Mended (Lucian & Lia #3)

He pulls a set of folded papers from his pocket and lays them on the table in front of me. “I was served with these today while I was visiting Cassie. That’s your copy. I figured you might want Max to look over them as well.” I open them just as he says, “Someone has petitioned the court to be named as Cassie’s guardian and have me removed.”

“What the fuck?” I inhale sharply as his words sink in. “If her mother’s actually dead this time, then who—”

“Someone named April Chester. According to what that says, she’s the next of kin.”

I flip through the papers, noting that an emergency court date has been set for next week. “This makes no sense to me,” I snap before trying to rein in my temper. Aidan isn’t the enemy here. I just don’t like these kinds of surprises. “Where has this family member been all these years while I’ve been picking up the tab for their loved one’s care? And how could this woman be the next of kin? I would think that would still be her father.”

“I have no fucking clue.” Aidan sighs as he signals the waitress for another beer. At this point, we both probably need something a lot stronger. “Like you, I never had an inkling Cassie had any family other than her mostly absent father. This floored me. I tried to talk to her about it today but didn’t get anywhere.”

“Is she well enough that she could tell you something like that?” Hell, I’ve already been surprised one time today. At this point, if Aidan tells me Cassie is now singing show tunes and knitting sweaters, I don’t think it would shock me much.

He smiles for the first time tonight, looking happy for a moment. “You wouldn’t believe how far she’s come, Luc. She still has a lot of gaps in her memory, but we actually have rational conversations now. She remembers things that happened when we were children. Her doctors are blown away at her progress. I don’t think anyone ever imagined it happening. Even the makers of the experimental medication are floored by her progress.”

“Does she remember…that night?” I ask, unable to stop myself. I put it down to some kind of morbid fascination.

He’s clearly uncomfortable now, choosing his words carefully. “I don’t believe so. She has asked about you. She also remembers meeting Lia. I…um told her that Lia was your girlfriend now. I’m sorry, I should have cleared that with you first, I know. I wanted to see her reaction to it.”

“And what was it?” Fuck, why do I keep asking questions that I likely don’t want the answer to?

“She said, ‘That’s good, I’m glad he’s happy.’”

I look at him incredulously as I try to process this information. “That sounds nothing at all like Cassie. Even if we hadn’t been involved, she never liked any girl who either of us talked to.”

“I know, trust me, I remember, which is why I was curious. That’s the thing about her now. She seems to be the best version of herself. We don’t talk for hours every day or anything because she’s still confused about a lot, but when we do, she’s…sweet. Not once has she said anything mean or snide about anyone. Other than her appearance, it’s almost as if she’s not the same person. When I mentioned it to her doctor, he said it wasn’t uncommon for a traumatic experience to change someone drastically. Some may turn into worse versions of their former selves and some may go in the opposite direction as Cassie seems to have.”

Call me cynical, but I still have a hard time buying into the fact that she’s Mother Theresa now. Maybe I could have had I not lived with her for so many months with my blinders removed. In the beginning, she’d at least attempted to keep up appearances that she was a loving girlfriend, except for occasional slips. Those last months though, she didn’t bother hiding it at all. If she was angry, then you fucking knew it. If you didn’t pick up on it fast enough, she’d damn sure get it across by any means possible. If that meant slapping, or even biting, then so be it. She knew I’d never hit a woman, no matter how close to the edge she pushed me. “That’s…interesting,” I hesitantly reply. “What exactly was her reaction when you asked her about her family? It sounds as if she’s well enough to know if she has anyone besides her father.”

“I asked her if there was someone besides her dad she might want to see. I didn’t want to upset her by telling her too much. She kind of laughed and said that even her father didn’t care what happened to her so why would anyone else?”

I had to think that she possibly had a point there. The man had taken off years ago and, to my knowledge, had never looked back. “Did you mention her mother? That seems like a good place to start.”

He rubs his eyes before shaking his head. “I was afraid to. If she hasn’t mentioned her all these years, I didn’t want to be the one to send her into some kind of tailspin. I thought it best to see what Max could dig up and go from there. If all else fails, I’ll go to court and find out then. No use unleashing something if it can be avoided.”

“We’ll go to court,” I add absently as my mind spins. “I’ll have Max begin looking into this immediately. I’ll also have him contact the investigator who looked into Lia. Maybe we can track down this mystery person before the court date. I’m damn curious as to who it is.”

Aidan nods. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve had more drama than I can handle. This is a real bad time to be fucking with me.”