Liam looked glassy-eyed, and Jack took a step back as he realized he’d lost it and not in a very helpful way.

“You’d do that? For me?”

Jack despaired of ever getting Liam to see that he was part of the D’s extended family, that Jack cared for his welfare and that he would always be there for him. Liam was a good kid, sensible, very capable, and Robbie loved him like a kid brother or, as Eli teased him, like a son.

“Liam, Riley wanted to come down as well, but someone has to be here for the kids.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Jack.”

“Thank you, Jack.”

“We’ll take Riley’s Land Rover.”

Liam’s eyes widened, and he gave a tentative smile. “Really, his new SUV? The silver one? He’s letting us use it?”

Jack grinned at the appearance of the small smile. “Let’s just say I have sway with the owner. Now, focus on the positives and get it into your head how much I respect you for standing up with this, how much Robbie respects you. You’re doing the right thing. Okay?”

With that, Jack left the barn and went straight to find Robbie, who was working with one of the new horses in the far field. When Robbie spotted him, he pulled the mare to a stop and slid off her back, leading her over to the fence and wrapping the reins around the solid wood. She huffed at him, and he scratched her nose and behind her ears.

“How’s she doing?” Jack asked as owner and horse lover. Mistry had been a rescue horse, found dumped up near the beginning of the ranch road. Robbie had been the one to find her and bring her in, and named her Mistry. She’d not had a bad life, seemed well cared for, but neither Robbie nor Jack had managed to track down the owner as yet. So Robbie was working with her, and she was a strong and capable horse.

“Well, I thought maybe she’d suit a kid of Hayley’s age in the school.”

Jack stroked Mistry and was offered a push and a chuff as a reward. She was certainly a friendly thing, and if there was one thing Jack trusted, it was Robbie’s instincts. Which led nicely to the one thing he and Robbie had been discussing on and off for weeks, the creation of a special equine therapy school for kids like Max to interact with the horses and the ranch. They’d made plans, even looked at the parts of the ranch where they could build and expand and create a place suitable for kids, their caregivers, and the horses they rode.

“I was reading up on zoning yesterday. We need to get a lot of work done before we can get licensed for working with kids with the different needs.”

“We never thought it would be easy,” Robbie said. He was using the patented Robbie patient tone, and Jack was all about coming down with Robbie and agreeing to the whole thing. He knew what was stopping him.

“I just want Liam sorted out,” he admitted. It wasn’t hard to admit that he was worried about Liam and what would happen in Laredo. Liam had been to counseling, he was doing well, he had Marcus, but at the end of the day, he was so damn young.

“Me too,” Robbie agreed. “We’ll think on the school after we’re back.”

“I told him just now we were going with him.”

“You found a foreman to watch out.”

“Close enough. Neil is coming to stay, and he’s got a couple guys who work with horses, Charlie and Clay, you know them.”

Robbie had been tense, but he relaxed on hearing the names. “I had Clay in mind for the school if we could get him, and Charlie, I’ve worked with him on the joint feed program. Good men.”

“So you’re okay to go.”

“When do we leave?”

“Thursday? Gives us a couple days grace. And we were invited to stay at the Bar Five with the Castilles, but I turned them down. I know Hank isn’t there and Darren is running the show, but I’m not sure Liam would be ready for that yet.”

“He’s stronger than we think,” Robbie defended.

“He’s…” Jack couldn’t think of the words. “Brittle,” he finished. “Like he’s close to snapping.”

“Wouldn’t you? Going up against Hank, the man who abused you as a kid, or Yuri the one who attacked you as an adult?”

“Yeah, and that’s the hard side of it all. He’s spending so much time being okay that actually underneath it all, he’s far from it.”

“We’ll keep an eye on him.”

Jack nodded and scratched Mistry behind the ear, earning himself another nudge. She loved affection, this one.

Yes, they’d look after Liam. They would make sure Liam was taken care of and that they came away from Laredo with some kind of justice for the young cowboy.

* * * * *

Liam watched Jack leave the barn and turned back to what he’d been doing, but the rhythm of it was wrong and the remainder of the stall took far longer than it should. He tried not to think about what would be happening in Laredo, but he couldn’t help it. The prosecution had interviewed him, taken everything he knew, and fashioned a good case alongside other witnesses, other kids. One boy younger than him, the other two older.

Grief tightened his chest and guilt chased it. What if he’d stayed and told someone what was happening and they’d actually believed him? Would it have stopped anyone else from being hurt like him? The youngest defendant was only sixteen now, a street kid with nowhere else to go except straight into Hank’s world.

He leaned over with his hands on his knees and tried to still the panic in his breathing. What the hell was he going to do if he saw the kids, looked them in the face, and knew what had happened?

Arms snaked around him from behind and helped him to straighten up. He didn’t even startle, he knew who it was. Intuition? Scent? Some kind of weird connection told him instinctively that Marcus was holding him. He didn’t want Marcus seeing him so tense, but he didn’t have enough time to put up his usual barriers.

He leaned back into Marcus’s hold for the shortest time, then remembered he was covered in dirt and Marcus was probably in a suit. He pulled away and turned to face his lover, but he didn’t look at the suit or the shiny shoes or the pristine tie. No, he looked directly into brown eyes, and he was lost.

Marcus looked so serious. “You okay?” he asked.

That was the second time Liam had been asked that today, and he didn’t have an answer for it this time any more than he had the first. He could try the way he was normally, stoic and focused, but Marcus was looking at him with such tenderness and understanding that it nearly broke Liam.

“No,” he answered, and for the first time in a long while, he was being completely honest.

“Okay.” Marcus gripped his hand and tugged him from the barn and up the metal stairs to their place. As soon as he got inside, he peeled off Liam’s clothes and pushed him into the shower before stripping his own suit and pulling on jeans and a T.

Liam watched him through the glass, saw him puttering around their small kitchen, smelled the chocolate as soon as the water stopped. He knew exactly what Marcus was doing, and abruptly most things in his world righted themselves. Marcus opened the shower door and wrapped Liam in one of their huge gray towels before guiding him to their bed. Together they settled against the headboard, and even though Marcus was smaller, he still managed to support Liam.

Liam rested his head on Marcus’s chest and listened to his heartbeat, and Marcus didn’t ask any questions. He just hugged and waited while Liam settled his breathing. He thought he’d gotten past all the shit in his head, but coming up to the court case, he was losing the fine control he’d built.

“Jack came and talked to me today,” Liam finally said. Marcus hummed that small noise that meant he’d heard Liam’s words. “Said he and Robbie are coming with us down to Laredo.” Only the slight tightening of Marcus’s hold gave away his reaction.

“That’s a good thing,” Marcus said. “Isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Will be good to have both of them backing you up.”