Page 89 of Relentless

The response was immediate. Rusty’s body bowed as pain wracked through his body. His scream was muffled by Liam’s hand. When he eased his grip on the nerve, the guard moaned, breathing rapid.

“Why were you in Piper’s room?” he asked again and lifted his hand for the man to answer.

Another round of cursing.

Liam repeated the same procedure, this time holding the grip long enough that tears left trails down Rusty’s face before he eased up. “You should know I love Piper,” he said, voice soft. “I’ll do whatever I have to do to protect her. I won’t blink at killing you right here, right now. I have the perfect cover story, after all. I walked inside this room to see your hands around her throat. The bruises you left behind will attest to my version of events. It’s too bad you were hurt in my struggle to protect the woman I love. How do you think I feel right now?” Liam let the fury and determination to protect what was his show in his gaze.

Rusty swallowed hard, fear growing in the depths of his eyes.

“That’s right. Wouldn’t take much to convince me to rid the world of one more lowlife. Piper will tell the cops you attempted to kill her. Total justification for my actions when the cops show up. You think the officers will have much sympathy for a man who breaks into an unarmed woman’s bedroom and attacks her? I’ll ask you one more time. Why were you in this room with your hands around my woman’s throat?”

“I wasn’t trying to kill her, I swear.”

“Doesn’t take much pressure to crush a windpipe. Want a demonstration?”

A fast head shake.

“Too bad. Talk to me before I decide you aren’t worth keeping alive.” He was almost out of time. The guard making the rounds would be coming in another three or four minutes.

“I was supposed to scare her into talking.”

“About what?”

“Her boyfriend.”

Liam’s smile was more a baring of his teeth. “I’m her boyfriend. Are you talking about her ex, Gavin?”

“Yeah.”

“What were you to find out?”

“Where he hid the information he stole. I was supposed to get it back. That’s all.”

“Who sent you?”

“Don’t know. Just an email contact with money dumped into my account.” His gaze shifted to the left as he said those words.

Liam stared at him. The idiot was lying through his teeth. “You expect me to believe you took on a job without knowing who your employer is?”

That brought his glare back to Liam. “Hey, the money was good. What do I care where it came from as long as I don’t have to do nothing illegal?”

“Breaking into a woman’s room and threatening her with bodily harm isn’t legal anywhere, dude.”

Footsteps approached the room. Liam was out of time. He turned to see the guard in the doorway.

“What’s going on in here? What did you do to Rusty?” The guard’s hand edged toward his weapon.

“Don’t do it,” Liam ordered. “I’ll kill you before your weapon clears your holster.”

The guard froze.

“Your friend broke into Piper’s room. I found him with his hands around her throat.”

The other man’s mouth dropped open.

“Don’t believe him, Ed,” Rusty spat out. “The lady invited me in.”

“Liar,” Piper said, disgust lacing her voice.

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