The issue is now clear. It is between light and darkness, and everyone must choose his side.
G.K. Chesterton
Work seemed to go more smoothly after Dave was removed from the office. Since there wasn’t an immediate threat looming over him, Liam returned to only going into the office twice a week. He spent the other three days working in his home office.
Rebecca updated him occasionally on what the legal team had found but, for the most part, there hadn’t been anything new.
Of course, the news of the breach had been leaked to the press, which meant that he’d been called in to do several interviews.
In most of them, he’d been asked not only about the hack but about Morgan and her recovery. When he was asked to comment on the connection between the hack and Morgan’s car accident, he knew that someone on the board or the IT team had leaked the details. He doubted the police would give away such details on an open investigation.
Thanks to Morgan’s idea, Roy and the other detectives were looking into every detail of the lives of the eight people involved—financial, personal, and professional. One way or another, the police were going to get to the bottom of why and how the hack had happened.
It was actually strange. On days Liam went into the office, he half expected to walk in on Dave sitting behind his desk. Whenever he remembered where the man was, he smiled at the irony. The man had wanted to be CEO and now he would never work at ESP again.
Since Dave’s removal, everyone else around the office seemed to be in better spirits. No one was worried the man was going to jump down their throats or threaten their careers for the smallest infraction.
Dave had always used his position on the board to get what he wanted. If rumors could be believed, he’d pressured certain women in the office to sleep with him.
Those rumors were flowing now that Dave was out of the picture. More and more of the hell the man had caused around the workplace was coming to light.
Several employees had even visited HR and filed official complaints. There were rumors that some of the women just wanted money, but still, each case was handled as if the allegations were true.
With his career going more smoothly and his personal life at an all-time high, the last thing he’d expected was to receive a call that would change everything.
He’d been working in his home office after having spent a wonderful lunch with Morgan out by the pool. Even though it was showering outside, they’d sat under the covered porch and enjoyed the warm weather and the smell of everything being washed cleaned by the rain.
He’d returned to work and had been answering a few emails when his phone rang.
“Is this Liam Taylor?” a woman’s voice asked.
“Yes, this is Liam.”
“Oh, I hadn’t expected to get you…” she said quickly. “I… um… My name is Laura, Laura Taylor.”
Liam froze and his hand shook. He’d seen that name once before on a document that he’d found when he, Ryder, and Sean had snuck into the main office at the orphanage and had looked into their files.
“Do you know who I am?” she asked when he didn’t say anything.
“Yes,” he said softly.
“Good.” The woman sighed. “I… was able to track you down after reading the recent news article. I knew who you were the moment I saw the picture on the cover.”
“What do you want?” he asked, his temper somehow sneaking into his tone.
“I thought…” Laura said, not seeming to notice his anger. “That maybe we could meet?”
“No,” he answered quickly. How many times had he asked himself what he would do if he ever came face to face with either of his parents? How many childhood dreams had him running into the waiting arms of parents who loved him and somehow had just… misplaced him? In those dreams, it had never been their fault that they had given him up. There had always been some unforeseen force, some villain who had taken him away from them. But then he’d grown up.
“No?” she asked, and he heard a sniffle.
“No,” he repeated clearly. “I’m not open to that idea.”
“Oh, I… guess… I thought…”
“What? That I would welcome someone into my life that threw me away as a helpless child?” he asked, standing up. He felt the need to pace and walked back and forth between his desk and the door. “I don’t need the toxic relationship that I know will come from meeting you.”
“I… I’m dying,” she said, and he couldn’t tell if it was the truth or just a manipulation tactic.
“We all are. It’s called life,” he said and, before she could respond, he hung up.
He felt like throwing the phone, but instead tucked it back into his pocket. There was more than two hours’ worth of work left to do that day, but instead, he sent a message to Cheryl telling her he was clocking out and that something personal had come up.
She instantly replied that she hoped everything was okay and would redirect his calls to the answering service.
Since he didn’t want the negativity to influence Morgan, he sent her a message telling her he was heading to the gym to spar with Ryder.
He’d tell her about the call later. But for now, it was his to own. His to work out. His to punch out of something or someone.
Morgan sent a message a few moments after he’d loaded his gym bag into the car.
“Okay, have fun. The squad is coming over tonight anyway.”
He texted back, “Have fun. I’ll be back late.”
She sent him a smile emoji followed by a funny cat GIF, which had him smiling and then laughing. Damn, even when he was pissed at the world, she could still get him to smile.
As he drove into town, he played over the conversation with Laura, and the desire to punch something surfaced again.
When he stepped into the gym, he knew just who to punch. Seeing Sean yelling at Ryder almost sent him into a rage.
First off, he hadn’t seen the man in almost five years. Second, he was yelling at Ryder.
Dumping his bag, he flew across the room and had Sean by the shirt and pinned up against the wall in less than ten seconds.
“Don’t kill him,” Ryder was yelling in his ear as he tried to peel Liam’s fingers from Sean’s shirt.
“Why the hell shouldn’t I?” Liam growled. “Give me one goddamned reason why I shouldn’t.”
“Because I asked him to stop by,” Ryder answered.
“So?” Liam asked, not taking his eyes off Sean, who was glaring at Liam.
Liam had always been taller and broader than Sean. Not that Sean was a wimp, but it was extremely obvious that in the past few years, Sean hadn’t hit the gym or exercised regularly at all. The man was downright stalky.
“So, if you kill him, my insurance rates are going to go through the roof,” Ryder joked. “Besides, he was just leaving. Weren’t you, Sean?”
“Yeah, right,” Sean hissed, jerking Liam’s hands from his shirt.
Liam stepped back as he dropped his arms to his side. “Don’t come back here. Invited or not,” he warned.
“What the fuck did I ever do to you?” Sean spat back.
“You know damned well what,” Liam hissed. He pointed towards the door.
Sean was thankfully smart enough to leave without another word.
“Wanna tell me what that was all about?” Ryder asked, turning towards him.
“You first. Why would you invite him here? How did you even get ahold of him?” Liam asked.
Ryder sighed and then motioned towards the boxing ring. “Step into my office.”
“Sure,” Liam answered. He walked over to pick up his bag.
Ten minutes later, the pair of them were dancing around one another in the ring.
“So?” he asked after Ryder got in the first punch.
“So, I got a call yesterday,” Ryder said as Liam ducked and dodged the next punch.
“From?” he asked.
“My mother,” Ryder said just as he swung out. Liam was so shocked that he forgot to dodge the blow and took the hit right to the jaw, sending him sprawling onto his ass in the middle of the ring.
It took almost a full minute for Liam to get his senses back. When he did, Ryder was kneeling in front of him holding up what appeared to be two fingers.
“How many?” Ryder asked.
“Did you say your mother?” he asked, instead of answering him.
“Yeah.” Ryder sighed as he rested on his knees.
“I just got a call from someone claiming to be my mother. Laura Taylor,” he replied. Somehow just saying the name out loud had his temper growing.
“Yeah, I thought so.” Ryder held out his hand and helped Liam to his feet. “Before you go seeing red again, I don’t think the woman who claimed to be Amahle Tripp was my real mother.”
“You don’t?” Liam frowned. “What makes you say that?”
“Because the woman may have had the right name, but her story was all wrong.” Ryder sighed.
“I’m not following you.” Liam walked over and grabbed his bottled water and took a long sip.
“It’s sort of complicated.” Ryder leaned on the ropes. “Remember back when we were ten or eleven…” He tilted his head. “When we broke into the office and read through our files?”
“Yeah.” Liam nodded.
“Well, I didn’t tell you or Sean then, but the details of my parents abandoning me were wrong in my file.” Ryder shrugged.
“They were?” Liam tried to remember his friend’s story but couldn’t. Hell, he hadn’t even remembered that Ryder’s mother’s name was Amahle.
“Yeah. In my file, it said that I’d been abandoned at the train station.” Ryder looked off over the gym.
“And?” Liam asked.
“It was a bus station.” He turned to Liam. “I remember it because my mother and I had taken the bus there, and she didn’t have enough money for two tickets to Chicago. She told me to sit there and wait while she ran to the bathroom. Only, I watched her get on the bus and leave me.”
“Holy shit.” Liam sighed.
“Yeah. I was five. What kind of woman leaves a five-year-old at a bus station?”
Ryder shrugged. “A bastard of a woman.” He slapped his friend’s shoulder.
“Yeah, right. Well, when this woman called, after she told me who she was, she said she was so sorry for leaving me at the train station.” Ryder nodded.
“So, you knew she was a fake. I guess I didn’t even ask Laura—or the woman claiming to be her, at any rate—any questions. Then again, I was only a few weeks old when I was found, so I wouldn’t have remembered shit anyway.”
“Right, and since I know your memory is shit… No offense.”
“None taken.” Liam smiled. “What’s your name again?”
Ryder pushed his shoulder and chuckled.
“I knew that the only other person who had seen that bullshit story had a photographic memory,” Ryder added.
“Shit,” Liam groaned. “Sean.”
Ryder nodded. “Yup. So I hunted down his number and called to confront him. Only he shows up claiming he got a call from his dear old mother too. Only he met the bitch.”
“And?” Liam asked.
“She gave him the whole sob story. Told him she was sorry. Then he claims he gave her ten grand, and she promised to pay him back. Only, the number she called from isn’t working any longer,” Ryder said.
“You think he got scammed too?” Liam asked.
“Hell no. I think Sean is playing a long game. I think his broke ass came up with a way to get back at us and make a little dough while he was at it. I’d bet you the gym that if you met the woman claiming to be your mother, that it would be a hell of a lot more than ten grand.”
“Yeah, I bet you’re right,” Liam agreed.
“So, we both dodged that bullet.” Ryder chuckled.
“I should have knocked his head right off his shoulders,” Liam added.
Ryder laughed again. “You can’t even dodge a right hook.”
Liam laughed. “I can when I’m not distracted.”
Ryder’s eyebrow rose. “Oh yeah? Care to put a friendly wager on it?”
“Hell yes. Our usual?” Liam asked, slapping his gloves to Ryder’s.
“You’re going to owe me a Coke,” Ryder warned.
“Not if I win,” Liam teased back as they started circling each other in the ring again.
Liam’s mood was vastly improved as he pulled back into his garage shortly after midnight. After losing to Ryder, again, they’d gone out for drinks. Their idea of a good time was sodas and a few rounds of pool at the bar down the street from the gym.
He hadn’t meant to stay out so late, but Morgan had sent him a text that the squad was staying the night since they’d opened a few bottles of wine.
When he made his way into the house, he spotted a leg—not Morgan’s—flung over the back of the sofa in the living room.
Seeing the empty wine bottles, he chuckled as he tip-toed through the dark house. Whoever was passed out on the sofa wasn’t the only one who’d fallen asleep outside of a bedroom.
He assumed it was Kimber who was face-planted on the sofa by the stairs, and Morgan was half lying, half sitting on the stairs with her head leaning against the railing.
The fact that his wife was lightly snoring had him smiling. Setting his gym bag down, he lifted her easily into his arms and chuckled when she said. “Oh, my handsome husband is finally home.”
“I am indeed,” he said softly. He placed a kiss on her forehead. “Did you have fun?”
“Mmm-hmm,” she said, and then she started snoring again. But when he laid her down in the bed, her eyes popped opened and focused on his face. “You have a black eye.” She reached up and touched his cheek. “Who punched you?”
“Don’t worry, I punched back,” he answered with a chuckle.
“Good.” She sighed. “My friends think you’re sexy,” she said with a giggle.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.” He chuckled as he kicked off his shoes and pulled off his clothes. When Morgan sighed loudly, he glanced at her.
“I think you’re sexy,” she said with a smile.
“Oh?” He sat on the edge of the bed and ran his hands over her hips. He was just about to peel the things off her when the house alarm started going off. They both jumped.
“Stay here,” he warned as he pulled his pants back on and rushed downstairs. He heard Morgan calling after him, but he didn’t stop until he reached the front door, which was wide open.
“Sorry,” Kimber said, as she stood in the doorway. “I was sneaking out for a smoke.” She held up her hands and he saw the cigarette and lighter.
“It’s okay.” He walked over to punch in the security code, then answered the call from the company and told them everything was fine, giving them the security password.
“Sorry again,” Kimber said, as she lit the cigarette just outside the front door. Liam noticed that she was swaying slightly.
“Is everything okay?” Morgan called down from the stair railing.
“Yes, Kimber needed a smoke,” he replied.
“Classic Kimber,” Morgan called down. Kimber giggled until she almost fell over.
“I’ll be up soon,” he called back to Morgan. “I’ll lock up once she’s done.”
“M-kay,” Morgan answered.
“I’m really sorry.” Kimber sighed, and he watched her run her eyes over his chest. “I hope I didn’t… interrupt anything.”
“No.” He leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms over his chest. He’d been half-naked around Morgan’s friends plenty of times. After all, they’d had loads of pool parties at the house. He knew that, out of all of her friends, Kimber was the one that held her liquor the best. For her to be swaying this much, she must be really blitzed.
“Oh good,” she said, almost falling over and reaching out to hold onto his arm. “I’d hate for you to go…” Her hand snaked down and, before he could stop her, she grabbed his cock. “Un-fulfilled.”
This wasn’t the first time a drunk Kimber had hit on him. Normally, he and Morgan blew it off since they knew that’s how she was. She didn’t really mean anything by it. At least that’s what they told themselves.
He jerked her arm away and stepped back. “I think you’re done for the night.” He took the cigarette from her and tossed it into the rocks. Then he took her arm and helped her back inside. “You can find your own way to your room.” He locked up and turned the security system back on.
“Oh, boo,” she said with a slight whine. “I was just trying to have some fun.”
“Have it with someone who’s interested.” He started walking towards the stairs, and she followed him. He stepped aside so she could go up them first. When they reached the top, he expected Kimber to head off to one of the guest rooms, but at the top of the stairs, Kimber made a move towards him. Once again, he easily sidestepped her.
“Come on,” she purred. “You’ve thought about what it would be like, being with me.”
“Not even once,” he told her truthfully.
He turned and was almost across the sitting room just outside his bedroom when one of the glass vases that sat on a small table shattered at his feet.
“Fuck off,” Kimber said, then she rushed down the hallway towards a guest room.
Thankfully, the noise didn’t wake anyone up, especially Morgan, who was fast asleep when he returned to their room after cleaning up the glass.
When he climbed into bed next to Morgan, he pulled her into his arms, careful not to jostle her broken leg, and buried his face into her hair. This was home. This is where he wanted to be. Always.