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“You want me to do some digging?” I offer.
He eyes me. “Believe me, I’ve considered it, but in the end I figured if she didn’t want me to know the real her then there’s a good reason for it. Besides, what do I have to offer her?”
“A great fucking deal, mate,” I encourage.
“We both know I’m as trapped in this life as you are. Why would I make someone else suffer?”
“I get it,” I reply, my gut churning.
Sterling must hear the change of tone in my voice, and he turns to me. “Ben told me Lia is something special. Sorry I wasn’t there to meet her at Bandits, I wasn't really in the mood for socialising. You know how it is.”
“S’alright, mate, you’ve got a lot going on, and yeah, she’s incredible.”
“Does she know…?” his voice trails off as I shake my head.
“Haven’t told her about what I do.”
“Are you going to?”
I wince. “I owe her the complete truth. I tried to tell her on a few occasions, but I just can’t bring myself to share it just yet.”
“Afraid she’ll walk?” he asks.
“Scared shitless,” I admit.
“Fuck, man. I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.”
“Her ex was a violent bastard. Beat her, treated her like shit. If she knew what I did for the families she’ll see me differently, and I’ll lose her. I don’t want to lose her, Sterling.”
“I hear you,” he nods, giving me a sympathetic look. “So what’s your plan?”
I scrape a hand over my face. “Once we’ve got the wedding out of the way I intend on telling her everything. I won’t stop her if she walks.”
“You’ll let her go?”
“It will kill me, but I’m not going to force her to stay,” I say, hating the thought. Truth be known, the fact I’ve been a selfish bastard has been playing on my mind, but selfishly I want more time with Lia and Toby, even if it is only a matter of days. “Never felt like this before. Fuck knows, I want to keep her, and her son.”
“He’s a good kid?”
“The best. I care about him a lot.”
Sterling blows out a breath. “I wish I had some words of wisdom, Drix, but I guess, in the end, it’s better she hears the truth from you than someone else. What she chooses to do with that information is up to her.”
“Yeah, I know,” I reply, pushing off from the table. “I’m gonna head off. Have a good Christmas?” It comes out as a question rather than a statement.
He lifts a brow. “Unlikely.”
“See you at the wedding then.”
“See you there,” he replies, turning the volume back up on the music as he picks up another paintbrush, dips it in some paint and loses himself to his creativity.
As I walk back to my car, I try to shake the feeling that in a few short days the woman I can’t imagine being without is going to leave, knowing that the truth will send her far, far away from Princetown, from me.
TWENTY-FOUR
LIA
“Be sure to stick by Daisy’s side. No running off, Toby,” I say, as he beams up at me, his eyes bright with excitement.
