Page 60 of Blood Money

“Don’t think about what I said. Don’t think about any of it. Just give me a chance to figure this out.”

“Once I’ve paid your family back, I should just leave Boston. Leave all the memories behind. Once Ava finishes school maybe she could join me wherever I ended up.”

I took hold of his shoulders and turned him to face me. “You’re not going anywhere.” His breath caught, but I saw desire in his eyes rather than fear. “I will fight for you even if you’re the one I’m fighting.”

“Why? And why did you stay away for so long?”

“Baby, did you think I didn’t want you?” I rubbed my thumb back and forth over the inside of his wrist, feeling the fluttering pulse there.

“No. Yes. I don’t know. I knew you wouldn’t have Vito watching me so closely if you’d just forgotten about me, but why would I think you would want only me?”

“Because I’m captivated by you, and because…” I still wasn’t ready to say more. I had assumed I would spend my life alone. I had my brother to think of and the family. If I did end up with anyone, I’d thought it would be someone the family ordered me to marry. I doubted they’d shy away from using me to gain an alliance, so I tried to distance myself from anyone I hooked up with. But with Liam, I couldn’t do that.

“Because why?” he asked.

“Because you’re special.”

“I…” I narrowed my eyes, warning him not to contradict me. “I wish you could come back to Pound and be there every night.”

I wanted to tell him I’d be there tomorrow, no matter what my father said. But that wasn’t really what I wanted. I wanted to take him home, to cancel his debt so he never had to dance at the club again. He was an amazing dancer, but I wanted him to do it just for me.

I couldn’t just indulge myself and damn the consequences though. Something wasn’t right. The persistence of Liam’s stalker and the odd details of his parents’ accident had my instincts screaming. The were telling me there was trouble, big trouble. So far, I hadn’t figured out what was going on, but I had to follow my gut and find out what was happening. I considered talking to my father, but that was the last thing I wanted to do, because I was going to have to admit why I was interested in Liam, and I was going to tangle the family up in it.

Dom would hate that.

I needed a little bit more time. I didn’t want to let Liam return to the storage unit, but I knew he was well guarded there. I could send him to a safe house. It would take a little while for my father to notice if the assignment didn’t directly affect his business, but I didn’t want Liam that far away from me. I wanted him where I could get to him anytime.

“What’s wrong?” Liam asked.

“You won’t take my offer of an apartment.” That had bothered me, so it was close enough to the truth.

“Are you going to try to make me again?”

I gave him a slow once over and smiled. “Do you think I couldn’t?”

He shook his head. “I’m very certain you could, but I need some freedom.”

He deserved that. He’d essentially been his own prisoner since his parents died. He hadn’t done anything for himself. I wanted to give him the world, but I also knew that if I pushed too hard, I could fuck this whole thing up.

It was fucked up enough already.

Our food came, and I encouraged Liam to focus on eating. I must’ve been hungrier than I realized, because I polished off my omelet quickly. I was sipping my third—fourth?—cup of coffee when something out the window caught my eye.

In the parking lot, there was a man sitting in a truck looking in, focused right on Liam. At first, I nearly jumped out of my seat, because I thought it was the man I’d killed in the parking lot. Then I realized he only looked a lot like him.

The fool had the interior light on in his truck. He was being obvious as fuck. Was that on purpose?

Suddenly, the light went out. Had he noticed me watching him?

“What are you looking at?” Liam asked.

I shrugged, playing it off. “I thought I saw someone I knew.”

Liam didn’t look like he believed me, but he didn’t push harder. If I said more, I might scare him. I was going to have to strengthen his protection detail. I was also going to watch Parking Lot Man very carefully.

If he followed us, I’d know for certain something suspicious was going on in Liam’s life. My instincts were rarely wrong. I just hoped I wasn’t going to get disappointed when I found out what was up. I needed Liam to be exactly who I thought he was, a hurting young man who needed money and help, the man I’d claimed as mine.

What if he was involved in something that would make that impossible? It had been clear how scared and surprised he was when he was approached in the parking lot, and it was obvious he wasn’t upset when I forced him to stop the man’s lap dance. The thought of that bastard touching him made me clench my fists. Someone wanted to hurt Liam, and I was going to tear their head off.

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