He lived with Liam and Scar full-time now, and he’d put his apartment on the market. At the end of a busy day, he had no desire to go to a cold, empty apartment. His life, the people he loved and cared about, were in one large house.
A house he was finding felt more and more like home than his childhood one.
Sitting in a room, waiting to hear from his father, Easton knew it was a mistake even before seeing the man who’d raised him.
One look at Nial Long, and Easton was shocked. He no longer looked like a scary monster of a man who could ruin his life.
Nial Long looked old. Old and full of cruelty.
He was pushed down into the metal chair, and Easton picked up the phone.
Nial glared at him as he picked up the other side.
“What the fuck brings you here?” Nial asked.
“Hello, Dad,” he said. “If I recall I got your letter demanding my presence.”
“I sent that months ago.”
“Been having some personal problems.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Nial asked.
Easton looked at his father. For so long he’d been afraid of this man, had spent so many hours in the day scared of what it actually meant to be his son. Worry, fear, anger, all of it had combined throughout his childhood, and it hadn’t dissipated until the past year.
“I had a tumor,” he said. Staring at his father, Easton felt all of the worry ebb away. This man meant nothing to him. He wasn’t even worth the time to take talking to him right now.
“A tumor?”
“Yes. In my head.” Easton stayed perfectly still as he watched the man he called father. He didn’t even know why he was here.
“You okay?” Nial asked.
“Yes.”
“Then let’s move on, you fucking pussy. I want out of this damn cell, and you’re going to help me do it. I’ve been talking to some of the other guys, and there was no proof. I can…” Easton listened as Nial listed all the reasons for a jury to overrule the conviction of him being in prison.
Easton didn’t interrupt. He listened.
No one looked at them.
They were all interested in their own lives. His father was a murderer, crook, asshole, and rotten from the inside out. There was no redeemable quality in him.
“Well, what do you think?”
“I have a son,” he said.
“What?” Nial asked.
“I have an eleven-year-old son. He’ll be twelve soon, and the past year I’ve gotten to know him.” Easton smiled. “You know, after you killed Carla, I honestly thought I would never father children. It turns out, I did at camp. The place I was sent to. I met a girl there. The most amazing, beautiful woman, and we fell in love, but I pushed her away. Now I have her back, and I’m not going to let her go. I’ve got a son who loves me, and I now know I’ll never be a bad father to him. I know what a bad father does to your soul. How it shatters a part of yourself and you can never get it back. I will never be the kind of man you are. I don’t want to be. I’m not going to help you, Nial. You deserve to be here, and I’m not going to be the person who helps you get away with what you did.” Easton put the phone back on the cradle as Nial began to spew anger and hatred toward him.
He was done.
It was finished.
Getting to his feet, he went to the door, and the guards let him out. He didn’t stop walking until he got to his car. Climbing inside, he sat for several minutes just watching the prison.
That place housed his father, and it was the best place for him to be.
Easton expected his hands to shake, but they didn’t. He was ready for this. His father would no longer touch him or hurt him. He wouldn’t carry the guilt around with him for a moment longer.
Turning over the ignition, he drove home. Not to the city, but to his, Liam, and Scar’s home, where his son was waiting for him.
He guided the car through traffic, taking his time so he wasn’t in any kind of serious accident.
When he arrived home, he saw Liam’s car parked in the driveway.
It had been on the tip of his tongue to tell his father that not only was he in a relationship with Scar, but also a man. A very powerful man who could crush him like the bug he was.
Shaking off those thoughts, he climbed out of the car, and as he made his way up the steps, Liam was already there, waiting for him.
“You okay?” Liam asked.
Staring up at the large, imposing man, Easton felt a flood of heat and shame rush through his body. “I went to see my dad today.”