Page 103 of Fighting With Light

“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 likebe niceas 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 hadsupportin 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 theonlyone 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.