Obsessed (The Protectors #13) - Sloane Kennedy Page 0,98

Mac hadn't been able to be there in person to watch his son get married, he'd been there in spirit. It had been Cruz’s idea to have a huge picture of Mac just a handful of feet from where the two men said their vows. I'd helped Sam pick out the picture when he'd finally found the strength to go into the attic and pull out all of the pictures of Mac that he'd hidden away years earlier when he hadn't been ready to say goodbye. I'd loved getting to know both Mac and Sam through all the stories Sam shared of the man who'd never officially gotten to call Sam his husband, but whose ring Sam still wore around his neck. I hadn't pressed Sam to take the ring off his finger. That had been his decision. But when he'd asked me if it would bother me if he wore the ring around his neck on a chain, I'd responded by being the one who'd fastened that chain for him.

While Cruz and Elliot could've held their reception anywhere, they’d chosen to have it at the house so Ryan would feel more comfortable in his own environment. The little boy had been struggling to recover from what Bishop had done, which I harbored a lot of guilt over and probably always would. This time around, Ryan's recovery wasn't anywhere near as quick as it had been before, but we were starting to see little bits and pieces of the old Ryan return. Not surprisingly, he was terrified to be away from his father for any length of time.

In the weeks following the attack, Sam had spent every night sleeping in Ryan's bed with him while I'd ended up sleeping on the floor. The only time Ryan had felt comfortable not having Sam there had been when Elliot and Cruz would come over to relieve us for a night. Even then, Sam hadn't been able to relax and we’d usually spent most of the evening lying awake on Sam's bed waiting for the moment when Ryan would need one or both of us.

I'd worried that Ryan would associate me with the events of that evening, but if he had, he hadn't ever shown it. He wasn't afraid of me and hadn't seemed to make any kind of connection between me and Bishop. Sam had explained that the bad man was dead, but Ryan was still plagued with nightmares that he would return.

Help had come in a surprising form and from an unexpected source.

About two months after Bishop's attack, Declan Barretti had shown up on Sam's doorstep. The poor man had been beside himself with nerves, and I hadn't really blamed him. We hadn't been in contact with Declan and his family since the night Sam had gone to Declan looking for help in tracking me down. Declan had heard about the events and their impact on Ryan from Ronan and he'd shown up on Sam's doorstep with an idea.

That idea's name had been Calliope.

While the lab mix had originally been a rescue dog, she'd undergone extensive training to be a service dog. Declan and his husbands had founded the organization that rescued shelter dogs and trained them as service animals after Ren had gained so much from his relationship with his own service dog.

When Declan had shown up with Calliope, Sam had struggled with accepting the gift of the dog, especially after learning that several members of the police department had chipped in their own money to pay for the rest of Calliope’s training. While Declan or Sam could have easily afforded the cost themselves, the department that had once turned its back on Mac had wanted to show their support for Mac’s family. Sam had struggled with a whole host of emotions, but when it had come down to it, he’d wanted what was best for his son.

The second Ryan had seen Calliope, it'd been a match made in heaven. Not only had the dog been gentle and sweet with Ryan, she’d made him feel safe. The dog had ultimately taken Sam's place as a security blanket of sorts for Ryan. Sam and I had been able to take turns sleeping on the floor in Ryan's room for several weeks after Calliope’s arrival. It had just been in the past week that Ryan had been able to sleep through the night without one of us being in his room. He did better during the day, but only when he had