Page 17 of Relentless

Gino had paid a steep price to set up the meeting. Liam frowned. Was something else besides seeing Piper settled behind the planned meeting? “So, you and Gavin met at the party. I guess you hit it off.” His gut twisted at the thought of Piper dating another man. He pulled her tighter against his side, unable to fight the possessiveness riding him hard.

“We did. He seemed perfect. In retrospect, that was another thing that should have triggered an alarm.”

“Why?”

“Gavin was engaging, handsome, tall, dark, and I believed he was honorable, exactly the characteristics I’d mentioned to Uncle Gino for the type of man I’d be interested in. Those characteristics are what drew me to you.”

Pleased, he gave her a gentle squeeze. “Why is he in a hurry to see you settled?”

Piper wrinkled her nose. “It wasn’t because he longed for great-nephews or nieces to rock to sleep if that’s what you’re thinking. Gino’s ulterior motives weren’t that honorable. He owns Galactic Games, but he borrowed the money to start the business from his best friend, Matteo Barone.”

Oh, man. Liam already knew where her story would lead. “The crime boss?”

“You’ve heard of him.”

He snorted. “All you have to do is turn on the news. His name pops up in relation to drugs, prostitution, and murders. No law enforcement agency has managed to pin the crimes on Barone, just his lackeys.”

“They happily take the fall for Barone. For some reason, his employees are intensely loyal to him.”

“Money and fear buy their silence. What does Barone have to do with Gavin?”

“Gavin is Barone’s son. I didn’t know about that connection until two weeks before I broke up with Gavin. I never liked Barone. I avoided any contact with him or his family. There’s something slimy about him. Anyway, Barone divorced his first wife, Lauren, and two days later, married his mistress, Anne James, Gavin’s mother.”

“Barone asked your uncle to hire Gavin?”

“A favor between friends, especially since he’d loaned Gino the money to start his company. My uncle was happy to hire him because Gavin is in the top five percent of programmers. Having him work for Galactic was a real coup and hiring Gavin meant his good buddy Matteo owed him a favor.”

“Gino groomed Gavin to be the perfect match for you.”

She nodded. “I dated Gavin for more than a year and never knew about the connection to Matteo.” A wry laugh escaped Piper. “I also didn’t know about his multiple affairs until the day I broke up with him.”

Oh, yeah. He definitely needed to punch Gavin James in the face. “He’s an idiot.”

“I won’t argue.”

“I’m sorry he hurt you.” But he wasn’t sorry Gavin screwed up and gave Liam a chance with Piper.

“You know what the worst part is?”

“Tell me.”

“He had an affair with my best friend, Brandy, and blamed me.”

Liam scowled. “Why was it your fault?”

Her face flamed and she went silent.

“Hey, no fair holding out now. Why did he blame you?”

Piper sighed. “He turned to Brandy because I wouldn’t sleep with him. What she didn’t know was he was also seeing another woman, too.”

Liam pressed a kissed to the top of her head. “Still haven’t changed my mind about him. He’s a fool, Sunshine. I’m grateful, though.”

“For what?”

“If he hadn’t been stupid, I would never have met you. His loss is my gain.”

“How do you always know the perfect thing to say to me?”

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