Page 88 of Peyton's Price

He slipped it into his pocket as Matthias burst into the hotel suite. Peyton trailed behind him, almost chasing him.

“I can’t believe you’re giving me the silent treatment,” she was saying, her voice pleading. “Just yell at me if you have to. I know you want to.”

Matthias ignored her.

Liam could tell by the look on his face that it was bad. He had only ever seen that expression once before—after Matthias had heard about the deaths in the ill-fated trafficker’s raid.

Liam had already broken things off when the Belarus massacre had happened, but he’d flown out to theOrmen Langewhen Priya called. They may not have been lovers then, but his friend had needed him.

Matthias had been pretty broken up at first, but he seemed to recover quickly.And then he’d asked me to leave.Back then, Liam had taken it as a confirmation their relationship had run its course.

He didn’t think that now.

Liam was about to say something to alert the pair to his presence when Peyton forcibly stopped Matthias, grabbing his arm. “I had to help her.”

Matthias closed his eyes before gently pushing her away. “I said not now.”

Tears began to stream down Peyton’s cheeks. “Liam would never walk away from a fight.”

“I am notLiam,” Matthias yelled.

“No, Iam,” he said, breaking his stunned silence. “What the hell is happening?”

Matthias and Peyton turned to him. The tears streaming down her cheeks gutted him—they always had. He walked over, attempting to put his arm around her, but she shied away.

“I don’t deserve to be comforted. He should be mad. I lied to him. By omission, but I still lied.”

The whole story came spilling out in fits and starts, but Liam soon understood exactly what had happened. To his relief, Matthias stayed for the entire explanation as well, but his determined silence was not a good sign.

Suppressing a groan, Liam sat on the couch, rubbing his temples in an attempt to ward off the headache starting to build in the front of his skull.

Peyton perched at the edge of the armchair. She stared at her hands, completely downcast. Matthias held up the wall opposite her. Liam sat in between, instinct telling him to appear as neutral as possible even though he wanted to crush them both in his arms until they started looking at each other—and him.

“I understand that Peyton was wrong not to tell you, but I also understand her trepidation in delaying the truth given your history with this sort of thing.”

“Are you seriously trying the role of peacemaker?” Matthias asked with a sniff.

“It feels weird for me, too,” Liam grudgingly admitted.

Liam was usually the one who needed a mediator. Maggie or his brother usually took turns cleaning up after him. When he fought, it tended to get messy. There had even been one time when a competitor lunged at him across a conference room table after he’d destroyed him in a negotiation.

Something told him this was going to be so much worse than that. Where the hell did he start?

“Matthias, I know you’re upset, but I also know Peyton. There’s no way in the world she would have turned her back on someone who asked for help.”

Peyton cleared her throat, her hands twisting her skirt into knots. “Technically, I offered and she accepted.”

Liam’s smile grew tight. He surreptitiously made a slashing movement across his neck, one that Matthias caught.

The other man rolled his eyes. “I understand that. What I don’t understand is why she didn’t tell us.”

Peyton was going to tear a hole in her skirt. “I was worried you would stop me,” she said. “Time was of the essence.”

Matthias threw up his hands. “You still should have said something. You heard the girl—her boyfriend is dangerous. He could have had her followed, then your part in this mess would have been exposed. You might have been seriously harmed.”

“It was not a mess,” she argued. “My plan worked. Anisa got away! And that man was hermolester,not her boyfriend. She was a child—I don’t care if she was almost eighteen. She is not even legal, and her mother sold her to that pervert. Can you honestly tell me you wouldn’t have done the same thing?”

“Of course I would have—but I wouldn’t have done the drop and evacuation in person,” Matthias snapped back. “I would have sent trained personnel to do it. The pervert would have never even known I was involved. And if you’d only told me what you had planned, he wouldn’t know you were!”

---