Liam stood outside the door, shaking his head at me.
“What?” I asked, turning to watch from the safety of the window.
Coming up behind me, he wrapped his hands around my waist. We were in public and it was odd to me that I wasn’t pushing him away. But for some reason, whenever he was near, I felt calm. I felt relaxed.
“You’re ruthless, wife,” he muttered.
“Someone has to be, why not me?” I replied, leaning into him as I watched Neal hold Olivia’s hand. She went for the bitch’s belly button. That was going to hurt.
“What had you so stressed earlier?” I murmured, but he didn’t answer. He just rubbed my stomach slowly. “Liam…”
“Everyone out,” he declared and I hadn’t even noticed everyone, but in a flash they were gone.
Turning me to him, he kissed me and I reacted by dropping my plate and glass before I regained my senses and pushed him away, slapping him across the face.
“Fuck, Mel!” he snapped, grabbing his face. “You need to check that shit before our kid comes.”
“You need to stop distracting me when I’m talking about work, damn it. What the hell is going on?” I yelled back.
He sighed, rolling his eyes. “Firstly, your mood swings are driving me insane. Secondly, it’s about your grandfather.”
I froze. “Orlando’s father died years ago.”
“Not him. Ivan, Aviela’s father. He signed as witness on the marriage contract between my father and Natasha’s mother. For some reason, he wanted them married.” He frowned, staring at Olivia and Neal. He looked jealous, like he would rather be drilling into a man’s spine than dealing with this.
Standing beside him, I watched silently. “Why? What does he gain from your father marrying Natasha’s mother?”
“I’m not sure.” He shrugged. “But the only way we will find out anything is to see the Briars. We have to go to Ireland.”
I couldn’t help but groan. “You do know they will most likely retaliate for everything that happened to Shamus.”
He turned to me, leaning against the window just as blood splattered upon it. “They will. But we have no other choice. We need to find out what’s happening.”
“Fine.” I sighed. “But Olivia and Neal will have to stay. We still have Senator Colemen to deal with. He needs to become the President. Now that Chuck is dead, we won’t have to worry about the market for a while. Roy is going to have his work cut out for him as he tries to prove his worth.”
“Who the hell is Roy?” He glared, and I just rolled my eyes.
“Our new mule. Breathe, I was just sucking you off wasn’t I?”
He grinned like the pervert he was as he eyed me. The moment he took a step toward me, I stepped back. “Slow down. When are we leaving?”
He didn’t listen. Instead, he pushed me against the window. I felt someone slam over and over again on it. Frowning, Liam glared at the blood stained window, where Harvey was screaming for help. Reaching to the intercom, Liam snapped, “Will you keep the motherfucker off the glass? Jeez. I swear people don’t know how to kill correctly.”
“They’re having fun. They could use it. Maybe Olivia will finally stop being a pain in the ass.” I smirked.
They’d let him out of his chains just so they could watch him beg for his life, and they called us fucked up.
“Where were we?” He turned to me.
“You were about to kiss me against the bloody glass,” I replied, and he nodded before lifting me up and pressing me against said glass.
“So, Ireland?” he sighed, staring at me.
“Will you wear one of those ‘Kiss Me I’m Irish’ shirts?”
He rolled his eyes. “No.”
I kissed him.
“Maybe,” he whispered when I broke away.
I kissed him again. Deeper.
“Maybe.”
“You’re cheating, Liam.” I glared at him.
“Yes I am.” He smirked, kissing me again.
FIFTEEN
“Handsome and brilliantly rich;
their fatal flaw is murder.”
—Abigail Gibbs
NEAL
If you had told me a year ago that I would be watching my wife drill into a man’s spine, I would have laughed in your face. Olivia was not a killer. Olivia didn’t want to kill, but apparently she was into torture.
“You laughed.” She sneered over the buzz of her drill. The pig screamed loudly, and as he tried to crawl away from her, his voice, like his bones, was cracking. “I told you to stop! I begged you to stop, and you laughed!”
The blood that splattered all over her face made me grateful that I had thought to get her a mask and goggles. She looked like a wild butcher. She looked liked a monster. She looked fucking sexy.