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“Enzo likes anchovy.” Tex shuddered. “That shit is disgusting. And then he wants tokiss mewith that breath. What the fuck?”
Ash let out a burst of laughter before he slapped a hand over his mouth. Tex grinned at him, winked, and pushed off of the counter. Enzo immediately snatched him up, wrapping his arms around him and practically hissing at us like a feral cat.
“Let’s go home,” Enzo said.
“Fine,” Tex sighed. “It was nice meeting you, Ash. Good to see you again, Gin. Stop getting hurt.”
“I’ll try,” I mused.
“We’re getting pizza on the way home,” Tex said.
“Yes, with anchovies,” Enzo added.
“Fuck you,” Tex groaned.
I shook my head at the two of them before I looked at Ash. “Where’s the doc?”
“She took off after saying she had something to do.” He turned the glass in his hands back and forth. “Is everything okay?”
“Just fine,” I answered. I put in the order for our dinner and then sat down across from him at the table. “Who’s Keith?”
Ash stiffened. “What?” he asked, his voice shaky.
“Keith. Who is he to your father? How do you know him?”
He squirmed. “I don’t want to talk about—”
“Hey.” I reached across, grabbed his hand, and squeezed. “Who is he?”
Whoever he was, he had a bad effect on Ash. That didn’t sit right with me. Yes, Ash was a pain in my ass and could be a little shit, but I didn’t like him feeling uncomfortable. Or afraid. And that was fear I saw etched onto his perfect features.
“Tell me.”
Ash sighed as he stared at our joined hands. He snatched up his drink, chugged some, and panted as he wiped his mouth. The smell of vodka greeted my nose, but I said nothing as he stared off.
“He’s an old friend of my dad’s. That guy at the brothel? That was Keith.”
“Why are you so afraid of him?”
Ash shuddered. “He wanted to buy me when I was young. I watched them… take and hurt a friend of mine. She was young, too young,” he said. I nodded. Ash sighed when he realized I understood what he was saying. “That threat dangled over my head forever, that I would be next. More than once, they made me watch while they… did things to those girls. Things I couldn’t stop. And there was always the threat that I would be next. I would be passed around and used and—”
He stopped talking as his lips snapped shut, and he gazed off into the distance. My stomach dropped.That’s why he was so freaked out in Silver Dreams.
“No one’s going to pass you around here,” I said, reaching across to grab his chin. Once he was looking at me, my grip tightened on his face. “What I said was me being pissed off and in a bad mood. I won’t do that to you.”
Ash’s eyes watered. “You swear?”
“I swear on my mother’s grave,” I said as my voice came out sounding more strangled than I wanted it to. I cleared my throat. “Is that why you were all over me earlier?”
He glanced away. “Yeah.”
“You don’t gotta do that shit either,” I snapped. “Whenever you’re up for railing me, hey, I’m into it! But if you’re just doing it because you’re feeling desperate, I don’t want it. You understand me?”
Ash glanced up at me. “Yes, sir.”
I swallowed thickly. “You don’t have to say things like that at home,” I pointed out. “No one’s watching us here.”
“What if I like saying it?”
