Page 68 of Sticks and Stones (FBI Romance/Thriller #65)

Corbin waited.

“What?”

“The good news is we bagged and tagged all five of them. They’re on their way to Gitmo with the Marines for interrogation.”

He whimpered.

“What if they get out?”

Ethan reassured him.

“No one gets out of Camp Gitmo. They disappear,” he admitted.

Gene interjected.

“If any of them get out, Corbin, I’ll handle it. Trust me. I’ll make sure they are taken care of for what they did to you.”

That helped him to know they wouldn’t just show up at his home and do this again.

“And the bad news?” Corbin asked.

He glanced at Ethan.

“I can’t do it. I can’t break the Corby.”

The man didn’t know why Gene couldn’t tell him something. It had to be really bad.

Ethan told him.

“When we wrangled all of the men, they were in possession of a video. It was your assault. They recorded the whole thing like you believed they did.”

He tensed.

Tears filled his eyes.

Gene expected him to break down, but somehow, Corbin held on.

“How long did they do it to me?” he asked. “It felt like forever.”

Ethan had seen the time on the video, so he told him.

“Four and a half hours,” he said.

There was absolute silence. Corbin didn’t say a thing, and neither did either man. They were waiting to see if he was okay.

“How many people saw it?”

Unfortunately, they’d never know.

Ethan was honest.

“We have their phones. They didn’t send it out, but they could have showed it to their biker buddies.”

That hung there.

“Okay,” Corbin whispered. He was staring into Gene’s eyes, and he needed to know. “Did you guys see it?” he asked.

Gene put his hand on Corbin’s thigh, and was honest. The man needed his family to protect him, and they would.

“Some of it.”

Ethan held him, his back against his chest.

“We couldn’t watch it all. It was horrifying. I’m sorry they did that to you,” he admitted.

Not as sorry as Corbin was.

“Can you destroy it?” he whispered. “I can’t run into that one day. If I get blindsided with that, I’ll not be okay. I won’t survive.”

Gene grabbed the bag of phones from inside his duffel. Then, he sat on the side of the bed.

“If we delete them, if you ever change your mind about court…”

He stopped him.

“I won’t go to court. Please just set me free from this. I lived it once. I can’t live it again.”

Gene got it.

He went into each phone, and deleted it from their emails. Then, he took Renegade’s phone, and deleted the file.

It was gone.

When he looked up, there were tears on Corbin’s cheeks, and he didn’t blame him.

“You’re free,” he said.

Thank.

God.

He couldn’t deal with it anymore. Corbin was at his max for this.

“Better?” Gene asked.

Corbin nodded.

“We need to keep the phones, in case we have to find any more people involved in trafficking individuals,” Ethan admitted.

Well, Corbin understood.

“We overheard the one biker. There are guys out there who will be transported soon. We have to hope the person taking them calls one of those phones.”

Yeah, he figured as much.

“Just find who killed the men.”

Ethan knew he needed to know that too.

“Chances are, the drugs exploded in the balloons in their stomachs, or one of the bikers killed them by being rough. The person trafficking, from what we found out, drops the drugs with the bikers, and tells them where to find the men. They drug them, have sex with them, and then make them swallow as many balloons as possible.”

Corbin listened.

“Hopped up on Snow, they likely will do anything to get more dick. That’s how they get them to comply.”

He understood.

“Any more bad news?” Corbin asked.

Gene shook his head.

Honestly, even if he had some, he wouldn’t tell him. Corbin looked to be about at his max.

Ethan knew it was time to change the subject.

“I’m starving,” Ethan said. “I could eat a big, Gene-sized dick. Let’s get something to eat.”

The man whose dick was being discussed, laughed.

“You ate it plenty, chuckles,” he said, laughing, and then he stopped. “Goddamn my head hurts,” he admitted.

Before Ethan could say more, there was ridiculous banging coming from their front door.

It sounded like a lunatic was trying to get into their home.

Pulling on a shirt, Gene was concerned. There should be no one at their place at this time.

“Greyson maybe?” Gene asked.

Corbin clued him in.

“It won’t be him. He left ten minutes ago to go shower and get ready for today. He told me to have you guys text when you were heading out. He was heading into the office.”

Well, that left two possibilities.

Corbin’s mother finally had enough of waiting, or Will decided to come a-calling.

Either was a bad idea at that moment. Corbin was still reeling from what they’d told him.

Getting out of bed, Ethan pulled on a shirt, and together, they headed out.

Corbin stayed behind them to feel safe.

When Gene peeked out the hole, he saw who it was, and glanced back at Corbin.

Yeah, this was a problem.

A.

BIG.

ONE.

“It’s for you, Corbin. It’s Will.”

Honestly, he knew this was only a matter of time before he found him. Corbin couldn’t hide forever. He knew he needed to deal with this.

“Let him in.”

When Gene opened the door, the man shoved his way in, despite not needed to do so. Then, he charged into the living room.

That was when he came to a stop.

“Corbin!” he said, seeing his lover. As he took in his appearance, he knew something bad had happened. “Baby, what happened?” he asked, moving closer.

As he did, Corbin stepped backward behind Ethan.

That reaction caught Will off guard.

“Oh,” he said, staring at Ethan and giving him a look. It was hostile, and unnecessary.

Both Gene and Ethan were hostages in this situation, and only wanted to do what was best for their friend.

This was about to go south. With Corbin being Corbin, they were betting the deep, sweltering South was the destination.

Will, bless his heart, didn’t give up.

“Corby,” he said as he moved toward his man, bypassing Ethan to touch his face.

This time, he didn’t flinch.

“Who did this to you?” he asked.

Corbin was well aware that he had to let Will go. He couldn’t carry both of them when he couldn’t even carry himself.

“Will, I was going to call,” he said. “I just don’t have my phone.”

Uh-oh.

Ethan knew he forgot to do something. He should have given Corbin his phone so he could read the text messages.

Shit.

Now it didn’t seem like a good time.

Standing toe-to-toe with Corbin, Will stared into his eyes. The man he loved, his handsome detective, was a mess. His one tooth was missing, another was broken, and his face looked like he’d been punched repeatedly. On his arm, there was a black cast.

“Why didn’t you call me from one of their phones?” he asked, glancing back at Gene. “Since they clearly knew where you were.”

Uh-oh.

Gene was in trouble along with Ethan. They’d hid him out, and were protecting him.

Only, Corbin got his attention.

“Will, they did what they did for me. I asked them not to tell you where I was,” he said.

When he faced Corbin, Will didn’t care anymore. As long as he had him back. It had been a rough two days without him.

“It’s okay.”

Was it?

No.

It would never be okay again. Corbin knew he had to do the worst thing in the world to save himself, and protect Will.

So, he dropped the bomb.

“It’s all my fault because I was trying to get the nerve up to break up with you. I need to say goodbye.”

Oh, shit.

Corbin was taking the lonely path, and this was going to blow up.

The men who were protecting him knew this was bad.

On top of that, it was uncomfortable.

Both Gene and Ethan couldn’t escape because they knew Corbin might need them.

At his words, it was like a sucker punch.

This had been what he was afraid of, and here it was, coming to life. Corbin’s father told him not to worry, but he’d been wrong.

Here came the end.

Will closed his eyes, and then opened them again. When he did, there were tears in them.

“I see.”

Corbin hated this, and it hurt so badly. Only, he was a bad bet now. He couldn't even bear to be touched. It was taking all he had to face Will like this. All he could hope was he’d forgive him one day.

To make it worse, he said the worst words in the whole world, other than goodbye.

“It’s not you, Will. It’s me.”

Gene cringed.

Ethan closed his eyes.

Oh, the baby detective was definitely not able to read that room.

Someone else could though. There was no missing the message here. Corbin was dumping him.

At his words, Will began backing up, until he was almost to the hall that led to the door.

Corbin had to finish.

“I’m sorry that I’m doing this,” Corbin began, but he was stopped when Will held up his hand.

“You don’t need to apologize,” he said. “If you feel nothing for me, then I get it,” he offered, trying not to break down.

Only, he was.

A single tear broke past his resolve, and slipped down his cheek.

It was time to go.

Will needed to get as far from here as possible. He really believed that this man would be the one for the rest of his life.

“Will.”

Again, he shook his head.

“No, Corbin. Don’t.”

He turned, but before he left, said one last thing, without looking back at him.

“I love you, Corbin. I’m sorry that I’m not the one. It sucks because you were the one for me. You were my soulmate. I would have grown old with you and died with you. Now, I’ll try to learn to live without you.”

With that, he walked away.

When they heard the door close, both men glanced over at Corbin.

He looked like he’d lost everything all over again. Honestly, they weren’t sure why he had to be so difficult.

Immediately, Blackhawk tried to mitigate this. He tried to help Corbin find a way through it. His heart broke for him, because before Gene, he would have done something just as stupid.

Now was not the time to fall on one’s sword. It was time to hold on to anyone who could help him.

“He loves you, Corby,” Ethan said.

He shrugged.

His mind was made up.