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of national security.
    So Priest had not only failed the innocent family, but his
    agency had failed him. Great.
    Unable to sleep, Priest eased out of bed without
    waking Luke. He didn’t bother turning on lights as he left the
    bedroom. A life spent in the shadows had given him keen
    night vision, something he’d always used to his advantage.
    He found Luke’s desktop computer in the spare
    bedroom and fired it up. Because he doubted Luke had a
    high level security system on his computer, Priest stuck to
    Google.
    After typing in the woman’s name, he scrol ed through
    the recent news reports, looking for something older.
    Images of women with the same name caught his attention
    and he clicked on the link. According to the search results
    there were five pages of thumbnail images for Alhena
    Qasim.
    He found what he was looking for on the fourth page.
    There appeared to be just one picture, but it was definitely
    Alhena. Priest clicked on the thumbnail and a
    heartbreaking image fil ed the screen. Dressed in a white
    lab coat, Alhena was dispensing smal cups of what Priest
    could only assume was medicine to Haitian refugees. The
    news reports and his own file said the woman was a
    news reports and his own file said the woman was a
    marketing executive, so what was she doing with refugees?
    He studied every detail of the photo, looking for other clues.
    A partial profile of the US Secretary of State, Benjamin
    Grover, talking to reporters in the background surprised
    him.
    Was there a link between the photograph and the
    hired hit on Alhena?
    “I woke up to a cold bed,” Luke said from behind him.
    Priest quickly closed the window before turning
    towards Luke. “Sorry about that. I couldn’t sleep so I
    decided to start my research.”
    Luke came into the room and placed a hand on
    Priest’s shoulder. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
    “No, but I found a starting point. I’l continue it
    tomorrow after a long night of fucking you.”
    Luke grinned and reached out to wrap a hand around
    Priest’s growing erection. “I’m off shift for the next twenty-
    nine hours. Do you have any idea how sore you can make
    me in that amount of time?”
    “No, but I can’t wait to find out.”

    * * * *
“Oh, shit,” Priest grumbled.
    “No. That’s a good thing,” Luke said, handing him two
    pink pegs.
    “How in the hel can two twin girls be a good thing?
    Have you ever been around girls?” Priest took the pegs
    and tried unsuccessful y to put them in his blue plastic car.
    Giving up, he handed the items to Luke. “I don’t know how I
    let you talk me into playing this game.”
    “It’s The Game of Life, probably the best board game
    ever created.” Luke put the pegs in their places and set
    Priest’s car back onto the board. There was something so
    incredibly cute about seeing a man of Priest’s size sitting
    cross-legged on the floor playing a game. It was almost…
    domestic. “The more children you have, the more likely you
    are to win.”
    Priest snorted. “Win what? You never told me.”
    “The game.” Luke counted spaces and moved his
    car. “Isn’t winning enough?”
    “Sure, when you get something for it. But bragging
    rights don’t interest me, never have.”
    Luke tucked his hands in his lap. It was like Priest had
    never had a chance to just enjoy life for what it was. There
    was something so heartbreaking about that. Sure, Luke’s
    life hadn’t been ideal, but he’d had Kenny. He wondered if
    Priest had had a best friend growing up. Glancing up at
    Priest, Luke compared him to Stretch. Luke had been in
    love with Stretch who had humiliated him in the press.
    Would Priest break his heart the way Stretch had?
    “I’m sorry,” Priest apologised. “I won’t make fun of
    your game anymore.”
    “It’s not the game.” Luke sighed. “I’ve only risked my
    heart on one person and that didn’t end wel .”
    “Don’t go risking anything on me. I’m not the kind of
    man you