Page 87 of Adored
When he opened his mouth, Poe stopped him with one sentence.
“If we’re really a couple, and you meant what you said about marrying me, I need the truth, Gamble. I need the whole truth of what’s in your heart.”
Well, shit.
“Will you be happy back in the States too?”
Gamble had no choice.
“I’ll be happy there too, Poe, but don’t do this for me. I won’t be able to bear it if we leave because you think I am not happy. I’m very content here.”
Poe was honest.
“I hate it here.”
Oof.
Well, that was a whole other thing.
“Back to my earlier lie...”
Gamble lifted a brow.
Lies were never good in a relationship, and he knew it. Now, he had no clue where this was going.
“I said that I don’t believe in ghosts, but I’m haunted here. I feel them all around me, and I don’t want to live in that past. I want to live my happy life with you. I want to go back to the US where I’m a doctor and not a Duke. The UK isn’t my place anymore.”
Gamble was curious.
“And if we can’t go back to the farm?” he asked. “Because Von Donore is likely watching it, as far as we know. What if we had to be somewhere else?”
He was honest.
“I don’t care where I am there, as long as we’re together. I can’t be here. I thought it was duty, but the more I’m here, themore I realize that this place is going to break my spirit, and I’ll lose who I am.”
Well, shit.
Gamble had been broken, and he didn’t want that for Poe—ever.
He continued.
“I want to be where I can be happy, and I’m not happy. I’m freaking the fuck out. I don’t feel British. I feel like I’m visiting. I think America made me an American. I think that I’d rather live there.”
Well, he believed him.
It wasn’t like they couldn’t return any time they needed to, but Gamble was honest.
“I can’t leave right away, Poe. I have a mission here.”
The man stared at him.
“You do?”
He slowly nodded, hoping he didn’t think that was the only reason he was there.
It wasn’t.
“Elizabeth needs us to find that crypto key. If it wasn’t with you at your farm, Poe, it has to be here. We can’t go back without it. The Hunters need it to use it as bait to lure in Von Donore. We won’t be safe without him handled. We’ll always look over our shoulders, and that won’t be good for longevity. I can protect you, but what if I’m out working and he gets you?”
