“No. You didn’t mention a brother.” He hadn’t talked about his family at all.
“We grew up rough, me and my brother. Our mother hung out with, shall we say, a criminal element.” He got into bed beside her, and she just couldn’t turn away again. It seemed like a declaration of weakness. He climbed into bed, naked as he pleased, lying on his back, one arm behind his head. The sheet covered her, but somehow it only managed to cover Liam to his waist leaving his cut body on display. He turned his head to face her. “He was a rough kid, always getting into trouble, and he was my main responsibility in life. All I heard from the time I can remember being able to walk and talk was to take care of my brother.”
What was he doing? Why was he telling her this now?
“I loved my brother so much, but he was a pain in my ass. He had a really thick skull. I don’t know. I think I look back with rose-colored glasses. That’s the phrase, right? When you lose someone, you tend to try to forget the bad.”
She snorted a little. She couldn’t help it. Brandon had been the world’s biggest slob.
Had Liam really lost his brother or was this another story he was making up? She kept silent, unwilling to be drawn in, but he just kept talking.
“He wasn’t a bad kid, at least I told myself he wasn’t. I don’t know. Maybe I was worse. I got into a lot of fights, but my brother was just very self-centered. He plotted a lot. He stole from the church fund once while we were altar boys. I had to cover it up. He did a lot of other stuff, but I tried to turn a blind eye.”
She hadn’t had siblings while she was growing up, but she could imagine how hard it would be if one went bad. “That’s terrible.”
He sighed, his eyes on the ceiling. “We were hungry. I told myself that at the time. Now I wonder what he’d been planning to do with the money. It doesn’t matter because in the end, I failed, and I think I’ve been trying to figure out a way to forgive myself for years. He followed me into the Army. There wasn’t any other place for us to go. He rose through the ranks with me, and I lost him on a mission. I failed.”
She couldn’t help it. She reached out and put a hand on his chest. “You didn’t fail.”
“Rory died, Avery. I failed. I didn’t pull the trigger, but I allowed myself to get into a situation where he died, and I didn’t even have a body to bury. I miss him. I can’t even imagine how much worse it was for you. I want you to teach me.”
“Teach you what?”
“How to live like you. How to be as strong as you are.”
“I hardly think you can learn anything from me.” She started to pull her hand away, but he held it.
“Please, Avery. Just this much.”
She turned on her side. She wasn’t sure she could handle the new, honest Liam. He was even deadlier than the liar.
She fell asleep with her hand on his chest, feeling the strong beat of his heart.
The man who claimed to be Thomas Molina felt every muscle in his body freeze as Lee Donnelly spoke.
Rory died, Avery. I failed.
The room went cold.
Coincidence. It was just a coincidence. That was all it was. Like the story about the thieving altar boy was just a coincidence. Tension ran down his spine.
He set down his Scotch and walked across the office to where he kept his personal files. He certainly wasn’t stupid enough to keep them at UOF Headquarters. No. This was his private office in his privately owned town house. He’d made many modifications to the place since he’d purchased it with all of Thomas Molina’s lovely money. That fucker hadn’t known how to live. Bloody wanker.
Molina hadn’t understood what it meant to be truly hungry. His legs might not have functioned, but he’d never gone hungry. He’d been a sad rich man playing at redemption. Molina had cried when he’d had a gun to his head. He’d bawled and said something about all the good he’d done in the world.
Good meant nothing. What the real Molina had never understood was that all those blighted bastards who ate the food he sent to them would have slashed his throat in a second because they lived in the real world where loyalty meant nothing. Friendship meant nothing.
Brotherhood meant nothing.
Only money mattered, and he’d proven that when he’d killed his only brother in a bomb blast and taken those fucking bonds and made his deal with Nelson.
Teach you what? Avery’s voice came over the speaker.
How to live like you. How to be as strong as you are.
He nearly vomited. What an idiot. Avery was weak. Avery was sweet and sugary and all the things that would make her so much fun to break and watch when she finally understood the real world.
Rory O’Donnell’s world.
Rory cursed under his breath as he looked at the photos Malcolm had taken. Why wouldn’t the bastard look up? Lee Donnelly was a master at making sure no one caught his face.
Lee Donnelly.