By Zephyria 
“This is insane.”
Grayson thought to himself listlessly. Why should I do that for them? Did those bastards guarantee my safety? Do they expect me to believe such nonsense? Trying to persuade me with bullshit they wouldn’t even believe themselves.
He had seen people risk their lives for love before. Like his brother, Chase, and his partner, Joshua. Men who willingly accepted that choice, knowing they might die.
Ezra was the same. Like Joshua and Chase back then, he was betting everything on his love.
Why are you betting my life too?
Grayson frowned as he thought. Ezra’s choice might be admirable in its own way, but the problem was that he was trying to sacrifice others. What about his own life being dragged into it?
If it were the old him, he would have told them to shut up with their ridiculous bullshit. Grayson could have wiped out all the guys gathered here, including Ezra and the one he had in his grasp, without exception. The conditions for self-defense were met. It would have been such an easy and boring task, but…
If Ezra died, Dane would be sad.
Grayson thought to himself listlessly. Even while looking at Ezra crying and begging, he didn’t feel anything, but he didn’t want Dane to be sad. Dane being heartbroken because of someone other than him, that just wouldn’t do.
Would he resent me?
As soon as he thought that, he had no choice left.
If it were Dane, what would he do in this situation?
The answer was simple. Grayson silently released the strength in his hand. The man, who was slammed onto the floor, writhed in agony as a sudden rush of oxygen flooded his lungs.
“Cough, cough, cough!”
“Joseph!”
“Hey, attack!”
The men behind the leader rushed at Grayson all at once. While one guy checked on Joseph, the others beat him mercilessly with the wooden sticks they were holding. Ezra, flustered, shouted.
“M-Miller, Miller! No, stop it! Hey, that’s not what you promised!”
“Shut up, don’t whine like a girl.”
The leader just sneered at Ezra. Seeing his reaction, Ezra turned pale.
“No, Miller! Stop it, I said stop!”
He desperately tried to intervene, but it was no use. Ezra, who was thrown back helplessly, could only watch with a pale face as Grayson was being beaten one-sidedly. When the thick wooden sticks broke, they resorted to fists and kicks. Even after Grayson staggered and fell, they continued to beat him for a while. Only after they had vented their anger to some extent did the men step back, panting heavily. Ezra gasped when he saw Grayson lying on the ground, covered in blood.
“M-Miller! Miller! Wake up!”
Ezra rushed over and frantically shook him. Fortunately, he hadn’t passed out. Grayson groaned and cursed under his breath.
“Damn it, I hate being in pain so much…”
“Miller…!”
Tears welled up in Ezra’s eyes. He protested to the leader of the gang who had done this to Grayson.
“You, you said you wouldn’t do this! You said Miller would be safe, that’s why I trusted you, but you’re beating him this badly…”
“Why, are you going to sue us? Are you a Hanfan too?”
The man said with a smirk. Ezra froze on the spot. Grayson, with his eyes half-open, blinked and sighed. Stupid bastard, how could he not have thought of that?
The men approached Grayson again, trying to get their hands on him. Ezra blocked Grayson, shouting desperately.
“W-what about the money… what happens to the money!”
Maybe that was why he got involved in this in the first place. The man’s voice reached Grayson’s ears as he just listened.
“We gave it to you, already.”
Ezra’s eyes widened in shock at the grinning face. They gave him the money? When?
The first time they approached Ezra, they talked at a family restaurant. And the money Ezra received at that time was…
“That’s… the promised amount was $20,000, but you only gave me $200 back then!”
Ezra shouted roughly, as if spitting out blood, but the man just burst out laughing.
“That’s enough, what did you even do?”
“Y-you guys, you tricked me…”
Ezra trembled with betrayal, but they just laughed at him.
“Oh yeah, go ahead and sue us for fraud. Do you think you’ll be safe?”
Then the man who seemed to be the leader pointed at Grayson with his chin.
“You’re the one who brought this guy here, and you helped us catch him, right? You’re going to get fired from your job, are you okay with that?”
Ezra’s vision went dark. Getting fired from his job, absolutely not. He had already mortgaged his house and borrowed all the money he could. There was nothing left to sell now. The only furniture in the house was the bed. He was already on the verge of bankruptcy. Ezra was terrified. If he got fired from the fire station too, his family…
“Ezra.”
It was then. Ezra was startled and turned around at the sudden call. Grayson was lying on the ground, looking up at the night sky, and said.
“Check the gift I gave you last time. I think I might have misjudged the price.”
Ezra blinked, bewildered. He belatedly remembered the birthday present he had given to his daughter. He had sold off all the other things, thinking it was a cheap imitation, but he hadn’t even thought about that.
“Ah…”
He belatedly came to his senses and tried to ask him something, but he didn’t have the chance. The men pushed Ezra aside, stood Grayson up, and put a black hood over his head. It was obviously to keep him from finding out their destination. They tied his wrists behind his back, shoved Grayson into the back of the truck, and then piled into several cars.
“Miller!”
Ezra desperately called out his name, but the truck had already started moving. The leader, sitting in the back seat of the car, lowered the window and shouted at Ezra, who didn’t know what to do.
“Thanks, good work! Let’s not see each other again!”
They left, leaving behind only laughter. Ezra could only watch them disappear.
Desire Me if you can
Silence fell again. Joshua still stared at Dane with a distrustful look. Receiving his gaze, Dane thought. He had never felt so incompetent.
“You know, Grayson Miller never sleeps with someone more than once. He’d refuse even if I asked him to sleep with me. So why would I bother with such a troublesome thing?”
It wasn’t all lies. Joshua knew that Grayson never slept with someone more than once, and it was also true that Dane didn’t cling to someone to the point of risking rejection.
In fact, everything Dane said was true, but it was also a lie at the same time. Because of that, it wouldn’t be easy for Joshua to grasp the hidden meaning within.
As Dane expected, Joshua frowned and pondered. Hearing words that weren’t much different from the information he knew, it seemed plausible. Fall for it, fall for it. Dane waited for Joshua’s reaction, chanting inwardly.
Ha, Joshua finally sighed and swept his hair back with one hand.
“A request came in.”
“A request?”
Is that why this guy came here? Or did he just stop by on the way…?
As Dane vaguely guessed, Joshua said.
“It’s to guard you.”
Dane didn’t react immediately. His mind didn’t work for a moment at the unfamiliar expression. After a few seconds of silence, he asked with a deep frown.
“What?”