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)
Ezra had given them instructions about a shitload of supplements. Collagen powder, vitamins, and all sort of stuff Frank didn’t question, but he didn’t like how desperate Ezra seemed to be for these pseudo miracle drugs.
“I don’t. But I’m not Jag. I won’t be putting a collar around his neck and chaining him to the wall. He either wants to stay or he doesn’t.”
Shane shoved bottle after bottle into the bag, his expression rigid as if he were weighing his options after leaving his fingerprints all over a crime scene. Frank was about to grab the two pairs of shoes Ezra asked for when his friend’s dark voice made him stall.
“Look, Frank, I’m sorry about earlier,” Shane said, dumping the bag onto the kitchen counter as he faced him with a tense set to his mouth. “I’m just worried because you’re like a br—no, you’re more than a brother, because I don’t even know where I’d be if you never took me under your wing. But you have your own mind, and I overstepped. If you want me to protect that boy as if he were my own, I will do it.”
Frank had no idea how much he’d needed to hear that. A weight dropped off his shoulders at Shane’s words.
“Thanks, man. It’s been a long time since I was so set on someone. It’s only been a few weeks, and he slotted into my life with such ease. I wasn’t sure how he’d fare in my less than luxurious house, but he made it a home already. I thought I didn’t need much more in life than my friends, TV dinners, and the odd blowjob, but being around him is showing me what I’ve been missing out on. I don’t know what I’d do if he left, but I don’t know if he will want to stay in the long run either. I trust he genuinely likes me, but I’m not sure if being confined to a scrapyard won’t eventually erode all that.”
Shane exhaled and slapped Frank’s arm in a gesture of support. “You gotta maximize your chances. Make him comfortable. Coming here tonight is a good step forward.”
Frank approached the collapsing mound of shoes erected in front of the cupboard where Ezra normally stored them. He fished out the first pair Ezra requested by the time Shane went on.
“But now real talk. The comfort and luxury is the least of your problems, because we can update your place, hell, even build an extension for him to store all his clothes. But would he be okay with our secret side gig? He was horrified when he found out what Paul was up to.”
And that was at the core of Frank’s worries. Ezra already knew about Frank being up to no good, but if he found out the extent of it, could they even have a future? Moving stolen goods hardly fell into the same category as moving dead bodies. Ezra wasn’t the kind of guy who washed his man’s bloodied T-shirt and then made him dinner.
“I know. I’ve been thinking about it a lot. Maybe there’s a nice way to frame it that doesn’t freak him out?”
Shane raised his eyebrows. “Like ‘we dispose of organic matter for people out of options’? Like a charity?”
“It’s not funny,” Frank said but chuckled at the absurdity of it all.
“That’s actually a good slogan. We should put that on a mug and gift it to our best customers,” Shane said and elbowed Frank on his way to a travel case that had been disemboweled in the middle of the living room. Its contents were scattered all over the floor like body parts after the explosion that had turned Frank’s life around. And, oh God, the same could have happened to Ezra.
Frank shook off the intrusive memory filled with streams of blood.
“Dex was lucky to find Hammer. They can be up to messed up shit together. What normal guy would accept the kind of stuff we do? Even Ros is only okay with it because it saved his ass when he needed it.”
Shane snorted. “I don’t even wanna know what those two talk about in private. Ros though… He could have walked away, but he still chose me. Junkyard, dirty hands, and all. So maybe there is a chance for you two. You just need to really consider if you can trust him with this. Do you trust him, Frankie?”
Frank sighed, opening a hidden compartment in the media center below the TV. The goons who’d ripped the place apart must have not been too diligent, because Ezra’s stash of valuables was right where he’d said it would be. Which meant Ezra trusted Frank with his gold jewelry. He’d also trusted Frank enough to seek him out after coming across Paul’s mess. But would he feel the same way if he knew the whole truth about Frank’s past? And, frankly, also his present.