"When did you come up here?" Cole asked quietly. The tone was casual, but his eyes carried a sharp, measuring edge, fishing to see just how much of the indignity Alex had witnessed.
A faint, unhurried smile touched Alex's lips as he answered honestly.
"Right before those men slipped through the door."
Cole's brow arched upward, the lines around his cut lip tightening in dry disbelief.
"You mean..." Cole clicked his tongue, a scoff rumbling in his chest. "You were standing back there in the shadows from the very beginning, watching an old man get beaten into the dirt, and you didn't even think to step out and lend a hand?"
Alex took another smooth pull from his cigarette, savoring the rich cedar warmth in his throat, before turning to meet the old man's gaze directly.
"I never thought you were the type of person who needed saving, Raymond."
