The first was it was none of his business, and if he wanted to have a mental breakdown, he was entitled to do so privately. The second was because he knew this man. There was no way he didn’t already know the answer to that.
The Shaman had to Shaman.
“No comment,” Ethan said. “It was for private reasons,” he began. “And we both know you already took a peek into my private life to find out on your own.”
Gene stayed quiet.
He hoped the Shaman didn’t dig a hole. Ethan was not one you lied to since he could read a room.
Instead of getting annoyed at the sharp tone, Timothy didn’t even flinch.
“It was small talk, Ethan. That’s all. Put the irritation away. It’s not needed here tonight.”
Blackhawk said nothing.
So, Timothy continued.
“I’m sorry that you didn’t get to see your father while you were here,” he offered. “He’s hunting.”
At his words, the man did one thing.
Ethan laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
In fact, Callen also joined in, like they were on some private wavelength, and shared a joke.
Gene just shrugged when Timothy looked at him.
“Brothers,” he said. “They have their own language,” he offered, knowing exactly why his mate was laughing.
First, it wasn’t a good kind of ha-ha-ha.
Second, he knew plenty about Wyler, and why Ethan would rather eat a bucket full of eyeballs than interact with the man who abandoned him and his dying mother.
It was for the best that Wyler didn’t make an appearance. Then, it would be almost impossible to keep Ethan from going off the rails.
“Oh, no. I won’t get to see Wyler. Well, shit. I guess this ruins my whole childhood-trauma pub crawl,” he said, holding up his beer.
Yowza.
That said it all.
Because Gene was good at picking up when something was going south, he tried to soothe his man by giving his leg a reassuring stroke.
What Gene did know was Ethan was feeling off. His energy was sliding, and not to a good place. He could feel that chill coming back, even more, and it wasn’t pointed at Callen.
No.
It was all for the Shaman.
Apparently, he was Public Enemy One at that moment.
Immediately, Gene began praying for an intervention so that this didn’t become a spectacle. He wondered if he tossed Ethan over his shoulder and carried him out of there if he’d be pissed.
Because he would if it got ugly.
