Page 34

“Are you warm enough?” I brought him closer and wrapped my arm around him. I had one more day before I needed to go back to work, and I intended to make it up to Frankie after our earlier mishap, but the image of his plump lips wrapped around my cock was front and centre in my mind.

“I’m good. This is nice. I don’t think I’ve ever done this before. It’s not the Dodds' way. Piss ups in the pub are more their style.”

“Even yours?”

“Nah, I’m not one for drinking. My style is playing piano when I can, looking after Logan and Gran. That’s all my life is.”

How I wished things were different for him, but he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

“Have you thought about going to music school? Doing something with that? Fuck knows, you’re better than anyone I’ve ever heard play. It seems such a shame to waste what you have.”

“I have no money, Mac, and these things aren’t free. There is a music college close by, but with no qualifications, how the fuck would I get in there?”

He had a point, but surely there was something we could do.

“Let’s just enjoy the evening.” I kissed his temple and sighed as he snuggled in deeper.

“Frankie, wake up.” I shivered beneath the blanket, the fire now dead. How long had we been out here? The night sky was pitch black, the moon and stars gone.

That was the thing with living in the country. When the light disappeared, inky blackness replaced it.

“Hmm, I’m comfy.” He snuggled in closer.

“I know, babe, but it’s late and fucking freezing. Let’s get inside.” I shook him awake and finally roused, we tramped back into the house.

Frankie yawned and collapsed onto the sofa, his eyes closed. He was one of those. Someone who could sleep anytime and anywhere, whereas I lay awake for hours, going over the events of the day, even on my days off.

But he couldn’t sleep there when there was a perfectly made bed upstairs he could use.

“Let’s go upstairs to bed. It’s after two, and I’m not driving you home now.”

I dragged him to his feet and almost carried him up to the spare room before laying him gently on the bed.

“I’m in the room next door if you need anything. Try to get some sleep, and we’ll go for breakfast in the morning, if you like. I know a little cafe nearby that does an amazing full English.”

“Sounds good.” He kicked off his shoes, jeans, and hoodie, and got under the covers.

I didn’t mean to look, nor did I mean to stare, but outrage surged through me at the scars on his body. This wasn’t the body of an accident-prone child, or a teenager who had fallen off his skateboard one too many times.

Scars of all sizes, round circles that could only be cigarette burns. Why the fuck did he still stay there and subject himself to this kind of abuse?

I didn’t think it was his mum. No, her abuse came from her tongue, sharp as a knife. This was Brian. It had to be, and now everything made sense. Logan’s fear, and even Frankie’s reluctance to leave.

Did he think Brian would turn his attention to his brother, or even his mum? Was he taking the beatings to save them?

Not on my fucking watch. I’d do whatever I could to get him out of the house. That was my silent vow to him, and not just because we’d agreed to be boyfriends, but because, as a doctor, I had a duty of care to do what was best for him.

Whether I reported Brian to the authorities remained to be seen, but what could they do? Frankie was an adult, and if he didn’t want to press charges, then it wouldn’t happen.

Rattled by the sight of his body, I lay awake all night, tossing and turning, wondering what I could do, and by the time morning rolled around, I was shattered.

But I’d promised him breakfast, and I was going to make damn sure we had a good day.

“There’s a spare toothbrush in the cabinet, and if you want to take a shower, you know where everything is,” I told him as I brewed my morning coffee.

Several cups would be consumed to keep my eyes open for the rest of the day, although I didn’t know how long I’d have him.

His phone had already been beeping, either his mum or gran. It wasn’t fair for him to be relied upon so much. He had a life. A life he wasn’t living because he wouldn’t say no to those he called family.