Playboy billionaire Aiden Grayson is being blackmailed and when he meets his handsome new bodyguard, Julian, he's slowly overcome by feelings he can't deny.
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Aiden Grayson is a child of privi...
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27. LET ME GO
Friday Night
3 Hours Before The Charity Event
Julian's emotions were scattered all over the place as he stepped foot in St. Mary's Hospital to meet up with Lance Joyner - an ex that he thought he had cut all ties with.
"Hey, I'm here." After Julian exited the elevator to the ninth floor, he made his way down the hallway towards Lance. He was sitting outside his grandmother's room slouched over in a chair looking completely worn out. "How is she doing?"
"They don't expect her to survive the night." Lance stood from his seat, crying, and threw himself into Julian's arms. "I couldn't go through this alone. I had no one else to call but you. Thanks for coming down. You don't know how much this means to me."
Julian hesitantly wrapped his arms around Lance. This simple embrace felt every bit of wrong, but he didn't know what else to do. He couldn't push Lance away, not at a time like this given all that he was going through. And as a friend, Julian wanted to console him the best that he could. At the end of the day, he felt sorry for his ex. It broke his heart to see Lance like this.
"Can you tell me what happened to her?" Julian asked, trying not judge his ex as he reeked of booze and cigarette smoke. Neither smell had Julian ever encountered while being with Lance; he wasn't a big drinker and he never was a smoker, so this newfound discovery was a little troubling. "How did she end up here?"
"I found her knocked out in her apartment a couple days ago," Lance sniffled. "There was blood on the back of her head and on the kitchen counter. Somehow she tripped, hit her head, and fell. She'd been lying there unconscious for God knows how long." Lance cried even harder, Julian held him even tighter. "I call her at least twice a week just to check in to see how she's doing. When I called her this week she didn't pick up. It wasn't like her to do that so I decided to stop by her place, and that's when I found her. She's been unconscious ever since."
"God, I'm so sorry that you had to go through that alone," Julian replied in a sympathetic tone. "You should have called me sooner. I would have been here for you."
"I didn't want to burden you with my problems." Lance pulled away from Julian, his usual bright blue eyes were now bloodshot and unfamiliar. His red hair was pulled up in a messy bun, looking unkempt. Lance also hadn't shaved in weeks, it looked like. It was almost as if Julian was looking at an entirely different person. "It's been months since we last saw or spoke to each other, not counting that time when you and your boss came to me for help. You were out living your own life, doing your own thing. I just... I don't know. I didn't want to bother you."
"Bother me? Jesus Christ, Lance, if you weren't in the predicament that you're in right now I'd slap you into next week," Julian sighed, touching his shoulder. Lance smiled for the first time all week. He really missed Julian's candidness. "I love Marjorie as if she were my own Nana. You guys are like family to me. You could never be a bother to me. In fact, I'm hurt that you would ever think like that. Just because we're no longer together doesn't mean that we can't still be there for one another during times like this, it doesn't mean that we can't be friends."
