Page 165 of Allegiance

Gene finally said what they both knew he wanted to get off his chest.

“I don’t like it. Stay in, and I’ll go with the Ravenscrofts.”

He wasn’t letting that happen.

“I know who Tate is, and if I show up, he’ll not think about it too much. I can just tell him ‘I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d say hi’.”

He stared at him.

“You abandoned your job, you went missing, and no one could find you after your house was shot up, Tommy. This isn’t a game. It’s life or death.”

He said the quiet part out loud.

“And you think I can’t survive if it came down to it?” he asked. “You think that I somehow managed to hunt down a serial killer for sixteen years, crisscrossing like five states, and then managed to help you find him but I’m somehow stupid?” he asked, waiting to hear the answer.

They just might be having their first couple fight over this. He could see that going down. His fiancé was a powder keg waiting to blow.

Gene closed his mouth and said nothing.

Instead, he walked away.

He wasn’t arguing with him.

As he went to stand on the balcony that overlooked the courtyard, he stood there with his arms on the rails as he watched the sunset in the distance.

It didn’t take long for Tommy to follow him out to join him.

“Gene, talk to me.”

The hardest part was articulating it. Gene wasn’t superstitious, but you didn’t live in New Orleans and not see some shit that made you believe.

If he put it out there, it might happen.

“Please. We’re going to get married. I’m going to be your husband. Just tell me, so we can work it out. I can’t help you if you keep everything locked away from me.”

He was right.

Well, here went nothing.

“I’m afraid you’ll get hurt. I’m sorry it’s annoying, but remember when you were squirrely over mine and Ethan’s relationship, and it drove you insane?”

Tommy ran his hand up and down his back to offer some reassurance.

“I recall.”

Gene hoped the man understood.

“We all have our things. I keep seeing Preston getting shot in the head, and I don’t know if I can do it again. This is my issue. It’s my fear. That’s what makes me hesitate when it comes to us. While I love you so much, I don’t know if I can stare into your eyes and watch you go empty when you die.”

He heard the tremor in his voice and knew that this was something that could make or break them. If Tommy made light of it, he would lose Gene.

Honestly, Tommy would fight like hell to get to the altar and see this man marry him.

He’d kill countless dirty cops to see their wedding. If someone came for his man…

Well, that was an issue.

There was only one other solution, and Tommy offered it up.