Man in the Middle [Wolf Creek Pack 9] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove) by Stormy Glenn (elon musk reading list txt) 📗

Chase dreaded this moment and had prayed that it would never come. But here it was, and he had no way out of it. If he wanted Justin to understand that it hadn’t been his sickness that kept him away, Chase had some explaining to do.

“Would you excuse us?” Chase asked the prince and his mate.

He watched as the prince nodded and the two men left the room, leaving only Taylor and Justin to hear what Chase never wanted anyone to know, what he had only shared with a few men in his entire life.

He ran his hand down his face, glancing up at the ceiling as the memories began to fill his mind. “I’m a mercenary, or was.” Yeah, that was straight to the point. It was the best way Chase could think of to start the conversation off.

“Like ‘gun for hire’ kind of mercenary?” Taylor asked as he sat on the carpeted floor in front of Chase and Justin.

As badly as he wanted to say no, Chase wouldn’t lie to his mates. He just prayed they didn’t hate him when all of this was over. “Yes.”

“Wow,” Justin breathed out slowly.

Chase wasn’t sure if that was a good wow or bad wow. “A few years back a man approached me. He said I had a special talent that he could put to good use.”

“So you just went?” Justin asked, seeming enthralled with what Chase was revealing to is mates. Maybe he didn’t truly understand what Chase was saying.

“You have to understand, Justin. My life really wasn’t going anywhere. My home life sucked. I thought my mother was dead and that my father was a drunk. I was searching for something, but I didn’t know what. I wanted more out of life. I felt like I was just floating along.”

“Have you ever killed anyone?” Taylor asked.

Chase sighed. He really did not want to have this conversation. He would rather chew nails, with a side of broken glass, than reveal to his mates what he had done for the past few years before he got out.

“Yes.”

Justin’s eyes widened and he looked dazed, but Taylor scooted a little closer, as if he didn’t want to miss a word. Of all the reactions he had played through his mind if he ever decided to tell his mates what was going on, these didn’t even come close.

He imaged them turning their backs on him. He imagined them calling him a killer. He had even imagined them telling him to fuck off and never talk to them again. But Chase never expected both of them to look as if they were hanging on his every word.

“But only when it came down to me or them.”

“I don’t understand,” Justin said as he slid an inch closer. “If you were a hired gun, why would you only kill someone if it came down to you or them?”

Chase reached up and cupped the back of Justin’s neck, pulling his mate close and kissing his temple. Gods, the man was so damn innocent. “I worked for an agency that specializes in neutralizing security threats. And before you ask, I’m going to leave it at that. The less you know the better.”

“Fair enough,” Taylor said. “No questions about who you worked for. But I want to know why you felt you couldn’t claim us.”

“It is worked, right?” Justin asked. “I mean, you don’t still work for them, do you?”

“No, I don’t work for them and haven’t for about a year now, but I still call in favors when I need them. There are people, dangerous people, out there that owe me. The problem is, when I call in these favors, it brings them closer to you two. They may owe me, but some feel I’m a threat to the agency since I no longer work for them, yet I still know all of their dirty little secrets. They would rather put a bullet in my head then let me walk around breathing.”

“Oh, gods,” Justin whispered. “And you’re afraid they would use us against you.”

“Exactly,” Chase replied. “They would use the two of you to force me to come back.” Chase shook his head, feeling the fear and tension he had held for so long take control of him once more. “I can’t go back.”

“Why can’t you just tell them that you won’t tell any of their secrets?” Justin asked.

Chase wished it were that easy. But he wasn’t as naïve as Justin. He knew a pinky promise wouldn’t cut it with these men. Some of the men he had worked with were so ruthless that Chase still had nightmares about them.

“It doesn’t work that way, Justin,” Taylor replied for Chase. “If I go by what Chase is telling us, these men would stop at nothing to silence him.” Taylor’s eyes widened as he jumped up from the floor, taking a step back as his eyes filled with horror. “You called them!”

“What?” Justin asked as he looked between Chase and Taylor, confusion drowning in the depths of his green eyes.

“Chase called them to help locate you,” Taylor said as his entire body began to shake.

Chase stood, pulling his mate into his arms, soothing Taylor as he cursed himself for putting so much fear into both men. This wasn’t what he had wanted. He had wanted to keep them sheltered from the harsh truth of his former life.

“What can we do?” Justin asked as he jumped up from the bed, hurrying into the circle of Chase and Taylor, his hand grabbing at Chase’s arm. “How can we stop them?”

“I’m not sure,” Chase confessed the truth. “They are already on their way.”

Justin’s eyes filled with tears as he took a step back, darting his eyes away from Chase and Taylor. “This is all my fault. If I hadn’t left, you wouldn’t have called them.”

Chase growled. There was no way he was going to allow his mate to put this burden on his little shoulders. He was sick and tired of arguing and pleading