Page 81 of Grind
“No.”
Paul had the audacity to roll his eyes. “It was worth a try. Fine. Take him if you want. But if he talks, I know where you and all your friends live,” he said as the pleasant tone of his voice gained a razor-sharp edge.
And Frank knew where Paul’s bloodied knife from a murder years ago was hidden. They’d existed in this limbo for a very long time, and could continue for as long as the bastard stayed civil.
Frank nodded. “You do. So get the fuck out.”
Paul shook his head and grabbed his jacket off the floor. “Don’t forget to ask the janitor for a mop and—”
“Get out!” Frank pointed to the door, and this time, Paul didn’t argue, disappearing without a word.
The room was a mess and looked exactly as if two men had been having a fight here moments ago, but all Frank could see was Ezra sitting on the floor behind the bed with his knees pulled up high to keep the small gun steady.
Frank scooted in front of him, as if he were calming a kitten left out in the rain all night. “It’s okay. You can put the gun down,” he said and extended his hand. Soothing Ezra came before dealing with any aches and pains, but when wide eyes flashed at him from above the dressing, he knew it would not be a straightforward process.
“He just came in here,” Ezra uttered in a shaky voice, still clutching the gun in his pale fingers.
“I know. I’m sorry. I should have had someone here at all times. I thought we were out of the woods. But you’re safe now. He understands the situation.” Frank ended up kneeling on the floor, and stroked Ezra’s shin. Seeing him stiffen at the touch felt like a stab, but Frank didn’t have the right to tell Ezra how he was supposed to feel and sat next to him instead, hoping his presence would be enough to offer Ezra a sense of safety.
Ezra’s pale lips moved. “If he took me… would he do the same thing to me that he did to the man I saw?”
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 youwantme to kill him?” he whispered without looking up.
Theyeshung 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
