Beth had called yesterday to say that the feds were close to wrapping up their investigation into Brian. For the sake of plausible deniability, I didn’t ask how she knew that, but I was happy to hear they were taking it seriously and he’d probably serve time, and even more importantly, he’d be registered as a sex offender.
Quint had also called a few days ago. He started by apologizing again, and I assured him again that nothing was his fault. San Antonio was a big city with a big police force. He couldn’t do it all, and it wasn’t his fault he wasn’t on the case. It obviously would have been better if we’d known earlier, but in the end, he came to the rescue, going above and beyond to warn Liam just in the nick of time. Maybe it had to happen the way it did to catch Snake Eyes and finally stop him. Quint said they were finding evidence that there were more victims than they thought, and by the time it was done, he’d be going away for life.
And we were here for Tyler’s graduation. I was so happy to be going and so ridiculously proud of him. Not only for graduating and securing a fantastic job, but for how awesome he’d been with me since I told him. We talked almost every day now. I felt bad for the wedge it put between him and my parents, but Iloved how protective he was. His thoughtfulness reminded me of Liam, and there was no one better to be like.
“Yeah,” I repeated, squeezing Liam’s arm. “I’m better than okay. I’m so happy.”
He rolled on top of me, caging me in. “I’m so proud of you, Firefly.”
I lifted my hips, grinding against him. I’d battled my demons and won the best prize.
A little while later, we showered and got ready. I wore a new navy and turquoise boho-style skirt with a navy top, and even though it was warm, I added the scarf Liam had bought me for a finishing touch. Liam smiled when he saw me putting it on, and I grinned back. He looked incredible in khaki shorts and a sky-blue polo shirt, his chest and biceps bulging in the fitted shirt. Well, it probably wasn’t intended to be fitted, but everything was on him.
We headed down to the lobby for the free continental breakfast, made ourselves plates, and settled at a table. Then Liam asked gently, “What can I get you to drink, Firefly?”
It was still a heavy question. I’d been enjoying Liam’s mom’s tea, but I obviously couldn’t make that here, and while avoiding it made me feel like a coward, coffee still felt synonymous with making reckless, naive decisions. Although, a few days ago at The Cozy Cup, Juliette and Nicky threw my rules back in my face and convinced me to get a s’mores coffee. They insisted that neither coffee nor I were reckless or naive, avoiding coffee wouldn’t keep me safe, and coffee makes me happy, and I deserve to be happy. Then we all got s’mores coffees, complete with chocolate syrup and toasted marshmallows, and guess what? It made me happy.
I looked over at the self-serve coffee bar. “Can you make me a half-coffee, half-hot chocolate with French vanilla creamer?
Liam brought me the coffee concoction, and I’m pretty sure it made both of us happy.
My phone vibrated with a text as we were eating.
Nicky: Do you have a backup plan to take care of Thor if I end up in jail?
Me: Nope, so don’t go to jail.
Nicky: Can’t promise.
Nicky: I’m gonna kill him
I started writing, but deleted it. “Be right back,” I said to Liam. “I need to call Nicky.”
“Everything okay?”
“I’m not sure. I can’t tell if she’s being dramatic or if something’s really wrong.” I popped the last bite of waffle in my mouth, grabbed my coffee, and walked over to a quiet corner of the lobby to call her.
“Hey, so who are you killing?”
“Luca’s dad,” Nicky’s clipped tone held barely restrained fury.
Crap, she was serious. “What did he do? Are you okay? Is Luca okay?”
“Luca had finger-shaped bruises on his arms.”
Pain shot through my heart. Luca was only a little boy. “What are you going to do?”
“I already called CPS, but I barely slept last night worrying about them. What if I made it worse?” Nicky sounded on the verge of tears, something I rarely heard from her.
“You did the right thing,” I soothed. “You didn’t have a choice about that anyway.”
“I know. I probably should’ve just quietly left before I called, though. But I couldn’t leave Luca there with that asshole thinking he could do whatever he wants!”
Oh no. “You told them you were calling?”
“I didn’t know what to do! I didn’t say I was calling CPS, but I mentioned the bruises. I just wanted him to know someone was looking out for Luca. It was so stupid of me!”
“What happened?”