Page 107 of Rule of Three

He closes the distance between us and pulls me into his arms. “When my best girl goes missing, of course I worry.” He takes a deep, shuddering breath. “I thought I’d lost—” He stops himself before he can finish his sentence, every muscle in his body tightening. “You smell like cologne.” His grip around my waist tightens. “You smell like them.”

I swallow as my anxiety doubles. “I know. I, um, I’m kind of involved . . . with them.”

“Involved,” Liam repeats, a harsh sigh passing his lips. “It’s been ten days since you got here, Valentina. Ten days. That’s not even two weeks!”

“Things—things have been moving kind of fast.” I pull back to try and get some distance, but his grip is tight. I barely get enough clearance to look up at his face without cracking my spine in half from leaning back so far.

Liam ’s lips press into a thin line. “I can see that.” His gaze flickers down to my neck, likely to one of the many hickeys I’ve been given, and shame floods my system at the judgment in his eyes.

“Was that your boyfriend? The tall one, with all the muscles.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “Um. Yeah. Kind of. It’s—it’s complicated.” I push against Liam’s chest, but I don’t actually get anywhere. “Can you let go? I want to talk to you about this, but you’re hurting me.”

He’s always been gentle in the past. Even when we first made love, he never rushed me into anything. We didn’t just fall into bed together; he was kind. He took me on dates and made me laugh and bought me flowers.

By the time I ended up in his bed, we’d already known each other for almost a year. He was a sensual lover, taking things slow and sweet.

Not once has he ever held me like like he could break me in two.

My ribs ache as he squeezes. “Hey. That hurts.”

Liam grits his teeth. “You’ve hurt me, Valentina. Choosing another man. Choosing multiple men, when I’ve been waiting for you to come home.” He rests his forehead against mine, his lips twisting into a grimace. “You let them touch you. I saw it. Another man kissed you.” His lips brush across my cheek. “You let them all kiss you.”

There’s an edge of desperation in his voice that makes my skin crawl.

“What I do with other men is none of your business?—”

Liam snarls, fisting my hair and tearing my head back. “You are my fucking business, Valentina Violetta Baranova. Five years together, and you still don’t get it. Every breath you take is my fucking business.” His hand wraps around my throat. “Say thank you, Liam, for coming to rescue me, and maybe I’ll let you sleep in bed with me tonight.” His cruel smile bleeds into his eyes, showing me who he really is. Who he’s kept hidden all these years.

This is not the man I thought I knew. This is someone else. This can’t be happening!

I claw at Liam’s face in a desperate attempt to flee, and he hisses, spinning us around and shoving my back into the wall. My head cracks against the bricks, my vision fading. I drag in a breath, only for Liam’s mouth to descend over mine and steal it.

This kiss is nothing like the ones we’ve shared in the past. Every memory shatters as brutality replaces tenderness, leaving nothing but betrayal in his wake.

My men are right. He’s been lying to me this entire time about who he is.

Anger pulses through my veins. How dare he. I trusted him, gave him my virginity, thought he wanted me to be happy. I claw his face and dig my nails in deep. He screeches and pulls my hand off of him, slicing my wedding ring across his cheek.

With a howl, he finally lets me go. My knees buckle as I gasp for air.

“Fucking bitch,” he hisses, pulling his fingers away from the wound. Blood glistens on his skin.

Metal bangs against brick as the door to the club slams open against the wall. Ezra barrels through, fists clenched and jaw set, locking onto Liam in a heartbeat. “You.” He takes deliberate steps forward and grabs Liam’s throat before the man has a chance to speak. “You die.”

I watch as Ezra lifts Liam three inches off the ground.

This is the moment where I should stop him. I’m supposed to talk to Liam. I’m supposed to get answers for everything that’s happened. The photos from his apartment. His appearance in the city. My grandmother’s insistence that he misses me. How the fuck they’ve been in contact since I left, and why.

But the part of me that cared for Liam’s safety died the moment he betrayed my trust. “Ezra.”

My boyfriend’s nostrils flare. Liam’s tiptoes scrape the asphalt as he struggles to pry Ezra’s fingers loose from his windpipe. “Do not tell me not to kill him,” my protector rumbles.

Liam’s face turns red as he struggles to breathe. I stare at him, and he stares right back. I feel little remorse, despite knowing that I should. This is Liam. I’ve known him for years. I should care what happens to him.

But it turns out, he’s a bad fucking guy.

Still. If he dies before I get a chance to interrogate him, this will all have been for nothing. And, there are a few things I’d like to say to him, after all. I swallow, wincing from the pain. “I want to talk to him first.”

---