Fighting With Light (The Coldwell Brothers #2)

39. Liam

39

Liam

When we get back to the villa from surfing for half the day, I know it’s time to rip the Band-Aid off. But I’d rather go back out on the water and forget about all of it. “You’re the one who wanted to do this, so let’s do this,” Aelia grumbles as she tries to walk past me.

I grab her wrist and tug her to me. She catches herself on my chest and I wrap my hand around the front of her neck, tipping her chin up. I have seven inches on her five feet, nothing. Her nose is a little pink from the sun and her skin seems like it got an extra layer of tan. Her eyes kindle the fire in me, and I would rather kiss her like my life depends on it, or anything else except call my family.

“I’m not going anywhere, I’ll be right here,” she whispers as if she read my mind.

I dip down and press my lips to her nose and forehead because even her lips look a little beat up from the sun and salt water. She leans back and licks her lips, and with my hand still on her throat, she grabs the waist of my board shorts and tugs me closer, pressing her mouth on mine.

Her fingers grip my long hair and pull, forcing my lips to release hers. “I know what you’re doing, and it won’t change anything, Tarzan. You said we needed their help, so we need to ask for it.”

I groan and lean my forehead against hers. “Are you sure you don’t want to go have a gourmet dinner and I don’t know… sex?” I offer.

Her eyebrow lifts, and she pats my chest. “You’re avoiding, and I won’t let you use me to do it. Plus, I’m gross, and I feel crusty from salt water, so that’s a definite no. What time is it at home?” she asks.

I glance at my diving watch. “They are only an hour behind, so it’s six there.”

“Okay, well, text them, tell them you want to talk, and set a time. While we get that organized, we’ll order dinner and I’m going to go wash the ocean off. Can you do that for me?” she asks.

“Fine,” I grumble.

She smiles and taps my face.

“Good boy,” she says, stepping out of my arms and saunters to the bathroom. “Can you get me some of those empanadas? I like those things,” she asks.

“Anything for you, princess,” I mutter.

That smile hasn’t left her face as she closes the door behind her. God help me, I love that woman.

I find my phone and open the group text we’ve had going. Kai has dropped some pictures of Theo, my nephew, in there, and I stare at them for a moment. Kai is holding him in his two large hands and Theo’s wide eyes look up at his father with one of those cute baby grins on his face. He’s wearing a little onesie that says Mama’s boy, and it’s the cutest damn thing.

I’m proud of my brother for doing what he did. It hasn’t been easy…on any of us because it affects each of us in different ways. But seeing him happy and thriving despite our father is encouraging.

I glance at the closed bathroom door. It makes me think that if my brother Kai, who swore off women because he didn’t want to drag them into our mess, can own up to his love for Cordi, a woman he’s loved from the moment he met her, then I can face Aelia, tell her I love her, and we can figure out how to make this work. Hell, maybe I should just marry her. My heart trips over itself at the thought.

Take a breath, Liam, that’s not just trying and seeing how it all plays out, that’s a sprint to the finish line and dragging her behind you. You haven’t even told her you love her, so why would she marry you, dumbass?

I shake my head at that scary thought and type a text out to my brothers. I tell them eight their time, which gives Aelia and me about an hour to get ready. My phone buzzes with everyone’s agreement, and I gather all my information because I know my family and they are going to have a list of questions that I can hopefully answer .

The reason I’m so nervous about it is because I don’t want them to think that I was just being a smart ass, or I don’t know…reckless. Sure, I am all of those things, but not with this, and not when it comes to protecting my family. Emerson said he wanted to be on offense. Well, this will help us get there. My father is campaigning like his life depends on it, only I think it does. Costa has him in a chokehold, and it wouldn’t surprise me if my father loses. Then a lot of things go bad for Costa.

Dad doesn’t have us to use as pawns to project the perfect family anymore. No, he shot my mother. Rather, he called a hit on her because he was mad. Because he was trying to prove a point. He wanted to remind us who has the control, but really it just showed his hand. He’s scared, and he’s grasping at straws to figure out how to win this election. Going so far as hacking voting machines to steal the votes to win.

Aelia opens the bathroom door and steam wafts out. “You’re still standing there?”

I shrug. “Text for the meeting is sent, and your dinner order is on the way, your grace.”

She grins and steps towards me gracefully. “And as your ruler, I would like for you to take a shower because you stink,” she says, scrunching her nose. I sniff my armpit. I don’t smell that bad. We’ve been outside in the sun all day.

“Is that an order or a suggestion?” I ask her.

She steps up and drags a finger over my chest and down my abs. “It’s whatever you want it to be, but if you don’t take a shower, then you can’t sleep in my bed.”

“Oh, your bed?” I ask, the corner of my mouth tipping up. She always makes me smile.

“Yes, my king, it’s my bed and I allow you in it.”

My eyebrow ticks up at her, and I can’t hide my smile anymore. “Any more proclamations, princess?”

“Shower, do what we need to do, feed me dinner, and there might be something in it for you,” she says saucily.

“Are we trading sexual favors for food?” I ask her .

Her pursed lips drop open, and she giggles. “I don’t know. I didn’t expect you to play along for that long-lost track of the innuendo.”

I chuckle and palm the back of her head, kissing her hard and fast before I jump in the shower.

By the time I’m done, dinner is here, and the nerves creep in. I choke down my food and glance at the clock. I have twenty minutes to get myself together.

“Liam, they’re your family. I’m sure it will be fine.”

I’m not sure it will be, and I’m afraid I’ve poked the bear. I know what we’re doing could change things for us with my father. It could be the best way to nail his coffin shut and push all of his acquaintances into hiding. But it will come at a cost.

This isn’t just a research mission; dig up dirt like I typically do. This could free my family, and it would put the evil away for good.

***

I grab a chair for Aelia to sit next to me. They all know who she is. But until today, they didn’t know she was with me.

“Has your dad tried to contact you?” I ask her.

She hums. “He called four times and I ignored them all.”

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” I ask her because the last thing we need is for her father’s goons to find us, which would throw a wrench into everything. We don’t need the additional hurdle.

She ignores me, so I make the call. The screen grays out, waiting for my brothers and mom to answer. Aelia is relaxed, and doesn’t seem the least bit nervous like me. Opening my mouth to ask her how she feels about this, my mom pops up on the screen.

“Liam, darling, how are you?” she asks.

“Hey, Mom, I’m …good,” I say, and glance at Aelia.

I turn the phone a little to my right and watch my mother’s reaction to Aelia. Esmarie Astor-Coldwell is a tough woman. She took no chances with us as boys and is still just as protective despite the fact we are grown men and it’s our turn to protect her. Our mom’s side of the family comes from generational wealth. It’s almost like a strange sort of American royalty. Regardless, my mother, like a queen, is adept at hiding her emotions. She betrays nothing unless she allows it to. It’s one reason she made such a brilliant wife for my father. She knew how to smile and accept criticism from the people my father was pretending to represent. It’s all part of his show.

But this time, as she takes Aelia in, she frowns. It’s quick, but I notice it, and it pisses me off. I don’t think about why. But for the first time in a very long time, I’m angry at my mother.

“Darling, who might this be?” she asks.

I open my mouth to yell, and then Aelia slides her hand over my thigh under the table. I take a deep breath and say, “Mom, this is…Aelia Costa.”

“Hi, Esmarie, it’s nice to meet you,” Aelia says.

I glance between them, and Mom does a regal dip of her head. “And why, Liam, is Ms. Costa sitting next to you…in your room?”

Before I can open my mouth, Emerson and Kai pop onto the screen, and suddenly my whole family is staring at me.

“What the hell is going on?” Kai asks.

Emerson curses and I swear he’s about to pop a blood vessel.

Then Cordelia, Kai’s wife, pops her head into the screen, and Theo is in her arms.

Aelia gasps. “Oh my gosh, he is so cute!” Aelia says.

Cordi smiles and leans forward. “Say hi to your uncles, grandma, and their friend, Theo,” Cordi says.

Aelia smiles and waves at my nephew, and a big smile breaks over his face as an adorable baby giggle pops out of his mouth. Aelia coos at him, and he giggles again. We all watch in awe as Theo takes a liking to Aelia over the screen.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you. He is so precious. Congratulations,” Aelia says to Cordi.

“Oh, thank you. He’s definitely like his father and a major handful, but he’s pretty great. ”

Aelia sighs and looks at them, her hand still on my thigh. “I can’t wait to have one of my own,” Aelia says, then snaps her mouth shut like she didn’t mean to say that.

“It’s something you’ll never be prepared enough for, but they are a blessing,” Cordi says and looks down at Kai.

“Liam, do you want to explain why Aelia Costa is sitting next to you?” Kai asks with an edge to his tone.

Cordi slaps him on the chest, and I catch a few words like be nice as she chastises him.

“No offense, Aelia, but I’m sure you can understand the question,” Kai says.

“I expected it,” Aelia says, and then squeezes my thigh.

I blink a few times and clear my throat. “After Aelia and I spoke, we learned we have the same goals,” I tell them.

“Do we want to know more details about how that happened?” Kai asks.

“Probably not, but we, uh...we have an idea. We think we figured out a way to make sure our father doesn’t win the governorship.”

“And how is that?” Mom asks.

I glance at Aelia, and she nods once.

“We’ve been collecting information on how they work together. We know seeing Marco Costa and Fred Coldwell in public won’t be enough. It will just look like he’s talking to a constituent regardless of if he’s a mobster.

“Hard proof is the best option. We’re building a case to present to the district attorney, and working on finding those links between our father and Costas that are obvious enough, it’ll warrant an investigation. But to help them along, we are including specific information about the Costas so they could utilize RICO to bring Marco down. We don’t think it would kill the whole Costa organization, but that’s not the goal. Taking Costa with him will just be icing on the cake.”

It’s so quiet I can hear the ocean crashing against the shore.

“And you’re…okay with all of this, Ms. Costa?” Mom asks.

I glance at her, and she leans forward.

“I am. It was my idea, well, both of ours, but it would serve all of us. Let me put it that way,” Aelia says .

“What’s in it for you? Clearly, you and my brother are cozy, but there has to be a reason,” Kai says.

Aelia looks at me.

“Go ahead,” I tell her.

“My father is not a good man, as I’m sure all of you are well aware of. I…” She pauses.

I reach for her hand. Talking about her mom tears her up, and in this moment, I want to be a means of support for her. She needs it. I’m not sure Aelia has ever had support in the ways that she needs. Maybe that girl Violet she’s mentioned before, but I don’t see her on her phone, talking to her, and I never put it together that maybe…she doesn’t have anyone else to talk to because trust is hard for a girl like her. Maybe I’m the only one she would talk to.

“I need to get him away from my mother. I think it’s the only way I’ll be able to save her. She deserves better than what she got. The only way to get that for her is by putting him away for good.”

“I see,” Mom says.

“Liam, why did you wait so long to tell us about this?” Kai asks.

I glance at Emerson, and he’s so still. It looks like his screen froze. Emerson has always been the silent type.

“I wanted to make sure we had a case. I didn’t want to…I wanted to prove myself.”

“You don’t need to prove yourself to us, Three,” Emerson says.

“He’s right, Liam,” Kai says.

I stare at both of them, not sure what to say, and I don’t know what to think. They’ve always seen me as the idiot little brother. So it feels good for them to say that to me, but it doesn’t change the facts. I’ve committed myself to this path of finding a way to get rid of my father and help all the people he has hurt. My feelings don’t matter right now, and neither do theirs.

“We know where Costa gets his cocaine. We believe we found the cook site. So we called you because this is not something Aelia and I can do alone. I need you, brothers. ”

“Kai,” Cordi says.

He leans away from the camera, and we can barely hear what he’s saying.

“What’s your plan?” Emerson asks.

“We need proof of association with Costa, and we’re hoping that the connection will lead us to our father. We have one with the Portuguese. But if we can prove that connection in Colombia, then I believe it would be too hard to sweep under the rug.”

“What do you mean, connection with Portugal?” Emerson asks.

“We have proof that a shipment of unmarked, untraceable guns is being shipped from a port in Portugal to the East Coast, Massachusetts, in our father’s district.”

“Well, that could put him away for life,” Kai says.

“Exactly, but it could be hard to prove because of plausible deniability. There’s crime everywhere. So, if we can prove that Fred Coldwell, who is running for governor, is also helping Marco Costa move cocaine into the United States, it’s a slam dunk. The Feds would have no choice but to investigate.”

“Your father has many people in his pockets. There is a reason he’s gotten as far as he has, boys. Are you sure this wouldn’t just make it all worse?” Mom asks.

My heart hurts in my chest, and my brothers are silent. Seeing Mom shot and bleeding out on the stairs of the church where Cordi and Kai got married will haunt me for the rest of my life. I wish I was the one that took the bullet, not her. So maybe this is insane and I’ll get a bullet to the head or my head chopped off by a machete. But guilt is heavy, and so is the weight of bearing someone else’s choices.

We don’t get to decide what my father does, but that doesn’t mean we don’t carry the guilt of what he has done to other people. It has to end.

“This is the only way I’ve been able to figure out how to stop him, Mom. We have to try.”

“Please be careful, I—I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you boys.”

Aelia squeezes my hand, and I squeeze her back. We’ve talked about a lot of things, but some things are too hard to put into words.

“We will, Mom,” I mutter .

“Kai and I will meet you in Colombia in twenty-four hours,” Emerson says.

“If this is what we need to do, then so be it,” Kai says.

I watch him look over at Cordi, and I’m looking at him through a screen, but I can see the nervousness across his features.

“Kai you don’t have to—”

He holds up his hand.

“I do. I’ll see you soon,” he says and then hangs up.

Emerson hangs up, leaving Mom still on the screen.

“Be smart, Liam. Please don’t make me bury a son.”

My throat gets tight, and for the first time in a long time, I want to cry. The last thing I’d want to do to our mother is have her bury one of her children. That’s not how it’s supposed to work, but there is no other option except to put ourselves in harm’s way to put our fathers away. This isn’t just about our family anymore. Other lives are at stake.

“I love you, my sweet boy. Call me later.”

“I love you, too, Mom.”

She smiles softly, and the screen goes dark.

“That was… intense,” Aelia says.

“Does that mean we’ve hit a new milestone in our relationship? You’ve met the family, hell, you met my nephew, that has to count for something.”

A beautiful smile breaks across Aelia’s face, and her shoulders shake with laughter. “Yeah, I’d say so. I hope I didn’t upset them, though,” she says the last words hesitantly.

“I don’t care if they didn’t like it, princess. I know who you are. They just have to trust me.”

“Thank you,” she rasps.