Her rivals touch, p.16
Her Rival's Touch, page 16
Amarante raised a single eyebrow. “You’re one to talk.”
Since Liam was still lingering in the doorway, Kenzie made the decision for him. She got up, grabbed one of Ryu’s computer chairs, and dragged it over to the spot on the other side of her. “Sit. You’re making me nervous with all the lurking.” The table wasn’t meant to hold more than four, but she wasn’t about to let that stop her.
“I’m not lurking.” He sank down next to her and reached under the table to squeeze her knee. Just that, but it was enough to uncoil something tight and unhappy in her chest. He was okay. They were okay.
Now Luca just needed to be okay.
Another hour passed and Ryu beat them all soundly at round after round of Rummy. When the phone finally rang, it was Amarante who jumped up and strode to answer. “Yes?” She turned away from them. “Yes, thank you.” She hung up and looked over her shoulder. “He came out of surgery just fine. He’ll make a full recovery.”
Kenzie hissed out a breath and reached across the table to take Cami’s hands. “What did I tell you?”
“I didn’t doubt you for a minute.” But her blue eyes shone with unshed tears. She looked at Amarante. “When can I see him?”
“I’ll take you there now.”
As much as Kenzie wanted to see her brother, she recognized that Cami needed time with him—time alone to break down without the rest of them hovering over her shoulder. She might trust and love Luca, but the other three Horsemen hadn’t earned either from her. Smart girl.
Though they would all fight to the death for her now by virtue of her relationship with Luca, they hadn’t exactly made it easy on her during the Wild Hunt.
Once the two women disappeared, Ryu shot back the rest of his bourbon and pushed to his feet. “I’ll get back on Arthur’s trail.”
Because they needed to secure him sooner, rather than later. She finished her drink and stood, feeling a little off-center. “Thanks.”
Liam still hadn’t said anything. Not while they played cards. Not as Kenzie took his hand and led him through the hub to her private rooms. It wasn’t until she shut the door that she realized she’d never brought anyone back here that wasn’t family.
As if she needed further confirmation that Liam had worked his way beneath her skin and into her heart. “Shower?”
“Yeah.” He followed her into the bathroom. It seemed the most natural thing in the world to get the double shower heads going and strip. Liam took a few seconds to check her neck and face. “That’s going to sting.”
“I’ve had worse.”
Something strange and dark flickered through his expression. “I know.” He pulled her into the shower.
She hadn’t realized how tired she was until the hot water hit her skin, beating away the tension keeping her on her feet. Kenzie swayed. “I think the bourbon went to my head.”
“More like a whole lot of adrenaline letdown and no sleep, combined with the bourbon, went to your head.” He washed her in the same gentle economic way he had back in Chicago. Caring, but also not the least bit sexual. If she had the energy, she might have been insulted. But she didn’t, and so she stood there passively while he gave himself the same treatment.
Kenzie licked her lips, something thick and unwelcome in her chest. “Liam?”
“Yeah?”
“Will you sleep with me tonight? Just…sleep with me.”
He smiled slowly. “Yeah, Kenzie. I’ll just sleep with you tonight.”
Fifteen minutes later, he tucked them both beneath the voluptuous comforter that she’d spent a truly ridiculous amount of money on. Liam let her get comfortable on her side and then he curled his bigger body around hers, a solid wall of warmth and muscle to hold her up and ground her at the same time. He pressed a soft kiss to the back of her neck. “I’m glad your brother is good.”
“Me, too.” She shuddered. “I… There was a minute there where I thought everything wouldn’t be okay. That we could lose him.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” He held her tighter as she shook. “He’s okay. He’ll make a full recovery.”
“I know,” she whispered. “I’m good. I swear.” It was like her body had all this pent up feeling and now that the crisis had passed, it was determined to shake it out of her all at once. She turned and wrapped herself around Liam, burying her face in his chest. “Don’t get shot, okay? I couldn’t stand it.”
He smoothed her hair and down her back. “Having been shot before, I have no desire to repeat the process.”
“I want to kill that bitch.”
“She’s been dead for years.”
Kenzie clutched him tighter. “Maybe I’ll dig her up and shoot her a few times. Just to make sure.”
His laugh rumbled through his chest. “Desecrating graves is usually frowned upon.” The amusement died in his voice. “I feel the same way, Kenzie. I would do anything to make sure no one ever lays hands on you again. No matter the cost.” He tilted her chin up and frowned. “Don’t cry.”
“I’m not.” She blinked rapidly. “I’m having an allergic reaction. Or maybe there’s something in my eye. A really big stick.”
This time, he didn’t laugh. Liam swiped his thumb across her cheeks, wiping away her tears. “I love you.”
She went stock still. “What?”
“I love you.”
She had to clamp her lips together to keep from questioning him again. He’d definitely said those three little words. The ones she never thought to hear outside of her family, and certainly not with such conviction.
Liam loved her.
“I love you, too,” she blurted. “It’s really inconvenient and I don’t think I like it, but I do.”
“Do you trust me?”
Alarm bells pealed through her head. Yes, love and trust were supposed to go hand in hand, and yes, she had leaned on Liam more than a few times over the last couple of days. But his question felt weighted and heavy with meaning that extended far into the future. “Yes,” she whispered, praying she wasn’t damning them both.
There was still the matter of his entire life being on hold while he stayed on the island. She cleared her throat. “I can’t ask you to choose between me and them, Liam. I won’t. And my future is wrapped up in the island. How could this possibly work?”
“We’ll figure it out.”
She gave a hiccupping laugh. “That’s what someone says when they don’t have a plan and have no idea how they’re going to figure it out.”
“Trust me, Kenzie.” He kissed her forehead, each of her cheeks, her lips. “Trust that we’ll get through this together.”
She didn’t have it in her to figure out the fine details tonight. Tomorrow would have to be good enough for that. They could do it together.
Together.
A word that could mean so little, but also could tip her whole world on its axis. Before Liam, together always meant her and her siblings. A united front. Them versus the rest of the world. They took care of each other, they kept each other safe, but there were some needs that simply couldn’t be met in that kind of relationship.
Liam’s declaration promised to at least try.
Together.
“Okay. Together.”
He gathered her close again, the steady beat of his heart lulling her into something resembling peace. Tonight, things were okay. Better than okay. They had accomplished the goal of bringing Milo in. Luca would survive to fight another day. Liam was here in her bed, telling her that the loved her. Spilling words to back up the truth he demonstrated time and time again with his actions.
It was almost—almost—enough to let her relax.
There were other battles to fight, though. Tomorrow, they’d have to form a plan to go after Arthur again, and this time they wouldn’t have surprise on their side. She didn’t relish a repeat of Chicago, but Kenzie was sure she wouldn’t freeze up the same way she had when facing down a specter from her past.
Doubt threatened to creep in, though. She’d never faltered before. Not really. What was to say that it wouldn’t happen again? Every opponent Kenzie had dealt with since they founded the Island of Ys was one she knew without a shadow of a doubt she was better than. Yeah, she lost sometimes, but they were small battles in the overall war.
This felt different.
Now she had more to fight for…and more to lose.
If Liam was any less skilled, he might have ended up with a few bullet wounds during that fight in the apartment. He could have died. Because Kenzie dropped the ball and didn’t hold up her end of things.
She couldn’t let it happen. He’d seen enough pain without her adding to the balance. Tomorrow, she’d pull Ryu aside and see about hopping on the plane. Amarante had shown her own kind of approval for Liam in allowing him into the hub, so she wouldn’t banish him while Kenzie was gone.
Yeah, that would work.
She’d go after Arthur, extract him, and haul his ass back here for questioning. Liam wouldn’t like it, but Liam didn’t get a choice in the matter. She wouldn’t let anyone else get hurt for this vendetta.
After all, it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
Chapter 16
Kenzie woke up alone. Her body registered that truth before her mind did. Even then, she tried to deny it. She touched the spot on her bed where Liam had slept last night. It was cold.
Damn it.
She sat up and shoved her hair out of her eyes. Any hope that Liam had just wandered away to take the world’s longest shower dissipated as she looked around her room and realized both his clothes and bag were gone.
Kenzie climbed out of bed and yanked on the first thing she laid hands on—an oversized T-shirt that she’d stolen from Ryu so many years ago that he’d finally stopped asking for it back. She stalked into the hub, fury bubbling up with each step.
Ryu sat in his usual spot behind his computers and barely glanced up as she slammed her hands onto his desk. “Morning, Kenzie.”
“Don’t you ‘morning, Kenzie’ me. Where is he?”
“Who?”
She slammed her hands down again, and then a third time for good measure. “You know who. Where is Liam?”
For the first time in as long as she could remember, Ryu wouldn’t quite meet her gaze. “You should talk to Amarante.”
Cold slithered down her spine. “If she did something to him…”
“Not that.” Ryu shook his head. “Give us a little credit.”
“I’m giving you exactly as much credit as I’d give myself in your situation.” If she thought someone was taking advantage of Ryu, she’d bury the bitch. Granted, that would require her reclusive brother to actually leave the hub and interact with people, but the point stood. “Where. Is. He?”
“Not on the island.”
Kenzie pushed off the desk and stared. No. He wouldn’t. But the implacable expression on her brother’s face confirmed her suspicion. “Where is Amarante?” she bit out.
“Luca’s room. He’s doing well, and Cami needed to sleep, but she didn’t want him to be alone.”
She didn’t bother to reply as she turned and stalked away. They maintained a regular staff of doctors and nurses on the island, and kept them tucked near the hub in the center of Pleasure. Though the rooms had access to a public hallway, Luca was in the one reserved for Horsemen use only. It wasn’t utilized often, but occasionally one of their staff would need to be bandaged up, and there was the Great Flu Scare of 2016 that had seen a shit ton of people come through the doors.
Luca was sleeping in his bed, and his color already looked better than it had the day before. Kenzie walked to his side and looked down at him, measuring his breathing against her own. He would be okay. She knew that, rationally, but seeing him in a hospital bed was twelve different kinds of wrong.
No use ignoring the reason she’d come here, though.
She turned to face Amarante. Her sister sat in a chair on the other side of the bed, a laptop balanced on her lap. Amarante kept typing. “You have something to say.”
“Where is Liam?”
“Why ask me?”
Kenzie hated that they had to go through this song and dance, hated that Amarante was playing games again and wouldn’t just tell her what the fuck was going on. She propped her hand on her hip and glared at her sister. “Because, Te, you are queen of the motherfucking island, and nothing goes on here that you don’t know about. I know you’d cut off your hand before you let someone like Liam wander off, so I know you damn well know exactly where he is.”
“Queen of the motherfucking island,” Amarante mused. She finally set her laptop to the side and gave Kenzie her full attention.
“That’s what I said.
She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t stop there. Tell me how you really feel.”
Great. They were going to do the Amarante Ice Queen to Kenzie’s Drama Freakout. Amarante was only four years older than her, and yes, she had taken on an almost parental role at first, but that didn’t excuse that patronizing bullshit right now. Kenzie spoke through clenched teeth. “You are our leader, and I have never made qualms about that. No one has. So don’t get your panties in a bunch just because someone is finally stating it out loud. You say jump, and we are more than happy to jump. We agreed to that. Liam did not.”
“He’s not one of us.”
That’s what it always came down to. For Amarante, the world fell into two categories: the Horsemen…and everyone else. Liam was firmly among the latter. Kenzie had to look away, because she didn’t trust herself in that moment. “I care about him.”
“You love him.”
Hearing the words spoken aloud shocked her enough to have her rocking back on her heels. “What?” She’d barely allowed herself to admit the depth of her feelings to Liam and here Amarante was, throwing them out there as if it were a fact. As if it had been a fact for a very long time. Kenzie clenched her fists. “Did you send him away because of that?”
Her sister blinked. “Your high opinion of me is noted.”
“Don’t give me that shit. I know exactly the lengths you would go—and have gone for us. What’s wrong with Liam that he’s not good enough?”
Amarante pushed to her feet in a rare display of agitation. “First Luca and now you. It’s a blow to know how little you think of me. I never would have let the princess die for our plans, and I sure as hell wouldn’t repay the mobster’s loyalty to you with pain.”
That brought her up short, but it didn’t dissolve her anger. The fact remained that Liam was gone, and Amarante was the one who sent him away. “Where. Is. He?”
Amarante tucked a strand on her long black hair behind her ear. “You won’t believe me, but it was his idea.” Something in her expression softened, just for a moment. “He wants to keep you safe.”
He wants to keep you safe.
Kenzie’s stomach dropped out. “You wouldn’t dare. He wouldn’t dare.”
“He flew out several hours ago. He’s halfway to Madrid by now.”
Halfway to Madrid and without anyone to watch his back. Liam was good, but so was her brother and look what happened to him. The thought of Liam bleeding out in some room, dying alone… Her breath snagged in her chest, stalled by a band tightening around her lungs. Liam could die and it would be her fault. The only reason he was doing this was because of her, because he didn’t believe she was strong enough to hold her own. Instead of talking to her, he took matters into his own hands and went behind her back to her fucking sister.
If he survived, she was going to kill him herself.
Kenzie smoothed down the fabric of her oversized T-shirt. “I’m taking the helicopter to the airport on the mainland.”
“Are you sure?”
“Have I ever failed you, Amarante? Even one single fucking time?”
Her sister looked at her for a long moment and slowly shook her head. “You know you haven’t.”
“Then you should have given me the benefit of the doubt with this. You should have talked to me instead of playing god with both our lives.” She turned to the door. “If he dies, I’ll never forgive you.” Kenzie ignored Amarante’s sharp inhale and left the room. She didn’t see anyone on her way back to the hub, which was just as well. In her current mood, she couldn’t guarantee what she’d do.
Ryu was waiting for her the second she walked through the door. “It’s not her fault.”
“Amarante does not need you to fight her battles.”
“She does when it comes to family.” He stepped in her way, forcing her to stop or try to go through him. Ryu cursed. “She’s doing what she thinks is best.”
“Amarante’s always doing what she thinks is best. That doesn’t mean it’s okay.” Kenzie realized she was yelling and made an effort to lower her voice. “He could die, Ryu. Luca would have if Cami wasn’t there.”
Her brother’s jaw worked and he finally sighed. “Then we better go.”
“We.”
He didn’t respond. Just turned and disappeared in the direction of his rooms. Kenzie stared after him for a long moment and then sprang into motion. They had hours of traveling ahead of them, and she’d get her answers then. Right now, the only thing that mattered was making it to the mainland and getting on the next flight out. She had to hope that Liam wouldn’t rush into trying to grab Arthur without some planning involved, which meant they had a small window of time to get to him before he did anything too dangerous.
That was assuming, of course, that Arthur wasn’t already on the lookout.
The number of things that could go wrong with this situation made her head hurt. It didn’t matter. She’d get to him before he was hurt. She would ensure he didn’t die for her.
Then, and only then, Kenzie would figure out what she was going to do about the horrible sinking feeling in her chest.
Liam had spent the day watching Arthur. The man was polar opposite from Milo. Apparently the attack from Luca hadn’t been enough to keep him holed up, because he moved from business to business as the day progressed, appearing to meet with the owners. From the file Ryu provided, it appeared Arthur was in Madrid to keep up on his boss’s business prospects. Keep the people farther down the ladder in line. It should have made Liam’s job easier.
