Page 19 of His Mafia Sunshine

Me.

"Absolutely not," Liam snarls when Finn suggests it, his fist slamming down on the table hard enough to rattle the guns laid out on its surface. "Asher is not fucking bait. End of discussion."

"Liam." I keep my voice soft, soothing, even as resolve hardens in my gut. "It makes sense. Declan's fixated on me, on using me to hurt you. If we dangle me out there, let him think he's got a clear shot... he'll be so focused on that, he won't see the trap until it's too late."

Liam rounds on me, his eyes wild, his face a mask of anguished fury. "I won't risk you," he grits out, his hands flexing at his sides as if aching to haul me into the shelter of his arms. "Asher, I can't. If something went wrong, if Declan got his hands on you..."

I step into him, molding my body to his, my fingers twining in the short hairs at his nape. "He won't," I murmur, holding his gaze with all the love, all the certainty in my soul. "Because you'll be there, Liam. Watching over me, keeping me safe. I trust you with my life, with everything I am. Do you trust me?"

He makes a low, wounded sound, his forehead dropping to rest against mine. "You know I do," he rasps, his eyes squeezing shut, his hands coming up to clutch at my hips. "More than anything, sunshine."

"Then trust me now," I breathe, brushing my lips over his in a soft, sweet promise. "Trust us, Liam. We're stronger together than Declan could ever be alone. He's got guns and goons, but we've got something he'll never understand."

Liam's eyes open, locking on mine, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Oh? And what's that, sunshine?"

I grin, fierce and bright, my heart a drum, a beacon, a fucking supernova in my chest.

"Love," I say simply. "The kind of love that moves mountains and alters fate. The kind of love that's worth fighting for, worth dying for. Declan can't touch that, Liam. Can't even fucking conceive of it."

Something eases in his face, the lines of tension and fear smoothing into a kind of awed tranquility. "No," he agrees quietly. "No, he fucking can't."

He kisses me then, deep and slow and so tender it brings tears to my eyes. I pour everything into that kiss, every ounce of trust and devotion, every bright scrap of hope.

It feels like a vow, like an oath sworn in blood and breath. Like the first step down a path I'd walk with him into Hell itself, and never once look back.

"Alright," Liam says when we finally break apart, his voice rough but resolute. "We do it your way, sunshine. Together, like always."

I beam at him, my heart so full it feels like it might crack wide open. "Together," I echo. "No matter what."

He squeezes me close, just for a moment, his lips brushing my temple. And then he's turning back to the table, to the waiting men, all traces of softness locked away.

In his place stands the Enforcer. The cold-eyed killer, the devil in a black denim jacket.

My devil. My love.

My fucking ride or die.

"Let's go over it again," he orders, his voice a low, deadly rasp. "And this time, leave nothing out. By the time we're done here, I want every angle covered, every contingency planned for. Declan don't get to walk away from this, you hear me? Not fucking this time."

A ripple of assent, of grim anticipation, goes around the table. I stand at Liam's side, my spine straight, my chin high.

Ready for whatever comes. Ready to end this, once and for all.

Even if I have to walk through the valley of the shadow to do it.

Because with Liam beside me, with his love and his strength and his unwavering faith...

There's no shadow I can't face. No darkness I can't overcome.

We're a force to be reckoned with, he and I. And Heaven help anyone foolish enough to stand in our way.

CHAPTER 9

LIAM

The city speeds by in a blur of neon and shadow as I weave through the late-night traffic, my hands white-knuckled on the wheel. In the passenger seat, Asher is a silent, watchful presence, his face set in lines of grim determination.

I hate this. Hate every fucking part of it, from the danger I'm leading him into to the cold, calculating part of me that knows it's necessary. Because he was right, back at the safehouse - Declan's obsession with Asher is the chink in his armor, the one thing that might make him sloppy.

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