Page 69 of Unfinished

“Come on, man!” Bas was banging on the door again.

“In a minute!” Liam barked, then looked down at me, “Just tell me.”

The door to the hall opened and Bas came walking in with Ashley and the others. They all paused when they saw us staring at each other.

I didn’t tell Liam anything. I couldn’t. I wanted him to stay and I didn’t want to leave either. I stared at him until Ashley grabbed me and pulled me out of the room. She was doing exactly what I told her to do last night. I knew he would follow me out of that club and I texted Ashley and told her that if I caved for the night, to pull me away in the morning when I wouldn’t have the strength to walk away from him.

“No!” Liam came after us in the hallway.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me away from Ashley and his lips crashed against mine. My chest felt like it was cracking wide open as he pulled me closer to him. Our tongues slid together and hands roamed like we were soaking in everything we could, like this might be the last time.

Ashley started pulling at me and I felt someone trying to pull him away, but our arms were wrapped around each other tight. Clinging to each other like we were each other’s last hope of survival.

“Liam, let her go,” Ashley demanded.

We were torn apart and Ashley put herself between us and pushed me down the hall towards the elevators. Bas and Rion were holding Liam back but we didn’t break eye contact until Ashley pushed me around the corner and hit the elevator button.

“It’s only for now and you both have an important reason to do things this way. Remember, right guy, wrong time,” Ashley assured me, and I finally looked away from the hall and at Ashley.

The elevator doors opened, and Ashley guided me in. As soon as they slid shut, I cracked. Sobs wracked my chest and tears fell as I buried my face in my hands. Ashley wrapped her arms around me. For a moment, she was holding me up because I knew my own body wasn’t holding me up.

“Breathe,” Ashley whispered, and I listened.

She guided me through a quick breathing exercise and my strength slowly came back. I stood up straight and Ashley moved to stand next to me. I wiped the tears away from my face and pulled on all of my strength.

“Soon babe,” Ashley said and I nodded, trying to blink away more tears.

Chapter 31

Liam

“Liam, let her go,” Ashley said as she pulled Hannah away from me and my cousins held me back.

I couldn’t let her go. She was always meant to be with me. To be mine. This was absolute torture being apart from her. I had one year left and I could just move to Pittsburgh and be with her till she finished her degree.

I watched as Ashley pulled Hannah down the hall towards the elevators and disappeared around the corner. Jerking my shoulder, Bas and Rion both had a firm grip on me. Archer came in front of me and put his hands on my shoulders.

“Liam, you can’t be with her right now and you know it!”

Archer was right. Things were getting too dangerous and if anyone found out that Hannah was who I loved, she would be vulnerable to attack. Hell, even coming here this weekend was dangerous.

Salvatore has been sending people to other cities and causing problems for us. Shipments to both Boston and Philadelphia were robbed and the Night Saints aren’t happy. Salvatore wanted their weapons business and he was getting desperate to stop it. If we didn’t do more to protect their shipments, the Night Saints would rain hell down on us.

To make matters worse, Salvatore was using his connections within the local government to stop some of our developments. We were fighting harder for approval on projects than we have ever had to fight for them. To stop him, we’ve been working to get people loyal to us into a few elected positions. While he’s focused on sabotaging our work in New York though, we’ve been making moves in some of the smaller cities nearby, including Pittsburgh. Which meant we had to keep our work and presence here extremely quiet to avoid Salvatore figuring it out.

“Liam,” Bas pulled me from my thoughts. “Let’s go handle Derek.”

Seeing Derek in the club last night almost sent me right over the edge. It felt like I was getting hit from all directions seeing him. Two years ago, he straight up disappeared from Shermer and now I was wondering if he’d been in Pittsburgh the entire time waiting for Hannah.

Ripping my shoulders away from Rion and Bas, I turned and went back into my hotel room. I quickly threw everything into my duffel bag and slung it over my shoulder. We had Derek to deal with, business to deal with, and a flight back to New York today.

The last thing I wanted to do was leave Hannah there. I wanted to stay there with her and protect her for myself. I hated getting updates from my men on her. I hated that they watched her and I didn’t. I hated not being with her. This agreement wasn’t working for me anymore.

Leaving the hotel with my cousins, we got into a black SUV and headed towards the construction office we owned. I watched out the window as we drove through the city towards the south side. I might kill Derek. It’d be the only way to make damn sure he didn’t go anywhere near Hannah again.

Arriving at the office, we exited the SUV and walked in. Archer locked the door behind us and Bill, Hannah’s father, stood up from the chair he was sitting in.

“Who’s the guy?” He asked.

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