Tattered obsession tatte.., p.20
Tattered Obsession (Tattered Obsession Series), page 20
“Where are you from?” I ask, breathing hard, as I scuttle back to my original position.
“Interesting question,” Liam observes. “Nice footwork there, by the way.”
“I mean, Theo said you were an enforcer for the Giovanni family,” I reply. “But you’re not Italian, last time I checked.”
“You sure about that?”
I drop my hands. “You’re kidding.”
Liam laughs. “Of course I am. Grew up in Northern Ireland, if you can believe it. That’s where I got my temper.”
“And your fighting skills?”
“Used to be a heavyweight boxer.”
“You’re a terrible liar, you know that?” I say, bringing my hands up again.
Liam laughs. “And you’re a terrible fighter. Lucky for you, I’ve got nothing but time.”
The practice session gets easier from there, and the more I loosen up, the easier it is to focus on my technique. I’m getting tired, but part of me doesn’t want to stop, and I have to remind myself that I’m not here for fun and games.
“You never answered my question,” I say as I block one of his strikes.
“Which one?”
“Where you learned to fight like this,” I reply.
“That’s an easy one,” Liam says. “My dad taught me. He was a boxer, for most of his life. He taught me and my brothers how to fight.”
“Is he still around?” I ask.
Liam’s face grows serious. “I don’t see him often. He’s not exactly thrilled about my line of work. Wanted me to join the army. Can you imagine?”
“Not really,” I admit, laughing, as I deflect another blow. “So how’d you end up working for the Giovannis?”
“That came later,” Liam says. “But I’ve been around this life since I was a kid. I used to hang out in the pubs where my dad worked. And then I started working in the pubs myself. The owners and the regulars would always talk about how they knew somebody who knew somebody, and it all seemed like a big game to me. I didn’t really understand the ins and outs of the whole thing until I got older, and then I realized it was actually a big business. That’s how I ended up learning about the families. Turns out, everyone’s looking for hired muscle.”
“You’re not just hired muscle,” I blurt. The words are out before I can think, and the blush that rises to my cheeks is almost immediate.
“Think so, do you?” Liam says, stepping closer to me. He doesn’t look offended. He looks interested. “What am I, then?”
I take a step back and look him up and down. “You’re...” I pause, struggling to get my thoughts in order. “You’re an artist.”
Liam laughs. “Did you get hit in the head when I wasn’t looking?”
“I’m serious,” I reply, swatting his shoulder. “Look, I’ve spent hundreds of hours looking at paintings, all right? I know what art is. A painting is a work of art, just like a sculpture is a work of art, just like...” I swallow, keenly aware of how close he’s gotten. “Well, just like the way you move is a work of art, I guess. Graceful. Totally in control. It’s like you’re a... I don’t know, a dancer, or something.”
Wow, I scold myself, biting the inside of my lip. You really just hit a new low, Vivian.
Liam crosses his arms, tilts his head to the side, and raises an eyebrow at me. The corner of his mouth tilts up. “Are you flirting with me, Vivi?”
I freeze, my heart jumping into my throat. How is it possible for anyone other than Theo to have this effect on me? I’m in dangerous territory here, and I know it.
I snap myself out of it and straighten up. “Of course not,” I reply, and my voice only breaks a little. “I’m just trying to get you to let your guard down.”
And then I lunge in for the attack with a wild hook to his chest, as much to straighten my own head out as to change the subject. Liam’s reflexes are lightning fast, and he easily deflects the blow, but I don’t miss the way his eyes dance as he does, or the way he grins in appreciation. That just trips me up further, and as I flail to counter his strike, he easily hooks my blow and catches my knee with his leg. The way he takes me down is almost casual, like he’s picking up a bag of groceries, and so gentle that I barely even feel myself hit the mat. One second, I’m on my feet, and the next, I’m on my back on the floor, staring up into those unbelievably green eyes.
Liam is hovering over me, supporting himself on all fours so as not to crush me under his body weight. My breath hitches in my throat, and for a moment I forget how to speak. He’s so close that I can feel the heat radiating off his body. I shiver, and I don’t miss the same tremble run through his hard muscles. Desire and hot electricity jump from his skin to mine, and I’m suddenly very aware of the way my chest is pressed against his arm, and the way his solid, muscled thigh is resting between mine. I feel like my body’s come alive, like every nerve is on fire, and when he huffs out a laugh, I almost lose it right there and then.
“Nice try,” he says, his voice low and husky. The way he’s looking down at me, I’m pretty sure he has no idea what kind of effect he’s having on me right now.
“Worth a shot,” I manage, but he doesn’t move off me right away like he usually does.
“Damn straight.” Liam gives me a lopsided grin, and my stomach does a flip. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were enjoying this a little too much, Vivi.”
“I...” I fumble for a response, anything to defuse the tension, but nothing comes up.
And that’s when I realize he’s right: I am enjoying this. Too much.
Theo’s face comes back into my mind—the man I love, and the reason I’m here—and my stomach drops. Whatever electricity was raging in me evaporates, and I’m left with nothing but conflict and shame. “We should go,” I say, looking away, suddenly wanting to be anywhere but here. “The others will be wondering where we are.”
“Right. Yeah.” Liam rolls off me, running a hand through his hair and pulling his eyes away from mine. “It’s getting late.”
We pack up and head out of the studio, and the tension that settles over us is no longer the good kind. Even still, I catch myself missing the feeling of his body over mine... and I’m pretty sure I can feel his gaze on me as we drive back to the safe house.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Holy shit, are you serious?”
“Callie...” I put a hand over my eyes, pacing back and forth with my phone pressed to my ear. I’m standing on one of the outside balconies on the second story of the safe house, watching the world below with a sense of growing dread.
“But nothing happened though, right?” my friend presses. “I mean, it’s not like you slept with this guy.”
“Of course not,” I reply. “We didn’t even touch each other. It was just this... I don’t know. This moment.” I throw up a hand. “I can’t even explain it. It got me all worked up for like, a second, and now I can’t move past it. I’m just...” I sigh. “I’m confused. That’s all.”
Confused. Yeah, that’s one way to put it. I’ve spent the past two days giving Liam a wide berth, hardly daring to look him in the eye, and all because I can’t keep my fucking head on straight. I’m supposed to be with Theo—and I am with him. Hell, I love him, as much now as I did before. So why am I suddenly going all starry-eyed for his best friend? It’s bad enough that I put him on his brother’s shit list and got him kicked out of London. Now I can’t stop thinking about the man he put in charge of protecting me, and even though my feelings for Theo run as deep as ever, I can’t get those green eyes and that easy, good-natured smile out of my mind.
Fuck, maybe confused is the right word.
“You sure it’s not Stockholm Syndrome?”
“For the love of... Callie, I’m not being held hostage.”
“Fine, fine. But you do fancy this guy, don’t you?”
“I... I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Well, Vivian,” my friend says, “I hate to say this, but I don’t think I’m qualified to be giving you relationship advice.”
“Yeah, my situation’s not exactly ‘standard,’ ” I agree, wincing. “I’m probably just going stir-crazy. This business with Lucas has got me all wrapped around the axle.”
“You think you can get out of... Wherever it is that you are?”
“I told you, Callie, I’m not—”
“I know you’re not being held hostage,” Callie says, sounding exasperated. “I’m asking if you can get away for a few hours and clear your head. Maybe go get a drink somewhere.”
I sigh. “You know I can’t do that, Callie. I can’t be seen in public until this media circus dies down. You’d think my face wouldn’t have made it all the way to Bath, but—”
I stop dead in my tracks.
“You’re in Bath?”
“Shh,” I hiss into the phone. “Callie, you can’t tell anyone. Fuck.” I run a hand through my hair. “This is why I shouldn’t be flapping my gums while I’m distracted. Don’t breathe a word of this, okay?”
“You know I won’t,” Callie replies. “You’re crazy, Vivian, but you’re worth keeping my mouth shut for.”
“Thanks, I think,” I joke, and then my face falls. “Thank you, Callie. Seriously. If Lucas gets to me, I don’t know...” I take a shaky breath. “I don’t want to think about it.”
“Me neither.” I can almost hear the grimace in her face. “God, Vivian, I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m the dumbass who got myself into this mess. Besides,” I add, “as far as forced vacations go, this isn’t bad.”
“That’s something, I guess,” Callie says. “Surrounded by hunky guys... If they weren’t mobsters, I’d almost be jealous of you. Almost.”
I give a weak laugh, but inside I’m reeling. Something about that hits a little too close to home for my liking.
“And your contact said they’ve been moving a lot of stock?” Theo asks. He’s seated beside me at the table in the back of his office. Mail from his men is heaped all around him, and a glass of scotch sits untouched on top of a pile of paperwork. Two of his bodyguards stand by the door, their expressions stony.
“Like their lives depend on it,” I confirm. “She says they just oversold a painting to someone named Preston Stone, as well as some guy they just call ‘Patrick.’ Do either of those sound familiar?”
“Stone? Yeah.” Theo runs his hands through his long hair. “He’s one of my father’s. Probably buying it high so he can resell it to someone else in the family. The amount of money they pass back and forth would make your head spin.”
“It already does,” I reply, thinking of Tristan and the madness of his accounting work.
“As for Patrick...” Theo thinks for a moment. “Could be a phony name, in which case he might be one of Lucas’s. Either that, or someone testing the waters, trying to figure out if Sterling’s worth having in their pocket.”
“You don’t think it’s a sting, do you?” I ask. “If the cops think your dad has something to do with my disappearance…”
“They’re after me, not him,” Theo says, his tone darkening when he adds, “Lucas saw to that.”
“I’m sorry,” I say quietly. “None of this would have happened if you hadn’t gotten involved with me.”
“Don’t say that, kid,” Theo says, turning to me, passion flashing in his gray eyes. “It was going to happen one way or another. Lucas was never going to go down without a fight.” His hand comes to rest on my thigh, so comfortably that it’s almost like he’s not even aware he’s doing it. The sensation of his skin on mine does all sorts of things to me, in contrast to Liam’s touch, which is still lingering on my skin. It’s all I can do not to lose my mind from the confusion. “I’m lucky I have you,” Theo murmurs, his eyes meeting mine. “This is what I’m fighting for, kid. The chance to make this empire my own—with you at my side.” The grin he gives me sends a shiver down my spine. “And I won’t let you slip away without a fight.”
That’s when the conflict I’ve been battling for the past day finally boils over, and I can’t stay silent any longer. The words just tumble out. “Theo, I need to tell you something.”
He blinks in surprise, concern flashing across his face. “Yeah? What is it, kid?”
I fidget, suddenly unable to look him in the eyes. “I can’t... I mean, I don’t know if...” I swallow, stumbling over the words, and sigh in frustration. What the fuck am I even supposed to say, after all he’s done for me? “I’m just... I’m confused, and—”
“Hey,” Theo says softly, his hand moving from my thigh to my chin, which he uses to turn me to face him. The way he gazes at me does funny things to my stomach. “You know you can tell me anything, right, kid?”
“Yeah,” I reply, taking a shaky breath. “Right.”
He must sense my reluctance, because he turns and nods to the guards at the door. “Take five,” he tells them. “I’d like some privacy with Vivian.” They file out, leaving us in silence, and Theo turns back to me. “What is it, kid? What’s on your mind?”
I’m aware of how dangerous this could get. This is a man capable of ruining my life in a hundred different ways, of killing in cold blood, and yet, somehow, I don’t think he’d ever hurt me. It’s the strangest feeling, to say the least. Maybe that’s why I can’t let this go on any longer. The guilt is enough to eat me alive... but the only thing worse would be staying quiet about it.
“It’s about Liam,” I manage finally.
Theo raises his eyebrows. “Liam? What about him?”
“He...” I clear my throat, forcing myself to maintain eye contact. “We...”
“Kid...?”
“I mean, nothing’s happened,” I rush to tell him. “And it won’t, I promise. You know how I feel about you, Theo. Nothing can change that. It’s just that, as we’ve been training, I…”
His gaze is dark and piercing, and I can almost see the instant he puts the pieces together. “You’re having feelings for him,” Theo says. It’s not a question.
“I’m going to get it under control,” I say, racing to get the words out. “Nothing’s happened. Nothing’s going to happen, I’ll make sure of it. I’m sure it’s just the stress of this whole thing, and with you so busy running your business, I’m just not thinking clearly. That’s all. I wanted you to know, because I never want to keep anything from you, ever, but please understand that this doesn’t…”
I’m so busy running my mouth that I don’t even notice him start to smile at first, and when he laughs, I’m so startled I fall silent. “Kid,” he says. “Come here.”
I blink, then allow him to wrap his unbelievably strong arms around me, half-expecting him to... What? Break me in half? Sick his henchmen on me? A million “scorned mafia boss” clichés are running through my mind, and none of them end in an embrace.
“What are you doing?” I ask, hardly daring to breathe.
“Hugging you.”
“But...” I pull back, searching his face. “You’re not pissed?”
Theo snorts, giving me one of his signature crooked smiles. “You seriously think I’m pissed about this?”
“I...” My mouth opens and closes. “I just admitted I was having feelings for—”
“One of my best friends?” Theo interrupts. “Someone who’s saved my life more than once? Someone I’m trusting to protect you while I get this thing off the ground?”
I swallow. “When you put it that way…”
“Come on, kid. You think I didn’t think this was a possibility going in? Things happen. Emotions run high. I’m not some stuck-in-his-ways old man, kid. That’s my father, not me. As long as you’re mine, naked and under me as often as we both want, I can deal with it. Maybe even enjoy thinking about it. I’m not a jealous man…well not when it comes to them.”
It slowly begins to dawn on me that he’s not jerking me around. He really isn’t pissed. “Most guys would be furious if their girlfriend told them she was having feelings for their best friend,” I mutter, ducking my head.
“Last time I checked, I’m not most guys,” Theo reminds me. “I spent my whole childhood watching my dad bounce from my mom to half a dozen other women at any given time. I saw the way the other dons racked up mistresses like trophies. It’s practically an unspoken rule.”
I swallow. “So... what are you saying?”
“I’m saying,” Theo says, leaning forward, “humans are social creatures, kid. Our emotions don’t listen to logic. Internalizing that is the key to playing this game we’re playing, and that’s what no one else seems to understand. It’s what got me to where I am. If someone like my father can have a few mistresses and do all right for himself, you think I can’t move past you having feelings for someone I trust?”
My mouth has gone dry. I’m literally at a loss for words. All I can manage in response is a single, quiet, “Oh.”
Theo chuckles. “You really had me going for a second there, kid. I thought you were gonna have a heart attack, you were so worked up.”
I shake my head in disbelief. “You’re serious about this.”
“Kid,” Theo says seriously, taking my chin in his hand, “when I say something, it’s because I mean it. There is one condition, though,” he adds, crossing his arms.
I clear my throat, still reeling. “Which is…?”
“If this goes beyond me,” he replies, “it only involves people I approve of. No one else.”
I give a weak chuckle, my fear finally melting away into relief. “Fair enough,” I say. “I think I can live with that.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Lucas
Lucas stares at his father from across the long table in the family dining room, watching as the old bastard takes his sweet time with his food. This is the first time he’s set foot in this house since he turned the tables on Theo, but his stomach is still twisted in knots. It’s weird being back here again, and even weirder being back here without his runaway bride.
