Page 62 of The Saint (Gentlemen Rogues 3)

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"Yes, by the shed. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Of course, it did. By the shed. Excellent. All right, well, let's go."

But he headed for the front door. What was he doing?

"Where are you going?"

"To the front door. Where else am I supposed to go?"

"Not the front door, that's for damn sure."

"You're telling me you lived here for three years."

I nodded. "Yes."

"Okay, but you have no intention of going inside?"

"Correct."

"That's weird."

"It's not weird. My foster mother, she's lovely. Honestly. But she comes with baggage and I don't… Ican'tdo baggage right now."

"So you intend to just sneak around back and dig up this box."

"Yes, you say that like it's a bad thing.”

“And you say that like it's normal."

"I'm not normal. I could have told you that."

He shook his head. “Jesus, what the hell have I gotten myself into?"

"You insisted on helping.”

His brow furrowed. "Fine. I'm helping but this feels wrong."

"Don't worry. No one goes to the backyard."

We walked around the side of the house to the garden, and I was happy to see that my foster mum had listened when I told her to get a gate up. I went over and punched in a code then smiled to myself. Four, three, two, one. It was the only way the kids would all remember without her having to change it all the time.

"Are you sure you really did grow up here?"

"You think I'm lying?"

"It is a bit shady."

I sighed. "You know what, leave it. I don't need your help."

"We both know that's not true."

"You know, I already regret telling you anything."

His chuckle was low. "Well, when we are at our lowest, sometimes we need help."

"Yeah, but sometimes help comes back to bite us on the arse."

"If I bite you on the arse, you'll know."

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