Senator Greyson Green hints at lawsuit against fellow senator Diego Paolo.
10 things the Watergate Scandal has taught us about politics at both local and national levels.
"Oh, shit," Ralph half-whispered as he leaned into the vehicle and assessed Ezekiel's condition. "Oh, shit," he repeated, apparently agreeing with Luca's diagnosis. He grimaced visibly and then locked eyes with Luca. "We'll be very careful."
Luca nodded but did not leave Ezekiel's side while the team slowly slid him out of the car, into a wheelchair, and pushed him into the station. He needed to be close, to be a sort of shield because Ezekiel was thin in the way years without exercise in a dingy basement would cause, and when his body was shifted, his shirt pulled tight across the small, but still noticeable, swell of his stomach.
When Luca risked a glance at Sario, it looked like he needed everyone who had ever hurt Luca and Ezekiel and the other five omegas to start paying for their sins soon or he would take it upon himself to administer justice vigilante-style.
Once they were in the small on-site medical room the station had, Luca pushed his sweaty hair away from his forehead with the back of his wrist and met Sario's gaze for a brief moment. "I'm not concerned about the pregnancy," he said quietly, trying to explain his reasoning. "He might have romanticized his abuse by this point, but I doubt it." He really hoped it was not the case, but it was a very real and heart-wrenching possibility. "I'm more concerned about what losing it could do to him, to his body."
Sario nodded and just hovered in the corner, likely wanting to make sure Luca was okay and stayed okay. He was so sweet.
Luca pulled a chair to the bed Ezekiel now lay on and sat, using an ice pack the nurse handed him to continue cooling Ezekiel's overheated skin.
After a few minutes of turning ice packs over and exchanging the warm ones for fresh ones, Ezekiel gave a full body shiver and opened his eyes. His hand automatically drifted up to smooth his shirt over his stomach, like he needed to ground himself with something consistent in what was, no doubt, a scary new place. He lifted his head enough for fear to spring into his shockingly blue eyes.
Threats. Luca realized it immediately and shooed everyone out except Laurel and the nurse, even a pouting Sario. Then he returned his attention to the slowly relaxing Ezekiel. "You know," he began softly, "the guy who left last, you don't have to be afraid of him. He's an idiot, but he's my idiot and he's really sweet. He wouldn't ever hurt you."
Ezekiel slowly turned his head on the thin pillow to look at Luca, his eyes slightly curious and still wary.
Luca smiled gently. "I'm Luca. Well, my name's Augustine, but that's a hell of a mouthful, so…"
A small smile cracked on Ezekiel's lips. "I feel the faith-based name nightmare," he replied, much to Luca's surprise. His voice was sharp, each word filled with a thousand razor blades ready to slice the unsuspecting listener. "My parents were Amish."
"Catholic for me." Luca was relieved that he had said the right thing to start a conversation. "What is with that obsession?"
Ezekiel laughed, and even that sound had a brutal edge. "I don't know. All my siblings got them too. I kinda felt bad for the little sucker who got named Zephaniah."
Luca winced. "Oof. That kid's gonna have a nightmare of a time if he ever comes out to the real world."
Ezekiel flicked his tongue out across his cracked lips. "Amish don't usually 'come out to the real world', to steal your phrasing. We're pretty isolated and taught that the outside world is evil." He laughed again, this time quite bitterly. "I think we might've been right about that."
Luca propped his chin on his hand. "Yeah, people suck. But not all people. My husband, Sario, is a pretty good person. He's gonna become a lawyer, not for the money but because he genuinely wants the law to be upheld. Honestly," he continued, leaning forward like they were sharing a secret, "he's probably thinking of all the ways he could punish the people who hurt you. He's like that."
Ezekiel frowned, his eyes darting to the closed door and then back to Luca. "Really? He'd really do that?"
Luca nodded. "Oh, absolutely. You're connected to me, and he would do anything to protect me." As he said it, he realized it was truer than he had believed up to this point. Sario would sue the whole of society if it looked at Luca or anyone close to him the wrong way.
"Connected?" Ezekiel questioned. "I don't think I know you. I mean, from before."
"We don't know each other, not that I know of, but the sick bastards who hurt you are friends with the fucker who ruined my life."
Ezekiel's eyebrows came together in a frown. "You were…?"
"Yeah, kidnapped, raped, everything. And although the kid died before it ever saw the light of day, it sure fucked me up inside. Like literally." Luca tried for a nonchalant smile like he was not talking about the worst experiences of his life. "I'm in the middle of treatment right now. I had one surgery a couple months ago, and I'm gonna need at least one more."
Ezekiel's hand slowly left the bed and lightly touched Luca's. "I'm sorry. I've never lost one of my babies, not like that."
Laurel, who had been silent this whole time, asked carefully, "Babies? As in, more than one?"
Ezekiel glanced at her, evidently deemed her safe, and nodded. "Howell sold me to people who wanted a kid with my genetics. I've carried ten babies of ten different men who adopted their own kid without telling their partners where it had really come from." He rubbed his stomach almost like he was trying to soothe himself. "This is the eleventh."
Laurel's mouth hung open in horror, but she snapped it shut with anger glowing in her eyes. "If you can give me their names, I'll arrest every last one of those bastards."
The nurse cleared her throat and quietly announced her departure, instructing them to keep Ezekiel cool and hydrated before she walked out and shut the door behind herself.
Luca grabbed a bottle of water out of the small fridge and handed it to Ezekiel. "Sit up and drink it." He helped the other omega sit up and propped the bed up to support him. Placing a hand on Ezekiel's back, he asked, "Do you know their names?"
Ezekiel sipped the water carefully, his brain obviously at work. "I do." There was pause for a couple more sips, and then he added, "I'd prefer to write them down. Howell's friends are…people I don't think will take kindly to being accused."
Luca pulled out his phone, opened a new note, and handed it to Ezekiel.
Ezekiel tapped out the names amazingly quickly and then handed it back to Luca, who screenshotted it, saved it in a doc, downloaded it to his phone, and sent it via encrypted message to Laurel.
If these men were as dirty as he knew they were, he needed the evidence in as many places as possible in case they got a hold of his phone somehow. He could not make it easy for them to clear their names. Not after all they had done to him, to Ezekiel, to those five other boys. He wanted them to pay, to feel the pain they had inflicted on others. He needed to be able to walk out of his apartment and not be scared that an assassin sent by Paolo was waiting for him in the elevator.
"Holy shit," Laurel whispered as she looked through the list. She looked back up at Ezekiel. "One of these men is our chief of police."
Ezekiel drained the rest of the water from the plastic bottle and deliberately screwed the lid back on, as if trying too hard to hide his fear. But Luca could still see that he was terrified. Maybe it was the slight shake of his hands or the way his eyes kept darting in the direction of the door. Then he spoke, his voice small in a way Luca had never expected to hear from him. "Get me out of here, please. I don't think— I can't see him again."
Luca's mind raced for a solution. He could invite Ezekiel to his and Sario's, but Paolo was almost certainly watching them. Where else was safe? Who else could be trusted? Then it hit him. "I've got a friend. His boyfriend — actually, fiancé now I think — is super paranoid, so their house is like a fortress. I'll text him and ask if you can stay there. I'm sure it'll be fine. They're both great guys." He pulled up his messaging app and shot Noah a text briefly explaining the situation. He only had to wait a minute before Noah answered his question with a capitalized "yes" followed by a period and then a smiley face emoji. Luca shook his head.
Noah was such an old man with technology sometimes. Smart man, extremely capable doctor, horrible when it came to acting his age over the phone.
Luca held up the phone so Ezekiel could see the response. "He agreed. Let's go."
Laurel opened the door and motioned Sario and Ralph back inside. "Take them out through the small side entrance," she instructed Ralph quietly. "Don't let any of Pete's people see them, got it?"
Ralph nodded, jaw set and expression serious. "Got it." He turned to Ezekiel. "I'll be acting like a shield, so I hope you're okay with Sario carrying you." He indicated Sario with a tip of his head.
Ezekiel hesitated for a split second and then quickly nodded, desperation evident in his features. He tucked his head down when Sario picked him up, hiding his face from everyone.
Luca followed Ralph and Sario out, keeping a careful eye out for anyone following them. But no one seemed to pay any attention to them whatsoever. It was like the four of them were invisible. Maybe they were. That would be a more reasonable explanation for everyone ignoring their existence and movement. Or maybe they were just waiting to pounce.