The Walls Of Troy Part 33

Dalton eyed me. "If you two have been seeing each other again, we'll deal with that later. What the h.e.l.l happened tonight?"

"What happened tonight was my psycho f.u.c.king ex-boyfriend." Troy met his father's eyes. "Lieutenant Harris."

"Harris?" Dalton's eyes were huge. "You had a relationship with...with him?"

"You could call it that, I guess." Troy shuddered. "More like a year and a half of h.e.l.l."

"But the... What about the man you mentioned? The anonymous-"

"He didn't exist," Troy said. "I needed you to know there was someone stalking me, but I couldn't tell you who, so I...I made him up."

Dalton blinked a few times. Then his gaze shifted toward me. "Did you know about this?"

I chewed my lip, but then nodded slowly.

His eyes narrowed. "You kept this from me when this son of a b.i.t.c.h was threatening my-"

"I asked him to keep it quiet," Troy said. "I was scared."

"Of what? Troy, if you're dating someone on my staff, I won't be pleased, but I don't want you getting hurt or killed either!"

"It's not that." Troy swallowed hard. He felt around on the edge of the bed, and when he found my hand, squeezed it tight. I squeezed back, running my thumb along the side of his. "I kept it quiet that Ben and I were dating because I knew you'd be upset. I kept it quiet that he was stalking me because he was threatening you."

"Me?"

Troy nodded. "He said if I got anyone involved-you, cops, the Navy-he'd go public with pictures of you and Senator Norton's wife."

Dalton blanched. "He...what?"

"He knew about that. And I've seen the pictures."

The admiral cringed. "f.u.c.k."

"And when Iskander was Tased, I knew it was Ben, because..."

"Why?" Dalton lost a little color. "Troy..."

Troy met his father's eyes. "Because he did it to me. To warn me not to leave him."

"Oh s.h.i.t."

Troy wiped his eyes with a shaking hand, and his other held mine even tighter. "I'm so sorry, Dad. I wanted to tell you what was going on, but...the threats..."

Dalton's lips parted. "You...kept all that a secret to protect me?"

Troy nodded. "He was threatening your career."

"I don't care about that when he's mistreating and threatening my son."

Troy kept his gaze down.

"Troy." Dalton touched his shoulder. "You're my top priority. You always have been."

When Troy lifted his head, there were tears in his eyes. "I know. That's why I couldn't let something stupid of mine f.u.c.k up your career."

"And I couldn't imagine letting him f.u.c.k up my son." Dalton gestured for him to stand, and when he did, he hugged him tight. "My G.o.d, Troy. I am so glad you're okay. The Navy's my career, but...you're all I have."

"You too," Troy whispered.

Over his son's head, Dalton met my eyes. There was no hostility in his expression, no stay the f.u.c.k away from my kid. Just fierce protectiveness and bone-deep relief that Troy was alive and well.

After a moment, Troy pulled back. His smeared eye makeup only got worse when he wiped his eyes as he sank into the chair beside me again. He slipped his hand into mine, and no one spoke for a moment.

Dalton regarded us silently, eyes occasionally flicking toward Troy. Taking a deep breath, he stood a little straighter. "Am I to understand that this"-he gestured at our joined hands-"is back on?"

We both nodded.

Troy moistened his lips. "We were on our way over to tell you what was going on. With Ben, and with...us."

Dalton stared straight at me. "This is true?"

"Yeah. I know it was unprofessional, sir. But I..." I glanced down at Troy's hand in mine. "No excuses. I love him."

The admiral stiffened. "I see. Well." He cleared his throat. "Of course, Troy's a grown man. My approval isn't needed." Then he extended his hand. "But if it was up to me, I couldn't imagine a man I'd approve of more than you, Iskander."

I released Troy's hand and shook Dalton's. "Thank you, sir."

"And you heard me," he said, giving me a pointed look. "My son is all I have. Take care of him."

"You know I will."

"Yeah. I do." He smiled, then patted Troy's shoulder. "Well, I'll let you get some rest, MA1. Troy, I a.s.sume you're staying here for now?"

Troy nodded.

"The doctor said you won't be released for some time." Dalton took out his car keys and handed them to Troy. "I'll leave my car here. It's in the patient lot, just outside. When he's released, bring him to our house to rest."

Troy blinked, then took the keys. "Thanks, Dad."

"Thanks," I said quietly.

"You're welcome. Take it easy, MA1." He gestured at the door. "There are some officers waiting in the lobby. I'll go speak to them."

He left us alone, and Troy released a breath as he sat back and pocket his father's keys. "That went better than I expected."

"Under the circ.u.mstances, I think your dad's just glad you're okay. Just like I am."

He smiled thinly. "He probably is. I'm just glad it was Ben who really got f.u.c.ked up, not you."

"Physically, yeah. But..." But you shot someone. My G.o.d, Troy, you saved my life. "Are you sure you're okay? After what happened?"

He nodded, exhaling as he laced his fingers between mine. "Yeah. I just can't believe it's over. I was afraid it was going to go on forever."

"It had to end eventually. I'm just glad it ended without you getting hurt."

He pursed his lips. "I could've done without you getting hurt in the process."

"I'll be okay." I squeezed his hand. "And you're all right? After, um...what happened?"

He swallowed hard and shuddered. "I'll probably need to spend a little more time in my therapist's office, but, yeah, I think I'm all right." He brought my hand up and took it between both of his. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Me too."

He kissed my fingers, then let out a long breath, and some tension melted out of him. "You know, I've been so freaked out about him for so long, it's kind of weird to think about him being gone. Like, what do I do now?"

"What do you want to do now?" I smiled. "You're free."

He returned the smile, but there was a hint of caution as he held my gaze. "I don't know yet, but I want to keep seeing you. I meant everything I said before...before what happened."

"So did I. You sure you want to be with a salty old Sailor with a few chips on his shoulder?"

Troy laughed. Really, truly laughed like I'd never seen him do. "Well, can this salty old Sailor keep up with a college kid who thinks studying is best broken up by frequent s.e.x breaks?"

I laughed too, as much as I could with the eye-watering pain in my side. "I can try, right?"

He brought my hand up and kissed it. "You've done just fine so far."

"Just give me a little time to heal." I smiled up at him. "Then we'll make up for lost time."

"Take all the time you need. I'm not going anywhere."

"Well, except to cla.s.ses. You don't really need me for that anymore."

"I don't?" He held my gaze, and then he smiled as he released a breath. "d.a.m.n. You're right. I don't." He sank into the chair beside my bed, wiping his eyes with his free hand. "f.u.c.k. I'd forgotten what it's like to be able to go to cla.s.s without a bodyguard."

"I'm sure it'll come back to you."

Troy laughed, dabbing at his eyes again. "But you're... I mean, you're still enrolled for credit. So you're still going to go, right?"

"Of course." I gingerly reached up and touched his face. "You mind if I use your notes for a week or two until I can sit through cla.s.s, though?"

Troy laughed and kissed my palm. "Yeah. Definitely. You can stay home and keep Talos company while I go to cla.s.s."

I blinked, then chuckled. "Long as he doesn't expect me to throw a toy for him."

"Nah. He's more of a sit-next-to-you-and-gnaw-on-a-bone type dog."

"A toy bone, right? As opposed to-"

"Not your bones."

"Thank G.o.d." I shifted a little and winced. "My bones have been through enough."

"I'm sure. But as far as Talos goes, you two had better make friends." He grinned. "We're kind of a package deal, you know."

I laughed, even though it made me wince. "I guess I'll be making friends with him, then."

He smiled and leaned down to kiss me.

I wrapped my good arm around him again and just held him.

In spite of every reason we never should've even looked at each other, never mind fallen in love, this felt right. It felt like it was the way it should have been, maybe even right down to the busted ribs and the traumatic night. Like everything that had happened had led us to this, and there was no way we could even think of moving on separately.

He wasn't even old enough to have a drink, while I was old enough to be thinking about retiring from the military, but nothing in my life had ever felt right the way holding him did. Maybe the danger had matured him, and maybe it had given us both an appreciation for how much we had to lose, how much we couldn't stand the thought of losing, but we could make this work. We had a lot of years between us, and not a lot of time together yet, but I was in love with him. We'd take it a day at a time. See how things went. See if we could really pull this off.

But in the end, I had no trouble believing we would.

Even if it meant making friends with a Rottweiler.

Epilogue.

About Two Years Later The turnout in the giant auditorium was incredible-there must have been two thousand people here for commencement. I sat near the middle with Troy's family and applauded with everyone else as the graduates filed in, decked out in black caps and gowns.

Troy came in, and my heart fluttered. I couldn't help grinning, and when he met my eyes from across the room, I caught a glimpse of the man I'd been tangled up with until three o'clock this morning. Loaded grin, tired eyes-yeah, he'd enjoyed it as much as I had.

Even with last night still lingering in every ache, twinge, and shared glance, my stomach was a ball of nerves. I was thrilled for Troy, and sitting up here in the stands with the Dalton family, I was as proud of him as they were.

But...this morning's phone call still echoed in my ears, and I couldn't ignore it.

Did that call have to come in today?

d.a.m.n it. It had only been a matter of time, but I'd hoped it could wait at least until after we had a chance to celebrate Troy's graduation. He'd worked his a.s.s off for this. He deserved some time to bask in it.

As the graduates took their seats and the music faded, everyone sat back down. The speeches began, but I didn't hear much. I thumbed the edge of my program and let my mind wander.

Since Troy no longer needed a bodyguard, Admiral Dalton had pulled some strings and had me transferred over to the security department at Naval Station Norfolk. It was back to the detail I'd wanted to get away from-supervising a bunch of cops who were bored stupid checking IDs at the gates and pier-side-but at least I was doing something. I could always take another protective-service billet in the future.

The only downside to my new job was it had left me with less time to take cla.s.ses, so I still had another year to go before I finished my degree. I'd made rank and put on chief, though, so I couldn't complain.

That was its own double-edged sword, though. Making chief meant I didn't have to retire at twenty years-I could stay in until twenty-four. If I put on senior chief or master chief, I could retire at the thirty-year mark like Admiral Dalton planned to next year.