Page 34 of Torched

“I want a family, Kane.” But I’ve changed. It has been crossing my mind more in the last year and ever since I met Cristina, it’s been popping in my head weekly. I want more. I want a family. And Cristina seems to be the one girl who can give me both. I just always assumed there wasn’t any girl who could handle the kind of world I operate in. To be strong enough to deal with some of the uncertainties it comes with. The risk. The fear. But she can.

“A family?” Kane croaks out, a little lost for words, it seems. “You want a family?”

“I understand that, Liam.”

“I don’t,” Kane adds.

“I do.” Jeremy continues, cocking his head with sympathy. “But she’s not it.”

“You checked her out, Jer! You confirmed she has no contact with the rest of her family in Spain.”

“Just because I haven’t found any proof, doesn’t mean she’s not contacting them in a different way.”

“You two only say that because her last name is Reyes.” My finger rises accusingly.

“You’re damn right!” Kane huffs, but Jeremy shakes his head.

“No. I’m saying it because I feel like she’s hiding something. Like she’s not who she says she is. The timing is suspicious, and I haven’t found anyone who can back up the story of her being disowned by the rest of the family.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” I argue, becoming increasingly frustrated with this conversation. I crack my neck, keeping my anger in check, but really, I’m ready to walk away from this before I hurt someone.

“No, you’re right. But it also doesn’t mean it isn’tsomething.”

“It means she’s fucking playing you!” Kane growls out, almost on a whine.

The coarseness of his words makes me boil over, my hands balling into fists. Without thinking, I charge him, grabbing his shirt as I push him against the doorpost.

“Just because your sorry ass is incapable of loving anyone, doesn't mean everyone is! She isn’t fucking playing me!” I roar at his narrowed eyes. “Either fucking take the effort to get to know her yourself orshut the fuck up!” I let go of him with a shove as I storm into the hallway.

“Liam!” I hear Jeremy behind me, but I keep stomping forward, fueled by adrenaline. That son of a bitch is judgmental as fuck, but I’m not going to let him talk to me like that. He can either make an effort or go bark at someone else.

“Leave me the fuck alone!”

I don’t feel the fatigue taking over every muscle in my body until I ring the doorbell, leaning my upper arm against the doorpost above my head. I should’ve seen it coming. In fact, I did see it coming. I knew Kane was going to corner me at some point and ask the questions that were sitting on the tip of his tongue for weeks now. Or more accurately, the accusations. I mentally prepared myself for it, or at least I thought I did. But clearly, not enough. As much as I was convinced I was going to go head to head about him, giving Cristina the trust she deserves… my mind felt more dread with every step I made toward her condo close to Central Park.

Unlike my brother, I don’t want to judge someone by the family they come from, for the simple fact that Kane and I come from a deadbeat dad who left us before Kane could walk, and a mother with a thing for substance abuse who wasn’t fit to take care of us long before she finally died when I was twenty-one. You could argue that we are first-class scum, rats from the street, yet we worked our way up to the elite of New York. On both sides of the law.

I want to believe Cristina deserves a second chance. A chance to build a life for herself outside of the fucked-up family she comes from. But even though I know that’s what I believe, and want for her, I can’t completely get rid of Kane’s reasoning either.

Until she’s right in front of me.

The door opens, and I stare into Cristina’s deep brown eyes.

As soon as she lifts her gaze to mine, her bright energy coming at me in waves, she wraps me around her finger without even trying. All I see is a girl who’s strong enough to take care of herself, strong enough to break loose from her toxic family, and I respect her for it.

“Hey,” she says, worry pinching her mouth when she looks me up and down.

“Hey.”

“Are you okay?” Her slender hand pulls me in by my tie, and I hear the door shut behind me.

“Kane doesn’t like you.”

Her eyebrows raise, though it’s not by surprise. More in a way of expectation. Like she already knew he wouldn’t like her.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t see that one coming.” She lets go of me, then prances back into the living room, where she picks up her glass of wine sitting on the dining table. I watch her luscious curves tempting me with every step forward, her long legs begging me to peel the skin-tight dress from her hips. But her expression of contempt when she turns around, keeps me rooted to the spot.

“Did you expect anything else?” Her red lipstick stains the glass as he takes a sip.

---