Jack came to a halt behind him. “What’s wrong?” he asked. He sounded curious more than worried. Riley didn’t really have an answer for him. How did he sum up that his life was perfect, that he loved where he was and who he was, and that he’d never been happier in just a few words?

“I love you,” Riley said. He couldn’t help how serious he sounded when he said it. There was just so much information he wanted to convey in the three little words.

Jack took the coffee from Riley, levered the box of cookies from under his arm, and pulled him into a close hug. Riley inhaled the scent of his husband and buried his face in Jack’s neck. The gentle scrape of stubble against Riley’s skin was directly hardwired to his libido.

“And you know I love you,” Jack whispered. “You’ll always know, because I’ll show you every day.”

* * * * *

Liam was in the backseat of the Land Rover with Marcus. They’d held hands all the way from the ranch, and the touch of his boyfriend was reassuring. With the other hand, he stroked the leather of the interior and contemplated just how new this SUV was. He desperately wanted to talk about everything, but at the same time, how could he? Especially in the car with Jack driving and Robbie sitting next to him.

How could they possibly understand why he felt so negative about the whole thing when they were being so supportive of him? They wanted justice for Liam—a guilty verdict against Hank Castille for what he had done not only to Liam but also to at least three other boys—and possibly financial reward for what he had been through. That was the point of this whole journey, the point of the whole legal system. Hank had money; he would use it to buy his way out of this and be forced to give some of his money to Liam and the others. Like shifting a balance sheet would somehow make this all okay.

Liam would feel like justice had been served then.

Right?

Liam looked out the window and watched the world pass by. I-35 was long and straight and boring, and heading in this direction was making him more and more anxious with each mile marker they passed. He’d vowed to never go back, but leaving had neither solved the issue nor healed the festering sore that was inside his head.

“Stopping for coffee and something to eat,” Jack announced as he signaled, then pulled off into the parking lot of a random McDonald’s in the middle of nowhere.

Robbie muttered his approval, and Marcus squeezed Liam’s hand; then, before he could even think about saying he wanted to stay in the car, Marcus was tugging him out. He followed, and Marcus held his hand again. Not even self-preservation made Liam pull away. After all, they were with Jack and Robbie who looked all kind of in charge and in control. No one would fuck with Liam and Marcus for holding hands.

Sitting at the table closest to the window, they devoured the burgers and fries. Or rather, Jack and Robbie did. Marcus seemed hungry, but he was openly checking on Liam every so often, which slowed him down, and Liam wasn’t hungry at all. In fact, he felt nauseous.

Finally Marcus spoke. “Everything will be okay.”

So many people had said that to him. Riley had said it with a swift hug and bone-breaking pats on the back. Carol had said it with a kiss to the top of his head as he sat at the table last night. Even Hayley had sought him out to tell him the same damn thing, slipping a tiny teddy into his pocket and saying it would give him luck. Add in Jack and Robbie and their whole right is right crusade, and Liam was convinced that fate would deal him exactly the opposite.

Talk about glass half-empty, you idiot, he berated himself.

“So you said,” Liam found himself saying. He bit his lip. Why did he say that? He should have just agreed with everything anyone said to him. Once the floodgates were opened, Liam couldn’t stop himself. “Everyone says that to me, but what if I get there and I’m sitting on that witness stand and I just lose it?”

“You won’t—”

“How do you know?” Liam stood abruptly and knocked the table, which sent Jack’s coffee cup spilling onto Marcus’s fries. Frustrated, Liam pointed at the spreading liquid. “See? I’m a mess.” Then before anyone could give him platitudes, he left the air-conditioned restaurant and stumbled out into the Texas heat. Liam sensed someone following him, so Marcus wasn’t far behind. Liam stopped at the car and turned to face Marcus, only it wasn’t his boyfriend who had tracked out into the parking lot.

Jack had on his patented understanding look, the one that said, you can fuck up, but we’ll always be here to catch you.

“I said Marcus should give you some space,” Jack said. His tone was gentle and matched his supportive expression. “He’s worried about you.”

“I’m not a kid,” Liam defended. “You don’t need to tell me he’s worried.”

“He loves you.”

“I know that,” Liam blurted out.

“And we’re all here for you.”

“What did I do to deserve this? How come you and Riley are so nice, how come Robbie is here? I’m just a kid who fucks things up, and you can’t want to get involved in that.”

“You need to stop saying that. You’re not a kid, Liam, you’re a man who had a childhood stolen from him by adults, and you’re strong.”

Liam slumped against the car. “Everyone keeps saying that to me, like if they say it enough I’ll believe it’s actually true.”

Jack joined him in leaning on the car. He’d parked it in what little shade there was, but it was still heated metal against their jeans.

“What is worrying you at this very moment?”

“That I spilled coffee in the fries,” Liam admitted.

Jack laughed. “I meant about the case.”

“The questions, and me being twisted in knots I can’t find myself a way out of.”

“Did it hurt?” Jack asked. “Were you humiliated?”

Liam glanced at his boss. “What?”

“When Hank raped you?”

Liam’s mouth fell open. He didn’t want to talk about that with the man he owed his living to. Fuck, that was way out of his comfort zone. What did he do? Did he answer Jack, who was still looking at him, or did he tell Jack to leave it alone? Would he lose his job over saying what he thought?

“You can’t ask that,” he finally said. Anger grew inside him.

“I can and I will. Did you ask for it to happen?”

Liam pushed away from the car. “Fuck no.”

Jack held out a hand and rested it on Liam’s arm. “That’s the worst of it,” Jack said. “The kind of thing they’ll ask you. Doesn’t matter if you answer me or not, but you’ll get asked that kind of shit. You just have to know that I’ll be there in the front row supporting you and listening to what you say. And whatever you say, I won’t think less of you or judge you. I’ll be looking at Hank, and I will be judging him. We’re on your side—Robbie, me, Marcus, Riley… we’ll always be on your side.”

“But why? What if you didn’t know the whole story? What if it was true that I led him on? Because that is what Hank used to say, and that I was a tease and a whore and my family didn’t want me because I was wrong.”

“You know that is all bullshit. He can say all that, he can try to intimidate you, but you have to be the strong kid we took on at the D and the responsible young man that I trust with the horses. I know you, we all know you, and Marcus in there loves you. So you wanna come back in and have some coffee-soaked fries?”

Jack smiled at him, and the smile reached his cornflower-blue eyes. It was infectious, and Liam had to smile back.

“Yeah, let’s get in there.”

Chapter 6

The knock on the door startled Jack. He was super focused trying to compose a text to Hayley and hell if he could get his head around the cell phone’s tiny keys to actually type a coherent sentence. He pressed send on what he’d written so far after adding a couple of x’s then opened the door a little. Two guys stood in the hall, both looking different kinds of nervous. Jack knew one of them, remembered Vaughn from when he’d come up to be trained at the D. Jack had been ill that weekend, but he never forgot a face. And another man who he’d only seen in photos. Darren Castille, Hank’s baby brother, the one who had covered Liam’s tracks and helped him get away