An hour later, he emerged from the bas.e.m.e.nt, covered in sweat.
"You"re just in time, baby. I"m about to jump in the shower." He gave me a c.o.c.ky smirk.
Even his ridiculously s.e.xy body couldn"t get me in the mood. I said nothing, staying on the couch.
Liam eyed me for a moment, seeing the fear in my eyes. Then he slowly approached me, his gaze locked onto me. "Baby, what"s wrong?"
I remained in my spot. "Sit down."
He flinched at my request. His eyes grew darker. "Tell me."
I waited for him to sit.
He clenched his jaw then sat beside me. He gave me a fierce look, threatening me if I didn"t start talking.
"I talked to my lawyer today..." Why did I have to tell him this? Everything was perfect with us. Now it was going to be ruined. "Finn"s out of jail." I couldn"t look at him when I said it. I imagined the p.i.s.sed look in his eyes. They would scare the h.e.l.l out of me.
Liam didn"t react. He stared at the ground with his hands pressed together. Then they formed fists, clenching tightly until his knuckles turned white. He jumped to his feet then paced the living room, his face tinting in anger. He never said anything, just moved across the room like a bloodthirsty shark.
"Liam..."
He ignored me.
"He"s on parole so I doubt he"ll bother me."
He finally stopped and looked at me. "You think that means anything to me?"
I fell silent, knowing his wrath was about to emerge.
"How could they let a psycho like him out of jail?"
"I don"t know..."
He turned away, hiding his face. After a few deep breaths, he came back to me then kneeled in front of me. His eyes studied mine. "Baby, I promise I"ll never let him hurt you. I"ll keep you safe." He pressed his forehead to mine, closing his eyes.
"I know, Liam. But he doesn"t know where I live and Scotty would never tell him. Even if he wanted to hurt me, he wouldn"t be able to."
"I"m not relying on that. If he comes anywhere near you, I"ll kill him."
"I"m sure I could take him on my own if I had to," I whispered.
"You never will," he said firmly. "I"m a concrete mountain. He will not come in my house, and he will not come anywhere near my girl. When it comes to my territory, I mark it very clearly. And if he trespa.s.ses anyway, I will demolish him into pieces. The FBI won"t be able to identify his body because there will be nothing left."
I believed him. "I don"t want to live in fear anymore, Liam. I"m not going to look over my shoulder every second. I already lived that way and I refused to do it again."
"Then I will look over your shoulder for you."
"We can"t let this ruin our lives."
"We won"t," he said firmly. "But it"s my responsibility to take care of you. And you bet your a.s.s I will."
Liam was on edge for the next week. He was less talkative and he spent even more time in his gym downstairs. And he went to the workout facility in town for the extra weight machines.
I could tell he wanted to rip someone"s head off.
He didn"t talk to me much. His eyes didn"t carry the love they used to. He was too upset to be affectionate with me, to return to the blissful relationship we had before. I gave him the s.p.a.ce he needed and didn"t bother trying to calm him down. I knew he was too far gone.
I knew it was pathetic to feel scared of Finn, worried that he might try to hurt me. I"d already been afraid of him during my youth, and I couldn"t be that way again.
But I was.
Sometimes I feared he would track me down and make me pay for putting him in the slammer. I remembered the hatred in his eyes when I testified against him. There was an undeniable blood rage simmering deep within.
And having Liam, an MMA champion, as a watchdog and protector decreased my anxiety by tenfold. He was home with me every night and went with me everywhere. His muscled ma.s.s and the threat in his eyes would scare anyone off. When his naked torso touched my back while we slept, I felt safe. Finn was a pathetic coward, and one look at Liam would make him take off with his tail between his legs.
By the following week, Liam calmed down slightly.
"I"m sorry I"ve been distant with you." He lay on his back and stared at the ceiling. Our bedroom was dark so I couldn"t see his face.
"It"s okay. I understand."
"Do you want to know what I"ve been thinking?"
I think I already know. "What?"
"If I should kill him." The truth of his words resonated in my ear. "If I should hunt him down and make it look like an accident. Do the world a favor and take a life not worthy of being on this planet." The bitterness was heavy in his voice.
I knew he wasn"t just saying this out of anger. It was a thought he truly had. Taking a life was still taking a life. The emotional repercussions of that were catastrophic. I would never want Liam to suffer through that, even if he wasn"t caught. "No, you shouldn"t."
He turned his head and looked at me. "Why not?"
"I don"t want that blood on your hands."
"And what if I do?"
"Don"t. You"ll regret it later. Maybe not now, maybe not in months. But one day you will. You"re better than him, Liam. You may be a fighter, but you"ve never been a killer."
He turned his head and focused on the ceiling again. His mouth was immobile.
I cuddled into his side and felt his warmth wrap around me. "Let"s just forget about him and go back to our lives. He"s not going to bother me, and even if he wanted to, he couldn"t. I want to stop thinking about him and just be happy. Can you do that?"
Silence stretched endlessly.
"Liam, that"s what I want."
More silence.
"Please." My voice was barely above a whisper.
Liam seemed to identify the pain in my voice. His arm tightened around my waist and he pulled me closer to him. "Okay. Let"s just forget about it."
"Thank you." And with those words, the weight was lifted off my shoulders.
Chapter Eleven.
Liam When Keira told me her tormentor was free on the streets again, something snapped inside me. My punching bag got the bad end of the deal, and after ripping it into pieces, I had to discard it and get a new one.
I truly considered taking him out. A sick fiend like that didn"t deserve to breathe air into his lungs. He didn"t deserve life. He didn"t deserve freedom. If he came anywhere near my girl, I wouldn"t hesitate. He would be the opponent I always wanted to fight. He wasn"t Derek but he was an excellent subst.i.tute.
Keira seemed stress about his possible reappearance, but then I realized she was more stressed by my reaction. She hated the bloodl.u.s.t in my eyes. She wanted the gentle man underneath my layers of hatred. Our relationship had returned to its former beauty, but just as quickly, it was taken away. Instead of frightening her more, I chose to bottle it inside and drop the subject.
But just because I didn"t mention it doesn"t mean I wasn"t thinking about it.
A part of me wanted him to make a move against Keira. I would take the opportunity to kill him in self-defense. The nuisance would be forever gone from our lives. But I knew Keira wouldn"t want that.
Despite all the pain she"d been put through, she wouldn"t want me to kill him, to carry that burden for the rest of my life. Despite her violent past, she was still a peaceful person. Well, except when she flipped out on Adrianna.
I put on a face for her and pretended I wasn"t thinking about Finn every day. He was always on my mind, hovering and suffocating my thoughts. I daydreamed of killing him in the most brutal and intimate ways, taking a knife to his throat and choking him until the life was gone from his body. I never told Keira these thoughts, making her think I"d put it behind us.
But I was always thinking it.
Wanna go out tonight? It was Scotty. The guys and I are going to be at the Gaslight.
I hardly went out anymore. I usually stayed home with Keira. Even when we were just watching TV on the couch, I was entertained. Going out to the bars and socializing with people didn"t appeal to me like it did when I was single. Besides, I liked to keep an eye on her... Nah, I"m staying in tonight.
Dude, you never come out with us anymore. You don"t even play ball.
Well, I"ve been busy.
Don"t be a p.u.s.s.y and come out with us.
That"s a good way to convince me.
You act like an old married man. Ditch Keira. She"s annoying anyway.
I smirked. He said so many mean things about Keira but it was obvious how much he loved her. When I tell her what you said she"s going to kick your a.s.s.
I"d like to see her try.
Keira noticed me texting away. "The guys want to go out tonight?"
"Yeah." I put my phone away. "But I don"t want to hang."
She eyed me until I looked at her. "Liam, go out with your friends."
"I like being with you."
The seriousness was in her eyes. "Liam, you can leave me alone. I"ll be fine."
She saw right through me.
"I can take care of myself, and there"s nothing to protect me from. Now go out with your friends and have a good time. We can watch TV any other time."
"But-"
"Go. Now."
I smirked at the aggression in her voice. "Come with me."
"No. You need a guy"s night out. Drink some beer and have fun."
"I feel bad leaving you here all alone."
"I have plenty to do. Don"t worry about me."
It was clear she wouldn"t change her mind.
"I"ll drop you off and pick you up so you don"t have to worry about driving."
"I"m not going to get drunk," I argued.
"Well, you should. Live a little."
"You"re one to talk," I teased.
She smirked. "Come on. It"s a Sat.u.r.day night with the guys. It"ll be fun."
I still felt nervous leaving her. "You"re sure?"
"Positive." She stood up and s.n.a.t.c.hed the car keys. "Now let"s go."
Keira parked in the parking lot and waited for me to get out.
"Call me if you need anything."
"Okay."
I leaned across my truck and gave her a kiss. "Anything at all."
She rolled her eyes. "Shut up and go."
I laughed at the irritated look on her face. "Sorry."