Angel and the Assassin

than life, just as he always was. Conran wanted to drop to his knees and kiss
    his feet. As enraged as he had been just two minutes ago, he now felt the most
    overwhelming love and gratitude toward the man. “That‟s precisely what I
    thought.”
    “Who would I torment if I didn‟t have you?”
    Saunders opened his arms, and Conran threw himself at his chest, wrapping
    both arms around him. Saunders kissed the top of his head, and he was unutterably
    grateful. “Thank you, thank you, Sir.”

    * * *
    Kael did not feel safe until the small plane was in the air heading west. There

    were four seats facing each other with a small table between. Dragana sat with her
    injured foot elevated on a box in the narrow aisle and her eyes closed. They had
    bound it up as best they could with the small first-aid kit the plane carried.
    Angel sat beside Kael, his head resting on Kael‟s shoulder. “Sir, I wet my
    pants.”
    “I know; I can smell it,” Kael said.
    “Just so you know, I didn‟t piss myself.” Angel looked very serious. “Those guys
    wouldn‟t unzip me so I could pee. There‟s a big difference between wetting your

    Angel and the Assassin
    179

    pants and pissing yourself. I just wanted you to know that I was definitely scared,
    but not piss scared.”
    Kael laughed.
    “Don‟t laugh.” Angel grinned. “The only guy who ever made me piss myself
    with fear is you.”
    “A great basis for a relationship,” Conran said, crossing his legs.
    “Shall we talk about your relationship with me, Conran, and what that‟s based
    on?” Kael asked.
    Conran looked exhausted. “Haven‟t I done enough for you to stop blackmailing
    me? You‟ve got your boy back. That‟s all you wanted, him back alive and
    unharmed.”
    He was right; it was time to be fair and back off. “I‟ll get rid of the video. You
    have my word. And thank you for the part you played in getting my boy back. I‟ll
    make it up to you.”
    Conran licked his upper lip, a blush rising up his cheeks.
    “Is there any food, Sir?” Angel said.
    “Call me Daddy,” Kael said quietly.
    “I thought you didn‟t want that. I thought I was only temporary. You said that
    to Freddie.”
    “I was an idiot,” Kael said. “I was afraid.”
    “You? Afraid?” Angel looked skeptical.
    Kael leaned in very close so the others could not hear. “I was afraid of what I
    was feeling for you, but we‟ll talk about that at home.”
    “Oh Daddy.” Angel rubbed his cheek against Kael‟s.
    “Will you stay with me and be my boy? Will you let me be your daddy?”
    A sweet, boyish, almost shy smile transformed Angel‟s face. He was exhausted
    and he had been through hell, but he looked at peace in Kael‟s arms. “Yes please,
    Daddy.”
    Kael lowered his head until his lips met Angel‟s, and he kissed him long and
    gently. Then Kael kissed the tip of his nose, and his cheeks, and lastly his forehead.
    Angel reached his hand up to rest on Kael‟s neck.
    “Aren‟t they sweet,” Dragana said through her pain. Conran had given her
    several paracetamol, but it had barely made a dent in the pain of shattered bones
    and she was a bit spacey from the combination of drugs and pain.
    “Daddy, you know what I was thinking about when I was in that cowshed
    freezing my ass off all that time?”
    For a moment Kael was afraid of what he was going to hear. “Were you
    wondering if I was going to come and get you?” He hated the thought that Angel
    might have felt abandoned. “Were you scared that I wouldn‟t?”

    180
    Fyn Alexander

    “Actually, it was a bit more basic than that. I couldn‟t stop thinking about a
    Big Mac and a large fries. I was so hungry.”
    Relieved, Kael laughed. “I‟ll get you a Big Mac and a large fries as soon as we
    land.”
    Conran broke in. “We will be taken directly to Vauxhall Cross for debriefing.”
    “You can do what you want, Conran. I‟m going to feed my boy; then I‟m taking
    him home.” Conran looked away and closed his eyes.
    “So you weren‟t thinking about me at all?” Kael looked at Angel.
    “Yeah, I was thinking about you, Daddy, all the time.”
    “Did you think I wasn‟t going to come and get you?”
    “I wrote in your journal that I was going to France, so I thought you‟d just
    think I was there. Anyway, after that fight we had and what you said to Freddie, I
    didn‟t know what you‟d do.”
    “I would never have left you to die. I would never let anyone hurt you if I could
    possibly prevent