Honored_ An Alpha Mob Romance(63)
“You go alone, in that little empty lot on the edge of your territory, the one kids use as a baseball field.”
“Yeah, I know it.”
“Bring the documents. He said if it’s all there, and it is what you say it is, then he’ll exchange that info for your life. You’ll have to leave Philly, but you’ll be allowed to live.”
“Ellie too?”
“Yeah, her too.”
I paused. “Thanks, Leary.”
“Yeah, well, I won’t be there to save you this time if something goes wrong. Colm is more careful than de Barra.”
“I know that, man. You’ve done enough.”
“Good look, Liam. I’m rooting for you.”
“Thanks.”
We hung up, and I looked over at Ellie. She was sitting up in bed, staring at me. Her face was passive, almost serene, and I marveled again at how strong she was, and how fucking sexy. I never thought I was the type to obsess about a pretty face, but there I was, staring into her gorgeous eyes and wishing I never had to look away.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Leary set the meeting up. Looks like Colm is going to make the trade.”
She didn’t react. “When?”
“Today, at three.”
“That’s soon,” she said softly.
I looked at the clock on the phone. It was ten in the morning.
“Let’s get something to eat.”
She nodded softly as I climbed out of bed. My arm was aching like a fucking wasp’s nest, but it was stitched up. I’d live, at least for the next few hours. I walked downstairs, not bothering to get dressed, and entered the kitchen. I put on a pot of coffee and began to make eggs, the way Ellie seemed to like them. After a few minutes, she walked into the room wearing one of my big white dress shirts. It was a cliché out of a movie, but she looked so fucking sexy that I didn’t care. She smiled at me in that way she had, both inviting and innocent, and it almost made me hard. I had to look away before the eggs burned.
Finally, I put a plate in front of her and sat down. She grinned at me.
“Eat up. You’ve got a big day.”
I grunted. “Yeah. Guess I do.”
We ate in silence, lost in our separate thoughts.
Time passed too quickly. We didn’t do much; I talked to her about the plan a few times, but mostly we sat around on the couch killing the hours until it was time for me to go. Around one in the afternoon, I hobbled upstairs and took a quick shower.
As I finished and began to dry off, Ellie appeared in the bathroom doorway.
“Let me do your bandage.”
I glanced at my arm. “Yeah, thanks.”
She got some gauze and some medical tape out of the cabinet. I finished toweling off, wrapped it around my hips, and sat down on the toilet’s closed lid. She crouched down next to me.
“It looks a little better.”
“I’ll live.”
She laughed softly. “You keep saying that.”
I shrugged, and I immediately regretted it as pain lanced through my arm.
“Careful,” she chided.
“Sorry,” I muttered.
She cut off a piece of gauze and began to gently press it against the wound. She used the medical tape to hold it in place. It didn’t take her long, and she managed to keep the pain to a minimum. If I had tried to do it, I’m sure there would have been more than a few curses and plenty of fucked-up pieces of gauze before it was done.
“There,” she said, standing back.
I grinned at her. “Perfect. Now I’ll be invincible.”
She didn’t smile. “I hope so.”
I stood up and stretched, and I moved passed her, heading into the bedroom. I heard her follow behind me.
“I would never lie to you,” I said playfully. “Nothing can touch me now.”
“How dangerous will today be?”
I pulled a black T-shirt from my duffle bag of rumpled clothes and picked out a clean pair of jeans. I pulled the shirt over my head with a minimum amount of pain.
“Probably pretty dangerous, honestly.”
She frowned. “And you’re really going alone?”
I grabbed a pair of gray briefs and threw the towel across the room. I felt her eyes immediately run down my body, and I smirked at her. She looked away, almost embarrassed, as if she hadn’t seen me naked plenty already.
“Something you like?” I asked her.
“Cut it out, ass.”
“Don’t be so uptight.”
She frowned at me. “I’m trying to be serious.”
“I know you are.”
I pulled the briefs on as she moved closer.
“You can’t do this alone, Liam.”
“Look, I have to. Colm will have his people crawling all over the place. They’ll recognize Leary for sure, and I don’t have anyone else that I trust or that I could put in danger for this.”