by Trisha Grace
“I know. I want to do something for you. What would you like? I could cook you dinner. Steak?”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to do something nice for you.”
“Rome,” he suddenly said. “I’d like to see where the gladiators fought.”
“Then go.” She stepped back while Bobby’s slurred words continued in the background. “You don’t have to stay here and deal with idiots.” Her eyes brightened. “I’ll buy you a ticket to Rome.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Helena! Babe! Baby!”
Helena rolled her eyes. “This conversation isn’t over. Stay here.” She turned and stormed down the stairs, faintly illuminated by the moonlight streaming in through the open door. “Bobby Eolenfeld, cut it out. What did I say about showing your face when you’re drunk?”
“Babe.” Bobby moved toward her, stumbling twice. “Let’s go.” He reached for her hand, but Helena stepped back. “Come on, babe. Come home.”
Helena frowned. “Are you in my apartment again? You have your own place, Bobby. Stop sleeping on my couch.”
Bobby tried to take her hand again, and she yanked it back.
“Go home, Bobby. Your home. Not mine. And don’t show up here again, unless you’re ready to apologize to Liam for what you did to him.”
“Apologize?” Bobby took a step forward and tripped over his own feet. He fell right into Helena, and she grabbed his arms to steady him. “I have nothing to apologize for!”
Helena turned her face away from his nauseating breath. “You could’ve blinded him, Bobby.”
“I just showed the world what he really is.”
“Then you should do it to yourself, too,” Helena snapped and let go of his arms.
“Helena.” Bobby put his hands on her shoulders, leaning heavily on her. “Come home with me. Choose me.”
“What?”
Bobby tightened his grip. “Choose me,” he said and shook her.
Liam grabbed Bobby’s collar and yanked him away from Helena. Then he shoved Bobby to the floor. “Stay down.”
Helena pressed a hand to Liam’s chest to hold him back. No doubt if Liam wanted, he could easily brush her aside. But she knew he wouldn’t.
“You’re choosing him?” Bobby leaned forward on all fours before pushing himself up on his knees. “He murdered my mother.”
Helena wasn’t sure why, but those words lit a bulb in her head. She realized why she thought Liam’s scars looked familiar. She’d seen something like that on Bobby’s arm, too. There weren’t many people who could hurt Bobby and get away with it.
Actually, there were only two people who could do that—Bobby’s parents. Was it his father? That would explain why Liam had the same scars.
“Leave, Bobby. Or Liam will throw you out.”
“You’re choosing a murderer over me? You’re choosing that beast?”
Liam took a step forward, and Helena pressed her hand against his chest. What Bobby did to Liam was unforgivable, but she couldn’t help thinking Bobby was a victim himself.
“Bobby.” Helena knelt down next to him. “Go home.”
“Helena.” Bobby clutched her wrist. “Come home with me.”
“No.” She pulled her hand away from him. “Go home. Stop coming here. I’ll make a record of everything here and send it to you.” She got up. “In a nice PDF you can make fun of.” She grabbed Liam’s arm and dragged him up the stairs.
Bobby had showed himself in; he would know how to get back out.
The main door slammed shut when they were halfway up the stairs. The two of them continued up the second flight of stairs in silence. Then Liam, who had remained a step behind her, suddenly said, “He wasn’t lying.”
Helena stopped on the top step and waited for Liam to join her, but he didn’t.
He took another step back so he was face to face with her. “I murdered his mother.”
She should probably be afraid. She should probably take off running away from Liam.
But all she could think about was giving him a hug.
She had never been one to fall for bad boys, thinking her love would be able to change them. Otherwise she probably would be married to Bobby. “What happened?”
“Does it matter?”
“It does to me,” she said. “Was that why Bobby hurt you?”
“No,” he spat. She couldn’t see his features now that they were in the dark, but the anger was clear in his voice. “Are you finding excuses for him?”
“No.” She ran her hand down his rigid arm. “I’m not. It’s not okay. No matter what happened, it wasn’t okay that he hurt you.”
“He did this to me before I pushed his mother down the stairs.”
“Why?”
“Why did he do this to me? Or why did I push his mother down the stairs?”
“Both.” Helena gave his forearm a squeeze. “If you want to tell me.”
“I don’t.”
She nodded slowly. “Okay.”
“Are you leaving?”
“No. If you’re hoping to get your bed back tonight, you can forget about it.” She took a step back, then paused. She moved forward and wrapped her arms around Liam. “This isn’t pity,” she said. Because it wasn’t.
“Then what is it?”
She closed her eyes and felt tears fall as she thought about his scars, his isolation. “I just … I hate that you were hurt. I wish I could do more.”
“My mother was Frederick’s mistress.”
Frederick, Bobby’s father.
“I’m one of the illegitimate children.”
One of? How many were there?
“Bobby’s mother hated me. Hated that she couldn’t do anything to blot out my existence. Hated that my father continued to choose my mother over her.”
Helena had heard stories, mainly from Nigel. It seemed none of the Eolenfeld men understood the meaning of monogamy. None of them cared about the vows they made. The women who married into the family knew what they were getting into. They got a legitimate claim to the vast Eolenfeld fortune. They got to live as an Eolenfeld. For all that, they had to turn a blind eye to what their husbands were doing.
She could never understand that.
“Bobby’s mother. She’s the one who hurt you.”
“My mother left me in the Eolenfeld mansion while she and my father went on a vacation. Things always got bad at those times. That day, Bobby and I got into a fight and he carved up my face. I was running away from him when I bumped into her. She laughed and tried to burn me with her cigarette, like she always did. I was just trying to get her off me. I didn’t … I didn’t mean to push her down.”
Helena tightened her arms around Liam. She had no right to judge, but she didn’t care. That woman deserved it.
“You should leave,” he said. “I’m sure Bobby won’t force you to hold up your end of the deal.”
“One wants me to come home. The other wants me to leave here.”
Liam was silent for a second before he asked, “What do you want?”
She closed her eyes. “I want to go back to sleep.” She yelped when Liam lifted her off the floor. “What are you doing?”
“Taking you back to bed.”
She wanted to ask him to put her down, but decided against it at the last moment. Instead, she tipped her head against his shoulder. For years, she’d been taking care of Nigel and herself. It was nice to be the one taken care of for a change.
“How are you going to survive the gaming industry when you can’t lose a couple of hours of sleep?”
“Hey. I slept on the floor last night.”
“What?”
“The bed smelled weird.”
Liam chest rose as he drew in a long, slow breath.
“And I’m not in the gaming industry. I’m just doing the concept illustrations. I don’t have to crunch like Jude does.” She yawned when he set her down on the bed. “Liam,” she said as he
covered her with the duvet. “You should get some sleep too.”
“I will.” His fingers grazed the side of her face. “If you need anything, let me know. I’m right next door.”
“Can you see me clearly?”
“Clear enough.”
“It isn’t fair. I can barely see you.”
“That’s the point.”
“I don’t like that.” She yawned and turned on her side. “Goodnight, Liam.”
Liam couldn’t stop staring at Helena. How could she keep turning his world upside down, then behave as if she hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary?
Now more than ever, he was tempted to lock her up so she could never leave. He kept telling himself that this was no place for her, that she deserved better. She deserved to be surrounded by beautiful people like herself. She deserved to have a life untainted by the darkness of this world.
Liam looked at her for another second before forcing himself to get up and out of the room. He’d been anxious when he first showed her his room. It wasn’t anything grand.
He had seen an industrial-themed room online and decided that he liked it. He hadn’t bothered to repaint the walls, but he had bought and assembled the furniture on his own. He’d remodeled the closet himself.
All the lighting and bathroom furnishings were black. The rest of the built-in furniture and his bed frame were chocolate brown. That was all he had in his room. No chairs. No nightstands. No desk.
He’d liked how minimalistic it was, but now it felt … lacking.
Helena had smiled when she saw his room. “What were you afraid I’d see?” she’d asked. “There isn’t much here.”
Which suited him just fine because it was just like him—empty.
That was until she came along.
I don’t like it. Did she mean she liked seeing him?
It couldn’t be. Liam strode away from the door.
It couldn’t be.
He couldn’t allow himself to think otherwise, because it would crush him to hope and be disappointed.
Chapter 8
The next three days passed in a blur. Liam had his program up and running. Now he just had to wait while the program did its work. Every night, when he went back into this room to get fresh clothing for the next day, he would update Helena on what was going on.
She always set her work aside, and they would talk for a few minutes. She would always ask him how his day was, and if he slept well the previous night.
Their conversations didn’t last more than ten minutes, but he found himself looking forward to them.
He liked answering the mundane questions with mundane answers. He liked seeing her in his clothes while she sat and worked on his bed.
He put the dumbbell down at the knock on the gym door.
Helena popped her head in. “I figured you’d be here.”
The tell-tale thumping on the wooden floorboards gave away any movements in the mansion.
“You’re up early,” he said.
“I heard you get up.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She stepped into the room, wearing one of his sweatshirts. Her hands fisted the excess length of the sleeves. “Gosh, it’s cold in here too.”
Liam got up and moved toward the controls.
“It’s okay, Liam. I just wanted to talk to you. Am I interrupting?”
“No.” He dialed up the temperature. “Is everything okay?”
“With me? Yeah. I just want to make sure everything’s okay with you.” She scanned the things in the room. “Lots of stuff in here.” She went over to the hanging sandbag, and one of her fists shot out toward it.
Liam rushed forward and grabbed her wrist.
She blinked, stunned by his reaction. “I was just—”
“That sandbag is harder than you think.”
“What makes you think I haven’t hit one before?”
He lifted her wrist. “If you had punched like that, you would’ve broken your fingers.” His lips curled when she pouted at his words. He adjusted the position of her thumbs, then went over to fetch the gloves he had hung on his dumbbell rack. “What did you want to talk about?”
She watched him come back to her. “The sleeping arrangements.”
He arched a brow and was about to slip the gloves onto her hands when he paused. “They’re kind of dirty.”
She shrugged a shoulder. “Then I’ll wash my hands later.”
He nodded and slipped the gloves onto her hands. “What about the sleeping arrangements?”
“Not that I’m stalking you, but I think you’ve been going to sleep really late and waking up early.” She tried moving her hands with the gloves on. “Is it because it’s uncomfortable? I can sleep on the couch, Liam. I’m sure I’d fit better on it than you do.”
Liam’s gaze roamed across her face. “You’re worried that I’m not sleeping well?”
Her brows puckered like she didn’t understand.
“It has nothing to do with the couch.”
“Then what is it?” The lines between her brows deepened. “Are you still working on catching my stalker?”
“I am, but I’m not going to sleep late because of that. I just don’t sleep a lot.”
“Why?”
Because he was used to staying up late, in case he needed to protect himself when his mother acted out. Because he couldn’t control his mind when he slept. Because the nightmares about what he went through as a child always came back to haunt him. He shrugged a shoulder. “I just don’t sleep well.”
He shot his fist forward and tapped his knuckles against the sandbag. “Try it.”
She did the same. “Whoa.” She hit twice more at the sandbag. “It’s really hard and heavy.” She gave it a push, and the bag barely moved.
He moved behind her and held her hands up in front of her face. “Always guard your face.”
“Guard my face. Got it.”
He grinned at her enthusiasm.
Shifting his hands to her wrists, he moved her hands forward in three quick jabs. “One, two, one.” He alternated her hands. “Try it.”
She repeated the moves.
“Good.” He shifted her hands so they were in front of her face again. “Always bring your hands back here.”
“Guard my face.”
He laughed and moved around to the back of the sandbag. “Tuck your chin in. Good,” he said when she did as instructed. “Three jabs.”
“One, two, one.”
“Good.”
She chuckled. “This is fun. Where did you learn to box?”
“Online.”
“Is this what you get up to do every morning?”
“No. I usually only do this when I need to vent.”
Helena dropped her hands. “Have you been doing this a lot since I got here?”
He grinned, and she frowned.
“Of course not, Helena,” she said in a deep voice.
“I sound nothing like that.”
“It’s been a joy having you here,” she continued. “Though we hardly see each other.”
“We see each other every night.”
“Just for a couple of minutes.”
He frowned. “You’d like to spend more time with me?”
“Yeah. Why not? We’re the only ones here.”
Of course. Why else would she want to spend time with him?
“I’m not implying that I want to spend time with you only because I have no other choice.” She cleared her throat. “Not that …” She waved it off. “Forget I said anything.”
“I have time. What would you like to do?”
“Let’s go to Disneyland.”
He blinked, and she chuckled.
“I’m kidding. Why don’t you show me around? I’d like to record all the broken furniture for Bobby.”
“You want me to show you around?” Liam wasn’t sure if he would ever cease to be amazed.
When she had held on to him after her stalker scared he
r, he assumed she had only done that because she was in shock. But then she had asked him to hold her again. She hadn’t shrunk from his touch. She wanted him to stay with her.
Then there was that night.
Helena’s fists shot out against the sandbag. “If you want.”
He definitely wanted that. “Sure.”
She grinned and held her hands up in front of her face. “Why do I need to guard my face?”
“Because I’ll kill anyone who puts a scratch on it.”
She dropped her gaze as a pretty pink blush colored her cheeks. “Seriously.”
Liam meant what he said. He skimmed a finger down her jaw. “One hit here, and you’d be knocked out.”
“Oh.”
Their gazes locked, and he watched as her tongue darted out.
It took all of his willpower to stop himself from pressing his lips to hers.
“I should …” She lifted her hands. “Go wash my hands?”
“Are the clothes okay?” The tips of his fingers grazed her skin as he slowly peeled off a glove. “Do you need me to get anything for you? I can send Kelly out to buy what you need.”
“I’m fine.” She twisted one of her shoulders forward. “I’ve been raiding your closet.”
“I can see that.”
“Oh?” She spread her arms, letting the long sleeves dangle over her hands. “I didn’t think you’d notice, since your clothes fit me so well.”
He gave her a head to toe scan. “They do fit well. You can have all of them.”
“Thanks for your generosity, Mr. Black.” She grinned and cocked her head to the side as he finally removed the other glove. “So I’ll wash my hands, then you’ll take me on the grand tour?”
“I need to take a quick shower.”
“Just come get me when you’re ready.”
Liam watched her leave, then ran his hand through his hair as he grinned. He shook his head when he realized he couldn’t wipe that grin from his face. As much as he enjoyed seeing her in his clothes, he was sure she would appreciate having clothes that fitted her.
He grabbed the phone he’d placed on the bench and texted one of his half-brothers and business partners, Cassian Pearce.
Helena blinked when Liam showed up in her—his—bedroom in a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a pair of dark blue jeans. He had contemplated changing back into his usual T-shirt and sweatpants combo.