Page 51 of Complications

Matteo raised an eyebrow but let it slide. His smile was as close as Matteo ever got to a shit-eating grin, so I knew he was pleased with his direct hit.

“Wait a minute… After your accident…? The shed…? Holy shit, Frankie, did you dump him because of the accident? Jesus, that’s fucking shallow.”

“What am I missing?” Connor asked after he threw his hands in the air.

Joey joined the gesture but included double middle fingers in my direction.

“I should let them think that,” Joey muttered before turning to Matteo and adding, “No, he didn’t dump me because of that.”

Joey was two seconds away from exploding, and I knew it. His jaw was clenched so tight that the scar had blanched white from the pressure.

“It was because my dad said that me being gay wouldn’t fly with him and⁠—”

“And he didn’t want his kid with a rat,” Joey added. I’d never heard him talk like that.

“Joey, what the hell? Who the fuck is a rat?” Matteo hadn’t yelled, but it was close. “You’re not your dad.”

“Frankie’s dad was right to be worried.” The resignation in his voice broke me.

“So sweet,” Cille sneered. “All up in your feels. Gonna kiss him now too?”

“You need to shut the fuck up,” I answered, and because I was tired of his bullshit, I pulled out my Glock and made that happen. “It was a good suggestion though.”

“Kiss, kiss, kiss,” Connor chanted while laughing at the nonsense that had gone down in here. “I’m not sure whose honor is being defended here.”

“C’mon, pup, they don’t need an audience.”

“They do though,” he said with pursed lips. “It’ll be like a live-action porn in a minute.”

“Hmm. I’ll give you something better to watch,” Matteo said with a wolfish grin before grabbing Connor and hauling his giggling self out of the room.

“Gotta find Doc,” Elio added as he slammed the door behind him.

Jojo and I were left with a now-silent Cille slumped over on the floor at our feet.

“What now?”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Joey

“What now?”

If I knew the answer to Frankie’s question, my life would’ve been a fuck-ton easier. Our dirty laundry was shared. Matteo knew, although maybe he’d kind of suspected anyway, which meant Connor probably knew too. Elio was off to gossip with Doc, probably after fucking because, I swear to God, Doc didn’t know shit about biology because he was constantly trying to get that man pregnant.

“What? Nothing. You keep being an asshole, and I’ll keep cleaning up shit. The end,” I said with a shrug.

If Frankie expected a speech or something, he was gonna be disappointed. Thanks to him, I had a body to dispose of now.

My shoulder hurt like hell, but I wasn’t going to complain where he could hear me. Job first. Bitch later.

“Stop. I’ll get the guys to do this.”

“It’s my job.”

“And you’re going to hurt yourself more trying to prove you can do it. Stop.” Frankie’s order pissed me off, but it gave me a reason to pause, though I’d never tell him that. My shoulder ached like fucking crazy, and I just wanted to go home. “Let’s go.”

Without waiting for permission, Frankie grabbed my hand and led me out of the room. On the way down the hallway, he shouted for someone to handle Cille and kept moving. We wound our way through the maze that was Matteo’s basement until we came out near the edge of the back garden. Our fingers firmly laced together, he led me to my little house that sat at the edge of the property. He stopped long enough to punch in the code.