Page 70 of Full Throttle

Before Liam could coax Colby into leaving, and with blood dripping down her hand, she began to rise slowly from the table.

Her eyes never wavered from Lorene’s. Her voice was low and menacing. “So, you’re driving?”

Lorene was unnerved by her stare but played it off. Instead, he tried to use Colby’s gender against her. Lorene undressed her with his eyes before answering her question. “My my my. . . little Colby James.”

All rational thought went out of the window. Liam’s instinct was to react, but Brian grabbed hold of his arm before he could. Lorene had no idea that Brian had just saved his life.

Anthony saw it all. It was something else he planned to use against them. He leaned over and whispered into Lorene’s ear.

Lorene nodded before speaking again. “Rodney’s little sister certainly has grown up into a sexy little thing.”

“You do not get to say his name,” she spat out through clenched teeth.

Her tone took everyone off guard, especially Lorene.

“Are. You. Driving? Simple question.” Colby’s eyes flashed with pure unadulterated rage.

Lorene nodded like a little puppy.

“She’s a spitfire.” Anthony leered at Colby but directed his words at Liam. “When you’re done, you can send her my way.”

All Brian could do was move out of the way or get caught up. Liam hauled off and struck Anthony with a powerful blow against his lower lip and jaw. The crack was so loud it reverberated around the room. Anthony staggered backward until he fell on his ass, possibly losing a couple of teeth in the process.

Breathing hard like a bull, Liam stood over him. “You’re done fuckin’ with my family!” Liam didn’t care what anyone thought about him acting like a jealous and raging lunatic after knocking the hell out of Anthony Luccesse.

Brian pulled him back and whispered into his ear, “Not here. Later.”

Again, each side’s security stepped in to prevent an all-out brawl.

Anthony spit out blood. He used the back of his hand to wipe his mouth as his team helped him up. “You’re right,Goldenboy,” he sneered. “We will finish this.” Anthony trained his eyes onto Brian and Liam. “In two days, we go to war.”

“It started a long time ago, and this time you’ve bitten off way more than you can handle,” Brian responded.

The joyous feeling from earlier was gone, completely shattered. It wasn’t until Lorene left with Anthony and Asher that Colby felt like she could breathe. She immediately went over to Liam. Her brows furrowed with concern. “Are you okay?”

“I should be asking you that. You’re bleeding.”

Colby looked down at her hand. She hadn’t noticed.

It felt like the most natural thing in the world when Liam grabbed a napkin off the table and reached for Colby. Gently, he pressed it into her palm. As he worked to stop the flow of blood, Liam dared her to try and pull away.

Colby knew better and held still.

After a few moments, Liam inspected her hand to see if she needed stitches. He was grateful that the cut wasn’t deep. “You need to get this looked at.”

Colby nodded. “I will. Thanks for wanting to protect me, but you didn’t have to do that.”

He responded firmly and unequivocally. “I did.”

As if remembering they weren’t alone, slowly, Colby began to pull her hand free. “You didn’t. But still, thanks.”

She needed to make sure her father was okay. When she moved over to him, Colby realized everyone at their table was watching Liam and her closely. By the shocked looks on their faces, it wasn’t hard to guess that they had figured out something was going on.

For now, Colby decided to ignore the questions in their eyes. She inhaled deeply, then walked over to her father. “Daddy, are you okay?”

Cyrus was just as surprised as everyone else, but not totally shocked. He did find it telling that Colby went to Liam before coming to his aid. At some point, he would have to have a chat with Liam about his daughter but now was not the time.

“I’m fine. I should be asking you that.” His words didn’t match his appearance. Cyrus looked physically and emotionally spent.

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