Page 27 of Secured By the Buyer

“Of course you don’t.” Warmth fills his dark brown, drawing me in. “It will all be over soon.”

His pheromones thicken, pushing away the tight ball of fear in my chest. The room fades away as I stare at Liam, his presence grounding me in a way I never thought possible of my captor.

The scent of disinfectant tickles my nose, and something cool coats my arm, making me jump.

A slow smile spreads over Liam’s sculpted lips. “Has anyone ever told you how pretty you are?”

Blood rushes to my face. “Shut up. You need glasses.”

His head dips closer. “Nope. Still pretty.”

“I don’t want to hear that from my kidnapper,” I hiss, my heart hammering. “You’re a slave owner, and you expect me to believe anything you say?”

I flinch when a needle pierces my bicep, followed by a rush of liquid being injected. My head whips around to see what’s happening, but Liam’s hand on my chin forces me to face him again.

“Don’t look at what he’s doing.” A faint smile tugs at the corners of his mouth. “Keep yelling at me instead.”

“Trickster,” I shoot back, my voice trembling with fear. “You fooled me when we first met, making me think you were a kind Alpha. I hope the hotel charged you triple for all the food you took out of the minibar.”

Liam chuckles, stroking my cheek. “The real Caruso paid that bill.”

My breath catches in my throat as I remember something Caleb had said earlier. “Did you really kill him?”

Liam’s expression darkens, and he strokes my cheek again, slower this time. “I did. You almost walked in on me doing the deed. I’d just finished cleaning up the room when you came in with your housekeeping cart.”

Which explains why the room looked untouched.

“Caruso’s body… was in the room with us?” The thought sends a shiver down my spine, but considering the reason the man was at the casino, I can’t bring myself to fault Liam for taking his life. “Wait, was his corpse in the bathtub while you wereflirtingwith me?”

“Caruso was a monster.” Liam holds my gaze. “The world is better off without him.”

“That’s not an answer!” My anger flares. “Did you try to seduce me with adead bodyin the other room?”

Liam sighs with resignation. “Yes, but it doesn’t matter. I would have pursued you even if we’d met a different way. Something about you drew me in from the moment I saw you.”

I shake my head, my thoughts racing and my heart pounding. How am I supposed to process this? How can I believe this man who kidnapped me, lied to me, and killed someone in cold blood?

But despite all that, part of mewantsto trust him.

And that scares me more than anything.

My focus drops to his lips, so close, and the memory of them on me pushes up from the recesses of my mind.

A sudden click jolts me back to reality, and Dr. Wallace announces, “The chip is out. What do you want me to do with it?”

I inspect my arm, now covered in a weird orange liquid mixed with blood oozing from a small incision. How did I not feel him cutting into me? A shiverruns through me, and I can’t suppress a whine as I turn my head away, burying my face against Liam’s throat.

“Hey, it’s all right.” Liam cups the back of my neck, and he massages the base of my skull as he speaks to the doctor. “We need to keep the chip intact so the dealers don’t become suspicious.”

Dr. Wallace’s voice fades in and out as dread seeps in. “He’ll require a couple of stitches, but it shouldn’t leave a bad scar.”

My stomach churns at the thought, and I whine louder.

Liam chuckles, the sound rumbling through me. “You can stab people with forks but can’t handle some stitches?”

“Shut up,” I mumble, the order muffled with my lips pressed to his throat.

His pheromones fill my nose, and I breathe him in while Dr. Wallace finishes up, cleaning the wound before stitching it closed.

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