeat every day for the rest of his life. Weeks spent waking up with Fal’ran. Eating breakfast with the squad. Training with Fal’ran, sparring, planning, wrestling, working, hell, even cooking together. Falling asleep together in a bed big enough for them both. Doing it all over again.
It should have been boring.
Instead, it was perfect.
“You’re happy?” Patrick asked as they stepped out onto the roof. He tugged Fal’ran’s hand to spin him around and looked into his eyes. Everything Fal’ran ever felt was always right there in his eyes, and Patrick needed to see them. “Like this?”
Fal’ran drew Patrick farther out onto the roof with a sweet, affectionate smile, those eyes shimmering with adoration. “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life.”
