Page 17 of Doubling Down

He repeated his words over and over until Annabelle was softly snoring on his shoulder. The poor thing having cried herself to sleep.

Ezra had no idea how long had passed.

Had it been an hour? More? He wanted out of the cramped bathroom but was it safe to take Annabelle out? Was it the cops that fired the shot or one of the many criminals that lived in the complex?

Not that it mattered. First thing in the morning and Ezra was out of there. Dom had offered more than once to let Ezra stay with him. Ezra had resisted, knowing that it was too much to ask when he had Annabelle. It was one thing to put Ezra up for a few nights but a whole other ballgame when he had a three-year-old.

Maybe it was time that Ezra learned to lean on someone else for help. Dom never held back what he wanted to say and if he had offered help, he probably meant it. Anything was better than keeping Annabelle in this environment.

His legs were cramping and his feet numb, so he nearly fell flat on his face when he moved. Using one hand on the wall, Ezra managed to stand. He slowly exited the bathroom.

It might be better to lay Annabelle down in her little toddler bed but Ezra was afraid that she would wake again. He needed to get some sleep, if he was going to find a new place to live the next day. Later that day? Damn! Ezra was fucking tired. He also had no idea what time it was.

Walking into his living room, he wasn’t surprised to find that the entire space was lit up with blue and red lights flashing across the walls from outside. At least the cops had quieted the place down.

He strolled over to the couch to lay Annabelle on the blanket he’d placed earlier. Her favorite fuzzy purple monster blanket. It had been a present from Dom for her third birthday.

Luckily Annabelle remained asleep as he straightened back up.

He nearly leapt out of his skin when there was a knock on his door. He swung around to glare at the door before rechecking on Annabelle. Thank fuck, she was still asleep.

As quietly as he could, Ezra stomped to the door.

He undid the chain and the two deadbolts before yanking the door open.

Ezra yelped at the man standing at his doorway. A man he knew. The gold police badge around his neck sure the hell didn’t belong though.

Chapter Four

Eric

“Ezra?” Eric didn’t know if his eyes were playing tricks on him or what the fuck was going on.

Ezra’s eyes dropped to the badge hanging around his neck.

Oh, oh shit! Eric was still supposed to be undercover, and he had just majorly screwed up. Remi was going to be pissed. And Eric had totally behaved. He’d waited behind the SUV when Dane and his team had stormed the complex. This was not his fault!

“What the hell!” Ezra demanded.

“I can explain,” Eric blurted. That was the first thing that came to mind in order to calm Ezra down. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to say, however.

Ezra sucked in a sharp breath. His soft brown eyes were glittering. Eric had never seen the young man so pissed. Or beautiful. Eric really wanted to kiss Ezra.

“What is that?” Ezra pressed the badge hard against Eric’s chest.

“I’m a cop,” Eric admitted.

“No shit!” Ezra raised his voice.

A small soft cry sounded behind Ezra.

“Fuck!” Hands went to his hair before Ezra tugged hard. That was when Eric noticed that Ezra appeared to be utterly exhausted and on the verge of losing his shit.

“Hey!” Eric captured Ezra’s thin wrists into his hands.

Ezra’s eyes swam with unshed tears. “I just got her to sleep,” he said hoarsely. “Again.”

The poor boy was beyond exhausted and at his wits’ end. Eric might not know what was going on but that didn’t matter if Ezra needed him. Every protective instinct inside him rose up.

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