Page 10 of Laurels and Liquor

“Oh, yeah,” Gabby says, drawing out the vowels for effect. “Jace called me that night, trying to find out if y’all made it out. After I recovered from the freaking heart attack he gave me, and reminded him you have a pack he can call, I got him to spill. Speaking of which.”

She cuts herself off, reaching into her back pocket and sliding her phone to me across the slick marble surface.

“He’s not going to stop blowing me up until you talk to him. So fucking call him before he has an aneurysm, woman,” she says, moving to cut up some chicken.

I hold back my sarcastic retort, simply pulling up her contacts. I’m momentarily taken aback by the number of messages between them, as well as the frequency and length of their call history. She’s got some explaining to do, but that can wait for another day. After pressing the dial button, the line only rings once before Jason picks up.

“Gabs, what’s up? Is everything okay?” he asks urgently.

“Hey, Jace,” I say sheepishly.

There’s several moments of coughing and spluttering, and I even catch a few colorful curses in the mix, and I can’t help but giggle.

“Lydi, holy shit. I thought—are you okay? You made it home?” he asks, voice barely above a whisper.

“Yeah. Are you okay? Why are you whispering?” I ask back, confused.

“I’m at the office. Listen, I can’t talk for long, but it’s good to hear your voice. The radio silence thing was killing me,” he goes on, more relieved now.

“Sorry, Jace. I’ve been… yeah,” I say, finishing lamely.

“No kidding,” he mutters with a humorless chuckle.

Biting my lower lip, I hesitate before speaking. “Were you okay after we left? Things were…”

“Yeah, they sure were,” Jason says emphatically, picking up where I trail off. “Mom and Dad have had some long meetings with Mr. Greg.”

I swallow. Greg Thibodeaux has been the family lawyer for as long as I can remember, and if he’s been called in, it can’t be for anything good.

“They’re playing things uncharacteristically close to the chest, but if I hear anything, I’ll make sure Lex knows. I’d tell you, too, but I don’t trust Mom as far as I can throw her, and I don’t want to put you at risk,” Jason goes on when I don’t respond.

“Thanks, Jason. How are you doing, like, personally?” I ask softly, playing with the hem of my shirt.

There’s a long, heavy pause, but I don’t try to fill it, giving Jason the space to answer. When he exhales, I can almost see the crease between his eyebrows, the stressed frown tugging at his mouth.

“Let’s just say that the things I’ve been finding out in the last few days have been… eye-opening, to say the least. Lots to think about,” he says at last, the dark, cryptic undertone of his voice making me shiver.

I frown, trying to figure out how to respond. I’m partially responsible for the sudden series of revelations he’s had to have, because I hid my mother’s manipulations from him when I shouldn’t have. She threatened to disavow him and have him thrown out of the pack if I didn’t go to the wedding, and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

“It’s not your fault, Lydi. This shit’s been a long time coming,” Jason says, interrupting my thoughts.

People keep telling me that, but it’s hard to believe. Even if I’m not wholly responsible, my actions still contributed to the clusterfuck of a situation my friends and lovers have found themselves in.

“You only did what you thought was best, what you thought you had to do to protect me. I’m not going to blame you for that instinct, ever. Even all the shit that went down outside, none of that is on you. Dad should have stepped in and got his mate under control. Darren didn’t have a right to put his hands on you, and Adam sure as fuck didn’t have the right to speak to you like he did. They’re to blame for everything.”

Jason’s words fade into a growl, a deep, furious rumble that makes my eyes go wide. He didn’t mince his words, but what he’s left unsaid speaks just as loud. A spark of something flares to life in my chest, a bitterness that I’d long abandoned. I had to let go of my anger toward my parents in order to move on from what happened to me five years ago. Pointing fingers wouldn’t fix anything, and I had to focus on my future, not the past. But that advice rings hollower than ever. I’ve tried to move on, to forget them and live my life. But they won’t let me go, and are clearly willing to go to any lengths to drag me back.

Maybe I did make bad choices, but we were set up to fail from the start. There was no way we could have avoided confrontation that night, and looking back on it, we’re lucky things only escalated as far as they did.

I’m about to ask more questions, but Jason sucks in a breath, swearing to himself.

“Listen, I have to go. I can’t text or talk all the time, so I’ll let you know the next time I’m able to call. I’m working on something, but don’t worry about me. Just take care of yourself, okay?” Jason says, words flying out now, like he can’t finish fast enough.

I stumble over my response, but only manage a brief farewell before the line goes dead. Pulling the phone away from my ear, I look at it until the screen goes black, trying to wrap my head around what just happened. I thought speaking to my brother would help, but I’m left with more questions than answers. And asking me not to worry about my baby brother is sort of like asking the sun not to rise.

“What the fuck have you done to my kitchen?!”

I whip around to see Lucas and Lex in the open doorway to the foyer, though it looks like Lucas has frozen in place in horror, judging by his expression.

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