Page 80 of Sticks and Stones (FBI Romance/Thriller #65)

The Condo

Sunday

Late Morning

T he bottom line in the matter was that Corbin couldn’t hide forever. He couldn't sleep the rest of his miserable existence away to hide in his dreams. They were nothing but nightmares anyway.

Before, he’d at least been able to wake up and not be scared. Now that he’d broken up with Will, both his dreams and reality were shitty.

It was all his fault since he’d told Will goodbye.

Now, he had to deal with the fallout that was haunting him.

The look on the man’s face when he’d said the words were something he’d never forget.

What he’d thought he’d had before this case, a long relationship with an amazing man, was now cut short. That it was all his fault made him ill.

Had he just not gone undercover like his two friends warned him about, he wouldn’t be damaged goods. Only, when his mother said the same thing, he’d wanted to prove he was a god among men.

And he wasn’t.

Will was one more casualty in this, and for that, he was really sorry.

Only, it was for the best.

What could Corbin offer him now?

He was a broken, battered mess, and likely wouldn’t recover from this.

Giving Will up…it damned him.

Well, at least the man would recover and find happiness, and he’d never have to think about him again.

Wrapping the fuzzy blanket around his shoulders, he left the room, and headed for the kitchen. His body hurt, and he needed something to numb the pain.

As he got to the kitchen, he saw motion from his peripheral, and turned.

And nearly fell over.

Will was standing there with a notebook and pen in his hands.

And he dove right in.

“Okay, so now that you’re awake, we need to handle a few things.

I made some personal calls to people at home since everything is closed today.

I know this dentist who owes me a favor or three.

He’s going to see you tomorrow at noon, and we’ll start the process of an implant and crown for your front tooth. ”

Corbin stared in disbelief.

Only, Will wasn’t done.

“I called your mother, and asked her for your doctor’s name, and she gave it to me. She tried to get information out of me, and I didn’t cave. Honestly, she’s likely planning an aerial assault at this point.”

Corbin blinked.

What the hell was going on?

Was earlier a dream?

Will tapped the notebook.

“I called and left a voicemail on the doctor’s machine to get you something a little stronger than aspirin for the pain you’re in. I’ll pick it up from the pharmacy after it’s called in.”

Holy shit.

Corbin didn’t know what was happening.

He went to bed alone, and woke up with Will standing in front of him.

And taking control.

“Why are you here?” Corbin asked, his heart racing at the same time as his gut dropped in dread.

Will focused on him.

“To take care of you. I will warm you up some soup. You can’t heal if you’re not eating,” he stated, walking right past him to the refrigerator where he pulled out a container, grabbed a pan, and began heating it up.

The whole time, Corbin said nothing.

He couldn’t.

This confused the hell out of him.

When he saw Will cutting up the noodles in the soup, so it was smaller, he needed to know.

“No, Will. Why are you here? We’re not together anymore, and how did you get in here?” he asked, not seeing hide nor hair of the other two men.

Will covered for Ethan.

“Oh, you mean that pathetic attempt to drive me away so you can wallow in pity all alone? Well, I don’t accept that and I’m not letting you break up with me. As for how I got in here, you’d think that two Feds would have a better lock on their door.”

And he left it at that.

As he stood there, Corbin didn’t know what to do next. He’d not planned for this. He’d not considered that Will wouldn’t take goodbye as goodbye.

In the scenario that he’d played over and over in his head, the man walked away and hated him.

This didn’t look like hate, and it confused him.

Honestly, he believed the man would take what he said and leave. He didn’t think he’d fight to stay with him.

“We’re not a couple,” he said.

Oh, well, Will dug in.

“That’s bullshit and you know it. Before this happened, we were in love. You and I were going to be a couple until we died,” he stated, pulling the ring box out of his pocket.

He placed it on the counter next to the steaming cup of soup as if to challenge him.

Pointing at it, Will was direct.

“I’m not giving up on you or my dreams,” he stated. “My dreams were to be with you for the rest of my life.”

Corbin stared at the box.

“What’s that?” he asked, his heart REALLY racing now.

Will placed a spoon by the soup, and he pointed to the bowl.

“Eat something, and we’ll talk,” he stated, glossing over the rings.

He’d always imagined his proposal to the man he loved being a lot more romantic, but sometimes, you had to do what you had to do, and he was NOT letting this amazing man leave him behind.

When he’d gotten his jacket on at his place, he’d taken the rings with him.

Why?

He wasn’t sure, but he’d use them to make Corbin see he wasn’t kidding.

Oh, and that you didn’t throw away legitimate love.

On top of that, Will promised Ethan that he would fight for Corbin, and fight he would.

To.

The.

Death.

Because he didn’t know what else to do, and the box was confusing him, Corbin sat, and he picked up the spoon and began eating.

The whole time, he watched as Will made a bowl of soup for himself, and carried it to the counter to sit with him.

And they ate in silence.

It was finally Will who spoke.

“I love you, Corbin. I love you more than anything in this whole world, and I’m not going to quit on you.

I hate what has happened to you, and I’m sickened by the cruelty of what they did to you, but I’m not weak.

I’m staying and I’ll fight for both of us.

I think you believe that you have to be the strong one in our relationship. Well, I’m strong too.”

Corbin said nothing.

He couldn’t.

Instead, he listened.

“I’ve seen survivors face down their attackers. I’ve seen family stand up for their dead loved ones. I’m not weak, Corbin. Because I let you top me in bed doesn’t mean I can’t lead us in our daily lives. You need me now, and I’m here to prove I’m your other half.”

His heart was racing, but Will had to get it out. Losing Corbin wasn’t an option.

“I have to believe that deep down, you love me. I have to believe that you thought I was worth being with for the rest of our lives, and I have to believe that we were meant to be.”

A tear slipped down Corbin’s cheek.

“Will, I might never be the same again,” he whispered. “You deserve someone who can be a husband. Right now, I’m a shell. They tore out all of me, and left me a shell of a man.”

Will didn’t look over.

“Can I ask you one thing?”

Corbin sniffled.

“Yes.”

Will had worked with victims before, and he had the utmost compassion for rape survivors. He never believed it would hit this close to his life, but now, it had.

He needed Corbin to think about the future.

Not the past.

There was a light at the end of the tunnel if he kept moving forward.

“If it happened to me, would you leave me behind? Would you stop loving me? Would you have left when I told you to?”

In that moment, his heart skipped, and that hit Corbin in the heart.

HARD.

He pictured Will broken, battered, and destroyed like him, and that rage rose up.

But with it came compassion.

Tenderness.

Love.

Yeah, Corbin knew the truth.

There was no way he’d quit on Will. If this happened to him, he’d take care of him…

Like he was doing for him right now.

Shit.

He’d been outmaneuvered by the prosecuting attorney. He’d never seen that coming.

“Well?” Will asked, finally looking over at him. He hoped Corbin loved him like Ethan said he did. He was putting a whole lot of faith on his conversation with the Fed.

He closed his eyes.

“I think I deserve to know that,” Will said. “I think I deserve to know if you feel anything toward me, like I feel for you.”

Corbin didn’t lie.

“I’d never stop loving you, and I wouldn’t leave you. I’d carry you until you could carry yourself,” he finally admitted.

And there it was.

Will put his hand over Corbin’s unbroken one, and gently squeezed it.

“Then why do you believe I wouldn’t do the same thing? Why do you think so little of me that you believe the ONLY reason I’m with you is for sex?”

He didn’t know what to say. Corbin’s mind was reeling from what Will had just done.

He’d flipped the script.

“Corby, we’re meant to be. What happened to you sickens me, but not because of you. Because of them.”

He still said nothing.

Will turned him in his chair, and made him face him so they could talk.

“Baby, I can live without sex,” he said, his fingers on Corbin’s chin.

I can’t live without you. I’d rather never have sex again, but have us than have sex with someone else.

If I walk away, I’ll always think about you, and know that I let my husband go.

I’ll always know that I found the love of my life, and I was too weak to fight for him.

I’m not leaving you, Corbin. I’m fighting. ”

It was all too much.

Corbin began crying.

He couldn't hold it back anymore.

As he shook, Will got up and stood beside him, wrapping his arms around him. With tenderness and love, he let the man lean on him.

With gentle kisses to his temple, he whispered words of promise that Corbin needed.

“I bought those rings a week after we met,” he admitted. “I knew then that we were going to be together for the rest of our lives. I still believe that, Corbin. I still know that you’re the one I’ll always love.”

He didn’t know how to navigate this. Corbin felt lost.

“I’m broken,” he whispered.

Will held him.