There’s no joy or love lost between us, so instead of returning his smile, I point the gun at him.
"The fuck are you doing in my house?"
Liam shrugs. 'Haven't heard from you in a while. Thought I'd drop by."
I roll my eyes, clicking the safety back onto the gun. I put it back in my shoulder holster, but don't put it away.
Liam raises his eyebrows. "You feeling saucy today, luchóg?"
The ugly nickname makes me bristle. "I'm not a mouse anymore, brother."
"Aye well. That you're not," he gestures to the gun.
Good.
"How can I help you?"
Liam sighs and flops into a chair. He looks over at me, his eyes...
Tired.
Liam has always been the more sane of my brothers. Unfortunately, he was raised separately from Kieran and I.
I didn't know that Kieran had a twin for the longest time. When I first saw Liam, all that I could think was how afraid I was that there were two of them.
I still don't think that I trust Liam. Not fully. It's hard to, since almost every scar on my body was put there by the man who looked just like him.
Liam's eyes, green just like mine, lack the fire andcraziness of Kieran’s.
And, I note for the first time that he looks tired as well.
"Congratulate me, sister. I'm getting married."
I cough. "What?"
"Married. In a month or two, I'll bring home a new bride."
"I didn't know you were dating," I say softly.
Liam doesn't smile. "I'm not."
"Okay..."
"It's more of... an arrangement. A strategic alliance to ensure that there's peace among a couple of key allies."
"Like who?" I can't help but ask.
Liam shrugs. "Do you have any new information for me?"
I turn, bile rising in my throat. "Interpol is following the Garda lead on some of the recent kidnappings in Cork. They think that someone is trying to antagonize shipping lanes."
Liam swears softly in Gaelic, then stands. "I think we'll need to move the date of the wedding."
"To when? And who's the poor girl? Is she... does she know why you're doing this?"
He nods. "She volunteered."
A small part of me sighs in relief. I'm not sure why, but envisioning yet another woman caught in this whole web of lies feels...