I’d been fortunate enough to have plenty of money saved up for both Matty’s treatment and for Tate and I to live off of, but I knew I had the man next to me to thank for that because he’d paid considerably better than the army ever had. But my loyalty to Ronan had also made it difficult to admit that my professional relationship with him was over. Since I hadn’t taken any cases in the two months since I’d met Tate, I suspected Ronan already knew what my plan was. His question confirmed it.
“I owe you so much-” I began to say, but Ronan cut me off.
“No you don’t,” he said simply. “We saved each other, Hawke. You know it. I know it. Let’s just leave it at that.”
“Are you going to keep the group going?”
Ronan nodded. “It does too much good not to.” His eyes were on Seth when he said, “But I’m not going to be picking up a gun again anytime soon,” he said.
“What will you do?” I asked.
“I’m looking into going back into medicine,” he admitted. He nodded at Matty. “I can still save kids like him. I’ll just use a scalpel to do it.”
I smiled at that.
“What about you?” Ronan asked.
“I’m thinking about doing something in security,” I said. “There’s a security firm out here that has a really good reputation.”
“Barretti Security Group,” Ronan said. “I’ve heard good things about them. They’d be lucky to have you,” Ronan said.
“What about the group? Who’s going to run it?”
“Not sure. Mav seems interested in being second in command, but he doesn’t want to be lead. I’ve got another guy in mind, but he’s not exactly a team player.”
“Who?”
Ronan glanced at me. “Memphis.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “Good luck with that,” was all I said before I took a sip of my beer. I’d only worked with Memphis Wheland on one occasion and while he was the ultimate killer, his interpersonal skills were considerably lacking.
“Yeah,” Ronan agreed. “When are you going to tell Tate about his mom?”
“Tonight,” I said. “Thanks for keeping an eye on Matty for us.”
“Are you kidding?” Ronan said. “Seth can’t get enough of that kid.”
“Just Seth?” I asked knowingly.
Ronan smiled – it was something I still couldn’t get used to. “No, not just Seth,” Ronan murmured.
I turned my focus on Tate who’d fallen to the ground in mock exhaustion and had been promptly piled on by a dog, a puppy and a very happy five-year-old. I knew what I had to tell Tate tonight would be yet another heavy thing for him to process, but I also suspected he’d eventually see the joy in it too. But until then, I would take pleasure in seeing the man who’d changed my entire life enjoy every moment he could with our ever expanding family.
* * *
“Baby, I need to talk to you about something,” I murmured between the kisses Tate was stealing as we walked to our hotel room.
“Okay,” Tate said against my lips, but instead of giving me some space, he crowded me against our door as I fumbled with the key card to get it open. I gave up and wrapped my arms around his waist as he stole into my mouth and teased me with his tongue. I growled when he refused to give me what I wanted and I quickly spun him until his back was up against the door. I took over the kiss and by the time I was done taking what I wanted, Tate was rubbing up against me, his hands gripping my ass as he tried to pull me closer to him so he could grind our erections together.
I managed to finally get the key card in the door when Tate started fumbling with the buttons on my shirt, and the second we were inside, I ripped my shirt off and then went to work on his. Tate was rubbing my erection relentlessly with his hand and I knew I wasn’t going to last. Since the bedroom was too far away, I dragged Tate to the counter that separated the kitchen from the living area in the small suite and shoved him back against it. I managed to get his pants undone and off of him, but when Tate’s fingers pushed past my waistband at my back and began smoothing over my ass, I was a goner and I ruthlessly turned Tate around and shoved him face down over the counter. I placed my hand on Tate’s neck to hold him in place as I freed my cock from my pants with the other hand and searched out my wallet for the packet of lube I kept there.
“You like it like this, don’t you baby?” I growled as I slid my cock between his cheeks.
“Yes,” Tate said breathlessly as he pushed his ass against me. “Fuck me really hard, Michael.”