“I appreciate that, Jason. Our state needed the support, so we jumped in to help.”

  “What are you doing?” Mick asked, indignant. “You’re supposed to be arresting him, not fanboying over him.”

  Jason was clearly not impressed with Mick’s attitude, but he was a professional, so he turned to Ace. “May I ask what happened, Mr. Sharpe?”

  Ace opened his mouth when Mick cut in.

  “Really? You’re going to ask him? He’s just going to lie.”

  “Jason,” Colton said, his smile wide as he held out his hand. “I’d like to thank you and your team for your work here tonight. I’m Colton Connolly.”

  Jason and the rest of his team were suddenly on high alert. “Mr. Connolly, I’m so sorry for this.”

  “It’s all right, Jason. Mr. Sharpe was doing his job. He and his team are here as my personal security. Mr. Wellington approached me, and I made it very clear that I had no intention of speaking to him. When he approached aggressively and tried to grab me, Ace intervened. I don’t want this man anywhere near me, and if he refuses, feel free to escort him from the premises.” Colton turned his cold eyes on Mick. “This better be the last I see of you, Mr. Wellington, or I’ll be the one pressing charges.”

  Mick’s nostril’s flared as he looked from Colton to Ace, then back before he spun on his heels and stormed off. Jason motioned for one of his men to follow Mick before he turned his attention back to them.

  “I apologize for the inconvenience, gentlemen,” Jason said. “It’s a real pleasure meeting you both. If you have any issues or concerns, please come see me or one of my associates.”

  Ace thanked Jason and waited for them to be out of earshot. He faced Colton, concerned by the heartache on display. “Are you okay? Do you want me to escort you to your room?”

  Colton shook his head, his gaze off toward the ocean. “No, I’m fine. Thank you. But I could really use that walk now.”

  “Of course.” He motioned for Colton to go ahead, and when they reached the end of the walk, Colton stopped. He removed his jacket and laid it over the railing before he removed his cufflinks and proceeded to roll up his sleeves to the elbows. His shoes and socks soon followed, tucked behind the stairs that led down to the sand. He rolled his pants up to his knees, unconcerned about the expensive designer slacks. The breeze was blowing off the ocean, making the humidity more bearable. Ace added his socks and shoes to Colton’s stash beneath the stairs, but he kept his jacket on since his ID and touchstone were in his inner jacket. He’d faced far worse conditions during his service than beach weather.

  Colton strolled closer to the water to walk along the surf’s edge, the water splashing against his ankles and the breeze ruffling his soft hair. Ace followed at a distance, scanning the surrounding areas scattered with palm trees, shrubbery, and torches speared into the sand. Colton appeared lost in thought, his hands shoved into his pants pockets and his head lowered. He’d stop on occasion to toe at something in the sand. Ace gave him space, but after several feet, Colton stopped and waited expectantly. Wondering if something was wrong, Ace quickly caught up.

  “Everything okay?”

  Colton nodded, his smile warm. “Would you…. I’d like you to walk beside me, if you wouldn’t mind.”

  “Sure.” Ace joined Colton, and they walked side by side. He remained vigilant and quiet. If Colton wanted to talk, he would. If he needed to be left to his own thoughts, Ace could give him that too. Mick had really upset him, and by what was said, it was obvious the two had been involved. Had Mick cheated on him? What dumbass would cheat on Colton Connolly? Besides being gorgeous, the man was sweet, funny, had an incredibly generous heart, and that was only after being around him a few days. Ace made a mental note to ask King about Mick, though Mick being the one threatening Colton didn’t make sense. Not when Mick had obviously been in a relationship with another man, and he didn’t seem interested in hiding it. Either way, Ace would look into it.

  It was a beautiful evening, the music from the party playing off in the distance as the dinner portion of the evening commenced. Ace mentioned it to Colton, but Colton didn’t seem very interested in dinner at the moment. He wanted to walk along the beach, so that’s what they did. The sound of the ocean soothed Ace, and the moonlight reflecting on the water seemed to stretch on forever. Ace had always loved the ocean, which was why he lived a mere two blocks away. In the early morning, he’d walk down to the beach and go for a swim before heading to Bibi’s Café for breakfast.

  Colton stopped and faced the water. “We used to date. Well, I thought we were dating. Little did I know it was all a very elaborate ruse.”

  “I don’t understand,” Ace replied quietly, following Colton, who headed for dry sand. Colton dropped down onto it and brought his knees up, then wrapped his arms around them. Ace sat beside him.

  “My grandfather, may he rot in hell, was a terrible human being. My father tried to keep me from seeing him, but like I said, the man was vile. Back when my grandfather ran the company, he’d threaten my father with it if he didn’t allow my grandfather to see me. My father gave in because Connolly Maritime would be mine one day. My legacy. My grandfather knew from early on that I was gay.” He stared out at the water, tears in his eyes. “He’d call me all kinds of names when I did something he believed wasn’t manly. It was his way of trying to make sure I grew up to be a ‘real man.’ During one visit, I fell and dislocated my shoulder, and he said, ‘Don’t you dare cry, Colton. Crying is for sissies, and no grandson of mine is going to be a sissy.’ I was ten years old.”

  Colton’s grandfather sounded like a real dick, but it wasn’t Ace’s place to say, so he kept his opinion to himself.

  “I met Mick in college. He was everything I thought I wanted. Handsome, smart, fun. He loved to be with me, thought I was the most amazing guy he’d ever met. Whatever I needed, he was there. He was interested in my work, in seeing me succeed, and wanted to know about everything that made me happy. Two years into our relationship, I asked him to move in with me. Our lives were perfect. Or so I thought.

  “A year after he moved in, I was ready to propose. I came home early to surprise him. I know what you’re thinking. Bastard was cheating on me. Well, he was, but that’s not what I caught him doing. He was having a meeting with my grandfather. They were in my office talking about Connolly Maritime and a shipping contract I’d rejected due to the client’s shady reputation. I thought it was strange that my grandfather would be discussing contracts with my boyfriend. Then it hit me what was really happening.”

  The pieces were slowly starting to fit together, and although Ace had an idea of what Colton’s grandfather had done, he waited patiently for Colton to tell him.

  “My grandfather was instructing Mick on what he needed to say to convince me to take the contract. He said ‘Do whatever it takes. He’s going to propose. Act surprised, accept it, and use it.’ Then Mick replied, ‘Marriage will cost you extra.’ And they started to negotiate the terms of our marriage. At this point, my grandfather no longer had any say in the company, so he’d lost his leverage with my father, who wouldn’t even take his calls, but my grandfather did have shares. He hired Mick to manipulate me.”

  “What happened then?” Ace asked gently, his heart squeezing at the stray tear that rolled down Colton’s cheek.

  “I swallowed down all the pain, held my head high, and walked into my office. I told them to get the hell out of my house and that I never wanted to see either of them again. The next time I saw my grandfather was at his funeral. I thought I’d feel remorse for pushing him away, but when I stood there over the open grave as they lowered his casket, I only felt guilt, guilt for not feeling anything. He’d made me feel inadequate and weak since I could remember. I never received any love from him, only disappointment that I wasn’t what he wanted me to be.”

  “I’m sorry, Colton.” Ace leaned in and wiped another tear that escaped. Realizing what he’d done, he murmured a quick apology and pulled away, but Colton caught his wrist.

  “Thank you. I’m sorry I gave you a hard time. I know you’re just doing your job.” Something in his tone and the way his eyes searched Ace’s had his heart skipping a beat.

  “It’s my job to protect you, Colton, not to care, but I do. You’re a good man, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure you stay safe, but I would never betray your trust.”

  Colton nodded, his expression softening as he released Ace. He turned his attention back to the ocean, and they sat together in silence for what seemed like forever before Colton spoke up. “It’s so peaceful out here. I love the beach at night.”

  “Me too.” Ace looked up at the clear night sky. “When I can’t sleep, I walk down to the beach with a blanket and sit there for hours watching the ocean. Sometimes I fall asleep listening to the waves.”

  “Does that happen often?”

  Ace shrugged. “Not as often as it used to. When we came home for good, we were in a pretty bad place. King had us all living with him. The house was big enough for all six of us, but also out of the way so we wouldn’t disturb the neighbors.”

  “Disturb the neighbors?”

  “The fighting.” Ace closed his eyes, his face tilted toward the sky. It still hurt to remember. “We were all so angry, and with no one around, we took that anger out on each other.”

  “Angry?”

  Ace nodded. He opened his eyes to gaze out at the ocean. “When you watch half your unit—your brothers—get blown to pieces right in front of you because some asshole waited too long to find his balls and make the call that needed to be made, you tend to get a little angry.”

  “Oh my God, Ace.” Colton put his hand on Ace’s shoulder, and it felt nice. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

  “SF is sort of like Fight Club in the sense that you don’t talk about it. Anyway, King took us all in, made sure we made our appointments with the doc. Started using our words instead of our fists. He’d been our second-in-command, so we were used to taking orders from him. It was second nature to listen when he spoke.”

  “And you?”

  “I was a weapons sergeant like Lucky. Red was one of our medical sergeants, Jack a communications sergeant, and Joker an engineer sergeant, because of course, the short guy with the shortest temper had to be in charge of demolitions.” Ace chuckled, shaking his head. His smile fell away, and he sighed. “One day I was on the verge of quitting therapy. It wasn’t helping me, or so I believed, and King took us all for a drive. We ended up at Pip’s house. He was our other medical sergeant. When his mom saw us, she burst into tears. I was on the verge of having a panic attack right then and there.” Ace blinked several times to keep back his own tears. “I was so pissed at King for bringing us there, but I behaved myself for Pip’s mom, told her how sorry I was, how proud she should be of him. We told her funny stories about him, and she insisted I take some of his things because he’d always talked to her about me. Apparently the kid had looked up to me. I’d had no clue. Then King took us to Deuce’s house, and his wife and little girl were there. After I hugged them both, I excused myself and went out to King’s truck. I was still reeling from seeing Pip’s mom, and then seeing Deuce’s little girl? I snapped. When King caught up to me, I punched him in the face. I was furious. I couldn’t understand why he would put us through that. We were barely hanging on, and he was making it worse.

  “Then he said, ‘We wouldn’t have left them behind when they were alive. Are we going to do it now that they’re gone? They need us.’ And I froze because he was right. I’d been trying so hard not to think about my brothers and what happened to them in the hope of easing my own pain. I didn’t think about them, or their families who needed us more than ever.” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the pack of cards.

  “You had those at the house,” Colton said softly.

  “They were a gift from Pip’s mother. She was always buying him decks of cards. When she spotted these, she knew Pip would have loved the design, so she bought them and gave them to me.” He swallowed hard and sniffed, wiping away a tear that escaped and rolled down his cheek. “Pip always had a pack of cards on him. He was good, but we always beat him, and he was determined to win against us one day. King, Red, Lucky, and I have been playing cards all our lives. We played on the base, during training. The rest of the guys would volunteer us for games because they knew we’d win. We had a knack for it, I guess.”

  “Is that where the nicknames came from?”

  Ace smiled. “That was Pip. He was the youngest in our unit, real sweet guy, always so damned optimistic. We were always teasing him about how he shit rainbows. He was a tough son of a bitch but looked like a fluffy bunny. He nicknamed us the Kings because he said something about the four of us together gave off this larger than life, kingly presence. Personally, I thought he was full of shit but couldn’t deny that the four of us had formed a bond since we’d met. He nicknamed us, then the rest of the group, and he was so damned excited about it. No one had the heart to tell the kid no. He was the annoying little brother none of us had.

  “He picked Ace for me because he was a big dork,” Ace said with a chuckle, his heart squeezing at the image of Pip and his wide smile. “Sometimes I’d say something, and he’d put his thumbs up, this big dopey grin on his face, and say ‘You’re aces.’ He was ridiculous. Lucky got his name because he was always boasting about all the men and women he’d gotten lucky with in the clubs back home. He’s always been a bit of a player. Red was the king of hearts because he was the sweetheart of the group. Always polite, opening doors for people, thanking them, winning hearts with that charming smile of his. King was our fearless leader, but Pip was always going on about how King was a diamond in the rough, and one day someone was going to get through that grumpy exterior to the jewel underneath. Used to drive King crazy. It was amazing. Jack really is a Jack of all trades. Guy’s like fucking MacGyver. Give him a paperclip and some bubblegum and he’ll build you a rocket launcher. Crazy smart too. Joker, well, the name’s self-explanatory, but as you’ve heard, he can be a little scary.” Ace’s smile fell away, and he let out a sigh. “I’m grateful to have them in my life, but I miss Pip like hell. I miss all of them.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Colton slipped his arm through Ace’s. It was nice, sitting here together, Colton’s arm around his, and his warm body pressed to Ace’s side from shoulder to knee. Ace allowed himself to lean into Colton, absorbing the comfort he offered. “Thank you.”

  “For what?” Ace asked quietly as Colton laid his head against Ace’s.

  “For trusting me.”

  “You trusted me,” Ace reminded him. “I appreciate that, and so you know, it means more to me than you think.”

  Colton pulled back enough to deliver the sweetest kiss to Ace’s cheek before he laid his head back against Ace’s. They sat in companionable silence, and Ace was at peace. It had been a long time since he’d sat with someone on the beach watching the waves. He appreciated Colton’s quiet support, but it was his willingness to trust Ace that hit him harder than expected. Whatever was happening between them was more than physical, and every minute he spent with Colton was another crack in the wall Ace had created around his heart.

  Chapter 7

  “Colton?”

  The man was beautiful, no doubt about it. Over the last few days, Colton found himself taking his breakfast out on the veranda at the same time every morning. At first he’d told himself he wanted to start his day off with a calming view of the ocean. When Ace jogged down to the beach wearing nothing but sports shorts and sneakers, Colton’s libido promptly informed him he wasn’t fooling anyone.

  Colton sat up in the hopes of getting a better look at the tattoo that ran from his left pectoral muscle over his shoulder and down his arm. It was black lines, very detailed, but Colton couldn’t tell what it was of from this distance. He could, however, admire all that tanned skin and sculpted muscle. It was a body forged from grueling military training and harsh conditions. Colton worked hard at keeping himself fit, but he did it from the comfort of his home gym.

  Strong broad shoulders tapered down to a trim waist, the sports shorts accentuating that perfectly round ass. Ace had strong legs and firm calves. The man was a sleek powerhouse of physical fitness. He was also incredibly sweet as he played with Ginger, Colton’s neighbor’s golden retriever. Ginger’s person let her out every morning, and as soon as she did her business, she went for a play on the beach. Now she’d found a new playmate, she headed straight for Ace every time, running alongside him as he jogged along the shore. They played tag and fetch and made Colton want one of his own. The dog wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

  “Maybe I should get a dog.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  Colton turned to face Nadine, who sat across from him on the veranda where they were having breakfast together before getting down to business. She crossed one long leg over the other, looking gorgeous as usual in her designer white pantsuit, the color and cut going beautifully with her dark skin and ample curves

  “A dog,” Colton said, taking a sip of his coffee. It wasn’t even seven in the morning, and the humidity was already fogging up his sunglasses. He moved them to his head. “I think it’d be nice to have someone to come home to.”

  Nadine eyed him. “Are we still talking about the dog?”

  “Yes, we’re still talking about the dog,” he said with a laugh, throwing his napkin at her.

  She put her hands up in surrender. “Just checking. Did you hear anything I said before your brain short circuited and you started daydreaming about… dogs?”

  Colton blinked at her. “Um, no.”

  “Ah, I see.” She gazed off into the distance and sighed. “The view is pretty spectacular.” She shot him a glance and waggled her eyebrows. “The ocean isn’t half-bad either.”

  Colton laughed. “You see? So you can’t blame me. God, that’s so unprofessional. Perving on your security detail.”