Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 84085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“What?”
“Call your brother.”
“Fuck off.”
Kairo smiled at him as if he’d expected that response. “Call your brother. At least when you disagree with him, you can tell yourself you know more than a goddamn professional.” Kairo drained the last of his beer and tossed the bottle into the paper bag for recycling. “Night.”
Charlie glared at his own barely-touched beer and sighed. His younger brother, Stephen, was a psychiatrist. Yes, he specialized in pediatric psychiatry, but he still knew his shit—not that he’d ever say that where his brother could hear him. Stephen would probably have some very logical and comforting things to say.
He’d also have many things to say that Charlie wasn’t ready to hear.
It was tempting to call Stephen, but he couldn’t.
Even if he didn’t want to let go of Will, did he have any right to try to insert himself back into his former lover’s life?
Maybe it was better to let this second chance slip through his fingers. Will was better off without him.
6
WILL MONROE
Will wasn’t proud to admit it, but he slept.
Too many days of running on too little sleep had left him ragged and exhausted. He should have been up worrying about Francisco or at least mourning Santino. How could things have gone so wrong?
He needed to escape.
The police and the clinic needed to be dealt with.
He also had patients who relied on him to make regular house calls.
But he sat on the bed and leaned against the pillows for a minute. It wasn’t even a comfortable bed. The mattress was too soft and lumpy. He closed his burning eyes for only a second, the too-familiar scent of Charlie wrapping about him.
The next thing he knew, faint gray light was creeping around the edges of the curtains. He blinked and tried to rub his eyes with his right hand but couldn’t. He was handcuffed to the bed.
Fuck. Charlie.
The chaos.
Charlie and his friends were in Buenos Aires.
Francisco and Santino.
He needed to get out of there now so he could deal with his life. Preferably without Charlie.
Will sat up and slung his legs off the edge of the bed. He jerked at the handcuff holding him in place. The metal rattled against the wood, and he flinched. He needed to be quiet. A visitor right now would not help his escape.
He quickly searched the top of the nightstand but found nothing of use. Just the lamp, a plastic cup of water, and a lighter. He wasn’t going to try to set the bed on fire. The drawer didn’t offer much more help besides a pad of paper and a pen. It was as if Charlie didn’t trust him.
No! The pen!
He snatched it up with his left and bit the pen clip with his teeth, pulling it free before placing the pen on the nightstand. Lying flat on his stomach, he worked the slender piece of metal into the keyhole. Picking handcuffs wasn’t all that hard. He needed to get the catch.
So, maybe he’d briefly dated this guy who happened to be mildly kinky.
And maybe he’d also happened to be enormously forgetful.
Forgetful about things like where he put the key or about unlocking Will prior to leaving for his shift at the hospital.
The relationship had been utterly forgettable, but Will had picked up one useful skill, at least.
Within a couple of minutes, Will was free of the cuffs and rubbing the sore skin on his wrist. He was half tempted to take the cuffs with him. No telling if they might come in handy, but he tossed the idea aside. It was better if he didn’t have anything in his life to remind him of Charlie. Especially handcuffs.
Will patted his body, trying to figure out what was missing. His phone was downstairs on Kairo’s spare charger, and his shoes were by the front door. Scrubs? Shit. His scrubs were probably in the wash. Ed had offered to toss them in. Never mind. He owed Kairo a T-shirt and sweat pants. He had enough scrubs to get by for now.
Very slowly, he eased the bedroom door open, trying not to make any noise. The house was deathly silent. Not even the sound of cars on the street permeated the building. The world was still asleep. If he could sneak a few blocks away from the house, he could call a cab to pick him up.
But he didn’t get that far.
Standing against the wall opposite his door was Edison. The tall, broad-shouldered Black man grinned, and Will swore under his breath. So much for a sneaky escape. He thought he’d been so quiet.
Ed lifted one hand and motioned for Will to step into the bedroom he’d just left, making room for him to follow.
Will dropped onto the edge of the bed and sighed as Ed closed the door behind him.
“Leaving without saying good-bye?” Ed asked in a teasing whisper.