Page 39 of Secret Triplets for Christmas

Iwas second-guessing asking Lindsay to help me in figuring out what was going on now and who killed Liam. If we were being watched, that couldn’t be good. While I couldn’t be sure our mysterious texter was Liam’s killer, it seemed impossible that this wasn’t related to Liam’s murder. I wanted to keep Lindsay safe, not expose her to more danger.

I also wasn’t a fan of Donovan spending a lot of time with her. Sure, he had his shit together, but Lindsay was my responsibility, not his.

She sighed and walked away from the table, looking like she was thinking. She took a seat on the couch and looked up at me. “You know, if there was a change in Liam near the end, it happened around the arrest.”

“A change for the worse,” I murmured. “I can’t believe he got you caught up in all that.” I moved to the couch and sat an acceptable distance away from her. Not that the scent of her didn’t reach me and trigger the yearning that she’d awakened with the hug earlier.

“That was during my live-life-full-throttle stage, remember?”

God, was she referring to telling Darcy she’d been giving Liam blow jobs? Another swell of envy burned my gut. “You liked the bad boy?”

She nodded. “I suppose I did. But Liam wasn’t bad. He had an edge sometimes. Mostly, he seemed lost.”

I looked down, wishing I had a drink. “I was never able to help him find his way.”

“Hey.” She took my hand. “You’re not God, Oliver. Goodness, you were just a kid yourself. You did the best you could. And you know what? I think Liam did too.”

I sucked in a breath, wishing she was right. “How do you think he changed after the arrest?”

“I can’t be sure. We went on a whiplash-type on and off situation. I cared for him, but I couldn’t put myself around the people he was hanging with.”

I squeezed her hand. “No one blames you for that.”

“But he’d get in touch with me. He’d tell me he was working to make things right. I’d believe him and take him back, only to find out he was hanging with his old crew. I supposed I interpreted that he was doing better to mean he was staying away from trouble.”

“I remember all that. I was there.”

She nodded and smiled. She shifted closer to me, resting her head on my shoulder. Instantly, I was taken back five years ago to a time in which Lindsay and I would sit like this and try to figure out how to put Liam back on the right path.

"The last time I saw him was at a Halloween party, just a few weeks before… well, you know."

I rubbed my cheek over her head. “I know.” It still gutted me that she'd had to find him.

“He told me he wanted to make things right. At first, I told him that I’d heard that song and dance before. He said there was a lot going on and he couldn’t give me the details, but soon, he’d be in a different situation. He looked tired and desperate, and I remember my anger waning as I wanted to help him.”

It was a reminder to me that even with all their troubles, they loved each other. What a fucker I was to want her.

“Did he say anything that could help us now?”

She hesitated.

“Lindsay?”

“Not that stands out now. We talked, shared a few drinks, spent some time together… it was nice reconnecting with him after so long."

That had to mean they hooked up. I pushed away the jealousy, which left the guilt that only a few weeks later, I was the one hooking up with her.

“So, why do you think he was different?”

Her head tilted up at me. “At the time, I was thinking his being with the crew or gang or whatever was like an addiction. He liked the thrill of it and so he kept being lured back.”

I nodded as that had been my take.

“What if he was trying to get evidence to give the FBI? What if his saying that he was trying to make things right was about that?”

She had a point. I rubbed my temples. "God, I wish I'd known he was in trouble. Why didn't he tell me anything?"

"Maybe he was trying to protect you or me or both of us. Or maybe he wanted to prove something to you—that he could handle things on his own."

---