Chapter 34
Saint
Augie’s family was a bunch of elitist bastards. Which only served to make him seem more sweet and humble and perfect by comparison. I tried desperately to school myself so I didn’t look at him with a lovesick puppy face. It was bad enough I’d finally come to the realization August Stiel was my person right when I couldn’t tell him that out loud, but I’d make a big mess of things if I couldn’t find my game face somewhere.
You’re a navy SEAL. This is a mission. Get your shit together, sailor.
I gave a polite nod to each of them. Augie’s aunt Prima was hands down the friendliest person there, but it was a bit like going to the mean girls’ table in the lunchroom and picking the least bitchy of the bunch.
“And you are…?” she asked with a big smile. I noticed her hand had gone limp from the sheer weight of the diamond ring on her finger. The man I assumed was Augie’s uncle Eric stood a few feet behind her looking bored.
Augie’s jaw ticked. “I just told you who he is. His name is Saint Wilde. He works for Landen Safekeeping, who I hired for security.”
A younger version of Augie’s uncle Eric scoffed. “Pfft. Little cuz has himself a bodyguard? It’s about time. You could have used one of those back in school, eh, Augustine?”
I turned to face the jackass spewing schoolyard bully crap. Thank fuck I was at least five inches taller than he was and a good forty pounds of muscle stronger.
“I beg your pardon?” I asked in a low voice through my teeth. Without thinking, I’d stepped between the asshole and Augie.
Augie reached out to squeeze my arm. “Ignore him, please.” His voice was soft enough for me to hear it but barely.
“His name is August,” I corrected. “Or Augie. Or even Mr. Stiel.”
Instead of getting angry at me for not keeping my cool, Augie puffed out a laugh. “That’s okay, Saint. Brett’s not really one to talk. His name stands for—”
“Fine! You win,” Brett snapped. “Tell your babysitter to stand down for god’s sake. It was just a joke.”
“Where’s Grandfather?” Augie asked his asshole cousin.
“In his study. He’ll be out for dinner.”
“I’m going to go say hello,” Augie said, nudging me toward an archway that led to a quiet hallway. I knew he was anxious to speak to his grandfather about the information we’d found in the box.
We wandered past a few open doorways until coming to the door to a dark-paneled study.
“Brett, is that you?” The old man’s voice sounded weaker than I expected.
“No, it’s August,” Augie called out, knocking a knuckle against the doorjamb before walking in. Augie took a seat in an armchair in front of Mr. Stiel’s desk while I stayed back by the door. As soon as Augie realized I wasn’t in the chair next to him, he looked back at me in frustration. “Get over here.”
I quickly joined him in front of the desk but didn’t sit yet. “Saint Wilde, sir. Nice to see you again,” I said to Augie’s grandfather. He looked at me in confusion.
“Have we met?”
“Yes, sir, briefly in Augie’s driveway.”
“Oh, sorry. Are you Augie’s… ahem, boyfriend?”
He looked like he was trying his hardest to be cool with the term, but he clearly wasn’t.
“Uh…” I looked at Augie for help. He was busy studying his grandfather as if seeing him with new eyes.
“Yes, Grandfather. Saint and I are dating.”
I could hear the tremor in his voice, but his words were sure. I was so fucking proud of him, I wanted to grab him and squeeze him before whisking him away to do sexy things to his naked body.
“Navy man, am I right?”
“Yes, sir. Ten years. I’m in personal security now.”
For a brief moment, he seemed more lucid. He locked eyes with me and pointed a shaky index finger at me. “You take care of my boy. He deserves the best.”
Augie’s soft inhalation of surprise broke my heart. Those shouldn’t have been words that surprised him.
“I agree completely. I won’t let you down,” I promised in a rough voice. “He’s an incredible person.”
Jonathan Stiel seemed to deflate. “My sister told me to take special care of him. I miss her.”
Augie glanced at me with devastation on his face. I took the risk of reaching for his hand, slowly and without bringing attention to it. Mr. Stiel wouldn’t have been able to see below the level of his desk even if he’d been completely lucid.
“I miss her too, Grandfather. She was something special. Remember when she made you hang that pinecone wind chime?” he asked with a smile.
“She didn’t make me hang it. You made it, so I hung it. Didn’t make pretty noise, but it seemed to put a smile on your face anyway.”
Augie’s lips froze partway open. This wasn’t the cold grandfather he’d described to me. Clearly his dementia had brought about changes in his personality or perhaps lowered his inhibitions.