Open the door if she’s secure. Need to talk.
Liam moved carefully after grabbing her keys off the dining room table. He picked up his shirt and shoved his feet into his boots. He needed a good excuse if she got up. He could go grab something from the store down the street. He checked in on her bedroom. Moonlight filtered in. The sheet had slid off her slightly, exposing one breast. Her nipple was pink tipped and erect. She turned as though looking for him, but she settled back down.
If she was his sub, he would make sure she never wore clothes when they were alone. She was worried about some scars? He didn’t give a shit. They were just a map of her survival. She was so gorgeous that she needed the scars or she would be too perfect.
He stared for a minute. Why hadn’t he seen her beauty from that first moment? Oh, she’d been pretty, but without her clothes she was stunning.
The phone in his hand vibrated again, an impatient thing.
He closed the door to her bedroom and made his way to the outer door, sticking close to the wall so the wood didn’t make a sound under his feet. He unlocked the door, and there was Adam leaning against the opposite wall just standing there waiting for him. He put his fist up.
Silent. He wanted Liam to remain silent. What the hell was going on?
Adam opened the door to the apartment he and Jake were sharing and motioned him to come over. Liam didn’t want to leave her. Not if something was going down, but he needed to know. And he needed to make a copy of her keys anyway. He locked the door behind him and followed Adam inside.
Jake looked up from the computer on the table. “Dude, shirt?”
“If you wanted me to get dressed, you should have said so. I got out of bed to answer this little call of yours.” He tried to play it cool. He pulled the T-shirt over his head.
“That didn’t take long,” Adam said. “Is she asleep?”
“Yes. She’s secure.” She was the type who slept at night because her conscience didn’t keep her awake. She was the type who deserved a man who didn’t run away after he was done fucking her.
“Is she all right?” Adam asked. He held up a hand to stop Liam’s immediate reaction. “I only ask because I’ve spent some time with her. She’s very sweet and really na?ve. She isn’t used to having sex.”
He didn’t like to hear it described that way, but there it was. It had been sex. Nasty, dirty sex with a woman who didn’t even know who she was really sleeping with. Would she welcome Liam O’Donnell into her bed? He doubted it. Liam O’Donnell was cold and he used a woman. He didn’t cuddle up to her and protect her.
So why had it been so natural to shield her on the escalator? Why had he already trained himself to know when her leg was going to give so he could catch her? She was a little reckless with that leg. She seemed perfectly willing to take a dive, but she didn’t have to because he was there to catch her.
Lee Donnelly was there to catch her. Liam didn’t give a shit.
Yeah, not even he was buying that lie anymore. “Avery is fine. Now what’s the problem?”
Adam looked like he wanted to argue, but luckily Jake took over.
“I just got a call from Ian, and he’s a little worried about Avery’s apartment. It looks like we’re not the only ones tracking her phone,” Jake said.
Fuck. Someone was watching her. “Molina?”
Adam shrugged. “Probably, but we’re not sure. I’m working on it. You understand that if she’s involved in this it would make sense that her phone is bugged. Every one of Eli Nelson’s contacts probably has an eye on them.”
“Or someone’s watching her because he’s a paranoid freak and he’s using her.” She wasn’t involved. He knew it deep down. He also knew it was stupid. He shouldn’t make judgments like that this early in the game. Hell, he shouldn’t make judgments at all. Her guilt or innocence didn’t really matter. Except it mattered to him. “I want to know who’s watching her.”
The idea that someone had eyes on her brought a slow roll of anger into his gut.
Adam grinned at his partner. “I told you he wasn’t as dumb as you.”
Jake’s eyes rolled. “Let’s not bring that up again. And dear god, don’t mention it to Serena. Every time an innocent woman gets wrongly accused I have to sleep on the sofa for a night or two.” Jake turned to Liam. “Seriously, Li, if you have a thing for this girl, don’t ever let her know if you had a single doubt in your head. Let her think you were always just here to protect her. It goes very wrong if you very gently ask her if she might be involved in something criminal.”
Adam gaped, his mouth dropping open. “Are you insane? You gently asked her? I was there, asshole.”