Not today.
Instead, I sat back slowly, keeping my movements controlled while keeping my eyes on the chair.
A body dressed in an orange jumpsuit stepped around that chair. His hands were cuffed in front of him, his fingers clasped together as if he didn’t even notice the handcuffs. I clutched a little tighter to that deadly calm inside me, reminding myself the best reaction to give someone like this was no reaction at all.
It was hard. Oh, was it hard to not rip his arms off and beat him with them.
As I watched the body lower into the chair, my eyes lifted just slightly to the patch sewn onto the jumpsuit on his left breast.
CRONE.
Casually, calmly, I raised my stare and met the eyes of the man who ordered the hit on my girl.
Bellamy
“I cannot believe he did this!” I declared for the umpteenth time as I marched through the door at home. I slapped my bag down on the island and spun toward Alex. “Why would he do this?”
“I told you,” Alex answered. “There was a last-minute opening, and Liam didn’t want to disrupt your work schedule.”
“You keep saying that,” I murmured, bending down to pet an excited Charlie. “Hey, boy,” I crooned, rubbing his oversized ears. “Your Uncle Alex is a liar, liar pants on fire.”
“Don’t be filling his head with that nonsense.”
I stood, flinging out my hands. “Why? You’re trying to fill my head with it.”
“Why you so stubborn, woman?”
“Why are you lying, Alex?”
“God, I knew generals in the army who weren’t this persistent.”
I didn’t bother responding. Instead, I just glared at him.
He sighed rather dramatically. “Liam’s doctor called. They had a sudden opening for this afternoon at the hospital and wanted to know if he could move his appointment up a few days. There was a flight leaving right away, so Liam hopped on. He’ll be back later tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest.”
“Why wouldn’t he call me?”
“He was in a rush to get the airport.”
Liam was a lot of things, but it didn’t sit right that he wouldn’t tell me about this.
“He knew I wanted to be at his appointment.”
“You were at work. And you work tomorrow, too. He didn’t want to disrupt your schedule.”
“He’s more important than my work schedule. I would have left without pause.”
Alex made a scoffing sound. “Yeah, and from the sound of it, you probably would have been flogged by wagging tongues for weeks.”
“Nothing new about that,” I muttered.
“Liam know that the people in that kitchen are less than receptive to you?”
“It’s not everyone.” I rebuked. “And it’s getting better.”
Alex’s eyes narrowed, and just a smidge of that hard edge he sometimes seemed to emanate crept into his voice. “You telling me it’s been worse than that?”
I made a frustrated sound and spun, going to the fridge for the pitcher of lemonade I’d made. Charlie danced around nearby, his tail beating into the island, threatening to knock my bag off onto the floor. I moved it aside and set the pitcher down.
The dog got even more excited and clumsy when I pulled out his treat bag. He leapt forward, knocking me back into the island.
“Charlie,” Alex warned.
I glared at him. “He can’t help it he’s big.” After withdrawing a snack, I handed it to him, and he flopped down right there on the floor at my feet to eat it.
“You know how it is,” I told Alex, getting down some glasses. “I saw the way everyone looked at you when you strolled into the kitchen today.”
“How did they look at me?”
“Like they were intimidated.”
He made a rude sound. “They should be. And if they know what’s good for them, they’ll act right toward you, or Liam will clean house.”
I threw my hands up. “That’s what I’m talking about! People only think I got the job because of Liam, because him and his daddy said so. I’ve been working for weeks to prove myself.”
“Haven’t they ever eaten your food?”
“Of course.”
“Then what the fuck else do they need, a hand-engraved letter from the Queen of England?”
I ignored him. He was ridiculous. “And to top it all off, now I have you coming into work like we’re BFFs and you’re the boss, too!”
“We aren’t BFFs,” Alex remarked.
I couldn’t help it. The offhand comment kinda stung. I thought we’d gotten close over the months I’d been here. I’d come to trust Alex almost as much as I trusted Liam.
Aside from the fact he was totally lying to me right now about Liam’s whereabouts.
“We’re family.”
My eyes flew up to him. “What?”
“You don’t have just Liam in your corner. You have me, too. Family takes care of family.”
My eyes started to mist over, so I got busy pouring the drinks and then putting the pitcher away.
Alex took a long chug out of his glass and set it down with a thunk. “I’m thinking maybe I need to be making more appearances in the kitchen. People need to recognize.”
“That will just make things worse.”
“People love me,” he said, totally clueless. His face lit up like a lightbulb went on over his head. “This why you’ve been working late all these nights?” Anger crossed his features. “You’ve been doing other’s people’s work?”
“It’s not like that.”
His rude sound filled the kitchen. “Then how is it?”
“It’s called earning my place.”
He laughed. “The only place ass kissing earns you is that of a whipping boy.”
I started to shake my head.
“You don’t earn respect, Bells. You demand it.”
He didn’t get it. I guess we didn’t have as much in common as I thought. Of course, people were more accepting of him and his promotion. He grew up here. People knew of the bond Liam and Alex had. And yes, maybe they were intimidated, but as Alex so eloquently pointed out, he liked it.
I didn’t blame him for it. Actually, I admired it. Maybe I should learn to be a little more like him. I definitely did feel like life’s whipping boy as of late.
“Did you learn that in the army?” I asked.
A dark shutter came down over his piercing blue eyes. It made me so curious as to what those years of his life had been like. I knew there was a story there. Liam said as much. But he also seemed to want Alex to be the one to tell me about it.
“Among other things.” From the tone of his voice, I knew right now wasn’t going to be the time Alex and I had that talk.
I let it go. I respected his privacy and the right to his own demons.
“About Liam…”
He groaned. “My God, girl. Now I remember why I don’t have a bunny. Too much damn work.”
“That wasn’t very nice.”
He chuckled. The sound was very warm and such a contrast to his icy eyes. “Aww, bring it in.” He opened his arms wide.
I sniffed.
The chuckle turned into a laugh, and he came forward, grabbing me up for a hug, lifting my feet off the ground. I shrieked, and Charlie barked.
“I love ya, girl who got away. I was just playing.”
I was entirely too emotional lately. Going from sass to tears at the drop of a dime. One second, I was ready to fight. The next, Alex saying he loved me turned me into a mushy mess.
I pulled back and looked at him. The crystal of his stare seemed to see through me. “You are a piece of work, but I really do love ya. Like a sister, of course.”
Aww, hell. I started to cry.
Alex put me down and stepped back, holding up his hands as if he didn’t know what to do. “I was trying to be nice!”
“You were.” I sniffled.
“Then why are you crying?”
“‘Cause I love you, too,” I wailed.
I laughed and swiped at my eyes. “I was just by myself for a long time,” I tried to explain.
Realization dawned, and his face softened. “Ah, I gotchya.” He nodded. “You aren’t alone anymore.”
I sipped at the lemonade, trying to compose myself. Geez, I was acting ridiculous. I was also worried about Liam, something that was not helping anything.
“I’m going to call him,” I announced, feeling lighter just thinking about hearing his voice.
Alex nodded. “Good idea. You can grill him for a while.”
I held out my hand. Alex looked between me and it.
“I need your phone.”
“Where’s your cell?”
“I haven’t had time to get one.”
“Still?” he drawled, pulling it out of his jeans to hand it over. “Well, we have a free evening, so guess what we’re doing tonight?”
“So Liam asked you to babysit me until he got back?”
“I hate to break it to you, girl who got away, but you don’t have the best track record of being alone.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered and called up Liam’s number on the screen. “I’m going to take a shower before we go. Want to pick up a pizza while we’re out?”
“Now you’re talking.”
I started down the hallway with the cell, the line ringing in my ear.
“Hey! Where you going with my phone?”
“I need some privacy!”
“Leave that in the bedroom when you’re showering! I can’t be having my phone in the bathroom with you while you’re naked!”
I cackled at the horror in his voice and then shut the bedroom door behind me.
My stomach twisted uncomfortably when the line rang again. Where are you, Liam? Why did you take off without telling me?
Just when I thought it would go to voicemail, his voice filled my ear.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
And just like that, the clenching of my belly eased and a feeling of calm washed over me. “Liam.” I sighed.
“Everything okay?” The concern in his voice snapped me back to the reason I was calling.
“Actually, no, everything is not okay.”
Tension burst through the line. Liam’s voice grew louder in my ear. “What’s wrong?” He insisted. “Is Alex with you?”
“Yes, Alex is with me, and that’s what’s wrong. You should be here, not him. I want to know why you got on a plane without telling me and why Alex is trying to feed me some bullshit story about an early doctor appointment.”
Silence answered me.
“Liam!” I insisted, clutching the phone.
His voice was quiet when he finally replied. “Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do. So don’t take advantage of it.”
“I’m doing what I have to do right now. For you. For us.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “You aren’t at the doctor.”
“I’ll explain everything when I get home.”
“When will that be?”
“I’m not sure yet. Tomorrow at the latest.”
I walked into the bathroom and stared at myself in the large mirror. “Why won’t you tell me what’s going on?”
“I will. When I get home.”
“Liam…”
“I have to go, sweetheart.”
“Liam!” I called out, afraid he would disconnect the call.
“I’m here.”
I relaxed against the counter and stared at my feet. “You’re safe, aren’t you?”
“I’m safe, and I’m coming home to you as soon as I can.”
My teeth sank into my bottom lip. “Okay.”
“I love you, Bells.”
“I love you, too.”
He ended the call first. I stood there gripping the phone in my hand, wondering what he was doing that he didn’t want to tell me about.
Liam
Our stares met and held. Neither of us flinched. Neither of us blinked. His hands remained folded in his lap as though perhaps he were sitting at church, preparing to listen to a sermon.
He didn’t fidget. His nostrils and eyes didn’t flare when our eyes met. If it weren’t for his control, I wouldn’t have been impressed by this modern mobster at all.
He was smaller than he appeared on TV. Probably about five feet eight, one hundred sixty pounds. His hair was thick and dark but was peppered with gray, especially at his temples and around his ears. His face was completely clean shaven, and his eyebrows were bushy.
He looked Italian. I think I’d read somewhere he was. Not that it mattered. He could be a blue Martian for all the fucks I gave. All I cared about right now was results.
I didn’t bother to lean toward the holes in the glass separating us. I stayed where I was, my eyes not leaving his when I spoke. “I’m—”
His voice cut me off. He had a definite New York accent. “I know who you are.”
I didn’t react. Frankly, I would have been more shocked if he didn’t know who I was.
“Then I’m sure you know why I’m here.”
“What I don’t know is how.” Ah, so he might know who I was and what I was here for, but he didn’t know everything. Like how someone like me got in without being approved by him to be on his visitor list.
“Pays to know people.”
He seemed amused. A ghost of a smile lifted is face. “You mean the FBI? I’m sure they didn’t approve this visit out of the goodness of their heart. What’s in it for them?”
“I’m not here to talk about the FBI with you,” I replied, mild. My heart beat heavily in my chest. This guy was the scum of the earth, and we were sitting here conversing as if he wasn’t.
“You came to offer me money?”
I half smiled. The notion of me trying to pay this monster off was ridiculous. “Will money make you go away?”
“You know it won’t.” His eyes were dark and flat. I wondered if it was because of his lack of conscience or because he was just very good at shuttering all his thoughts.
“I didn’t come here with money,” I answered, quiet.
“What, then?”
“I came to ask you a question.”
He spread his hand out in a sweeping gesture, offering me the floor.
“What’s it going to take?” I said, keeping my tone even and free of the intense anger and hatred flooding me. “What’s it going to take to get you to call off your assassins?”
“My assassins?” He scoffed. “What makes you think they’re mine?”
I glanced up at the guard standing behind him near the door. My upper lip curled, and I leaned forward. “Let’s not lie to each other. We both know you’re the one trying to punish her for those cuffs around your wrists.”
“Do we?” he asked but smiled. A knowing sort of smile with a glimmer in his eyes. He wouldn’t make the admission out loud, not where he could be heard. But Crone didn’t have to. The look on his face, almost gleeful and sinister, said it all.
A moment later, his face cleared. He glanced calmly over his shoulder at the guard. Seconds later, the guard disappeared through the door, leaving him alone.
When the guard was gone, I glanced at the empty spot where they had been and then back to him, my eyes flickering with knowledge.
“Let’s not lie to one another,” he said.
“What do you want?” I deadpanned. Now that he wasn’t being listened to, he could spell it out.
“I want her dead.”
In my lap, my fists clenched. How I’d love just five minutes alone with him. No glass divider. No handcuffs. No police.
I could do a lot of damage in five minutes.
Cool it.
“Again, I ask… What’s it going to take to call a truce?”
He chuckled. “You think I’d call a truce?”
I took a moment to pointedly gaze around the cage we sat in. “Why not? It’s not like you have anything else to lose.”
“That does
not mean I would allow someone else to win.”
My shoulders stiffened, the muscles in my neck bunching. “You blew her world apart. More than once. You murdered her father. Separated her from her entire life. She didn’t win.”
“So you suggest I just take that as sufficient payment for the betrayal, let her live in that charming log cabin of yours with you and your dog, high up on that ski mountain, free to live out the rest of her days in bliss, while I’m in here like a caged animal?”
I gave no reaction. Of course he would know all about our life together, our house. Hearing it, though? Hearing him say it, painting it into a picture, was unnerving.
The thought that someone could be watching her right now and I wasn’t there to protect her made my toes curl in my boots and the urge to get up and run out of here overwhelming.
I kept my ass in the chair.
“You aren’t here because she tattled on you. You’re here because of the decades of criminal behavior you’ve engaged in.”
My words fell on deaf ears.
“She took something from me. I take something for her.”
“There has to be something you will trade for her freedom.”
“I don’t trade. I don’t make exceptions. A man in my position lives the laws he made, and everyone beneath him does, too.”
I knew coming here was a long shot. It still stung like I was standing in forty-below weather without any clothes. If I didn’t know it before, being here, looking into the eyes of this asshole, I knew it. Bells and I were being backed into a corner.
I didn’t like it.
“What if I absorb her debt?”
That got a reaction. His bushy brows rose and a glimmer of surprise sparked in his eyes. It made the tiniest spark of hope flicker inside me. “Her debt is her life.”
“I know.”
“You would die for her?”
A thousand times over. “Yes.”
“Making her live, knowing she was the reason you died… That’s almost—almost—equal to the fact I have to rot in here.”
My stomach clenched. This entire situation was so fucked up. And to think, just a year ago, I thought the worst thing that could ever happen in my life was the day I took that fall and ruined my career.
Oh, how wrong I was.
My vision dimmed as I stared at the gangster in front of me. Everything around me seemed to fade as I thought about the gravity of what I just said. Of what it would mean to my family and to my friends.
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