Harmless(88)

He hadn't been driving long when his phone rang. At first he'd thought it was Roan, but he'd been shocked as shit when Cam introduced himself on the other end of the line.

"Hey, man," Cam greeted, his tone low, serious. "I'm probably breaking some sort of bro code by calling you, but I wanted you to know."

"Know what?" Seg didn't like where this was headed already.

"Roan's  …  well, the most accurate way to describe it is falling apart. He had a fight with his father earlier and he's out of sorts. He just left with Liam, heading back to his place. Gannon and I are gonna go watch the baby so Roan can get out of the house for a bit."

"Where's he going?" Seg would track him down one way or the other.

"The marina. He does that sometimes. Goes there to think."

"Thanks."

"Give him a bit, and do me a favor, man?"

"Anything."

"Don't tell him I called. He doesn't like when I get all up in his shit, but  …  as much as he's hurting right now, he needs you. And the two of you need to work this out." Cam chuckled roughly. "Damn, now I sound like a fucking shrink."

Half an hour later, Seg was en route to the marina. And here he was.

Seg moved back as Roan shut and locked the door behind the guy who'd come by. He hadn't met the guy other than the one time at the arena so long ago, and he'd heard enough from Roan to know he was one of the business partners who lived above the marina. Seg wasn't great at memorizing faces and names, so he'd only caught on when Roan said his name.

Not that it mattered.

"You really shouldn't be here," Roan said when he turned to face him.

Seg knew he needed to defuse this situation and fast. Cam had given him some of the details of what happened today. The guy had filled him in on how Roan's father and stepmother were up in arms about the shit going on with Seg and they'd found the leverage they needed to fight for custody of Liam.

Or so they thought.

No way were they going to get away with it. For one, Seg had more than enough money to fight these people. And he'd do it for Roan. He'd do anything for Roan and Liam.

"We need to talk," Seg said, halting Roan from sending him on his way.

"There's nothing to talk about, Seg. I've got too much shit on my plate to deal with this right now." Roan ran his hand over his face. "I need time to myself. Time to think. I can't do that with you around."

"Shit." Seg turned and stalked across the room. He'd known this was coming, but he wasn't about to let Roan shove him right back out the door.

They'd come too far for this.

"You need to go, Seg," Roan said softly. "I don't think now's a good time for us to do this. A relationship is the last thing I need."

Seg spun around to face him, his stomach twisting into a knot. He wanted to talk, not end this. "What? No. Don't do this, Roan."

"It's the only way I know to-"

The sound of the door opening was the only thing that stopped Roan from launching into his spiel, Seg knew. The overhead lights flickered on, and suddenly, Seg and Roan weren't the only two people in the room. Near the door stood …

Seg had to count.

There were six men standing there, all looking at Roan intently.

"Son of a bitch," Roan mumbled. "Don't you people know how to leave someone alone?"

"We've done that before," the biggest one said. "Look where that got us." The guy looked over at Seg. "Not sure if you remember us by our faces, but I'm Cam." He turned and started pointing. "This is my husband, Gannon. Then Teague and his husband, Hudson. Hudson's mute-doesn't speak but he can hear. And that's Dare, I think you've met him here at the office."




 

 

"We've met," Seg agreed.

"And this is Dare's fiancé, Noah."

"Where's Liam?" Roan inquired.

"With Milly. She and AJ are at your house."

Cam glanced between Roan and Seg, then turned his attention to Roan. "Now why don't you fill everyone in on what's going on so we can move on to the solving-the-problem part."

Roan huffed, but he didn't move. "My stepmother wants custody of my son. She doesn't believe that Liam should be raised by a gay man. And this"-Roan motioned between him and Seg-"only adds fuel to her fire."

The anger radiating from Roan was palpable, and to be fair, Seg couldn't blame him. If Seg hadn't had a full-blown meltdown when that reporter approached him, none of this shit would be happening. He wouldn't be trying to solidify his place in Roan's world because their relationship wouldn't even be in question.

And now this.

With or without the audience, Seg fully intended to keep the conversation with Roan going. He appreciated the fact that Roan's friends had Roan's back, but Seg wasn't done here. "Have you talked to a lawyer?"