A_Dom_Is_Forever

by Lexi Blake

  Avery paled visibly. “Simon is in on this?”

  “Yes, he’s the one who will keep you safe on the inside,” Knight explained. “I want you to consider him your partner.”

  Oh, that was not fucking going to happen. “She is not going back to that place.”

  “She has to.” Knight frowned. “If she disappears now, it could put a chill on the whole operation. You’re the one who can leave, O’Donnell. Tomorrow your mission is going to be finished, and Simon can handle it from there. You can simply go back to the States like the nice tourist they all think you are.”

  “I am not leaving.”

  Knight sat back. He appeared to enjoy having the upper hand. “You will if I kick you out. Don’t forget for a second that I can have you tossed into places you don’t want to go. I’ll do it without a single qualm if you threaten my mission. I’ll shove you so far into prison that no one will remember you even existed.”

  “Oh, they’ll remember when I break him out, Damon. As pissed as I am right now, don’t think for a second I’ll leave a man behind. You do not want to play that card.” Ian stood up. “We can’t decide anything tonight. Miss Charles, if I’ve been hard on you, I apologize. My dick isn’t involved in this so I can only go by what my brain tells me and that’s to keep you at arm’s length. Since I can’t do that anymore, I have to trust that Eve’s judgment is correct and you’re not a supersecret terrorist out to bring down the US military. You should understand that we’re not the only ones who have been watching you for weeks. When I took your phone in order to bug it, I found out it was already bugged. Watch what you say and do. If it was up to me, I would pull you in a heartbeat, but it’s not. As for you, Li, we’ll talk about it when we get back to Dallas. After we bring in Nelson, it’s up to you whether you stay or not.”

  “We’re not staying,” Liam replied. “Neither one of us. She’ll come back with the team because we owe her protection.”

  Avery shook her head. “I’m not leaving. I’ll help out MI6.”

  Liam gave her his best Dom stare. “You will not. You are not involved anymore. You’re out of this.”

  “She’s not out if she doesn’t want to be,” Knight insisted.

  Avery turned to Liam, her eyes bright with tears. “I’m not leaving, Lee. Liam. God, I hate this. I won’t leave because he’s sending guns in to kill the very people I’ve been trying to save, that Stephanie is trying to save. What the hell happens when some boy soldier gets it into his head that he can take over the clinic where she works, where she does good? I gave up everything so she could do something good. I will take down anyone who gets in my way. You think I’m so weak, don’t you? Well, you watch me now. You watch me. I won’t allow you to hold me back.”

  A sob went through her, her whole body shaking, and he couldn’t help it. He pulled her close, his hand soothing down her back. He hadn’t thought about it that way. Avery had a stake in this game, a big one. She’d put so much of her grief and pain from the accident and turned it into something good, and she would be devastated if it all went wrong and she had any sort of hand in it.

  “It’s all right, love. I’m going to take care of it. I’m going to fix this. Do you understand? I’ll do whatever it takes to shut this down. I promise.”

  She pushed away from him after only one sweet moment where she’d softened against him and let him hold her. “You owe me, Liam.”

  He didn’t want this to be about him owing her, but it tied them together and he couldn’t deny her this. Her story about how she’d come out of her grief had moved him to tell her the truth. She’d been brave, and now she wanted to protect the world she’d built and he couldn’t deny her. She wouldn’t be Avery if she didn’t try. “I promise.” He turned to Knight. “Let me stay, and I’ll be a good soldier. Tell him, Ian. Please.”

  That “please” made his stomach roll. He didn’t beg. He didn’t plead. He would rather die, but that was how much she’d come to mean to him. It struck him rather forcibly that he’d just gained a huge weakness. Avery could take him apart if she wanted to, and she just might want to.

  “He’ll do a good job for you,” Ian said, no expression on his face. “He’ll protect her and get you what you need. And I want him back when you’re done, Damon. Don’t get him killed.”

  It was practically a declaration of love from Ian Taggart.

  Ian walked out, slamming the door behind him.

  Alex patted Liam’s back as he stood up. “I’ll keep covering you, man. No matter what happens tomorrow, I’ll stay here and back you up. I think you did the right thing. I’m sure Adam and Jake will stay behind, too.”

  “Great. I need a bunch of yanks hanging around.” Knight put a hand out. “Sorry. I’ll take all the help I can get, and it really would be optimum if everyone in Avery’s life stayed in place. Molina is listening in, and he’ll take note of anyone who leaves. The last thing we need is Molina deciding she’s on the wrong side. Look, Miss Charles, try to get those files. If Simon is right, they’re in some form of code. We’ll get you a clean phone with a camera. Don’t walk out with the files. Take pictures of them and send them to us. I suspect they’re likely in code. We can crack it. If you can do that, we can stop everything.”

  Or Liam could take all the risks. He would rather he did it. Or Weston. They were trained. Avery wasn’t, but he wasn’t about to argue with the new boss when Knight had been so close to taking Liam out of the game altogether.

  Avery nodded. “I’ll get it done. He’ll be out of the office tomorrow. If you get me a camera, I’ll find the files.”

  “Excellent.” Knight stood up, straightening his shirt. “I know you won’t believe this, Miss Charles, but I quite admire you, and I wouldn’t see you hurt. My country will be very appreciative of your aid in this matter. If you need anything at all, I’ll make it happen.”

  “Do I have to stay with him?” she asked.

  Fuck. He couldn’t let her walk out. Not now. “It would look bad. Everything has to stay the same.”

  Knight shrugged. “He’s right. And you do need a bodyguard. I know you’re perfectly angry right now, but I’m going to give you a little advice that you’re likely to ignore since I’ve got a cock and you probably hate all men right now. He didn’t have to tell you. It would have been far easier for him to have simply disappeared at the end of this operation and left you without an explanation. It’s what I would have done. So you ask yourself why that dumb bloke just risked everything for you. If he’d been on my team, I would have had him shot and disposed of. He’ll likely lose his job, and for people in our business, we only have our jobs. So you ask yourself why he would risk everything he has to make sure you knew his real name. Mind that man, Miss Charles. He would die to protect you. He’s a bit of an idiot that way.”

  Liam felt his eyes slide away. What the hell was he supposed to do about that? He was torn between punching the bugger and hugging him. He’d never been as confused as he was right fucking now. The only thing he knew was he had to protect her, and he had to let her take a stand. And those two things were completely counter to each other.

  “I understand.” Avery took a long breath and stood as well. “I would like to go home now. If I have to go home with Liam, I will do that.”

  Not the sweetest words he’d ever heard, but he’d take them. He got up and nodded to Alex and Eve before opening the door for Avery. He was going home with her. He had to hope he had a little time to fix the wound he’d opened.

  As for tomorrow, that was a fresh hell, and he’d face it when he had to.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Avery was still shaking as Liam got out of the cab. She almost never took cabs in the city, but Liam had insisted he didn’t want to be on the Tube this time. He’d probably thought she would run, but she’d meant what she said. She wasn’t going anywhere. She wasn’t going to allow all of her hard work to be for nothing because someone was trying to profit off the pain and misery of others.

  Still, it

would have been easier on the Tube. He’d spent the entire time sitting next to her not saying a damn word. For a man who had so much to say before, he was stubbornly silent now, and they were about to head up to her apartment where they couldn’t talk about anything because the whole place was bugged.

  Her apartment was bugged, and everyone around her was lying to her. She wouldn’t believe it, but it was pretty hard to think the prime minister of England was really on hand to help out a bunch of con artists. Of course, it could have been an actor. One who looked and sounded just like the PM.

  She sighed. She kept looking for a way out, and there wasn’t one. When she really stopped to think about it, she’d known deep down something was wrong at UOF. Something was wrong with her boss.

  “Do you think Brian was in on it?” Brian Molina had been her friend in physical therapy. He’d introduced her to his brother and gotten her the job in the first place.

  “Not here.” Liam handed the driver the fare and reached in to take her hand and help her out.

  She ignored the offered hand. She would have to get used to being on her own again since she had no real intention of seeing him after this mission of his was over. In some ways, it would have been kinder for him to have just left. She would have had a few more days, and then he could have faded away. She would have been left with the memory of being loved once.

  “Avery.” He was getting very good at making her name sound like a curse word, but she was about to get good at ignoring him.

  She managed to stay on her feet. She breezed past him and into the building. He was right behind her. By the time they walked past the front desk, he had an arm around her and she was stuck because she’d promised to keep up the ruse. She smiled at the deskman and managed not to punch Liam when his hand slipped down and cupped the curve of her hip.

  How long would it be before she forgot his face? Sometimes she couldn’t quite remember Brandon’s face.

  When the lift doors closed, she started to shove him away, but he seemed to anticipate her move and crowded her to the back of the tiny car, his body covering hers. He leaned over and whispered straight in her ear.

  “There’s a camera in the left hand corner. Don’t give me hell until we get to Adam and Jake’s. It’s not safe. There are cameras everywhere, and one wrong move could clue your boss in.” He tipped her head back and spoke normally. “Are you sure we have to meet your friends for a drink? I just want to get you in bed, baby.”

  Heat flashed through her. She could hate him all she liked, but her body didn’t care. The minute he started to talk in that deep tone of his, her body responded. The good news was her body wasn’t in charge. “I think I’m going to be very tired tonight.”

  He didn’t seem to pick up on her tone. He just winked down as the doors opened. “It’s okay. I’ll do all the work. All you have to do is lay there.”

  “Wow. That sounds so charming.” She held her temper. Only a few more steps and she could let it fly. She allowed him to lead her out of the lift and down the hall. She glanced up and, sure enough, there were security cameras covering the hallway. She’d never really noticed them before. Someone was watching. Maybe it was the building security or maybe it was someone else. Everything she did and said was being watched and used against her.

  Liam pulled her into his arms, his voice low again. “Don’t be scared. I’m going to take care of you.”

  She wanted so much to sink into his strength. She wanted for him to just be Lee and for everything that had happened in the last couple of hours to be a stupid dream.

  But it wasn’t, and she had to face reality again.

  The door to Adam’s apartment opened, and he walked out looking like the nice man she’d assumed him to be when he was really some sort of intelligence operative. He was still dressed for the day in a pair of slacks and a button down. “Hey, you two. I was getting worried about you. Come on in. I have a late-night snack ready. Martinis, anyone?”

  “Yeah, I want a martini,” Liam said, his voice incredulous. “Beer me, man. But my girl here could use a nice stiff drink.”

  She walked through the door, and the minute it closed, Adam turned. He stood taller than normal, his shoulders perfectly straight and all affectation of softness gone. “Avery, I am very sorry you found out like this.”

  She hated them all in that moment. Just as she’d thought she was finding some friends and coming out of her social disaster phase, she learned that everyone she’d befriended had ulterior motives, including her boss who she had pretty much bet her whole future on. She no longer had a home in the States. She had no friends there. No friends here. She was alone in a way she hadn’t been even after Brandon and Maddie had been killed.

  Alone.

  “Why am I over here?” she asked. “Can’t I just go to bed and get the files in the morning and then I never have to see any of you people again?”

  “You people?” Adam asked with a grimace. He turned to Liam. “Wow. You fucked this up.”

  Jake walked in and tossed Liam a beer with the ease of long friendship. “Catch, man.”

  “Thanks. Fuck, I need this.” Liam had the top off and was downing it in a heartbeat. “I didn’t fuck up. I wanted her to know. I had to tell her because I have zero intention of letting her walk into this blind. I won’t let her get hurt.”

  He said all the right things, but then he’d said them before, too. “Since we’re here and it seems like the only place I can speak my mind without getting caught on tape, I have a few questions for you, and I want honesty for once.”

  Liam sobered, his eyes wrinkling into a serious expression. “I won’t lie to you again, love. I promise.”

  “Did you come up with all that ‘sex is serious’ crap before or after you met me?” She wanted to know if he ran that line on everyone or if she’d gotten special treatment from the jerk who had apparently made a sex tape. Ian’s recitation of Liam’s sexual history had done nothing to help his case.

  “After I met you,” he said, his eyes on her.

  “Trust me, I’ve known him for years, and he’s never once taken sex seriously,” Adam said. Liam growled his way. “Until now, of course.”

  Liam didn’t even flush, but then a man who’d slept with that many women probably had very little that embarrassed him. “My relationships before you have been brief and mostly about getting off, if you know what I mean.”

  “Whereas this one was about getting off while you worked. The perks of your job are lovely,” Avery shot back.

  His eyes narrowed. “I deserve that, love, but I want you to remember that I’m the one who came clean, and I did it for your sake.”

  When he put it like that she almost wanted to give in, but she fully intended to get to the bottom of everything. “Am I your type?”

  He stilled, the beer that had been just about to meet his lips stopping in midair before he brought it down and placed it on the table.

  “Do any of us really have a type?” Adam asked.

  “Go away. Both of you,” Liam said, his eyes steady on her.

  The last thing Avery wanted was to be alone with Liam. “I’d rather have them here. After all, they’ve been listening in, too, haven’t they?”

  Adam’s silence was answer enough.

  They had listened in while she’d made a fool of herself. “So it doesn’t matter if they go. They’ll still hear everything. Am I your type, Liam O’Donnell?”

  A stubborn look came over his features. “You’re female, so yes, you’re me type.”

  He wasn’t going to make this easy on her. She rephrased the question. “Did you take one look at me and decide you wanted to sleep with me?”

  “No,” he replied shortly.

  “What did you think of me?”

  The beer bottle slammed against the bar as he set it down. “Avery, this doesn’t matter. All that should matter is what I think now. Why does it matter that I looked at a complete stranger and didn’t necessarily want to fuck her? I want to fuck you now. I want to fuck you all day, twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. I’ll bloody well prove it to you if you’ll just let me take you to bed. I can prove how much I want you.”

  And she would fall right into his trap. “That would solve so many of your problems, wouldn’t it? If I was still the sweet submissive, you could just tell me what to do.”

  “You didn’t exactly follow all of me orders before, darlin’. I don’t know if you’ve been noticing, but you’re not exactly submissive outside the bedroom anymore. You’ve been standing up for yourself more and more this week.”

  That wasn’t the part of the week she wanted to focus on. “Is the BDSM stuff all crap? Because it occurs to me that it’s a really good way to get a woman to do what you want.”

  “It wasn’t serious for me until I met you.” Liam stood and towered over her, his hands on her shoulders. “I played around with it, but now it feels really bloody serious. I promised I wouldn’t lie, and I won’t. I wasn’t attracted to you at first.”

  She let a nasty little smile curl her lips up. “You thought I was plain and a little fat, didn’t you?”

  His eyes closed briefly and those hands on her shoulders tightened as though he was afraid of letting her go. “Why does it matter? I think you’re gorgeous now.”

  “Answer the question, Liam.” She really was a masochist, but she had to hear it come from his mouth.

  “Fine, I thought you were a little overweight and uninteresting, but that was my problem. That was coming from a man who barely got a woman’s name before he screwed her and walked out the door and started looking for the next warm body that didn’t matter. Adam, how many girlfriends have I had in the whole time you’ve known me?”

  “It depends of your definition of the term ‘girlfriend,’” Adam began.

  “He hasn’t had anyone, Avery.” Jacob Dean sighed and drank his beer. “He’s been utterly alone the whole time I’ve known him.”

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