The silence that follows feels endless.
“You love us?” Cora asks, her voice small.
“Yes.” The admission comes easier the second time. “All of you. I love you.”
Ryder’s eyes go wide. Liam’s expression softens in a way I’ve rarely seen.
“Well,” Liam says, recovering first, “that’s convenient, because I don’t know about the other two, but I love you too.”
“Even when you’re being an ass,” Ryder adds with a grin.
Cora rises from her chair and wraps her arms around my shoulders. “Especially then,” she whispers against my ear. “I love you, Daddy.”
Cora shifts from hugging me to sliding onto my lap, her weight warm and familiar. Her hands frame my face as she leans in to press her lips against mine. The kiss is gentle at first, then deepens with an intensity that makes my chest ache. When she pulls back, her eyes shine with unshed tears.
“I never thought I’d say those words again after my mother died,” she admits. “I’d given up on love entirely.”
Ryder approaches, his usual playful demeanor replaced with something more vulnerable. He rests his hand on my shoulder, fingers brushing against the nape of my neck.
“I love you too, Dom,” he says, his voice rougher than usual. “Have for a while now, actually.”
He turns to Cora and Liam, spreading his hands in a helpless gesture. “And I love both of you, too, obviously. As if that even needs saying at this point.”
Liam’s laugh is soft as he moves closer, completing our circle. “For someone who talks so much, Ryder, you’ve never actually said the words before.”
“None of us have,” Cora points out.
“Well, I love you,” Liam says simply, looking at each of us in turn. “All of you. Even when you drive me absolutely fucking insane.”
The weight of these declarations settles around us, neither suffocating nor frightening as I’d always imagined it would be. Instead, it feels like coming home to a place I didn’t know existed.
“I’m not good at this,” I admit. “The emotional part. But I want to be. For all of you.”
Cora kisses me again. “You’re better than you think.”
42
LIAM
I’m in the middle of reviewing a deposition when Patricia bursts into my office without knocking—something she’s never done in five years of working together.
“You need to see this.” She turns on the wall-mounted TV, frantically switching to a news channel.
The screen fills with Marcus Reed’s face—a client I represented three years ago in a fraud case. We won, barely, after I convinced him to take a plea deal instead of risking trial.
“—attorney Liam Hayes deliberately withheld evidence that would have exonerated me completely,” Marcus says, his expression a perfect mask of righteous indignation. “He pushed me into accepting a plea deal that damaged my reputation permanently when he knew I was innocent.”
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter, standing so quickly my chair rolls backward and hits the wall.
The reporter turns to the camera with practiced concern. “Marcus Reed’s allegations come just days after Mayor William Pike questioned the ethical standards of certain legal professionals in our city. Mr. Reed claims Hayes concealedexculpatory evidence to secure a quick resolution, prioritizing his win record over client interests.”
My phone starts vibrating in rapid succession. Text messages, calls, email notifications.
“This is bullshit,” I tell Patricia. “Reed was guilty as hell. I saved him from fifteen years inside.”
“There’s more,” Patricia whispers, nodding at the screen.
The camera cuts to William Pike standing outside City Hall, looking appropriately concerned. “These serious allegations highlight the ongoing ethical concerns I’ve raised about certain influences corrupting our city’s institutions. My office will be calling for a formal investigation by the Bar Association.”
