“His fine motor skills and emotional regulation or whatever. It’s all bullshit.”
“Did they really use the worddefective?”
“Yeah. I know. It’s disgusting. But they’re offering me four hundred thousand bucks to take him back.”
“Did you accept?”
“I said I’d think about it, but—”
“William. You can’t accept.”
“Did youhearhow much they’re offering? I could—”
“They’ll kill him.”
CHAPTER 5
Promises
William’s vision narrowed. “Wh—are you sure? They’ll kill him?”
“It’s not stated outright, but it’s not hard to read between the lines,” Oliver said.
“Could you have misinterpreted?”
“They used the words ‘repurpose’ and ‘spare parts’ in the same paragraph,” Oliver said sharply.
“Fuck,” William whispered. “Fuck. Fuck.” No wonder Oliver had to take a break. What other disturbing shit had he read about while William was watching TV?
William’s shoulders slumped. He was back to square one, except now he was forced to turn down the kind of money that would have allowed him to restore some of Oliver’s freedom. Meanwhile, pieces of shit like Richard had the means to buy entire cities if it so struck their fancy.
“I could have gotten you a prosthesis,” William murmured.
“How many times do I have to—” Oliver let out a sharp sigh. “You know I’m already getting one.”
“It’s taking too long!” William snapped. Every day Oliver spent on that waiting list was a day stolen from him. He would never get them back.
“Do you really think I’d let you trade Adathan’s life just so you could waste your money on something I’ll be getting for free soon?”
“Of course not. I’m just...” William leaned back with a groan. “This sucks, all right? When I won, I thought... I thought I was finally going to be able to make our lives better. Turns out I only made things worse. Like always.”
“Youmade things worse? None of this isyourfault. You signed up for a competition and won. That’s it. And then they forced you to accept an unacceptable prize.”
William dragged a hand across his face. This was a nightmare. How had he, of all people, ended up being responsible for the survival of someone else? “I can barely take care of myself,” he said under his breath.
“I’ll take him in.”
William straightened. “What? No! That’s not what I meant!”
“I know. I’m still offering.”
“No. I got myself into this mess, I’ll—”
“Will you stop being so stubborn?”
“I’ve already asked too much of you.”
Oliver huffed. “Seriously? You never, ever ask for anything. You give and give and give, and never expect anything in return.”
