Page 54 of Cosmo

Liam took out his hand, wiping it on his own jeans as he said, “Yeah.”

“It feels like my life’s been a lie.”

“Everyone’s life is a lie, baby. Mine was, then I had to see the truth, and I’m still hurting from it. But it can be okay, eventually.”

Taran’s eyes were hypnotic, and he stared so sweetly, yearning for help in his new reality. “I’ll take care of you until you get stronger on your feet. Go sit in the car. You can drive behind me, and if anything happens, drive off.”

As much as Liam saw him struggle with that, that he didn’t want to leave behind Liam, he did what he was told and went to the car, his head hanging. Into the bag he reached again, grabbing the ignition bolt. He got into the car again and bolted out the ignition lock.

He set in the heavy-duty screwdriver and started the car, looking over with a smile to Taran, who was smiling back and shaking his head.

He pulled out and Taran followed him in his car. Liam sat back behind the wheel, remembering himself.

Sure, he was just a kid when he’d started, but he hadn’t felt like a kid since he’d walked into a room to see his family lying dead all around it. The smell of shit and vomit so strong, it stung his nose before his eyes had taken in the horror.

That was the moment he stopped being a child and grew up into an adult that had no family, no tribe, no one in the world.

He’d placed a cloak around his heart at that moment, but the more he’d seen since getting out of prison, he knew the cloak shouldn’t just be around himself. It should be around others too. If he’d been older, if he’d been stronger, he could have cloaked his brothers and sisters. He could have told his mother to leave her husband and get help for her mental illness.

Abs came to mind, Goldie, Murphy and his kids. They were worth cloaking, and if it turned out that they weren’t? He’d just keep his cloak around him and Daiq. And maybe Taran…

He drove the car to the park down the street from Murphy, and he and Taran met in the back of Murphy’s Pub. “I have to do one tomorrow too, but you can skip that one.”

“Gee, how gracious of you.”

“I know, I’m the best. Go get some rest,” he said, then kissed Taran tenderly.

When he got to his room, he saw the sweetest sight he may have ever seen. Abs was asleep in his bed, Daiq was curled into a ball and Abs curled around him. Daiq lifted his head, yawned widely, and Liam said, “Go back to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Chapter Sixteen

“It’s not that youdid it, but you did it with him,” Murphy said as he laughed uncontrollably.

Eazy was laughing with his husband. “You actually took a fed on a car theft, and he drove behind you to the drop?”

“Yeah. It was great. I don’t think he’s lying. I’m not saying I trust him yet, but when you’re inside, you get a sixth sense and mine hasn’t worn off yet.”

“True shit,” Goldie said as he came into the kitchen.

They were gathering in Murphy’s kitchen that day to discuss the weekend ahead. When Cosmo woke up on the couch in the common area, he saw Abs walking around with Daiq, feeding him shrimp.

While the meeting was going on, the kids had Daiq in one of their bedrooms, spoiling him further. Murphy caught Goldie and Haze up on what Cosmo had done that night, and they freaked out for half a second, then laughed like Murphy had.

“I’m meeting with his partner today,” Murphy announced. “I don’t enjoy talking about this here. Get down to the basement.”

They all filed down the stairs, except for Eazy, and into the secret room, sitting around the table as Murphy sat at the head. “Okay, this is scary shit, but it might be the best thing for us. The other groups that have been squeezing us are bigger, stronger, and much more vicious. If we have a couple feds on our side…”

“But that makes us snitches,” Hippy pointed out. “We send them down the road to the other guys. No one who works with us will ever trust us again.”

Murphy pointed to him and said, “Name one group we work with that is trafficking drugs and humans. I’m not about to defend those motherfuckers.”

“So, after all of them are gone, who’s next? We’re getting into a scary partnership, man.”

Murphy was about to blow, but Cosmo broke into the conversation before he could. “Listen, they want to get rid of the really bad guys. If they want to push us for more, not only can we point the rest of their cops to them but also the other gangs. Their lives won’t be worth a dime, and they know that. Taran does, anyway.”

“ and I are going,” Murphy said. “That way the rest of you can claim you didn’t know shit. If I don’t like it, we’re out. But I’m a dad. I have two little kids, and if I thought for a second that anyone wanted to force them into some kind of bad shit, I’m gonna stop it. If I can help other dads not lose their kids to that same horror, you bet your ass I will.”

That shut everyone’s mouth, except for Mims, who said, “That’s our Paps.”

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