Page 90 of Regally Binding

“Finish your sentence, Liss.”

He was changing the subject because she hadn’t commented on his declaration.

She forced saliva into her dry mouth and spoke slower now. “That person, me, is the same one who needs to do this. I need to care for the thing that saved me after Mum’s death. Please let me return there and check on it one last time.”

Bear remained silent as he drove. Liss rapped her nails against the door handle. She’d fight him if she must.

Suddenly, he swung the car and made a U-turn in the middle of the road. “Fine,” he shouted. “I know what it is to have that safe space, and I’d be the same. But I’m still going to be a grumpy dick about it.”

“I wouldn’t have you any other way.” She kissed her angry Bear on his cheek.

He bristled. “This doesn’t mean you’ve won this one, so don’t think that you can win anything in the future with your impassioned speeches about my feelings.”

“I wouldn’t dare,” she replied with a satisfied smile, but sadness still turned the crack in her heart into a crevice. Strike’s words about leaving Bear with no doubt that they weren’t an item flashed. She couldn’t hurt him. Another tear slipped down, but she looked out the window, adamant that he wouldn’t see it.

Bear parked at the pub.

Liss glanced at her dark and empty flat. She needed to make her heart empty to get through the following months. Liss waited for Bear to tell her it was safe as she considered who’d live in her flat next. After Friday, she’d get her possessions.

There wasn’t a place in the palace for her corner sofa where she and Isla could watch movies while throwing popcorn at each other and laughing over Isla’s conquests. She dragged herself to it when she had a hangover or period pain, hunkered under blankets, and watched crappy reality television. Liss’s sofa reminded her of early mornings when she was a poorly child and her mum stroked her hair as she cried or struggled through a fitful sleep.

I have to do this for you, Mum. You deserve your moment.

After calling Strike with their location and performing a visual check, Bear helped her from the car. Her limbs clenched, and her gaze darted around the space. Bear was the same. Although he’d made it clear it wasn’t his choice to come to the pub, he’d ensure she was safe and not be a brat about it. But maybe a fight would make it easier to walk away.

Several lights glowed from the pub windows. The flat was Liss’s base, but this was her safe space. When no one else employed her because she cared for her mum, Hugo let her work whatever shifts she could. Liss hadn’t worked in a pub before, and it was a miracle she was allowed to stay after her first shift, which involved broken glasses and chaotic drink orders. But as she got to know the punters, it became her home. With her unexpected skills in operations, she made it a successful business. Liss’s heart rattled at what could have happened if the bomb had gone off. Bear said it wasn’t set and couldn’t have, but bile climbed her throat at the idea that her people would have died because of her choices.

“Are the lights on a timer?” Bear asked as they stepped to the main door.

“No, everything goes off after closing.”

“Which is usually by now?”

Liss glanced at her watch and nodded. It was a little after midnight. Everyone was gone way before now on a Wednesday night, and finding a bomb would’ve closed the place early. Hairs rose on her neck as Bear pulled her closer.

“I don’t like this. We should go or at least wait for Strike.” He was wide-eyed as the pub’s front door opened.

Steve glared with hollow eyes and pinched lips. “I thought you’d turn up eventually. You’d best come in.”

Liss held her breath and stepped over the pub’s threshold before Bear grabbed her.

Chapter Forty-Two

Steve’s pupils were huge, and his eyes darted around the pub as he pointed at the seats.

Liss hadn’t seen him like this before, and as she stared at his worn appearance and shaking body, she gripped Bear. She bit the inside of her mouth to stop panic from claiming her. Bear attempted to stand in front of Liss, but she stepped away.

“Aren’t you going to sit?” Steve commanded rather than requested. The lights that hung from the walls glowed. As shadows danced up the walls every time he moved, his features wavered, an eery spectacle.

“What’s going on, Steve?” Bear asked, refusing to sit.

Bear surreptitiously surveyed the area. From spending time with him, Liss knew the dangers he was searching for. Steve was jittery and unable to keep still, but there was no sign of a weapon. The bar was empty except for a glass filled with a neat spirit. Liss’s stomach turned. The only spirit Steve drank like that was gin, and that was rare because it made him unpredictable.

“Sit down, Liss. I need to talk to you,” Steve said grimly, refusing to look at Bear.

“Look, mate,” Bear replied casually as if his calm would rub off onto Steve.

“I’m not your mate, remember?”

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