She frowned, her heart still stumbling. “Why would you want to do that?”
“I’ll find out his name before I speak to him. That way, I’ll immediately have the upper hand because he’ll understand I know his identity. I told him I’m a lawyer and he’s an idiot if he didn’t get how angry I am. Trust me, the guy has a pretty good idea of what I’m capable of if he holds out on me.”
His eyes clouded with potential violence, and unease lifted the hairs at the back of Tanya’s neck. “What did you do to him?”
He looked away and focused on his glass on the table. “Nothing.”
“Liam, look at me.”
He turned.
Tanya looked deep into his eyes and saw the angry unpredictability she recognized from long ago. An unpredictability that could explode at any given moment—but was always justified and turned on the deserved target. She swallowed. “You didn’t...assault him, did you?”
“Of course not.” He took another drink, clearly avoiding her gaze.
“Liam.”
He lowered his glass and placed it on the table. “I didn’t hit the guy, okay? I just shook him up a little.”
Tanya stared, irritation simmering in her stomach. “This is exactly why I told you not to go there without me. By going there, you could have tipped him off, and God only knows who else, that you are looking for them. This is exactly what I didn’t want.”
His jaw tightened. “Whether that’s true or not, I don’t regret going there. We had to do something.”
She put down her glass and pushed to her feet. She glared at him. “I wanted to do this my way. Any mistakes that are made should be mine. I don’t want you wrapped up in something that could endanger your life.”
“No? Then why ask for my help in the first place?”
Tanya’s heart beat painfully against her rib cage. She hadn’t thought this through. She hadn’t considered just how deeply Davidson could be embroiled in a sickening business. It had been Sasha, and Sasha only, that had filled her thoughts. Now there could be any other number of young girls suffering the same abuse Sasha had—and Liam could potentially be killed for being the person Davidson and his cronies considered the whistle-blower.
She tipped her head back. “God, I’m so sorry. I just don’t want us to make any mistakes and risk Davidson getting away with what he’s done for another fifteen years.” She dropped her chin and met his eyes. “More than that, I don’t want you getting hurt...or worse.”
His gaze softened. “Nothing is going to happen to me, but things stopped being your way and your way only the moment you asked for my help. I’m in this now, and whether you like it or not, I can’t forget what I know. If you push me away, I’ll go talk to Cat myself.”
Tanya’s habitual and hateful need to control everything and everyone poked and prodded at her...tormenting her to embrace her previous shortcomings. She could not fall back into them before she’d had time to get better. She inhaled and shoved temptation away. She was better than that now...or at least working on it.
She raised her hands in surrender. “Okay. You’re right. I did ask you and I need you with me. I’m sorry.”
The tension left his shoulders and as he stood, he said, “Apology accepted. We’re on the same team, okay?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
He picked up his wine and drained the glass. “I’ll go back to the fair and get this guy to keep his mouth shut. Tell him not to contact Davidson. I’ll insinuate some kind of deal. I’ll make out that if Davidson is arrested and charged, I will ensure a deal if he gives me the information I need. If he doesn’t...”
“You can’t afford to take risks with your career over this. If anything happens and this guy from the fair lands in court on child abuse allegations, won’t you be held accountable for witness intimidation or something?”
His eyes darkened. “That’s a risk I’m willing to take. This is about Sasha...and you. I’ll do what I have to.”
The protective care in his eyes whispered over Tanya’s skin and into her heart. “I don’t deserve you being so good to me.”
He inched closer, the care in his eyes turning into something infinitely more dangerous and undoubtedly sexual. “And you’re bad for me, but that’s the way it is.”
She dropped her gaze to his mouth and leaned in, pressing her lips to his as he moved his hand to her thigh. Heat flooded from beneath his hand to her center. She slipped her tongue into his mouth, and they drew closer until Liam gently urged her back and she was beneath him on the couch.
* * *
LIAM GROANED AS he drew his hand up her waist, higher until he caressed her full breast beneath the cotton of her T-shirt. Her nipple peaked through her bra and he hardened.
Her hands smoothed up his arms to his shoulders until her fingers scored through the hair at the back of his head. Hot need ripped through his body. Like a spark to a flint, flames of want licked and burned inside him. His tongue sought hers and he fought for supremacy, for control, before her passion took over.
He knew her...knew how much she enjoyed and relished sex and every ounce of her domination. Yet it didn’t come. She didn’t resist or fight him. Instead, she turned pliant in his hands, her body sinking farther into the cushions beneath her as though she invited his authority.
Right or wrong, his arousal heightened at the notion that it was him, not her, who led this seduction. Drawing his mouth from hers, he trailed nips and kisses along her jawline. She moaned, and her hands slid to his back. She drew her nails across his flesh with enough purpose, his cotton shirt offered zero obstruction. He tensed, wanting more, wanting her...
He ran his hand down her side, around to squeeze her ass before bringing his hand to the front. Lifting his head, he stared straight into her eyes as his fingers worked on the buttons of her shirt. Her brown eyes were wide with wanting, her mouth ever so slightly open and her shallow breaths whispering over her lips.
Pushing her shirt open, he yanked down one of her bra cups. He exhaled. “You were away too long.”
Before she could respond, he leaned down and took one of her pebbled nipples into his mouth, his tongue flicking back and forth just the way that used to drive her crazy.
“Oh, God, Liam.” She clung to him, her fingers clasping his hair and pulling.
Bolts of electricity coursed through his body and he left her breast to reclaim her mouth. She met his kiss as she yanked his shirt from the back of his pants. “I need to feel your skin against mine,” she whispered. “I need to feel you.”
He pushed up onto one arm, allowing her access to the front of his shirt. Her hungry gaze left his and her brow creased in concentration as she snapped open the buttons and raked her nails through the hair on his chest. She smiled. “God, I’ve missed this.” She looked up, her cheeks flushed. “I’ve missed you.”
A shrill ringtone rang out, a rendition of the theme song to a TV show he couldn’t quite place, and cut through his sexual haze like a rusty knife through metal. The sound was bloody annoying. Tanya stiffened in his arms and their eyes locked. Panic replaced her lust and he felt her slipping away from him even without her moving.
He dropped his head to hers. “You’d better get that.”
“Uh-huh.” Her harried breath pulsed against his lips.
Reluctantly, he moved to the side and she slithered out from underneath him. He turned over and collapsed onto his back. She was across the room to the dining table before he could blink. She snatched up the phone, glanced at the display and pressed Speak. “Sash? Hi.”
Liam closed his eyes as his heart rate slowed and his erection softened. Sasha’s timing was as impeccable as always. Had the damn woman known what a gargantuan mistake her sister and he had come so very close to making? He swallowed back a groan. For crying out loud, if he made love to Tanya, there would b
e no turning back. He’d be hers to do with what she would once again.
The thought snapped his eyes wide-open and he stood. With a brief glance at Tanya, he turned and buttoned his shirt. It was for the best they’d been interrupted. He needed to get back to the fair, not fall back in love with the woman who’d held him in the palm of her hand as no woman had before or since.
“No, I’m on my own. I’ve...I’ve just got back from a run.”
Tanya’s panted explanation threatened to bring his smile, and Liam clamped his lips firmly together. No weakness. No heartbreak. Just straightforward, no hassle pedophile chasing from now on. He squeezed his eyes shut. How the hell did I get here?
Turning, he opened his eyes, snatched his cell from the table and shrugged into his jacket. Inhaling, he approached Tanya at the dining table. Her gaze held his as he leaned around her to pick up his briefcase. She continued to talk into the phone, but her words were faded as though she spoke from a faraway distance. He dropped his gaze to her mouth and his cock stirred awake once more.
He was in so much shit.
Snapping his gaze to hers, he mimed that he’d call her later. He headed for the door and, once he was in the hallway, released his held breath. He marched toward the elevator. The sooner he got to Funland and confronted the guy he’d spoken to, the better. Even mixing with the scum of Templeton was safer than staying any longer with Tanya.
Glad he’d made the decision to collect his car from the office after leaving Funland the first time, Liam took his keys from his pocket and pointed it at the car. The doors unlocked and he slid behind the wheel before tossing his briefcase into the passenger foot well. Shimmying back against the leather seat, he clenched his jaw and gunned the engine.
It neared ten-thirty and the fair closed around eleven. He pressed on the gas and gripped the steering wheel, focusing his unspent energy on thinking how best to approach the guy at the stall. He needed to rein in his temper and regain his new improved practice of carefully and rationally dealing with scum, whether they be in the courtroom or on his personal turf. The guy was mincemeat because Liam considered the entirety of the Cove his turf.
Within fifteen minutes, he drew into the fair’s parking lot and killed the engine. Dance music blasted from Funland’s speakers and mixed with the screams and laughter from the hundreds of kids and families who still lingered in and around the fair.
He took the keys from the ignition and got out of the car. Striding toward the fair’s gates, Liam shouldered his way past the rides and burger trucks before approaching a semicircle of prize stalls. His target was busy up ahead with a group of young lads, clearly bartering for another shot at winning something.
Snatching his gaze to the side, his focus fell on a woman in her midthirties looking bored as she scanned the distance for potential prey to visit her rifle game.
He walked closer and smiled. “Excuse me. I wonder if you could help me?”
She blinked and turned. Her frown vanished as her face broke with a wide smile...and a pretty full-on appraisal of Liam. “I can help you with whatever you want, darlin’.”
Struggling to keep his smile in place when the woman flashed more gum than teeth, Liam risked another step closer. “I’m hoping you can tell me the name of the guy running the prize stall over there in the far corner.” He tipped his head in the general direction. “Someone called me interested in buying my car. He fits the description, but he didn’t give me his name.”
She turned and her frown reappeared. “Well, the guy in the blue shirt is Abe Hall, but...” She met Liam’s gaze. “I know for a fact he hasn’t got a pot to piss in, let alone money for a car.”
Liam laughed. “Ah. Well, maybe it’s not him then, but I’ll go check all the same. Thanks for your help.”
She grinned. “Anytime, baby. Anytime.”
Liam lifted his hand to his head in a salute, not trusting himself to respond, and tried to walk—rather than sprint—away. As he neared Hall, the band of teenagers conveniently moved away, leaving the man standing alone and entirely open to Liam’s deal making.
“How’s it going, Abe?”
Hall shot his gaze from the mess of darts he was clearing up and flinched. “Bloody hell. What do you want?”
Liam smiled. “Just a friendly word of warning.”
Hall glared. “About what? I told you all I know.”
“And I’m grateful. I just wanted to make sure you haven’t taken it upon yourself to contact Davidson since I was here earlier.”
“’Course I ain’t. I want no part of whatever it is you want with him.”
“Good. Then let’s keep it that way and I’ll decide whether or not to tell the police about which part of Davidson’s affairs piqued your interest when I was here earlier.”
Hall’s cheeks darkened and his gaze shifted left and right. “Just get lost, will you? I don’t want people asking who you are or what you want with me.” He met Liam’s gaze, anger storming in his eyes. “I don’t need no hassle with the cops, all right? I’ll keep quiet and you are free to do what the hell you want with Davidson. No skin off my nose.”
“Glad to hear it. Let’s make sure it stays that way. Otherwise, it won’t be me asking favors. It’ll be your big, hairy-backed cell mate.”
Hall opened his mouth to respond, but Liam walked away, whistling the same TV tune that had so rudely, but thankfully, interrupted his earlier ministrations on a decidedly more lithe, sexy and wholly more appealing body than Abe Hall’s.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
TANYA WALKED ACROSS her office to the front door and stared through the window toward Liam’s office. “Where are you?”
“Who are you talking to?”
Tanya turned.
Lucy’s forehead creased with a frown. “You okay?”
Tanya walked away from the door to her desk. “I’m fine. I was hoping to see Liam today, that’s all.”
Lucy’s frown vanished, and instead, she waggled her eyebrows, her eyes glinting with mischief. “Things heating up between you two? Scottie told me you were quite the couple once upon a time.”
“Once, yes. Not anymore.” Tanya sat, hastily busying herself with some papers on her desk and desperately trying not to think what almost happened when Liam was at her apartment.
Lucy plopped down in one of the visitors’ chairs. “Well, I think you should go for it. Liam is one of the hottest guys in this town. If I was a bit older...”
Tanya looked up and blanched at the lust in Lucy’s gaze. She laughed. “Shouldn’t that be a lot older? Liam’s nearing thirty-three and you’re barely nineteen.”
She shrugged. “I like a guy with ambition...and experience. Liam has both in spades.”
“And how would you know about his experience?”
“How can a guy who looks like that not have lots of experience? I don’t see him dating very often, but it would be impossible that he lacks female company when he wants it.”
Jealousy rippled through Tanya at the thought of anyone but her being intimate with Liam. She cleared her throat. “Well, I wouldn’t know about that. All I know is I need to speak to him and he’s stopped answering my calls.”
“Really? When did you last speak to him?”
“Last night.”
“Well, I’m sure he’ll be here, along with everyone in town, when we throw the door open for tonight’s grand opening.” She looked at her watch. “In less than an hour.”
“An hour?” Tanya stood, purposefully shoving away the fear that Liam was avoiding her. It hurt too much to think touching and kissing her had made him decide he wanted nothing more to do with her. “We need to get those nibbles laid out on the table and the champagne glasses rinsed. Come on, let’s get busy.”
An hour later, Tanya’s nerves had kicked in full force. She fisted her hand
s on her hips and assessed her office through narrowed eyes. Everything looked just as perfectly fancy and inviting as she’d envisioned weeks ago when she had been planning her return—yet nothing could banish the dark cloud of foreboding that lingered in her heart and mind. Even if Liam had decided to turn away from her, she still had to contend with Davidson and whoever else might be dealing in underage girls at Funland.
Her mission had grown so much bigger than Matt Davidson. She wanted Funland and everyone involved in it completely shut down.
She glanced toward the door again, fearing Liam might have made a further move in the investigation without her. His abhorrence of crime and criminals was almost palpable. She closed her eyes. Which was exactly why she still hadn’t told him about her shoplifting charges.
Opening her eyes, she stared at the lengthening line of people gathered outside, waiting for her or Lucy to open the door. Tanya rolled her eyes. It was no surprise that Marian Cohen stood at the very front of the queue.
Cursing the tremor in her hands and the growing fear she wasn’t strong enough to run her own business, Tanya forced her head high and inhaled. “Okay, are we ready?”
Lucy brushed her hand over the pristine white tablecloth showing off the array of tempting treats that would be available for weddings, birthdays and any other reason a client might want the Party Place’s services. “Absolutely. Shall I open the door?”
Tanya nodded. “Go for it.”
Lucy strode forward, turned the sign to Open and flung open the door with a flourish. “Welcome to the Party Place.”
Marian strode in, her eyes wide and busy as she scanned the office. Tanya waited for the onslaught, but was merely given a nod of approval before Marian headed for the champagne. Smiling, Tanya felt her confidence heighten, and she strode forward, her hands outstretched. “Help yourselves to wine or champagne. The canapés are just a sampling of what the Party Place has to offer for any celebration, big or small. Feel free to ask any questions, or there are booklets on my desk for you to take home and browse at your leisure.”
Her Hometown Redemption Page 17