Page 27 of Darkest Game
“Just because I didn’t want to marry you doesn’t mean I’m going to let you suffer. You had a cut, I helped fix it. Elaine was trying to kill you, I helped stop it. You were never the one who was supposed to be taken. So that’s why I helped you.”
“Out of guilt?”
He averts his gaze. “I don’t feel guilt. I don’t care about most things in this life.”
Including me. I can’t let Liam saving me get in my head. He’s still not going to protect me against Jack. He’s not going to be a loyal husband. He’s not the man I dreamed of marrying.
“We should head back out there,” he says. “Who knows what the fuck Elaine is telling Jack right now.”
When we arrive back in the main ballroom of the reception center, one of the guests – a middle aged man with a bad comb over – comes over to me.
“You’re covered in blood.” His words slur. Judging from how badly he stinks of alcohol, it’s clear he’s drunk. He reaches out a hand to touch me when Liam steps forward and punches the man right in the face.
It shocks me so much, I stumble back, hands clasped over my mouth. The other guests look at Liam with wide eyes.
“Why the fuck are you punching my guests?” Jack’s voice booms across the room.
“He tried touching Irina.”
I stare at Liam in shock. Is he acting possessive towards me? Is this because Jack is making a fool out of him by trying to claim me first?
The one thing I’m sure of about Liam is that he’s an enigma.
“That’s not for you to decide.” Jack storms over to us. His eyes narrow when they land on my arm. “What the fuck happened here?” He grabs my arm so roughly, I can’t stop myself from crying out.
“Careful,” Liam grits out.
Jack tosses him a dismissive glance and turns my arm from side to side. “How did you get hurt? Liam. Just because I’m going to claim your wife first doesn’t give you the right to hurt her. I want to touch her unblemished skin.”
“Did your wife not tell you?”
“What?” His question is flat.
Liam nods at Elaine, who’s sitting at the head table like she hadn’t just tried to kill me. “You’re wife. I caught her in the bathroom trying to murder Irina. She had a knife to Irina’s throat and everything.”
“Why would she do that?” Jack tosses my arm back at my side.
“Because she’s jealous that you’re going to fuck Irina tonight and wanted to make Irina ugly so you wouldn’t touch her.”
Jack throws Elaine an annoyed look. “You don’t get a say in this, wife.”
“I should get a say,” she snaps back. The entire room is watching us all in rapt fascination. It is one hell of a show. “You’re going to have sex with another woman tonight. A virgin no less. How do you think that makes me feel?”
“You’re my wife in name and to have my children. But as a man and as the boss of everyone in this room, I need to make sure this girl is one of ours. And the only way to do that is to claim her myself.”
“Why not let her husband do that?”
“Because Liam has been a thorn in my side and needs to be punished.” Jack offers Liam a savage grin. “This is what happens when you fuck me over. When you don’t play by my rules.”
“I didn’t even know about your rules to begin with,” Liam replies. “I was next in line after Cillian. Don’t hate me for taking advantage of a situation anyone else would have done.”
“Know your place!” Jack shouts, spittle flying from his mouth. “And stop punching my guests. If anyone of these men want to touch Irina, then they have my permission. Just not until I’ve had her first. But after I’ve claimed her, I don’t care who fucks her. You. Me. Any of these other men. She belongs to us all now. This little Russian bitch will know what it’s like to have hard Irish cock inside of her. And if that bothers you, Liam, then I suggest you don’t get too attached to the girl.”
“You made her my wife just to cuckhold me.”
He raises his eyebrows. “Cuckhold. That’s a fancy word for a guy like you.”
Liam’s hands are clenched into fists. I don’t move an inch as I watch this showdown take place.
