Page 103 of Addicted

“The Pointe, this is Owen speaking, how can I help you?”

“Owen?” The voice was familiar and while he couldn’t place it his lizard brain did, sparking his adrenaline and making his stomach twist.

“Yes?“ He asked carefully, drawing out the word.

“Thank goodness! I’ve been searching for you and you finally popped up on The Pointe’s website. Your old number isn’t working anymore and-”

“I’m sorry, but who is this?” Owen’s hands began to sweat.

“Oh my, I’m sorry! It’s Gloria. Gloria Banks. Sharon’s mom. Do you have a minute to talk? I have someone here who wants to say hello.”

“Someone…who wants to say hello?” Owen could only repeat Gloria’s words back to her. It couldn’t be. He couldn’t dare to hope. There were a few bumps as the phone was handed over and then Owen heard the voice he’d been wanting to hear for the last year. Tears sprang to his eyes as a single word echoed through the phone, resonating through Owen’s soul and sealing the ragged hole inside it.

“Dad?”

32

LIAM

“Owen,I’mhome!”Droppinghis keys by the door, Liam looked around the living room. Over the last few months, the condo had slowly morphed into a home. It was no longer bare with a just-moved-in feel, now it was a space full of memories from Liam’s old home and the various things they’d purchased together. Liam had finished unpacking the boxes weeks ago and, once done, he felt free, unfettered, like he could breathe more deeply. Seeing his parents’ knickknacks and photos scattered around the place didn’t bring him any sadness, only comfort, and he hadn’t expected that.

He also hadn’t expected to be greeted by silence.

“Owen?” He glanced into the kitchen but it was empty, just the way he’d left it before his outing with Ollie. Coat still on, he marched down the hall, checking the bathroom and bedrooms, but there was no sign of Owen anywhere. Apprehension flooded Liam’s bones. Owen rarely worked late anymore; he should have been home over an hour ago.

Returning to the main room, Liam shrugged off his coat, pulled out his cell, and checked the messenger app. Owen hadn’t responded to any of the texts Liam had sent when he’d gotten out of the movie either. Something strange was going on.

Trying not to jump headfirst into the worst-case scenario, Liam took a few deep breaths and called Owen. Just as the line rang, Liam heard the garage door go up and he smiled with relief, ending the call and rushing through the kitchen to wait by the entrance to the garage like a golden retriever. As the door opened, Liam perked up, but as he caught sight of Owen’s face his apprehension returned.

Owen’s eyes were red and puffy and he looked shell-shocked, his movements slow and stuttered. It took him a full five seconds to realize Liam was right in front of him and when he did he only stared blankly.

“Oh, hello Angel-”

“What happened?” Liam took Owen’s face in his hands. “You’re upset.”

Owen wrapped fingers around Liam’s wrists, holding them as he gave Liam a watery smile. “You won’t believe it. I talked to Michael!”

“You did? When? Tonight?” At Owen’s nod, Liam grabbed him in a tight hug. “Owen, that’s amazing!” Then he pulled back to look into Owen’s eyes again. “Is it amazing? Is he okay?”

“It is. And he is. But…” Liam’s apprehension was catching because he saw it reflected in Owen’s gaze. “We need to talk.”

“Sharon gave custody of Mikey to hermother?“ Liam’s brain was spinning, his hand frozen in the bag of chips; he hadn’t eaten a single one yet. “After basically kidnapping him and putting you through hell she moved to France with that Nathan jerk and left her own son behind?”

“Basically? Yes. I should be surprised but I’m not.” Owen shifted on the couch, taking a sip of the beer he’d been nursing. “She was barely his mother before the divorce, why would she want to be after? She already hurt me as much as she could so Michael was baggage to her after that, more trouble than he was worth.”

“That boy could never be trouble.” Liam frowned, still unable to process the amount of evil one had to possess to use their son as a weapon and then abandon him.

“Well…” Owen chuckled, showing a bit of mirth for the first time since he walked in the door. “It turns out that he’s been a terror since Sharon took him away. He ran off six times, he snuck into Sharon’s room with a pair of scissors and cut most of her hair off and he bit Nathan so hard that the man had to get a tetanus shot.”

Liam laughed. “Such a smart kid.”

Taking another sip, Owen gave Liam a sly grin. “He takes after his old man. Finn was right. He said Michael would be fighting them all the way and he did. Sharon tried to bring him overseas but he threw a nuclear tantrum in the airport, claiming he was being kidnapped. Security and TSA screened them foragesand they missed their flight. I think that was the last straw for Sharon, what made her shrug him off onto someone else.”

“Wow. I just…wow.” Liam could feel how wide his eyes were. “I hope she ends up overseas forever.”

“She will. She stayed behind to sign over custody to Gloria and was gone before the ink was dry. I don’t think she plans on coming back here. She always wanted to live the high society life and Michael and I were only a step in that plan. Or a roadblock. And what Nathan doesn’t realize is that he’s just another step. She’ll find someone richer and more powerful and move on to him, ever onward and upward.”

“It’s not upward if you’re a narcissist who hurts everyone and discards your own child. You can’t leave a trail of destruction and not have it catch up to you one day.” Liam took his hand out of the chip bag, giving up on snacking.

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