Chapter Twenty-Six

THE SUNwas shining, framing the Olympic mountains against a clear blue sky across the Sound. Ryan stared at the scene without taking it in. Physically he stood in the living room of a house he hated. His heart was on the other side of the lake. Now that he’d told Dylan he loved him, he didn’t want them to spend another night apart. He needed to end this quickly for both their sakes.

If there was a hell, it was coming home and having to smile and pretend everything was okay. Ryan read and reread the unsigned agreement his sister and in-laws wanted Dylan to sign. The agreement stated Dylan would stay away from Ryan and Leo if he took the money. The second document was far more menacing, paperwork filing for custody of Leo, signed by Lindsay’s parents, his parents, and his sister. Stephanie was asking for custody. Their claim was that Ryan was leading a promiscuous lifestyle, that his relationship with Dylan exposed and groomed Leo. Filing for custody in Lindsay’s parents’ hometown was a smart and diabolical move. The McKenzies had a lot of influence, and the political and judicial climate was becoming unfriendly toward gay people. Although there was only a slim possibility of them winning, the court might grant them temporary custody of Leo during the ongoing legal battle.

His sister walked into the room, and he steeled himself. He wasn’t an actor, but he’d have to put on the best performance of his life.

“Ryan, you seem down. What’s the matter? Is it Leo?”

It wasn’t hard to appear upset when he turned and looked at his sister, recognizing her sympathetic expression was completely fake.

“It’s Dylan.” He sighed. “He went back to LA. Just up and left. I can’t believe he would abandon Leo this way.”

Turns out his sister wasn’t as good an actress as she thought. Or maybe Ryan was. He could see the insincerity in her eyes now that he knew the depths of her malevolence. But when she said, “That’s what I was afraid of when you asked him to stay. I know what’s best for you, Ryan,” Stephanie’s words rang hollow.

“You’re right.” The words tasted like a bitter lemon in his mouth. Despite the sense of disconnect, he summoned the strength to embrace his sister, mirroring the brotherly gesture that had always been a part of their bond, even though it now felt as though he was embracing a stranger.

“Of course, I’ll always be here for you. Why don’t you join us for dinner at the club tonight? Arlene and Clay leave the day after tomorrow, and they’d like to spend more time with you.”

“I will.” Ryan looked down at his watch. “I’m going into the office again. I need to get back to work regularly now that Leo’s feeling better.”

Stephanie nodded, smiling with approval. “Absolutely. Getting back to work will be good for you.”

“Did you look over the list of candidates I gave you to fill the board position?”

“I did. They are all good suggestions, but I have another candidate, and mom and dad agree with me we should have Derrick Holloway join the board.”

Derrick Holloway was an asshole. His slick smile had never fooled Ryan. Derrick had avoided a tax fraud charge and settled the sexual harassment lawsuit against him out of court. He’d been trying to do business with Ryan, wanting him to develop Bitcoin software at first, and then approached him about developing a program for non-fungible tokens, so-called NFTs. The guy was a scammer, and Ryan turned him down, making it clear he wouldn’t do business with him under any circumstances. Now he was reading a report from the private investigator that said Derrick had been fucking Ryan’s sister for the last six months.

“If you think that’s what’s best,” he said, forcing a benevolent smile. “I’d like to get that position filled. Let’s call a meeting for tomorrow and make it official.”

Stephanie beamed, triumph glittering in her eyes. “Great. I’ll take care of it.”

He swallowed the bile rising in his throat, continuing to play nice until Stephanie left.

After spending the morning with Leo, he headed straight to Lisa’s office at Blackstone Financial.

“Do we have everything we need?” he asked, shutting the door behind him.

“We do,” she said, shuffling the papers on her desk. “Plus a bonus.”

Ryan’s eyebrows shot up.

“Remember I mentioned I saw something suspicious on your sister’s computer about ARW?” Lisa smirked. “I did a little digging. Your sister has been selling your tech to them under the table. Guess who bought ARW six months ago?”

Ryan’s eyebrows shot up. “Derrick Holloway. How did you find out?”

“You’ve never asked what my girlfriend does for a living,” she said with a mischievous smile.

“What does Mattie do?”

“She’s a cyber security expert.”

Ryan barked a laugh.

Lisa tapped a flash drive on her desk. “With what I have on here, combined with what your private investigator has sent over, I think we have more than enough.”

Ryan blew out a shaky breath and nodded. Despite the tight knot in his gut, he found reassurance in knowing he could do what needed to be done. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched his sister breeze into the office.

“It’s your company, Ryan,” Lisa said quietly, “and we’ve got enough to make sure it stays that way.”

“As soon as my sister puts the board meeting on the schedule, let security know. Can you have someone available to change the lock on my sister’s office as soon as the meeting starts?”

Lisa nodded, adding a note to her computer. “Anything else?”

“I feel like a fool,” he said when they finished.

“No one thinks their family will betray them. And certainly not like this. I’m sorry, Ryan.” Lisa flipped through her notes. “Your lawyer is sending over documents for you to review later this afternoon.”

“Thanks.”

Lisa nodded. “I’m on it.”

He got up and held out his hand. “Thank you, Lisa. I’m going to make sure you and your girlfriend get that house you’ve been saving for.”

She shook his hand. “Right now I’m more interested in revenge.” She smirked. “I guess now is as good a time as any to show you my ruthless side.”

“I’m counting on it,” he said with a grim smile.

Ryan went home. He pulled into the garage, steeling himself before he went inside. He could hear his in-laws in the living room, along with his sister and parents. Before he went in, he sought Mrs. Lieu. He found her in her apartment.

She took one look at him and asked, “Con, what’s wrong?”

“My sister and Dylan’s parents tried to bribe him to leave.”

Mrs. Lieu’s eyes flashed with anger. “I’ve been respectful because they’re your family, but those people”—she pointed a shaking finger toward the living room—“are not good.” She lifted her chin. “I love you, con, but I will not continue to work for you if you don’t put a stop to this.”

Ryan put his arm around her. “I will.” He exhaled. “I need you to pretend everything’s okay for one more day.”

“I can do that. Where’s Dylan? Is he okay? My poor sweetheart.”

“He’s okay. He’s with Jason and Joy. We had to make it look like he left town.” Ryan kissed her cheek. “There’s the family you’re born into and the family that you love. I love you, Mrs. Lieu. After tomorrow, you might have to adopt me.”

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. “I love you too, my con. I already think of you as my son.”

Ryan left Mrs. Lieu’s apartment and took a deep, fortifying breath as he walked into the living room with the biggest smile he could muster. He visited for a few minutes before he used wanting to spend time with Leo as an excuse to leave.

Ryan retreated upstairs before he let his composure slip. He found Leo in Rebecca’s lap. He sat down next to them. “What are you reading?” he asked as Leo scrambled out of Rebecca’s lap into his with his book.

Leo held up the book. “The Lotterys Plus One.”

“What’s it about?”

“It’s about two families, one with two dads and one with two moms, and they live in a big house with all different kinds of kids and a grumpy grandpa.” Leo wrinkled his little nose. “I don’t like him, though. He reminds me of Grandpa Clay.”

Ryan exchanged a look with Rebecca over Leo’s head. She gave him a pinched smile. He looked around, noticing the bookshelves that Dylan had filled now seemed half empty.

“What happened to all the books?” he asked Rebecca.

She shifted uncomfortably, biting her lip.

“Leo, can you make me a picture while I talk to Rebecca for a minute?”

Leo climbed off his lap and over to his play table. “I’m going to use lots of blue because that’s your favorite.”

“I can’t wait to see it.”

He got up and motioned for Rebecca to follow him into her room next to Leo’s, leaving the connecting door open so they could keep an eye on him. “What happened to the books?” he asked again.

“Leo’s grandma came in and went through his bookshelves. She took all the ‘unsuitable’”—Rebecca made air quotes—“ones and threw them away.” She grabbed Ryan’s arm when he started for the door. “It’s okay. Mrs. Lieu and I salvaged them. They’re in the garage. I had the Lotterys book in here, so it escaped Mrs. McKenzie’s self-righteous wrath.” She sighed. “I don’t mean to be rude, but that woman is a menace.”

“You’re not rude at all.” He glanced toward the play table where Leo was standing over a piece of paper, his little tongue sticking out while he worked on his picture. He looked back at Rebecca. “You won’t have to worry about the McKenzies after tomorrow.”

Rebecca nodded solemnly. “You should know your mother-in-law doesn’t think very highly of your parenting. She mentioned several times today that Leo needs a mother.”

Ryan clenched his fists at his sides. “Thanks for telling me.”

“I got your back.” Rebecca patted his shoulder.

“Daddy, come look at my picture.”

Ryan went over and knelt down next to Leo’s play table. He bit back a sob when he saw Leo’s picture. Three stick figures in shades of blue were holding hands. Leo was the little stick figure in the middle. The figure on the right was clearly Dylan, with his curly black hair, while Ryan was on the left with blond spiky hair. In the background was a tent. “Grandpa Clay said Uncle Dylan isn’t coming back.” Leo looked at Ryan, his large round eyes filling with tears. “But I love Uncle Dylan.”

“So do I, sweetheart. I love your uncle Dylan, and he’ll be back soon, I promise. How about we call him and you can show him your picture?”

Ryan fought back tears when Dylan’s face filled the screen. They’d been texting throughout the day, but seeing Dylan and the haggard look on his face made Ryan want to reach through the screen and hug him. They kept the call short, not wanting anyone to overhear and realize Dylan hadn’t really left town.

With a heavy heart, Ryan went back downstairs, his emotions raw after hearing what his mother-in-law did and talking to Dylan.

His sister met him halfway up the stairs. “I was just coming to find you. We’re getting ready to go to the club for dinner.”

He made a show of rubbing his temple. “I’ll have to pass tonight. I have a headache.”

“I know you’re disappointed in how Dylan used us, but you have to put it behind you. Trust me, the right woman is out there, but you won’t meet her unless you go out more.”

“What about you? Where’s the right guy for you?” Ryan asked.

Stephanie’s gaze shifted away. “I’m focused on my career right now. I still have time.”

He didn’t miss the slight twitch of her eye.

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “And I don’t?”

“It’s different for you. You have Leo to think about.”

That was the only thing she’d said he could agree with. “You’re right, I do. But I’m not going to dinner. I wasn’t making an excuse. I do have a headache.”

Stephanie eyed him skeptically before she sighed. “All right. Dad and Clay are going golfing after the board meeting tomorrow. Why don’t you join them?”

“Sure, I can do that.” The lie fell easily from his lips. “Why don’t we have Clay and Arlene come to the board meeting, and we can all leave from there? They don’t have seats on the board, but I did gift them ten shares when Lindsay and I got married. It might be fun for them.”

“I’m sure they’d love it.”

As soon as everyone left for dinner, he called Dylan again.

“Hey, baby, how are you holding up?”

Dylan sniffed. “I lost it when I saw the picture Leo drew. I miss him so much.”

“We’re going to take care of everything tomorrow. A car will pick you up early, and I’ll be at the office waiting for you.”

“I don’t have a suit.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“I know. I want to look… like I’m worthy of being there.”

“Sweetheart, you are more than worthy, and I’ll be so proud to have you standing by my side.”

“All hell’s going to break loose,” Dylan said in a shaky voice.

“Probably. But it’s for the best.” At first Ryan didn’t want to tell Dylan about Leo’s books. But they’d promised each other their love united them as a team, and there would be no secrets between them. Taking a deep breath, he shared what had happened. Dylan’s anger was palpable through the phone.

“I don’t want them near Leo,” Dylan seethed.

“I know, neither do I, and after tomorrow, they won’t be. Once we get through this, let’s take Leo camping for real. He’s doing well, and we could find a quiet place, for only the three of us.”

“I’d like that,” Dylan said with a sigh.

“I love you,” Ryan whispered. “I should be worried about what’s about to happen, but I’m not because I know you’ll be by my side.”

“I love you so much. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared, but I would walk through fire before letting my parents’ ugliness influence Leo. Once I can see you and hold your hand, I’ll be okay.”

“I feel the same way.”

They whispered quiet hopes and promises until they reluctantly said good night. After they hung up, Ryan went back to Leo’s room. He picked Leo up, feeling the soft fuzz of new hair growing on Leo’s head under his chin. Ryan settled back on the bed with Leo tucked by his side, the covers over him. Ryan watched his son sleep.