Page 45 of The Broker

Jared was seething. There was no way he was allowing Isaac to put himself in so much danger. Physically, emotionally, or mentally. He was all too familiar with the after-effects of trauma. And this? This would break the poor guy.

But how could he stand by and allow this to happen to innocent women?No.They needed to do something, and Jared would do everything that he could to protect the precious gem currently cuddled into him. No one was ever going to hurt his little guy ever again.

“Fine, I’m coming with you,” Jared announced.

Isaac’s hold on Jared tightened.

“I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You didn’t. This is the only way that it’s going to happen. I’ll be sitting right next to you when you go visit your bastard of an uncle, and I’ll be standing right next to you when we take down your brother. This is the only way I’m allowing you anywhere near those monsters. Sorry if that makes me sound all possessive and shit, but this is the only way I can ensure your safety, so I’m coming,sweetheart.” He added a bit of an American Southern drawl for added effect.

Yes, he might sound all levels of possessive stalker psycho, but he didn’t care. And judging by the way Isaac was clinging to him, he was pretty sure that Isaac appreciated the over-protectiveness.

Isaac rested his exhausted head against Jared’s broad chest and seemed to sink into the safety of his embrace.

“Thank you, Jare. I’m not sure I could have done this on my own.”

“Anytime. I’m always here for you, babe. Even when you’re spiking my drinks with Viagra.”

Jared welcomed the gentle giggle rumbling off Isaac’s body.

God, he loved that laugh.

With that, they continued to stare out into the abyss, Jared’s protective arms wrapped around Isaac, not saying a word as they welcomed the darkness of the night.

15

JARED

Lying next to Isaac, he wondered how so many weird noises could come out of such a small body. First, there was the mumbling. Soft, incoherent sounds emerged from Isaac’s mouth as he appeared to be trying to communicate with the spirits as he slept. Occasionally, Jared would catch a word or two that he thought sounded like his name, but the word was always followed by a shake of his leg, so he hoped that didn’t mean Isaac was pissing on him in his dream.

Then there was the snoring.My God in heaven!You would think he was attempting to inhale the entire bedroom through his nostrils with the way he kept sucking back air. The flaring of his nostrils, the sucking back in his chest—Jesus, Jared was surprised he hadn’t been inhaled by one of his nose holes yet.

And, of course, who could forget about the undercover gymnastics? The bending, the arching, the throwing of arms over bodies. Like seriously, if he hadn’t known that the man was sound asleep, he would have guessed that this was one of Isaac’s practical jokes to annoy the fuck out of him.

So, now that Isaac’s body was no longer moving and no ghastly sounds were emerging from his body, Jared naturally assumed that the boy was dead.

He had to be.

Yup, the boy had probably snapped his own neck during his undercover gymnastics while choking on a pillow he probably swallowed whole. Ladies and gentlemen, the feisty ball of energy, who hailed from Ireland, had murdered himself in his sleep. Finally, some peace and quiet.

Placing the back of his hand in front of Isaac’s nose, he waited to see if he could feel any breath coming from the man currently snuggled up in his arms.

After a few seconds, Jared finally relaxed.

Breath.

He finally felt some breath on the back of his hand.

Okay, so we’ve confirmed that you’re still alive,but that doesn’t mean that you will continue to be if you start practicing your Olympic floor routine once again,Jared silently threatened. Hey, it wasn’t murder if you only did it in your head.

Jared stared at the motionless blue hair resting in front of him.

Now, if only we could freeze you into this motionless, quiet state and let you sleep like the gentle and sweet prince that you are… when you’re sleeping… and not speaking… or moving… and, of course, not doing anything “Isaac like.”

Jared studied the messy blue hair. His spikes had been squashed during his four-hour gymnastics routine, but Jared didn’t care. He liked seeing this quiet, gentler side of Isaac. The side that let down his guard and gave Jared access to the sides that nobody else got to see.

The real Isaac.

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