Chapter 14 #3
“I don’t get it.” Felix’s brows pinched together. “That meant you’d be away from the kids, which was the whole reason you hadn’t left her skank-ass.”
Liam nodded, watching his fingers ripple through Myx’s fur.
“I know, but it was supposed to be temporary to pay off the mortgage and my school loans. We had it worked out where I’d video chat with them before bed every night, fly back for holidays…
except somehow that never ended up happening.
” And then he’d stopped taking his meds again, and everything had begun to spiral.
“Jesus, Liam, that’s terrible.”
He shrugged, remembering how he’d blindly accepted all of Jenny’s excuses just made him feel worse.
“Los Huego was okay. The firm was one of those big West Coast ones. I focused on the job…you know how I get. I wanted to prove…shit, it’s stupid now, but after everything Jenny said, I wanted to prove I wasn’t the fuck-up she thought I was.
After about a month, the firm started grooming me toward becoming a trial lawyer. ”
“That’s huge. You must’ve been really good at what you did.”
He had been, but…Liam looked down at his hands. “Those last two years out there…” He shook his head. “The firm didn’t represent the best people, and I didn’t care.”
Felix was silent at the admission, and Liam took another deep breath before he continued.
“Then I got a certified letter from the bank telling me the house was going into foreclosure. Felix, aside from what I needed to live out there, I’d been sending every fucking penny I’d been making home.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars. Come to find out, it was all gone, and she’d taken out two massive loans in my name.
I was out there, away from my kids, selling my soul, and for what?
I cut her off. Two weeks later, I was served with divorce papers, and she was going for full custody. ”
“Holy shit. What do you think she did with all that money?”
“No idea, and she freaks out whenever I mention it.”
Felix snorted. “Um yeah, and rightfully so.”
“Right? I don’t care about the money. I mean, I do, but I care about the kids more, and the threat of losing Sarah set me off.
I lost it. Made some bad decisions. Got rip-shit drunk, ran my mouth, started a fight in some bar.
The pack out there, I had a temporary stay to be in their territory.
When they showed up to handle the situation, I-I almost killed their beta.
One of their members knew what was going on back in Havers.
He convinced them to let me walk, but I had to do it then and there.
I couldn’t even grab a change of clothes from the apartment I’d rented. ”
Felix went pale. “You must’ve really messed him up.”
Liam ran a hand over his mouth. “It wasn’t…it wasn’t good, and it gets worse. I was scheduled to be in court the next day. I was co-counsel on a case for the vampire court. They ended up losing, and that prince, Kremlyn? His brother’s in jail because of me.”
Felix just stared at him, and Liam regretted every bite of dinner churning around in his stomach, afraid it was going to come out with the rest of what he had to say. Before he totally chickened out, he swallowed raggedly and spat out the rest of his story.
“I can’t represent Havers because they slapped me with gross neglect for abandoning the case, and my license has been suspended.
” Liam hung his head and chewed his lip.
“I haven’t told anyone else that. My parents and Kelsey know about the fight, but not about the rest of it.
They don’t know about the money, either. ”
“I can’t even,” Felix said, a hand over his mouth and his eyes wide. “How could she—what are you going to do?”
Liam sat back against the couch cushions with his glass of water.
“I dunno. I’ve been waiting to get the results of Sarah’s test before I figure it out.
I just…I don’t understand how it got so fucked up, Felix.
Jenny…she wasn’t a bad person. I still don’t think she is, but I don’t understand what happened to her. ”
“Sounds like Pete happened, and this is just as much on her for staying with him and co-signing his bullshit.” Felix picked at a corner of the pillow.
“I know you’re worried about what will happen to the kids, but believe me when I say, sometimes they’re better off without.
Lord knows the urchins don’t need to be living in a brothel somewhere out in Nevar right now. ”
Liam spat out a mouthful of water. “Is that where your sister ended up?”
Felix grunted with a little shrug. “Reading between the lines, it’s firmly within the realm of possibilities. The last motel she had them in wasn’t far off.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Nope,” he said, popping the P. “As awful as it is to say, they really are better off without her.” He glanced up at Liam through his curls.
“And I have a feeling it’s going to be a similar situation over on McDermott.
When I called CPS earlier today, I got the distinct impression I wasn’t the first person to have dropped a dime on Pete. ”
“Great.” Liam clenched his jaw, then ran a hand over it, taking a deep breath—simultaneously feeling like shit and somehow better that Felix knew about all the baggage he was hauling around. Well, almost all of it. “There’s one last thing I need to tell you.”
“If it has to do with you lobotomizing my cat, I’m already aware,” Felix said, frowning at Myx flopped across Liam’s lap, while he absently rubbed the feline’s belly. “If I tried to do that, I’d lose a hand.”
Liam grinned at him. “I told you: he likes me.”
Felix rolled his eyes. “That’s apparent. Okay, so what’s this last thing?”
“You know that after Samhain, I ended up in the psych ward for a couple of weeks. I’m better, but my mental health isn’t great,” he said, focusing on the cat instead of Felix.
“I’m sticking to my med schedule and meeting with my therapist like I’m supposed to.
This project I’m picking up tomorrow—I’m hoping that’s going to help, too, but if I—if I disappear, you know, go dark on you…
it’s not because I don’t want to be with you.
I just get stuck in my head, and sometimes it’s hard to come back out. ”
The couch cushions shifted, and Felix moved beside him.
“Hey. Samhain screwed all of us up. I still have nightmares about what they did to you along with everything else that happened. Not for nothing, but you were lucky you missed the lion’s share of what went on in that circle.
If you need time, just let me know. I get it. ”
“Yeah?” Liam looked up at him, fighting back tears.
“Yes.” Felix kissed him softly. “We’re doing this right this time, right?”
Liam nodded, sniffling and took his hand in his. “God, I hope so. You really think we sounded like an old married couple at Snaps?”
“I resent being called an old anything, but yes, and for you, I’ll do my best not to take offense.” Felix’s lips quirked. “That said, we should probably go get ‘our’ kids.”
Liam laughed as he moved Myx off his lap and stood with Felix, still holding his hand, and really liking the sound of that.