He crashed into the opposite wall, his opponent’s back slamming into it.
Liam grew up hard. He’d starved half his life on the Dublin streets, and he didn’t fucking fight fair. He had the advantage now. He heard his opponent drag air into his lungs. He’d gotten it knocked out of him by the slam against the wall. Liam brought his knee back, perfectly ready to deball the motherfucker.
“Please don’t,” a familiar voice said. Adam. Liam stepped back. Adam was standing right there in the hallway, leaning against the wall. And Jake. Jake had been just about to lose his balls. “Serena would be so upset if she lost half her chances at getting pregnant. Not that I can’t handle the job. I can, but she would be all over him. She’s a sucker for a sad story.”
Liam growled a little, a predator denied a nice fat meal. “What the fuck was that about?”
Jake’s eyes came up. “Adam spoke too soon. I had you right where I wanted you.”
Right. “You wanted me to shove your balls up into your intestines?”
“Like you could. I was just about to kick out and shove you back, then I was going to get my hands around your throat and drag you into our apartment and then I was going to beat your ass until you come to your senses,” Jake vowed.
“You wouldn’t have been able to lift your arms after what I was going to do to you.” Jake was high if he thought he had the upper hand in that little fight.
“Or we could all just stop hitting each other and talk this out,” Adam suggested.
“Pussy,” Jake shot back. He flexed his hand and stretched.
“I’m not the masochist here.” Adam turned to him. “Will you please talk to us? You’ve been a fucking asshole for four days.”
He’d avoided them at every turn. And they were his friends, or at least they seemed to be. Damn it. Ever since Simon Weston had put that file in front of him, he’d been at odds. “I’ve been getting in good with Avery.”
“I have no idea what the fuck you’ve been doing,” Jake shot back. “I think you might have been sitting on your ass or maybe you got a better deal and decided to start something with the competition.”
Anger flared. Jake was just asking for a thorough beating . “You want to explain what you mean by that?”
“What about asking politely do you not understand, asshole?” Adam said to his partner. He turned back to Liam. “We agreed we would just talk to you then the Neanderthal here had to go primeval on your ass. Look, Ian told us what happened. Can we please talk?”
He got the feeling if he didn’t they would press the issue. “Fine. But you only have until eleven thirty. I have to meet Avery.” He followed Adam inside, Jake hard on his heels. “So I take it Ian told you two to corner me?”
Adam turned, his eyes confused. “No. I’m worried about you.”
He really looked like he didn’t have a clue. “Ian didn’t mention that MI6 is on to us?”
Jake shut the door behind him. “Yes, he and Damon explained what was happening, which you would know if you had bothered to answer your texts and come to the meeting he called.”
Liam had ignored it. He’d been at Canterbury Cathedral with Avery. He’d taken a damn bus tour and held her hand when he knew he should be working. “What excuse did Damon give?”
Adam frowned. “Excuse? He needs an excuse to be MI6?”
“He needs an excuse to have not told us.”
“Ian knew. Look, Li, the only reason we’re still here and haven’t gotten our asses shipped back to the States is that Ian is working with MI6. He still has connections, and he’s using them to keep us here. We didn’t have any idea that MI6 was looking into UOF and Molina. We’re only still here for two reasons: Ian’s connections and the fact that you’ve managed to do what Weston couldn’t.”
“Get into Avery’s bed. Tell me something. Why doesn’t MI5 take over? They could just pull the records they want.” And then Avery would be out of this for good, and she wouldn’t have to find out about his involvement.
“You know the answer to that,” Jake said, scrubbing a hand through his hair as he sat on the sofa. “God, Li, what the fuck is happening to you? Where is your head?”
“The arms sales are happening on foreign soil. They sent Weston in because his family has done a bunch of charity work in Africa and Asia.” Adam’s eyes narrowed. He could be brutally intelligent when he wanted to be. “What exactly did you and Weston talk about if you didn’t talk about the op? Look, man, something’s going on here. You get pulled in by that MI6 guy and suddenly you’re acting like you don’t know a one of us. What did he say?”
He shook his head. “Weston was kept in the dark, too. He didn’t know we had a deal with Knight on the table.”