by Joss Wood
Fascinated by the need in his eyes, and the way he kept looking at her mouth, Nic obeyed. She couldn’t wait to kiss him...
Brooks left her and walked over to the open-air double-headed shower, encased by the same tempered clear glass barrier she’d seen earlier on the entertainment area. Her mouth full of toothpaste, Nic looked past Brooks onto a thick forest below and realized it was totally private.
Yay, because she had a feeling that her back and ass were going to be wedged against that glass as Brooks slid into her.
Damn, she really couldn’t wait. Like not for one second more.
Nine
She was absolutely not going to get naked with Liam this morning. This was a business meeting, a follow-up meeting—as he’d stated in his email, asking her to carve out some time for him—not a let’s-get-naked meeting.
Not that she had many—or any—problems getting naked with Liam Christopher.
“It’s nine o’clock on Monday morning for God’s sake,” Teresa muttered to herself.
Duncan, Liam’s sharply dressed PA, looked up from his monitor and lifted a perfectly groomed eyebrow. And that reminded her; she needed to book a facial and a brow shaping, a mani and pedi. With her hectic schedule lately organizing Brooks and Nic’s wedding, she hadn’t had any time for herself.
Oh, and a bikini wax was also needed. Now, there was a very decent reason why, when she was finally admitted into Liam’s inner sanctum, she’d keep all her clothes on.
Duncan leaned back in his chair and offered a pleasant greeting. “Liam said you did a spectacular job organizing the Ryan/Abbingdon wedding. He was very impressed.”
Teresa felt like she’d won the lottery and had to stop herself from dancing on the spot. Then cynicism rolled in... Liam wasn’t the type who handed out praise easily. “Did he really say that or are you just being nice?”
Duncan rolled his eyes. “He really said that.”
Oh.
Oh, wow. Liam liked what she did. And if he liked it, then maybe the rest of Seattle did, too, and she’d start picking up work again. Because she still had her brother’s hide to save and his debt to repay.
Duncan stood up and walked around his desk. Taking Teresa’s arm, he pulled her over to his desk and pointed at a small box with a green and a red light on it. “When the green light flicks on, you can go on in.” Duncan straightened his tie. “I’m going to organize coffee because I’m pretty sure you’re all going to need some.” He pulled a face. “That or a fire extinguisher.”
Teresa watched him walk away, conscious of the fire in her cheeks. She hoped that Duncan wasn’t referring to what happened the last time she and Liam were alone together. How would he even know that they’d made love? Had the words “just got laid” appeared on her forehead as she left Liam’s office?
Now, there was just one more reason why no clothes would be shed during this meeting. Not a tie, not even her jacket...it was a slippery slope and she had no intention of ending up in a tangled, bruised and bloody heap at the bottom of the hill. Because, yeah, that was exactly what was going to happen if she didn’t get her feelings for Liam under control. Though, honestly, that horse might’ve already bolted.
Like, weeks ago...
The light on Duncan’s desk flashed green and Teresa strode over to his door, pushing down on the ornate handle. It would be better to get ahead of their attraction, to remind him this was a business meeting and that it was Monday morning. It was the most sensible, businesslike time of the week and that was what they had to be. Businesslike.
“I have half an hour for you, and all of those thirty minutes will be spent with our clothes on.”
Teresa saw Liam’s grin and out of the corner of her eye she saw a flutter of a cream silk skirt, the flash of a peach blouse.
Oh, shit, they weren’t alone.
Teresa, her cheeks flaming, turned her head and...
Yep. Liam’s mother, her expression perfectly haughty, sat on his expensive sofa, the same sofa on which Liam had loved her so well.
Gah.
“Mrs. Christopher, I didn’t know...ah...” Teresa sent a helpless look at Liam, looking stupidly sexy in a deep gray suit and bottle-green tie.
“Teresa, you remember my mother, Catherine,” Liam smoothly stated, walking around his desk to gently grip her biceps. “My mother stopped by but she’s about to leave.”
Feeling steadier, she was shocked when Liam’s mouth drifted across hers. “Hi,” he murmured.
Teresa’s eyes immediately flew back to Catherine’s eating-a-sour-lemon face.
Deep in her tote bag, her phone rang and, deeply thankful for the interruption, Teresa dived into it, keeping her face down to give herself time to think. It was obvious that Catherine Christopher still blamed her for the breakup of her marriage, and was, obviously, still incensed that Linus left her twenty-five percent of his shares in this business. As for her baby sleeping with her archenemy? If looks could kill, she’d be a tiny pile of ash on Liam’s expensive carpet.
Teresa uttered her standard greeting. Hopefully, it would be a client and she could use him, or her, as an excuse to skedaddle.
“Teresa, they’ve found me!”
Dammit, dammit, dammit. She’d left her phone on loudspeaker and her brother’s voice bounced off Liam’s office walls.
“Josh, hold on,” Teresa commanded him, punching the button to make their conversation private.
Turning her back on the mother and son duo, she walked past Liam’s desk to the window, placing her hand on the glass and keeping her voice low. “What happened?”
“I got a call at The Bridge. We’re not supposed to have them but they let me take it,” Joshua shouted, his voice sounding like a hundred decibels in her ear. Teresa’s blood froze. She’d booked Josh in under an assumed name, paid in cash. He shouldn’t have been found, not this quickly.
Stay calm, Teresa. You have to think. “What did they say?”
“That I had a week to pay up. That if not, I was dead, and you were, too.”
Teresa closed her eyes and rested her forehead on the glass. She sent Liam a quick look and caught the concern in his eyes. “Okay, that’s doable. I can raise the money and we’ll put an end to this.”
“Where will you get the money?”
Did it matter? “Where are you now?” Teresa asked, avoiding his question.
“I snuck out and am back in the city. I went by your apartment and picked up my phone,” Joshua replied. “Where are you going to get the money, Teresa?”
“Why does it matter, Joshua? The debt will be paid.”
Joshua waited a beat before replying. “Because I was told that if you take the money from Liam Christopher, we’ll still die. And so will Christopher.”
Teresa felt her knees buckle, her throat tighten. “That makes no sense,” she whispered. “Why do they care where the money comes from?”
“I don’t know but they do,” Joshua replied. “So guess we are back to square one, right? What are we going to do...run?”
Liam was her only option for money and if she couldn’t borrow it from him—and there was no way that she’d put his life in danger—they’d have to. “I’ll meet you at home, Josh.”
“Yeah. But later.” Josh disconnected the call and Teresa released a howl. Frustrated beyond belief, her stress levels climbing, Teresa banged her phone against the window.
Liam plucked the phone from her grasp and pulled her into his arms, cradling her head against his chest.
Teresa wanted to wrap her arms around his waist, sink into his strength but she couldn’t. He was now in the crosshairs of the same people targeting them, and she would not put him in danger. There had been too many casualties in this war; she was damned if Liam was going to be one, too. She could not risk his life by borrowing money against her shares, by having anything more to do with h
im. He was too precious, too important...
Liam had been her only option for quick money and now there was no way she’d be able to raise seven million in less than a week. And judging by the threats, it seemed that the people holding Joshua’s marker weren’t interested in a pay-back-in-installments arrangement.
By calling Josh, threatening him, they were telling her that they could find him, them, if they tried to hide. If they wanted a shot at safety, they’d needed another plan.
As Joshua suggested, they’d have to run, to leave the west coast, find new identities and get used to a life on the run. It was the only way they’d survive.
If they survived.
Teresa’s mind raced. She had the money Brooks paid her; she hadn’t paid her suppliers yet. Yeah, if she didn’t pay them, she’d be stealing, defrauding them, but she needed every cent of that payout from Brooks to get them new identities, to purchase a car for cash, to pay for flights to somewhere else...
Her business, and her reputation, would never survive but if they didn’t run, neither would they.
It was the only option they had left. Teresa, sucking in every last bit of courage she possessed, placed her hands on Liam’s chest and pushed herself out of his arms. Without looking at him—she couldn’t because if she did, she’d beg him for help and then he’d be in danger—she held out her hand for her phone.
“I’ve got to go. I’ll call you in a few hours.”
“Stay here, Teresa. Let me help you,” Liam said, his voice low and persuasive.
“I’ll reschedule,” Teresa lied. What she’d do, once they were on the road, is find a lawyer and sign over all her shares to him even though the year wasn’t up. Yeah, she’d lose the money but it would sever the tie between them. He’d be safe and if she and Josh wanted to survive the next few months, years, decades, she needed to cut her ties with everyone.
Giving up everyone and everything would be the price she’d have to pay for her, Josh and, most important, Liam, to stay alive.
So be it.
Teresa stood up on her tiptoes and brushed her mouth against Liam’s, leaving it there for a moment longer than appropriate. How could she walk away from him? Where was she going to find the strength? She wanted to tell him she loved him, that he was everything she’d ever wanted, or needed. That his was the head she wanted sharing her pillow, the body she wanted to wake up beside, the smile she wanted to see when she was eighty. The hand she wanted to hold when death came calling.
“Let me help you,” Liam repeated, his fingers digging into her hips.
Teresa forced a smile on her lips. “With what, Liam?” she said, keeping her voice chirpy. “All is well.”
“Don’t lie to me,” Liam said.
Teresa bit her bottom lip, cursing the tears that filled her eyes. “Then don’t ask me questions that require a lie.” Teresa stood on her toes, kissed his cheek and pulled back. “Bye, Liam.”
Teresa forced herself to walk to the door, forced her leaden feet to move. Ignoring Catherine, who watched their interactions with undisguised glee, she finally—finally—reached the door.
“Don’t make me come after you, Teresa,” Liam warned.
Teresa looked back at him and the tears she’d tried so hard to contain, rolled down her face. “Please don’t, Liam. I’m just going to say no.”
Liam wore his stubborn expression and Teresa knew what to say to stop him from chasing after her. She would have to force the words out but they were words she knew would keep him away, words that would keep him safe. Because his safety was all that mattered.
Teresa tossed her hair and prepared to utter her biggest lie ever. The one she knew would burn every bridge between them.
“I should never have slept with your dad.”
Teresa saw the pain flash in Liam’s eyes and forced herself to remain upright. She couldn’t fall to the floor; she had too much to do.
Forcing a smile onto her face took everything she had. “He was good but you are better.”
“You bitch! You slutty, skanky trollop. I was right! I am always right!”
Teresa pulled the door closed on Catherine’s vitriol, knowing that Liam’s mother would never be a fan.
What really hurt was that, after today, Liam wouldn’t be, either.
That was good for his safety, bad for her.
As long as Liam was safe, she could live with just about anything.
* * *
She was lying through her pretty, pearly teeth. And badly, at that.
Liam looked at his closed door and shook his head. Teresa hadn’t slept with his father; any fool could see that she’d uttered those words to distance herself from him, to put an insurmountable barrier between them. She’d only say something like that to make him so mad that he’d wash his hands of her.
Well, tough crap, lady. It wasn’t working. He wasn’t that thick or that easily manipulated. Or weak.
“I told you she slept with your father! Why won’t anyone listen to me?”
Catherine’s high-pitched scream pierced his what-the-hell moment and Liam pulled his eyes off his door, resisting the urge to go after Teresa. Oh, she thought he was done, but she wasn’t getting away from him that easily.
And he was done with her being stubborn, was sick of her pride and her need to fly solo. This situation needed to end. And it would, today.
Ignoring his mother, who’d moved on to her well-rehearsed diatribe about his father’s unfaithfulness and how awful her life was, he pulled his phone from the inside pocket of his jacket and stared down at the screen. Relief rolled over him as he saw the text message on his phone. Somehow he’d had the presence of mind, while he’d had possession of Teresa’s phone, to forward her brother’s contact number to his phone.
And he knew just the guy who had the skills to tell him where exactly Joshua St. Claire was, right at this moment. Jeremy Dutton was more than just a private investigator. Investigator barely began to describe all the things Dutton was capable of.
Teresa wasn’t the only one with a Fixer.
When Dutton answered, Liam didn’t bother with niceties. “I need you to ping this number and find out exactly where this phone is,” Liam said.
“How soon do you need it?” Dutton asked.
“Five minutes ago,” Liam retorted.
“Okay, working on it.”
“Also, I also need you to front me seven mil. I’ll pay you back in a few days.” Dutton was one of the few people who had tens of millions in cash he could easily access. Handy when people like him needed a lot of cash quickly. Dutton charged exorbitant rates for the temporary loan but Liam could afford it.
“Unmarked bills?”
“Preferably.” Liam gripped the bridge of his nose, his mind turning over at warp speed. He quickly laid the bare facts on the table, reminding Dutton of Teresa’s circumstances. He’d done the investigation on her, but Liam wasn’t his only client, so a reminder brought him up to speed.
“I need you to contact the head of that organization and make arrangements for this debt to be settled. I want it done this afternoon. You will pay them directly and I want a guarantee that the association between them and the St. Claires will be terminated once that money changes hands. I want them to forget they ever heard their names.”
“Why don’t I secure world peace and reverse climate change while I’m at it?” Dutton grumbled.
“Are you not up to it? Shall I call The Fixer?”
Desperate times meant desperate measures and Liam knew that mentioning his competitor’s name would motivate Dutton.
Liam saw his mother’s shocked face and ignored her waving hands, her gestures to get him to stop talking. “I’m offering you another hundred thousand, on top of the interest you’re charging on the loan, to make this all go away. But I want it done by this afternoon.”
“Two
-fifty.”
Greedy bastard. “Two.”
“Done. I’ll let you know when the deal is completed.”
“And get me the location of that phone.”
“On it.”
Liam disconnected the call and looked at his mother, who sat on the edge of her chair, looking ashen. “What’s wrong with you?”
“You believe her,” Catherine said, now sounding calm and utterly disconnected.
“Who are you talking about?” Liam demanded. He didn’t have time for his mother right now. He needed to stop Teresa from doing whatever she was planning. Because she sure as hell was planning something.
“You are just like your father.”
Liam’s fingers returned to grip his nose as he looked for calm. There was a good chance that he might lose it with his mother today and it wasn’t going to be pretty. Long overdue maybe, but not pretty.
Liam didn’t have time to pussyfoot around Catherine. “What she said about sleeping with Dad, it was a lie, Mom. She never slept with him.”
“She just admitted it!” Catherine screamed, pointing at the closed door.
“She was lying.” Probably to protect him but he wasn’t sure why. He didn’t need it. But whatever her reasoning, her inability to ask for help annoyed and hurt him. But why was he surprised? Teresa did everything solo.
“I can’t see the attraction! She’s a piece of skirt, a tramp—”
“Be careful, Mother.”
“No matter what I do, she still comes out smelling like a rose!”
Liam was about to ask his mother to leave when her words sank in.
He tensed as icy fingers of dread tap-danced on his spine. “What do you mean, no matter what you do?”
Please let her have misspoken; please let it not be what he was thinking.
Liam stared at Catherine and noticed the malevolence in her eyes. This was going to be a lot worse than what he thought.
Catherine, as defiant as hell, met his eyes. “She got her hooks into your father. I absolutely wasn’t going to let her get her hooks into you.”