Chapter Fourteen

~ Zaq ~

I woke up with a smile on my face and aches in places that reminded me that I'd had a very good night. I turned my head to look at the man sleeping next to me. Patrick had a peaceful look on his face, a half smile curving his lips. Stubble sprinkled his firm square jaw and there was a red patch just below his jaw line.

I smiled with pride at the mark I'd left on him. This was a good sight to wake up to and I was the lucky bastard that got to wake up to it for the rest of my life.

It still rankled me a little bit that I had been so blind to Peter's faults, but maybe I had to go through the bad to appreciate the good. Patrick was the good. He was definitely better than his brother.

I reached out and stroked my finger along the hairline near Patrick's ear. His skin was surprisingly soft for a man.

Patrick smiled as he opened his eyes. "Good morning."

"Hey," I replied with a smile. "Did you sleep okay?"

"I did. You?"

I nodded.

"How long have you been up?" Patrick asked.

"Just a few minutes." I scooted closer so I could notch my head under Patrick's chin. "I was waiting for you to wake up."

"Yeah?" Patrick's arms wrapped around me in a warm hug. "You want to snuggle some more or are you ready to get up?"

"I have to decide?"

It was a tough choice.

I felt Patrick's deep chuckle right down to the bone.

"We should probably get up and get some breakfast."

I tilted my head back so I could see his face. "Maybe we can grab something and eat it in the park?"

"I like that idea," Patrick said before rolling us over until he was on top of me. "But first, I want my morning kiss."

So what if we didn't get out of bed for another hour? At least we had happy and sated smiles on our faces as we left the bedroom.

"Jackson, your work is just about to get a little harder," Patrick said when we saw the man. "We're grabbing breakfast to eat in the park."

Jackson grimaced. "Yes, sir."

He pulled out his cell phone as he walked toward the front door. I didn't know who he was calling, but at least the guy didn't argue with us.

I grabbed the hand Patrick held out to me and then walked with him out of the condo, Jackson following us like a silent shadow. It was a little eerie how well he blended in to the walls. It probably made him a great bodyguard, though.

We were lucky this time when we reached the lobby.

No Peter.

Outside, we walked down the street to a little bakery and cafe we had found on our second day in New York. Not only did they make great coffee, but they had pastries to go with it. I could quickly become addicted to this place if I wasn't careful.

Patrick put in our order when we reached the place before glancing at Jackson. "Do you want anything?"

"No, sir, but thank you for asking."

I was starting to wonder if Jackson had any expressions at all. He always looked so stone faced. He didn't frown. He didn't smile. His eyebrows didn't even move.

It was weird.

After getting our order, Patrick and I made our way across the street to the park and then started down the cement pathway that wound through the lush grass and trees.

"I like living this close to the park," I told Patrick. "I can't wait for winter when everything is covered in snow."

"You like snow, baby?"

I nodded enthusiastically. "Los Angeles doesn't get a lot of snow. The most I saw was when I went to Lake Tahoe for some skiing."

"Texas doesn't get much snow either, at least not the area I was in." Patrick had his coffee in one hand so he looped his other arm through mine. "I'd enjoy walking in the snow with you."

I smiled up at Patrick. "Then it's a date."

We walked a little more until we reached one of the many benches that lined the walking path. Patrick gestured to it. "Let's sit here and finish our breakfast."

While Patrick and I sat on the wooden bench, Jackson took up a position behind us, leaning up against a tree. Once again I was amazed at how well he blended in to our surroundings. If I hadn't watched him walk to that tree and lean against it, I doubt I would have known he was there.

"Have you given Jake's proposal any more thought?" Patrick asked.

"Some," I replied. "What are your thought on it?"

"Well, I have a small list of questions to ask him. If he can give me satisfactory answers, I'm interested in doing it, but I won't do it without you."

I nodded. "I agree. It's either both of us or neither of us."

"I like the idea of working with you."

"I do, too," I replied. "And I like Jake's proposal. As much as I like being a nurse, working in a hospital can get stressful. The hours suck and the pay is dismal. I don't know exactly how it is for doctors, but nurses do not get the respect they deserve. It's even worse for a male nurse. Everyone is so judgmental."

I'd even had patients refuse to be treated by me because they automatically assumed I was gay—which I was—and thought they could catch the gay "gene" by being touched by me.

It was stupid.

Patrick took a sip of his coffee and then looked out over the large expanse of green grass in front of us. "I definitely like the idea of us working together. I do think there will be periods where we have a lot of free time on our hands and other times when we'll work until we drop. We'd need to find a middle ground for that."

"I was thinking about that, too," I admitted. "The first few months of getting this started is going to be pretty crazy, but after that what if we volunteered at one of those free clinics?"

Patrick's eyebrows lifted as a smile began to spread across his face. "That's a great idea."

"We'd have to let whoever was in charge know that we'd need to be able to leave if we got a phone call, though. Patients in the on-call program would have to come first."

"That makes sense," Patrick agreed. "I'm sure they'd agree if they got a doctor and a nurse to volunteer their time. Free clinics are totally understaffed and have very low budgets. Any help they can get is a godsend."

"I agree. It's—"

"Zaq!"

"Oh god," I groaned when I heard someone shout my name. When I glanced around, I spotted Peter hurrying in our direction at a fast pace. He wasn't running, because he never did that, but he was walking quite swiftly.

"Zaq," he said when he reached us, "I've been looking for you everywhere." He reached down and grabbed my wrist, yanking me to my feet. "Let's go."

I tried to jerk my wrist free, but Peter just tightened his grip. "Let me go!"

"No, you're coming home with me."

"The hell I am." I pulled at my wrist at the same time as I kicked Peter in the shins. The moment I felt his grip loosen, I jerked harder and then darted away from him, moving quickly to stand behind Patrick.

I pulled Patrick's cell phone out of his pants pocket and hit the record button. I saw Jackson moving up out of the corner of my eye as and gave him a small shake of the head. We needed to deal with this Peter situation now before he tried something worse.

"Peter," I started, "I don't want to have anything to do with you. We are no longer engaged, dating, or even friends. Just go away and leave me alone."

Peter's face turned red. "You are my fiancé. You are coming home with me so that we can get married."

"Zaq is already married." Patrick stated. "Why don't you marry that blonde you've been living with for the last three years instead?"

"You're lying!" Peter was so enraged I actually thought he might stomp his foot. "Zaq can't be married. He's my fiancé."

"No, I am not," I snapped, growing tired of Peter's tirade. "We were engaged until you left me at the altar to run off to Hawaii with your girlfriend. That ended our engagement. It ended us having anything to do with each other. I never want to see you again."

"You love me, Zaq, I know you do and I'm not giving up until you're mine."

I narrowed my eyes at the man. "Is that a threat, Peter? You could go to prison for threatening someone like this."

"Shut up!" Peter snarled as he clenched his hands. "You don't know what you're talking about so keep your mouth shut."

My eyebrows lifted in surprise at the vehemence in Peter's tone. He had never spoken to me in such a violent way. No one had ever spoken to me in this manner. What he was saying made no sense.

Had Peter become unhinged?

I took a closer step to Patrick, worried about what Peter might do. He had been the cause of us ending our engagement. Why was he so pissed now? It's like he had totally forgotten about the blonde woman he lived with. I certainly hadn't.

Did she even know about me? I mean, I knew she knew about me because she had sent those pictures, but did she really know who I was? Did she even know that I was a man or did she think I was some floozy trying to gain Peter's attention?

Yeah, that was gross.

"Does your girlfriend know you're trying to marry a guy?"

Had to ask.

"She has nothing to do with this," Peter insisted.

"She has everything to do with this," I shouted back, anger igniting a ball of fury in my gut. "You left me at the altar to take her on the honeymoon I planned for us, the honeymoon I paid for. How is she not involved?"

"She doesn't matter."

Peter suddenly dropped to his knees. He fumbled for a moment before pulling a black velvet box out of his pocket. When he popped the lid open, I recognized the engagement ring I had left with Peter's parents when I married Patrick.

"Look, Zaq," Peter said. "I have your ring right here, the one you picked out when we went ring shopping."

I squinted at the man. "Are you may be confusing me with your girlfriend? We never went ring shopping."

I would have remembered.

"No, no, this is your ring." Peter held it up closer to me as if I didn't recognize it. Was he not getting the other part of what I said?

"Yes, Peter, I recognize that ring as the one I returned to your parents when our engagement ended. It's the same ring you picked out one your own and gave to me when you proposed. You remember? You tossed it to me and said " Hey, let's get married. Our parents arranged everything ". Remember that?"

Worst marriage proposal on earth.

"Get this through your head, Peter. I don't love you. I never loved you. I was going to marry you because that's what our parents wanted. Not for any other reason."

"No." Peter started shaking his head. "You love me. I know you do."

"I love Patrick."

I felt Patrick jerk next to me as if he hadn't been expecting me to say that, but it was true. I'd been happier with him in the last couple of months than I ever had with Peter. Patrick was who I wanted to spend my life with.

The decision was an easy one to make.

"No!" Peter shouted as he jumped to his feet, pulled something silver out of his pocket, and lunged at me. "You're mine!"

I cried out as Patrick grabbed me and spun me out of Peter's grasp. Out of the corner of my eye I saw two flashes of black and then there was a lot of screaming.

By the time Patrick set me on my feet, we were several steps away. Jackson stood between us and the screaming man pinned to the ground by two men dressed in black. A knife lay on the ground right in front of Peter.

"Holy shit!" Patrick gasped before turning to me and starting to pat me down. "He didn't get you, did he?"

I aimlessly shook my head, unable to take my eyes off of Peter. "He tried to kill me," I whispered. "He really tried to kill me." Of all the things Peter could have done, that was not one I had expected.

"Jackson, call the police," Patrick ordered.

"They are already on their way, sir."

Patrick gave me an intense look. "Are you okay?"

"I'm not hurt, but..." I shook my head. I wasn't physically hurt, and I certainly wasn't emotionally hurt. I was freaked out because someone had literally just tried to take my life.

Anyone would be freaked out.