Page 172 of What Started In Deception

Marietta’s brow rose as she stood with her arm still locked through his. “She certainly didn’t look forced to me.”

“We developed a friendship.”

Marietta’s brow rose again. “So, that’s what a friendship looks like.”

He sighed because no one was buying that he and Lydia were anything as simple as friends. “Lydia wanted nothing to do with the investigation when I first approached her. Her only concern was looking out for all of you. I told her that if she helped me, we could control the narrative together. I promised her that I would do everything that I could to protect her family.”

“And you did,” James said.

Ty nodded. “I certainly tried.”

“From the sounds of it, you risked your career to help my son.”

Ty shrugged now. “I promised Lyd.”

“And now you and my granddaughter have parted ways?” Marietta asked as she patted his hand.

He nodded. “It was time for us both to move on.”

Marietta frowned. “I imagine that’s why she sounded so melancholy when I talked to her this morning. She always tries to hide when she’s sad, but a gram-gram rarely misses much.”

He clenched his jaw, not liking it at all that Lydia was sad. “I imagine you feel incredibly betrayed,” he said, focusing on James again because thinking of Lydia struggling to blink back her tears was a memory that still bothered him. “I can only apologize and hope that you won’t let this come between you and your niece. You guys mean everything to her.”

“Lydia means just as much to us,” was all that James said.

Ty tugged at his tie again, ready to be free of the damn thing. “Have you said anything to Will and Mac?”

James shook his head. “I’ll talk to Cindy, but it sounds like my son and his wife have plenty of problems to deal with currently. We’ll broach the subject at some other point.”

“And Lydia? Do you plan to talk to her?” Because he needed to know that all of this would be okay for her.

“We’ll figure things out as a family. Our love for Lydia certainly hasn’t changed.”

“It never could,” Marietta told him.

Ty nodded. “If she hadn’t helped me the way that she did, I wouldn’t have been able to help Will the way that I did.”

James nodded. “I understand that, Ty.”

He nodded again. “It’s still early days, but I heard from my friend at the DEA yesterday. It sounds like Russo and Giordano are leaning toward taking plea deals since they’re looking at so much time.”

James nodded again. “I’ve heard that, too.”

“If the prosecutors can lock them into an agreement, a lot of the publicity surrounding their arrests will die down quickly, certainly before an announcement for a presidential run, if that were to be on someone’s agenda.”

James raised his brow as he held Ty’s stare. “Richard’s donation to Monroe House and Will being a contact in his cell phone are bound to cause me a few headaches, but I’m hoping that being able to say that the situation has already been looked into and cleared by the FBI and the DOJ will counteract a decent amount of any bad press.”

Ty nodded again. “Let’s hope so.”

James surprised him when he held out his hand. “Thank you, Ty, for protecting my son. For protecting my family.”

He returned his handshake. “It was no problem. Thank you for welcoming me into your home. I’m sorry for the deception. I really wish that things could’ve been different.” Something that he meant on so many levels.

James nodded. “You’re good at your job—as an agent and as a personal trainer. That’s something that I can’t fault you for.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“We’ll get out of your hair,” James said as he headed down the hall.