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I love that he knows the intricacies of my voice.“I will be, though.And you don’t have to burn down the world for me.Hayden has this under control.”It can’t be stated enough, though, just how much Ilovehis desire to torch the world for me.I will show him tonight just how much I love that.
“We’ll see.”He’s never been good at backing down when he’s on a mission for me.
I smile at Hayden who thankfully isn’t taking any of this personally.I’m glad it’s not Gage who I work for.Gage wouldn’t have handled Callan so calmly.I’ve always appreciated Hayden’s ability to hold his shit together in the face of a storm.In the entire time I’ve known the Black brothers, I’ve only seen Hayden lose his mind once.And holy hell, when he loses his mind, helosesit.So, it’s a great thing he’s calm now.I don’t need a Black brother fight on my conscience as well as this social media slander that’s hurting the firm.
“I’ll talk to you later,” I say to Callan before Hayden assures him he’s handling this.
After the call ends, Hayden says, “I’m sorry my problems are hurting you, Liv.”
“Holy shit,” I say as a whole lot of thoughts tumble into place in my head.“That time you drank yourself through Europe years ago…that was because of Ryan’s wife, wasn’t it?”
Hayden is like me in that it takes a lot for him to show his emotions.At the mention of that time in his life, his face remains clean of his feelings.His eyes, however, they reveal so much.He gives me only word in answer to my question, but I see old pain resurface in his blue eyes.“Yes.”
I want to ask him so many more questions.
What’s happened now?
Is he still in love with her?
Has he kept in touch with her all this time?
Why the heck did her husband hire Hayden as his lawyer?
Has he had an affair?
It’s when I get to that last question that I stop.There is no way Hayden slept with another man’s wife.
“Liv,” he says while he watches me chase all these thoughts.“If you want to know something, ask me.There are no secrets between us.”
He’s right.In his family, Callan’s the one who held my heart, Ethan’s the one who tried to lead me astray, Bradford’s the one who always watched over me from afar but who I knew was always there making sure no harm came to me, and Gage is the one who went out of his way to protect me and the one who called me on my bullshit.Hayden’s the one who saw through the stories I told myself about the hard things I had to deal with and who took the time to learn the real truths about me in a gentle way that was very different to Gage’s way.And in exchange, he shared his truths with me when I asked for them.The only reason I don’t know about this woman is because I’d just fallen in love for the first time when he spent six boozy months overseas.I was too self-absorbed to pay a lot of attention.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you back then,” I say softly.
“I wouldn’t have let you be there for me back then,” he says gruffly.
“Are you still in love with her?”
“No.”He doesn’t even hesitate.
I give him a small smile.“But that doesn’t stop the hurt that lingers, does it?”
This time, he takes a moment to contemplate that.“No, it doesn’t.”
We share a silent moment, each a little lost in our thoughts before I place my hand on his arm.“I’m here if you want to talk.I hope you’ll let me be here for you this time if you need that.”
“I appreciate that.”He silences his cell when it starts ringing.“Am I correct in assuming something’s happened between you and Callan?”
I smile.“Yes.And you should probably prepare yourself for hardcore-protective Callan to show his face a lot more.”
He laughs.“I look forward to seeing that.Fuck knows it’s been coming for long enough.”
“You say that like everyone but us knew this would happen.”
“Everyone but you twodidknow.I was hoping it wouldn’t take you guys until you were on your deathbeds to figure it out.”When his cell starts ringing again, he glances at it and says, “I have to take this.”
“Okay.And thank you for looking out for me.”
He nods.“Leave everything with me.I’ll handle it all.”
