asinine enough to try, Jessie would shoot you down in a heartbeat because he’s loyal as hell.”
Bull scoffed. “When did you ever get so confident about love?”
“I told you, I’m not fucking Cupid. But every second of every day with Jessie is all I need to know that you need someone to come home to. Someone you trust who has your best interests at heart. Someone who is going to be as faithful to you as you are to them. Someone who accepts you and that dimple of yours and all the headaches it brings.”
He rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry.” He wasn’t sure why he was apologizing. Jealousy was an ugly trait and it wasn’t in his nature.
“Damn right you should be sorry. You’re the best damn profiler I know, and your assessment of the situation totally sucked.”
He scowled, not understanding Aidan’s comment.
“Think, Bull. Reevaluate. Would I send you into a mission to fail?”
“This isn’t a mission—”
“Answer the question.”
Bull blew out an exasperated breath. “No.”
“Would Nat?”
“No,” he grumbled.
“So why would we both do that to you?” His friend waited for a second before continuing. “I’ll crash your pity party and break the news to you. We both want you happy. Ben’s got—”
“His name is Ben?”
“Oh hell. You didn’t even get that much out of Nat?” A howl of laughter filtered through the line.
“The only mission here is you and Nat pissing me off.” Bull rubbed his eyes again. He was never going to hear the end of this.
“Not this time.” The seriousness in Aidan’s voice was sincere. “Ask me anything.”
“So, his name is Ben.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to his eye…and his hands?”
“Two separate incidents. He’s tough enough to have figured out a way to escape both.”
Two? Bull gritted his teeth as his blood boiled. That would explain why Ben had taken the step back into the room, away from him. It would also explain why Nat had mentioned Bull’s injuries could be misinterpreted as a potential threat. Crap.
“He didn’t say a single word to me. Not one. He was more concerned with his work than bothering to speak to me. I think you guys might be off here.”
“Doubt it. Think. Reevaluate.”
Bull nearly growled in frustration. He hated when Aidan reverted to his service tone, commanding and dishing out orders. Bull had thought about what had happened. Over and over. He didn’t need to revisit the punch to his gut or the sting of rejection.
“Take your emotions out of it. Assess the situation. Ben isn’t rude. Never has been.”
That piqued his interest. “How long have you known him?”
“A few years.”
Years? That seemed…surprising. The young man wasn’t rude, but he hadn’t responded to a single question Bull had asked.
“Let me guess…you spoke to him while his back was to you.”
Bull lowered his brow. Aidan was great at leading and controlling a situation. But other than bossing people around, his people skills generally sucked. There was no way he could have guessed their interaction. No way he would know…
A tumble of thoughts clicked in place.
An attack didn’t merit a visit from Aidan’s special task force or his role as homicide detective. Outside of work and Jessie, Aidan focused his time in one other area: Halfway House.
Click.
Aidan had reminded him of Matt and Julian’s weekend barbecue.
Click.
“Is he a resident of HH?”
“Yes.”
Another memory surfaced, triggered by Aidan’s comment. Grandpa. The way his grandfather always needed to face Bull when they communicated.
Click.
“He’s deaf…”
“Yes.”
“You should have led with that.” Bull took a deep breath, controlling the snarl edging into his voice. “Had I known, I would not have walked away and let him think I wouldn’t make an effort to try.” He closed his eyes and took another deep breath, remembering something his grandfather had once shared with him. “Life’s too short. If someone doesn’t try to communicate with me, I move on.”
“Shit. I hadn’t thought of that,” Aidan said. A moment of silence followed a few muffled curses. “His first charge was grand theft when he was around eighteen. I heard it was a friend who shoplifted and put the stuff in his bag. Ben refused to snitch, so he was sentenced to five years. Twelve months’ time in jail and the rest under probation. He did the initial sentence and was doing fine for about two years until a friend took him for a ride in a stolen car. That probation violation landed him in prison for two years to serve out the rest of the original sentence. He’s at HH for three months on parole, then