Whatever the Cost (24 page)

“About ten,” Liam admits.

“Yes, we need to disappear, but it doesn’t mean we can’t trust anybody.”

“Actually, that is what it means. If Yasha knows our names, where we live, our new backstory, he has the ability to fuck everything up, and I don’t want to take that chance. I won’t do it. It’s one thing to meet up with him, and stay in contact over the phone, but I don’t want him to have any more leverage on us than he already does.”

Jacen sighs and takes a sip of water. “Okay. Compromise,” he suggests. “We don’t tell him our new name, and we don’t tell him where we’re staying. No facts. Nothing to help anyone track us.”

“But you want to tell him we got hitched?”

There’s a pause. Glancing away, off into the parking lot, Jacen says, “Yeah. I mean, it’s kind of a big deal to me.”

Liam suspects Jacen is thinking about his family and all of the ways they can’t share in his life or his victories and be there to catch him when he falls. And Liam agrees that it isn’t fair. It isn’t fair at all. It feels cruel to deny Jacen this small request, so Liam relents.

“Okay. You can tell him. But that’s it. That’s as far as it goes.”

“Thanks,” Jacen beams.

“Yeah yeah.”

They don’t have long to wait before a familiar motorcycle pulls into the parking lot, swinging around to a spot on the side of the building. There are two people riding it.

“You didn’t say he was bringing anyone,” Liam frowns.

“It’s just Valery. She and Yasha are like a package deal, believe me. Nothing that involves Yasha doesn’t involve her, too, at some level. She’s very trustworthy.”

His patience sorely tried, Liam is momentarily distracted by this. “Wait. Does that mean that when you and Yasha—”

“Later. Okay?” Jacen says, cutting off the question right there and thereby pretty much answering it anyway.

Scowling, Liam picks at the edge of his menu as the couple on the bike climb off, stowing their helmets.

“Wow. That’s kind of flattering,” Jacen smirks, slouching back in his seat with a dark but proud glimmer in his eyes.

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing.”

“No. I want to know what exactly that’s supposed to mean,” Liam argues. “I didn’t say anything. I’m letting it go.”

“No, you’re not. It bothers you. I can actually tell that it bothers you.”

“And what is it that’s supposed to be bothering me?”

Jacen swallows his grin, forces his expression to return to a more serious one. Leaning forward, with one eye on the entryway, watching as Yasha and Valery get closer to it, Jacen says, barely above a whisper, “That they both know me in ways you don’t yet. Carnally or otherwise. You’re jealous.”

“Oh, I know you pretty well,” Liam scoffs, doing an even poorer job hiding his true thoughts on the matter.

“I agree,” Jacen allows. “Is this part of why you didn’t want to tell them?”

Liam rolls his eyes and drums his fingertips against the table. Yasha and Valery are nearly within earshot so he doesn’t bother answering. Instead he gives Jacen a sly grin, satisfied that the conversation is being thoroughly interrupted and vowing to take out some of his churning, surging possessiveness later by fucking Jacen until he can’t even stand.

“Hey! Look who it is,” Liam smiles charmingly. Sliding from his seat, he stands politely as Yasha and Valery arrive at their table.

“Liam, good to see you,” Yasha nods, shaking Liam’s hand.

“Likewise,” Liam returns, accepting a one-armed hug from Valery and a light kiss on the cheek. “Valery, if I’m not mistaken?”

“You got it,” she smiles, pushing her dark curly hair behind one ear. “But call me Val. Nice to meet you at last. Though I wish it were under better circumstances.”

“Oh, I think the circumstances are pretty damn acceptable,” Jacen says, getting halfway to his feet as Yasha leans in to kiss Jacen hello, as they always do. One brief smooch later, Liam is frowning again and Valery is leaning in for her own piece of Jacen’s lips.

“Shall I move, or...” Liam starts, indicating the seating arrangement.

“This is fine,” Yasha says, sliding in beside Jacen as Valery sits beside Liam. “So. Should we order first or get right to the hysterical outrage and astonishment?”

“Order first, I think,” Jacen grumbles at a sharp look from Yasha.

“Fine.” Following a short visit from their waitress during which Jacen settles on the meatloaf after a non-verbal scolding from Liam when he nearly goes for the fettuccine instead, the scolding coming from Liam’s knowledge of Jacen’s lactose intolerance, they all sip at their glasses of water and wait for someone to start.

“Okay, I’ll go,” Yasha says, clearing his throat. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

“That we didn’t want to be prostitutes anymore and we want to have respectable lives,” Jacen hisses under his breath. “I don’t think that’s too difficult to understand. We quit, just like you did. We just want to start over.”

“This isn’t the best way to do it, and you know it. I didn’t quit, I worked off my time. There’s a big difference. You just sneak away? Breach of contract, The Company on your asses....”

“We had no choice,” Liam says sternly. “We wanted out without being screwed any more, figuratively and literally, than we already were. No strings, no time frames, no explanations.” Pointing at Jacen, Liam hisses, “He had
nine years
left. You expect me to let them have free rein to do whatever the hell they want to him for nine years?”

“But you called me. That’s a string. This is an explanation.”

“Jacen wanted to include you to some extent. Your friendship is an important thing for him to maintain, and I won’t deny him that if it means that much.”

“Why are you together? Wouldn’t it be safer to be apart?”

“We left in order to be together,” Jacen says quietly. “Or at least that’s my take on it.”

“It was my idea,” Liam says. “I didn’t want Jacen anywhere near those lowlifes. I convinced him it was time to go.”

“And what does Jacen get out of all of this? Homelessness? Joblessness? A lack of direction in his life?”

“He gets a family who loves him and the freedom to do whatever he wants, without anyone to answer to.”

“‘Cept for you,” Jacen smiles, warming at Liam’s defense of him.

“Wait,” Valery interjects. “What does that mean? What family?”

Jacen lifts his hands above the table, resting them there in front of him, his wedding ring shining under the fluorescents.

“Whoa,” Yasha gapes. “You got married?! Who did you marry?”

They all turn and simultaneously look at Liam, who clears his throat and unfolds his own hands, displaying his own, matching ring.

For what seems like too long a time, no one says anything. Then Yasha, his face a storm of outrage, shouts, “
Horseshit
!”

“Shh!” Valery scolds him, grabbing his hand to pull him back into his seat when he tries to stand and come around to grab Liam by the throat. “Stop it. Don’t make a scene!”

“You don’t care about him!” Yasha growls, lowering his voice with effort. “You
married
him?! Mister Two-Face-Fucking-Taye? The guy who played you for his own amusement just the other day, leaving you miserable and showing up on our doorstep just to help you figure out what you could have possibly done to insult his Highness who flat-out ditched you? Fuck and run. That’s who you are, Liam. Why the
fuck
would you two get married?! Even as a cover, it’s insulting.”

“Insulting?!” Liam nearly shouts, his voice sharpening with the cutting edge of defensiveness.

“Yes! He deserves better!” Yasha rages, pointing to Jacen.

“It’s not a cover! I mean, okay, yeah it is to some extent but that’s not why we did it. If it was just for the name we would have done it without bothering to see a judge and dealing with all the legal hassle of that. We did it because it was what we wanted and I do care about him! I care about him a hell of a lot more than you do!”

“Oh yeah? Prove it,” Yasha dares.

“Would you cut it out, please?” Valery hisses to her husband. “You aren’t helping and you know it.”

“I
will
prove it. Just give me a chance. Ask Jacen what he thinks. Ask him if he’s happy, if he’s glad we did it. Don’t take my word for it.”

“I’m sure he is happy, but he’s also delusional if he really believes you care about him. You’re a professional con artist and you’re playing him for a fool,” Yasha spits. “You’re taking advantage of the fact that he has a big heart and an innate need to be cared about in order to make yourself feel better.”

“Get up,” Jacen barks at Yasha. “Get out of the fucking booth.”

Confused, Yasha obeys, sliding out of the seat, letting Jacen push past him.

“Jacen,” Liam calls apprehensively. “Jacen?!”

He tries to get up, but he’s blocked by Valery.

“Jacen!”

Jacen is at the door opening out onto the parking lot by the time Yasha snaps out of it, though he manages it before Liam is able to free himself from his seat to pursue his new husband.

“Fuck. I’ll get him,” Yasha groans, the fight draining from him in a flash.

As soon as Yasha is darting after Jacen, Valery groans into her palms. Hanging her head, she says urgently, “Liam, I’m so sorry for that. He’s just got this soft spot for Jacen and I swear that despite what he said it’s not a personal attack against you. Ever since Jacen signed that contract, even after Yasha tried as hard as he could to talk him out of it.... Jacen only found out about The Company because of Yasha’s past, and he’s always felt solely responsible for that, and him. He’s just worried sick about Jacen’s safety and he’s freaked out. ”

“I know,” Liam sighs, battling down his temper and panic. It helps that he can still see Jacen, standing right outside, now with Yasha in his face, talking passionately to him, alternately gesturing with his hands and holding Jacen’s shoulders like he’s afraid Jacen will take off again.

“He loves him. He’s been in love with him ever since... well. But, anyway, you really did it, huh? Jacen’s your husband,” she marvels.

“Yeah. He is. He’s—” Liam takes a deep breath, holds it and lets it back out, “—everything to me. Making him happy. Keeping him safe. Hearing him laugh. That’s all I care about. He’s the only thing in my life that matters. Took me long enough to figure that out. Anyway, I mean, yeah, maybe we went about it the wrong way, but it was with good intentions.”

“I can see that,” she says gently. “He makes you want to be a better man.”

Liam nods, laughing with self-consciousness, morosely. It quickly threatens to turn into a sob. He covers his mouth with the back of a hand, waiting for it to pass. Valery rubs his back and tsks Yasha again.

“Jacen was so excited to tell him about this,” Liam admits quietly. “What we did, getting married. I told him it was a bad idea, but he wouldn’t listen. He was just so happy to share good news, and....” He can’t get any more out, pained by the thought of Jacen’s innocent, dashed hope.

Valery sighs. “Dammit Yasha.”

Outside the diner, located at the tail end of sunny San Luis Obispo, California, Jacen folds his arms over his broad chest and tries diligently to ignore the man he trusts most in the world.

“Just come back inside and sit down,” Yasha pleads. “I promise that large pointy stick that was previously lodged up my ass has been removed. Clearly I’m the jerk here, and I’m sorry. Jacen? Hey. Come on. Jacen?”

“So I’m a sucker? An easily manipulated idiot who doesn’t have the balls to stand up for himself? That’s what you think of me? Now I know, I guess.”

“That’s not what I think of you. You can be...” Yasha debates what the right word is and settles on, “sensitive. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but I meant what I said about you having a big heart. You care too much, sometimes, even when you’re trying not to, and more than is healthy. Look, it doesn’t matter if I think this is a bad idea. If you’re content and out of harm’s way, that’s good enough for me. Is he taking care of you?”

Jacen sets his jaw, staying silent.

“Does he love you as much as you love him?”

Jacen is able to mask his rising emotion only a few seconds longer before dampness pricks at his eyes. They redden and his tears threaten to spill over. He holds them in. “He’s my husband now. He bound himself to me. I don’t have to explain anything to you. I only told you because I
foolishly
thought you’d be happy for me, but clearly I was very wrong about that. I regret calling you. We should have just made a clean break and left everything behind.”