Frank sneered at the dark road. “You know you live at my place for free, right?”
Dex huffed and looked ahead in hope of catching a glimpse of the van, but to no avail. “I haven’t been seeing him before. It’s much more complicated than you think.”
Frank’s chest filled up like a balloon about to blow. “Then tell me, Dex. How complicated is it? Do you have any idea how dangerous that man is?”
Oh, Dex sure did, and he loved it. “Do you realize I’m dangerous too?
Frank glanced at him with a deep scowl. “Wow. Is this how you want to thank me for taking you in, supporting you, and tolerating your bullshit when everyone else gave up? Shane’s right. Hammer must have a magical dick to have poisoned your mind like that,” he said with and glared at the road ahead as the shops Dex had visited earlier today passed by.
All he could think of was that Hammer could be in danger, and that he couldn’t bear losing him. Not after that kiss, which had said so much without clearing anything up. He took a deep breath in an effort to calm down the fury raging inside. “I really like him, okay? He’s different, he gets me. I want to be around him all the time. I can’t even begin to describe in how many ways he’s right for me. Cut me some slack, Frank.”
Silence lasted several painful seconds, but then Frank let out a roar that echoed throughout the car and made Dex’s ears ring. “You can’t be fucking serious! You can’t be stupid enough to fall in love with this butcher! Hegetsyou? Dex, this guy enjoys smashing people’s faces in. What do you think happens if you two argue?” he asked while the car went ever faster, as if Frank’s agitation switched off his sense of speed.
Dex let out a nervous laugh. “I’m notin lovewith him. I just… we have a good time together,” he mumbled. Even though they’d talked so little about possible futures, since Hammer didn’t yet seem comfortable discussing his interest in men, Dex had already gotten so at ease around him. And if they worked so well together, and the sex continued being good, why wouldn’t they move in together at some point?
And while it might be a disturbing thing for Frank to hear, Dex was a butcher too. Hammer was the one whogotit and who wouldn’t be freaked out by the fact that mincing people or killing them evoked no negative feelings in Dex.
It was not impossible that Dex’s desire for Hammer was fooling him and just presenting itself as intuition, but he could feel it to his bones that they were right for each other.
“People fight all the time. He’s not gonna break me in two.”
They were closing in on the rear of another vehicle way too fast, but before Dex could have reminded Frank not to wreck his car, his uncle slowed down.
“You’re delusional. Dex. This guy is a murderer. I never claimed to be a good guy, but I don’t find pleasure in what I do. It’s just business. Your mom asked me to take care of you when she’s gone, and you are making it real damn hard,” he said through gritted teeth.
Dex shook his head. “You gotta let me do my thing. I’m not a kid anymore. I know this might be hard for you, but I’m allowed to make my choices. I’ve realized a lot about myself in the past two weeks—”
Frank growled. “Oh, save it! You’ve had a spiritual awakening thanks to fucking that psycho?”
“You don’t know the first thing about him! He can be very thoughtful! Like when he asked me if I was cold outside, or wanted to fight for me when this guy was rude!”
Frank shook his head, laughing. “Wow. Asked you if you were cold. A true fucking hero! You’re talking about him like he’s some kind of dream boyfriend. Wake up, Dex! Dude was planning the death and torture of his club president.”
“It was a misundersta—”
“You’re acting like you’re fifteen and he’s the first dick you sucked. You should know better. I’m telling you this so you learn for the future. Him running away was yet more proof of his guilt, and you shouldn’t get too attached to him, because he might just end up under a layer of cement by tomorrow. His club will deal with him as they see fit.”
Dex froze, and a red flashing light went off in his head.
The photos. The pervy fucking photos they’d taken from Ryker’s house were too precious and too incriminating to just carry around. Hammer would have left them at Cora’s ranch, which meant he’d be delivered to his club without the proof of his innocence. Dex needed to get them for him. “You said he’ll be unharmed.”
“Well, I lied. Two can play this game, Dex,” Frank said with a sneer.
Dex turned back in a frenzy and spotted the small toolbox they’d left there after repairing Cora’s fence. His heart beat faster when he recognized the grip of a hammer sticking out, and he reached for it in a rapid dash. Frank’s eyes widened, and he raised one hand, as if he feared Dex might strikehim, but Dex would have never done that and instead smashed it into the side window.
Glass turned into a lattice of tiny shards, but when hit a second time, the splinters fell out leaving a gaping opening into the cold night. Air rushed at Dex’s face, and he dropped the hammer, pushing his upper body out with only one thing in mind: if he didn’t grab Ryker’s personal porn stash, Hammer might be cold and dead by tomorrow.
Because who would believe the words of a man they considered a dangerous, murderous butcher?
Hammerwasall those things. But he was also Dex’s, and he could not die.
The air tousled his hair as he stuck out to the hip, stopped from further movement when Frank grabbed the back of his jeans. A telephone pole dashed toward him at breakneck speed, but the car rapidly changed course and made him sway like a flagpole during a storm. Ice flowed through Dex’s veins as they passed trees and bushes, but he wouldn’t let fear stop him, and kicked back to get his uncle off.
Frank hit the brakes, and an invisible force dragged Dex out of the vehicle. The asphalt flashed in front of his eyes as he fell, but he covered his head, and the blink of an eye later, pain erupted in his shoulder. The world spun as if he were a lone sock inside a washing machine.
Yelping, he tried to scramble to his feet as soon as he stopped rolling, but while his body stopped the violent spinning, his brain did not, and he lost balance again. Something was very,verywrong with his shoulder, and it wasn’t just the fact that the sleeve of his new jacket was torn as if he’d been maimed by a tiger.
Too dizzy to move, Dex cried out with helpless fury when a car door opened down the road. Its snap was followed by Frank’s heavy stomping, and he opened his eyes in time to see his uncle’s approaching form in the faint glow of the car lights.