Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 127213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
There was no point in lying. “That’s… possible. But he didn’t. And he won’t. I’ll make sure of that. I know that after what you saw at my place, your trust for me is… patchy, but I promise you this. I will make sure you’re safe.”
The gorgeous Adam’s apple Frank loved to trail kisses along bobbed. “Trapped. Because the moment I’m out from under your protection, he’ll strike again. Is that what you’re saying?”
That hurt. Frank hung his head and rested his arms on his knees. Trapped. That was how Ezra saw being around him now. “No. I’ll work it out. If Paul believes me, and he knows not to fuck with me, he will leave you alone. But I would rather you stayed with me as you’re healing. How are your ribs? That was a nasty fall.”
Ezra kept silent, as if the shock of what happened only hit him now, but he finally spoke. “I fell on my other side. I’m not that fragile. It’s better for me to get used to a new kind of life sooner rather than later,” he said grimly and offered Frank the gun.
Only then did Frank notice that the damn zip ties still sat on his wrists. “Nothing wrong with being fragile and sweet. You don’t deserve to be crushed just because you don’t know how to fight.” He scrambled to his feet to get a knife. The hospital offered plastic ones, but Frank had gotten Ezra a nice set of cutlery that included a steak knife, because he knew Ezra appreciated such things.
“It doesn’t matter what I deserve,” Ezra mumbled, watching Frank with eyes still surrounded by bruises that made their bright shade stand out even more. “I have no future anymore. My life is ruined, and I’ll always have to watch my back. That’s the reality.”
It broke Frank’s heart to hear that. He held Ezra’s hand to steady it as he cut through the ties. “Difficulties pass. You’re very young, and your life is ahead of you, even if it doesn’t feel that way right now. This is just a bump in the road, and I’ll be there along the way as you heal. I know it must be frustrating to you, and that you’d rather not be around me, but you need the help right now. It doesn’t come with any strings, and once you feel safe and able, you’ll make your decisions.”
And they’ll surely cut my heart in half.
Ezra’s face was blank in a way Frank had never seen it before the accident. It was as if that damn trap had crushed not just his body but his spirit as well.
“I don’t understand you. You’re a killer. You clearly can take Paul on. Why do you let him live?”
So this was how Ezra now saw him. No wonder his heart was locked to Frank. “Because I’m out of the killing business,” he said more harshly than he would have liked, but just thinking about the past triggered an amount of anger he didn’t expect. He rubbed Ezra’s wrists where the zip ties had dug in. “Do you want me to kill him?” he whispered without looking up.
The yes hung in the air unsaid, because if it passed Ezra’s mouth, he’d be complicit in someone’s death, and his heart was too warm, too soft under that icy exterior to accept that. “But you used to be? In that kind of business?”
Frank nodded and let go of Ezra’s wrists when he no longer had an excuse for touching them. “With Paul. But as I said, difficulties pass, and life moves forward, dulling the pain.”
“What happened?”
Frank shook his head. “Ugly shit, Ezra. Nothing you’d like to hear about if you want to sleep at night.” He took a deep breath and got up. “I’ll get that mop.”
When Ezra didn’t respond, Frank offered him his hand, but it was rejected with a shake of the head as Ezra pulled himself up on his own.
With nothing left to say, Frank left the room, but the moment the door shut behind him, he leaned against the wall in the corridor and hid his face in his hands.
He could have lost Ezra. Paul could have taken him. And while Ezra would never let Frank close again, Frank still wanted only the best for him. He needed Ezra to be back on his feet and smiling. That need was as visceral as Frank’s hate for Paul.
Chapter 26
Ezra
Ezra was grateful his nose was healing so well. It remained somewhat swollen and bruised, but its shape hadn’t changed much, and while it might not look exactly as it did before the accident, it was attractive enough, even if a bit numb.
The scars were another matter.
The one on the left brow cut into the upper part of the nose, but it was shallow, as was the cut on his chin. He might just be able to laser them out of existence, but the massive scar running horizontally across the side of his face? A piece of metal had pierced his cheek straight through. Over five weeks on, the scar remained protruding, big, and haunted him even at night, when he agonized about a future in which the beauty of his features wouldn’t be the first thing people noticed about him.