Page 94 of Hold

Chapter 27

Kane appeared at ten o’clock the next day, laden down with the promised treats and his children. Ellen followed up with a bag full of milk and juice and fruit. Megan had slept on the couch and was thrilled with the bounty. Thea put on a fresh pot of coffee.

Jake was still in bed, but Benji had bounced up at his usual time, excited beyond belief that his beloved aunt had crept in during the night. He was curled up on the couch with her, watching cartoons and giggling, Megan refusing to talk in anything other than a Phineas voice. Thea had been sitting in the kitchen, working her way through a pot of coffee and thinking.

Cat arrived soon after the food was laid out. She looked snippy but hugged Thea and said, “I’m listening, next time you want to yell at me.”

Thea smiled. “Good. Actually, I’m glad you’re here. I just called Gabe and told him about last night.”

Instantly, Cat was back in judgment mode. “Why’d you bother doing that?”

She wasn’t going to trot out the old “because he’s Jake’s father” excuse this time. “Because if things were reversed, I would have wanted to know.”

“Yeah.” Cat snorted. “Which they never would be. Give me a cup of coffee, would ya?”

“Anyway,” Thea went on, getting another mug. “He’s on his way over.”

“Shit. Kane’s going to kill him.”

Thea sipped her own mug. “Mmm.” She tried to care, thought about Gabe attacking Liam in front of Jake, and stopped trying.

A knock came at the door. Thea and Cat looked at each other, and Thea moved toward the living room, where Kane and Ellen had moved the coffee table so their kids could play on the floor while Benji and Megan stayed on the couch. Thea saw Kane’s face first as he looked to the front door, but he didn’t look mad, so she followed his gaze.

It was Liam.

The rush of feeling she got at seeing him at her threshold as he’d been two months ago took her breath away. He was taller, broader, hotter than she remembered. It was Cat who let him in, but he only looked at Thea, his blue eyes fixing her in her place. He wasn’t smiling.

The room now had nine people in it and was very crowded. Liam stayed by the door. “Hello, Liam,” Cat said, a touch of sarcasm in her voice. “What brings you here?”

“Hello, Catherine,” he said.

Thea flinched. Megan sucked in her breath.

“My name,” Cat said, blocking him from coming further in, “is Catriona.”

“My apologies.” Liam bowed at her, just a fraction, but how could Cat resist it? She opened the door, allowing him in.

“What are you doing here?” Cat asked again. Her voice was firm, but her shoulders relaxed.

He smiled at her, then turned his head and gave that smile to Thea.

Thea melted into the floor. Her. He’d come for her.

Another step sounded on the porch, a quick clatter of feet, and the screen door opened.

Liam turned as a voice said, “I’ve had about enough of you an’ all,” and then he was ducking and Megan cried out and Liam had a fist in Gabriel’s ribs and Kane was on his feet. Gabe was off-balance, crashed into the door and broke a pane of glass, and Kane pushed him out of the door and followed him out, with Liam next to him. Everyone was shouting except Thea, who had stopped breathing, and Megan, who was holding Benji’s head to her chest to hide his eyes.

Through the open door, Thea saw the scene play out. Gabe was bleeding from the mouth. Thea could bet that was Kane’s doing.

“You dare come back here?” Kane was shouting, his voice deeper than Liam’s but with a crack in it from the fire he’d been in a few years ago. “Youdaretry your shit again with her?”

“She’s my wife!” Gabe roared. “You keep your fucking hands off her!”

Obviously his jealousy overrode his sense of self-preservation, because he wasn’t even looking at Kane, the bigger danger, but at Liam.

“You left her,” Liam said in the even tone Thea didn’t know how he managed.

“What the fuck does that matter?” Gabe yelled. “She’smine. She’ll have me back in a minute if you’ll just fuck off.”

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