Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
KAI
Usually, I love getting out of town for a few days, but this trip was hell. Between Daria starting at Good Vibes and not being able to see her and what happened between Lincoln and Ryan, I feel like I never should have gone.
I shift through the crowd at the airport, quickly heading to the pickup area with my two carry-ons. Vic leaning against his truck is a welcome sight for a lot of reasons, but most importantly, for the reminder that he stepped up when Lincoln needed someone. Vic still cares about his pack, and that’s the only win of the week.
“How was your flight?” He pushes off the passenger door and grabs my bags, securing them in the bed.
“Fine. How is Linc?”
Sighing, Vic nods at the truck. I climb in as he goes around and settles in behind the steering wheel. “Keeping it together while burying it all inside. He thinks it’s his fault.”
“I tried to call Ryan, but he’s not answering.”
“That’s not surprising. Desgraciado.”
I grimace but don’t disagree. “Five hundred thousand dollars? Really?”
Vic scoffs. “And when he didn’t get it, he said all that horrible shit to Linc.”
Although we don’t say it out loud, it’s obvious who might’ve had that influence over Ryan. What hurts the most is that we all love him. He’s our son, but he’s been hurting Lincoln—and us—for too long.
“Is Linc at home?”
Vic nods. “I ordered some food for us.”
Sighing, I rest my head back and close my eyes. Even though I hate knowing I’m going to have to voice my thoughts, this has been a while coming. We need to distance ourselves from Ryan. Put up some boundaries. We’ll be there to help him if there’s a serious emergency, and we’ll always welcome him if he has good intentions, but something has to change.
As Vic parks in our six-car garage, I grab my suitcases, carrying them inside and setting them beside the stairs before venturing into the kitchen, where Lincoln waits with food and a bottle of rye.
“Hey, Linc.” I pat him on the shoulder and drop into the seat beside him.
“Hey,” he says, frowning at his drink.
Vic takes the seat across the table and pulls the bags of food toward him. “I ordered you the red curry.”
“You remembered,” I say with a grin.
“It wasn’t hard to forget. You never order anything different.” He rolls his eyes but smiles too. “And the Thai fried rice and tom yum soup for you.” Vic slides two containers toward Lincoln. “And the Pad Prik King for me and tom kha for us to split.”
I get up to grab three bowls for the soup and two more tumblers while Vic grabs the utensils.
“All the meetings went well?” I ask Linc.
“Everything is good. The distributor signed the contract, so we can start sending products to our Midwestern partners.”
There are only a few companies we agreed to sell wholesale to—sex positive shops that have the same core mission that Good Vibes does—and branching into other parts of the country is our first step in expansion.
I set the tumblers down, and Lincoln fills them for me and Vic while I split the soup. “And Daria?”
The few texts I exchanged with her in the group chat and individually were good, but it’s hard to read emotions in a message. I wish I could have seen her. I hate that I have to wait until the weekend.
“She’s doing great. Terrance has her working on graphics for the website, and he has nothing but good things to say.” Lincoln pushes his rice around. “She went home sick yesterday afternoon.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me?” Vic asks.
“I was a little distracted.” Lincoln watches him pull out his phone and fire off a quick text.
My device chirps in my pocket, and I pull it out, looking at Vic’s message.
Vic
Little doe, are you sick?
Daria
I’m better today.
Vic
Should I come over?
Daria
I have plans with my brother tonight, but I’ll see you Saturday morning?
Vic
Send me a picture, so I know you’re okay.
Laughing at his demands, I take a drink, savoring the rich flavor of the whiskey. “She’s not going to send you—” Ding. “Well, shit,” I murmur, smiling at the picture of Daria that suddenly appeared.
She’s lying on a bed, facing a mirror and making a kissy face at her reflection the camera captures. Her nose is scrunched, and it’s cute as hell, especially with her curls framing her face.
Stop teasing me, or I might ask Vic to tell me where you live.
Daria
Did he tell you he’s been stalking me?
My friend is a bit unhinged, but it comes in handy from time to time.
“Screw you,” Vic says to me with a chuckle.
Daria
I kind of like it.
Okay, I have to get ready. Stop distracting me. See you tomorrow, Linc?
Glancing up from my screen, I arch an eyebrow at Linc. “She’s asking about your date. Are you still up for it?”
He nods. “She’s the only thing good about this week.”
Linc
Don’t forget to do as you’re told, bunny.
Daria
Yes, sir.
I bite back a grin and tuck my phone away, eyeing Linc. “What did you tell her to do?”
The hint of a smirk tugs at his lips. “I sent her home with vibrating underwear. I have the remote.”
Vic and I exchange knowing smiles. “That will certainly make dinner more interesting.”
Linc nods and tucks into his food. Normally, he’d be a little more enthusiastic, but it’s been a heavy week. We eat for a bit in silence, enjoying the food. Vic is in his usual spot, and I try not to stare at him. It’s been so long since he’s been here, but the table feels right in a way it hasn’t while he’s been away.
“So,” I begin a while later. “Let’s talk about it.”
Linc shakes his head. “Nah. I’m good.”
I frown. “Well, I’m not. That’s my son too.”
Stabbing his fork into his fried rice, he glares at me. “Vic probably told you all about it. What more do you want to know?”
“Hey, come on, now. I’m not trying to fight with you,” I say gently. “But you can’t keep it in. What Ryan asked for and everything he said after, it’s crappy.”
Lincoln scowls. “He needed my help.”
“No, he wanted to use you,” Vic says. “He wanted to use us .”
“He wanted money. Only because he needs help, though,” Linc rationalizes, but based on the way his forehead lines, I’m not sure he even believes himself.
Time for some tough love.
“No. Ryan knew what he was doing. He asked you to have lunch, pretended he wanted to reconcile, and then, when you didn’t give him what he actually wanted, he lashed out.” I run my spoon through the soup. “Can you really say that he was genuine about wanting to forgive and forget?”
Linc’s jaw tightens. “I don’t know. I asked him if he was dating anyone, and he got so mad at me.” Pausing, he breathes through his nose and blinks away tears. Linc hates crying. He starts to say something, his voice cracking. “I was trying to learn about his life, you know?” His voice is strained, and his pain hits me in the chest. No matter how hard he tries to fight the emotion, it bleeds into what he says next.
“I only want to know my son, and he acted like I was interrogating him. I apologized because maybe it was too personal of a question, I get that, but then it was like a switch flipped, and the way he looked at me with so much hate .” Linc shakes his head and clears his throat, hard. “I don’t know where I went wrong or how to fix it. I said I’d never be like my parents, that I’d have a relationship with my child, but now, I’m exactly like them.”
“Hermano,” Vic says. “You’re nothing like them. You’re a good dad.”
“If that were true, why does he hate me? Why does he hate us?” Linc glares at Vic, who struggles to come up with a response.
“I don’t have the answer to that. When Felicia left, it wasn’t easy for anyone. We did our best, we still did everything we could to be there for him. We took care of him whenever his mom asked, even if it fell outside of the custody arrangement. We talked to him. Played video games. Went to every sporting event we could. We were there, Linc. This is nothing like what your parents did to you.”
“Yeah, well,” he says with a bitter laugh. “I still ended up like them. My kid hates me. I want to fix it.”
Vic and I trade a look. Repairing the relationship is beyond us now. It’s up to Ryan to decide. Knowing that I have to say it, I slam the rest of my whiskey and clench my fists, hating that it’s come to this.
“I think we should consider setting some boundaries,” I begin, checking Linc’s reaction. He’s staring at a spot on the wall, maybe lost in his own lonely memories of growing up with parents who abandoned him. “We will be there if Ryan truly needs us. If he ends up in jail? We can bail him out. If he’s hurt? We’re there. If he’s about to lose his house or can’t afford to eat? We help. Other than that, until he apologizes and it’s real—not some fake play to get something from us—I don’t think we should meet with him.”
“What if he calls?” Vic asks.
Sighing, I shrug. “I guess we accept the call and find a way to make the boundaries clear. Let him know we love him and that we will be there if he really needs us, but his words and actions hurt, and until we can find a way to work past that, we won’t stay or put ourselves in situations where he can continue to cause pain like that.”
Linc is looking at me, but I can’t get a read on what he’s thinking or feeling.
“We’re not abandoning him,” I say quickly. “We’re limiting his access to us, because every time he sees you, he cuts you down. It has to stop, Linc.”
Nodding, he swipes at his cheeks. “Boundaries only. We’re still there if he needs real help.”
“Real help, like he’s suffering. Not like he needs five hundred grand to meet his investing goals,” Vic clarifies.
Linc nods again, shoulders sagging in defeat. I’m so frustrated with Ryan, and I hope that, one day, he’ll find a way to get over his anger, but I’m starting to wonder if that’s no longer an option.