It's crazy.
Grayson absentmindedly thought. Why would I do that for myself? Those guys guaranteed my safety? Do you believe such nonsense? Trying to convince me by saying things that even he himself wouldn't believe.
I've seen people risk their lives for love before. My brother Chase and his partner Joshua. Men who willingly accepted that choice even though they knew it might kill them.
Ezra is no different. Like Joshua and Chase back then, he's risking everything for his love.
Why would he risk his life?
Grayson frowned and thought. Ezra's choice was good in its own way, but the problem was that he was sacrificing others. What was his life like if he got caught up in that?
In the past, I would have told him to stop talking nonsense. Grayson could wipe out all of the guys gathered now, including Ezra and the guy he was holding in his hands. The requirements for self-defense were met. It was such an easy and boring process, but... ... .
If Ezra died, Dane would be sad.
Grayson absentmindedly thought about it. He didn’t feel any emotion as he watched Ezra cry and cling to him, but he didn’t want Dane to be sad. And Dane being hurt by someone other than himself, that was the only thing he couldn’t do.
Would he blame me?
When he thought that, he had no other choice.
What would Dane have done in this situation?
The answer was simple. Grayson released his grip without saying a word. The man who had fallen to the ground twisted his whole body in agony from the sudden surge of oxygen.
“Whew, Whew, Whew!”
“Joseph!”
“Hey, cover!”
The men behind the leader rushed at Grayson all at once. While one of them was examining Joseph, the others were beating him all over with the clubs they were holding, and Ezra was startled and shouted.
“Mi, Miller, Miller! No, stop! Hey, you didn’t promise!”
“Shut up, stop whining like a girl.”
The leader just laughed at Ezra. Seeing his reaction, Ezra became lost in thought.
“No, Miller! Stop it, stop it!”
He rushed in hastily, but it wasn’t enough. Ezra, who was knocked out badly, could only watch Grayson being beaten one-sidedly with a pale face. When the thick club broke, they started punching and kicking him. Even after Grayson staggered and fell, they continued to beat him like that for a while. After venting his anger to some extent, the men finally retreated, panting heavily. Ezra finally held his breath when he saw Grayson lying there covered in blood.
“Mi, Miller! Miller! Come to your senses!”
Ezra ran over and quickly shook his body. Fortunately, he wasn’t unconscious. Ugh, Grayson groaned and cursed softly.
“Fuck, I hate being sick......”
“Miller......!”
Tears welled up in Ezra’s eyes. He protested to the leader of the gang that had made Grayson like this.
“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t do this! I ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ trusted you because you said Miller would be safe, but you guys are beating him up so badly......”
“Why, are you going to sue me? You’re a fan too?”
The man said with a smirk. In that moment, Ezra froze. Grayson blinked his half-open eyes and sighed. Idiot, I didn’t even think of that.
The men approached Grayson again to get his hands on him. Ezra shouted desperately, blocking Grayson’s path.
“T-the money... what’s going to happen to the money!”
Perhaps this was why he got involved in this. Grayson, who was just listening, heard the man’s voice.
“I gave it to you, first.”
Ezra opened his eyes wide in shock at the smiling face. When did you give him the money?
The first time they approached Ezra, they talked at a family restaurant. And the money he received at that time... ... .
“That... you promised me $20,000, but you only gave me $200!”
Ezra shouted roughly, as if spitting blood, but the man burst into laughter instead.
“That’s enough, what have you done?”
“You, you fooled me.......”
Ezra trembled in betrayal, but they laughed at him instead.
“Oh, yeah. Why don’t you sue us as frauds? Do you think you’ll be okay?”
The man who seemed to be the leader then gestured to Grayson with his chin.
“You brought this kid here, and you helped him catch him. You’re going to get fired from your job, are you okay with that?”
Ezra’s eyes darkened. Getting fired from his job was absolutely unacceptable. The house was already mortgaged, and all the money he could borrow was borrowed. There was nothing left to sell. The only furniture in the house was his bed. He was already on the verge of bankruptcy. Ezra was paralyzed with fear. If even the fire department cuts it off, my family... ... .
“Ezra.”
That was it. Ezra flinched at the sudden call and turned around. Grayson said, lying on the floor, looking up at the night sky.
“Check the gift I gave you last time. I think I misread the price.”
Ezra blinked, bewildered. He belatedly remembered the birthday gift he had given his daughter. He had sold all his other items, thinking they were cheap knockoffs, but he had never thought about it.
“Uh....”
He came to his senses belatedly and tried to ask him something, but he didn’t have the chance. The men pushed Ezra away, lifted Grayson up, and put a black hood over his head. It was obvious that they were doing it so that they wouldn’t be discovered. They tied his wrists behind his back and pushed Grayson into the truck bed, and soon they were divided into several cars.
“Miller!”
Ezra called his name urgently, but the truck had already started moving. The leader sitting in the backseat of the car rolled down the window and shouted at Ezra, who was at a loss.
“Thank you, you worked hard! Let’s never see each other again!”
Hahaha, they left with only laughter. Ezra could only watch them moving away.
Silence fell again. Joshua still glared at Dane with a distrustful face. Dane thought to himself under his gaze. He had never felt so incompetent.
“You know, Grayson Miller never sleeps with someone he’s slept with before. He’d refuse even if I asked him to. So why would I bother doing something like that?”
It wasn’t all a lie. Joshua knew that Grayson never slept with someone he had slept with again, and he also knew that Dane wouldn’t obsess over someone at the risk of being rejected.
In fact, everything Dane said was true, but at the same time, it was also a lie. That’s why it wouldn’t be easy for Joshua to figure out the hidden meaning in it.
As Dane had expected, Joshua frowned and fell into thought. Since it wasn’t much different from the information he knew, it seemed plausible. Move on, move on. Dane waited for Joshua’s reaction, muttering a spell in his head.
Ha, Joshua finally sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
“I got a request.”
“Request?”
Is that why this guy came here? He stopped by on his way or something...
Joshua said to Dane, who was vaguely guessing.
“I’m guarding you.”
Dane couldn’t react right away. He was momentarily dumbfounded by the expression he heard for the first time. After a few seconds of silence, he frowned and asked, “What?”
