A Heart's War (The Broken Men Chronicles - #5)(SAMPLE ONLY)

Chapter 3

© Carey Decevito, 2016

Chapter 3

The next morning, I woke to two wide piercing blue eyes staring back at me.

"Wow," the kid said, "you're big!"

Chuckling, I ruffled his hair as I sat up. "You've gotten bigger too, buddy."

His eyes lost a bit of their glimmer as they took on a hesitant look. "Are you really my uncle Theo?"

Smiling to help reassure the kid, I said, "Sure am."

The kid threw himself into my arms with a vice-like hug. "You look different. How come we haven't seen you on the computer for so long?" I may have not been home in a decade, but I had kept in touch all the way up until my capture. With all of them, my father being the exception.

"Top secret, Jasp."

"Like spy stuff?" I set him on his feet, his grin making me chuckle.

"More like super spy stuff." I nudged his chin with my fist.

"Oooh!" His excitement was palpable. "Are you back to stay or just to visit?"

He looked as if his world would end if I didn't provide him with the right answer, so I didn't dally. "I'm not leaving. Ever."

"Good. Mommy said to come and get you. I bet Grandma and Grandpa will be happy to see you when they get here."

What? My head began to spin.

"Uncle Theo?" he asked when I didn't respond.

"Huh?"

"Are you all right?"

I hoped my forced smile was convincing, since I was cringing internally. "I'm good. Go find Allie and let her know I'll be there in a bit. And tell your dad to come see me while you're at it. I need to talk to him."

By the time I jumped out of the shower and returned to my room, Paxton was sitting at the foot of my bed.

"A little warning would have been nice, P," I grumbled, sporting my boxers, running my towel over my short hair.

His hands came up in a peacekeeping manner. "I'm sorry, but Alissa told me that our weekend brunch was brought up to today since Mom and Dad aren't around tomorrow."

"So I have her to blame for this?" I snorted. "Do they know yet?" Paxton shook his head indicating the negative. "You know this has disaster written all over it, right?"

"T..." Paxton sighed.

"I'm just worried. You know how Mom gets. And then there's Dad..." I rummaged through my rucksack for a t-shirt and slid it over my head when I found one.

"That's all in the past," Paxton said, getting to his feet. "If there's one thing I can tell you about our old man is that losing you has changed him. You know... after we got the news about you, he told me that his biggest regret was not being able to tell you that he was proud of you."

"In case you forgot, he had some pretty nasty things to say that last day right before I left, P."

There was pain in his eyes as he set his lips in a thin line. "Face it, what you did was stupid, and if memory serves, your words weren't so eloquent either." Making for the hallway, he paused by the door. "They'll be here in about half an hour. If, God forbid, this turns out to be a complete clusterfuck, I've got your six, bro."

"Thanks, man." Before he closed the door behind him, I smirked. "By the way, nice shiner."

The man laughed. "Glad to see your jaw hasn't kept you from boasting, G.I. Joe. I'm sure Mom will have something to say when she sees we were up to our old antics."