Page 82 of The Broker

ISAAC

Isaac knocked on the bedroom door, then waited for someone to say he could come in. When no one did, he debated whether he should come back again in the morning.

No. He needed to do this now. If he’d learned anything these past few days, it was that you should never wait. Never waste time with “Maybe later” or “It’s too early to say.”

No. Life was precious, and time was never guaranteed.

There were so many times these past few days when any of them could have been killed. Things would have gone unsaid, and truths would have gone unacknowledged.

Hell, even the women they rescued were a prime example. One minute, they were living happy, blissful lives, and then the next, they were suffering through an unimaginable nightmare.

No. Time was precious, and things needed to be done. Starting with this.

Turning the knob slowly, Isaac gently pushed the door back on its hinges.

The room was quiet and still, save for a gentle glow coming from two lamps that sat at both sides of the luxurious bed.

“Hello? Mr… Ares?”

Isaac realized that in all the years he’d known Ares, he never once heard his last name. Did the man even have a last name? Or was he just Ares, like Madonna or Cher?

Given the man’s larger-than-life reputation, he didn’t need a family name. He was Ares, thegod of war, after all. And he definitely demonstrated that this evening. Or last night. Or whenever it was that they actually escaped. Time held no relevance to Isaac anymore. All he knew was that the moon was still out, and the rest of the world was blissfully unaware of the crucible they had all just survived in the Netherlands.

Well, survived with a few injuries.

Quietly, he entered the room and walked toward the bed.

On their way back home, Matteo had insisted that Ares stay in the château while he recovered. Even though Elijah patched the man up, Matteo insisted that Ares allow his personal doctor to check him out and make sure that the man didn’t catch gangrene or syphilis or any other obscure but just as horrible communicable disease all because the man was too stubborn to get his wound looked at.

In the end, Matteo won the argument and Ares pretended that he hated the idea.

“Don’t be shy. Come on in, boy,” a coarse voice whispered from the motionless lump in the center of the bed.

Silently, Isaac walked around the bed, taking note of the IV bag hanging next to the bed as well as all the beeping monitors apparently keeping him alive if you asked Matteo.

Ares had fought the insistent Italian on the monitors and the IV bag, claiming that he had nothing but a flesh wound and that all of this fuss was totally unnecessary. In the end, guess who won out.

Stopping next to the bed, Isaac stared down at the half-broken man. He was ruggedly handsome in that rough and dangerous kind of way.

Judging by the tanned complexion of the man’s dry skin, it appeared that he spent a lot of time out in the sun, exposed to harmful UV rays and possibly dry climates. Perhaps Egypt or somewhere in the Middle East? Isaac had no idea. The man was a frickin’ mystery.

“Keep staring at a man like that, and you’re bound to give the poor guy a complex,” Ares said, his voice rough and dry.

“Sorry, I just realized that I don’t know a lot about you,” Isaac said, lifting a pitcher of water sitting next to the bed and filling a glass halfway. He added a straw, then brought the glass close to Ares’s lips. “Here, have some water.”

Ares lifted his head slightly and took a few sips before lowering his head back onto the pillow.

“Thank you, boy. You’ve got a kind heart.”

“No. It’s me who should be thanking you. Without you, your men, and your arsenal, there’s no way I would have been rescued.”

Ares gave him a half smile. “Matteo would have found a way. He thinks of you as family. And when his family is in danger, there’s no stopping him.”

Standing in the darkness, Isaac knew the man was right. They were all Matteo’s family now, and there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for them.

“Still. I appreciate all your help. Even with keeping everyone safe.”

“Everyone, like your man?” Ares’s lips pulled back in a smugI know something, you don’t knowsort of way.

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