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Liam grits his teeth. I’m behind but a little to the side, and at this angle, I can see the hard square of his jaw, the tension moving through him.
“Hunter,” he says, voice as sharp as a whip. “Quiet. Sit.”
Hunter sits immediately, but his legs tremble and he lets out a puppyish whine. My heart breaks for him when I hear how desperately he wants to protect Liam.
Liam sighs and glances at me, but I can’t read his expression for once.
My mind is clouded with all the fucked-up things Quinn has said he’s going to do to me ever since he invented that five thousand dollar debt I owe him.
The door opens with a creak, causing Hunter to tremble and try to stand. Liam, still kneeling, his hand on Hunter’s scruff settles him down somewhat.
Quinn looks even more grotesque than I remember him. He has to duck to walk through the door. He looks like he’s over eight feet and weighs over four hundred pounds. He wears a tight hoodie and tight jeans and big chunky boots, and his hair is straggly and seaweed-like around his face. His pistol looks like a toy in his hand.
Behind him, four men follow, aiming their guns.
Each of them is steroid-swollen, just like Quinn, but none are so ridiculously large.
Liam stays kneeling, watching them, no flicker of panic showing on his face. His forest eyes stare unflinchingly as the stink of the men fills the room, whiskey and sweat, and smoke.
Quinn wanders over to the couch where we were just sitting, grinning over at me. His men spread around the room, exchanging glances as they idly toy with things. One – a bald man wearing a cheap and crinkled suit – prods a mounted sword with his pistol, making a metallic clinking noise.
“I think we’ll be taking more than five grand,” the man murmurs with a vicious laugh.
“Aye,” Quinn grins. “Told you, didn’t I? Following this bitch was worth it.”
“How did you know I was coming here?” I say, my voice sounding ghostly and feeling miles away as if somebody else is speaking.
“I overheard your little friend talking about it on campus,” he says, brimming with self-satisfaction. “So I made a little road trip. Crest Fall really is a lovely place this time of year. So much Valentine’s love in the air.”
“You graffitied the bar,” Liam says. “To draw me out. And then you followed me and watched me type in the security code.”
Quinn shrugs, making an overdramatic maybe-maybe-not face, but I can tell that Liam is right.
“That doesn’t matter now,” Quinn says. “All that matters is how much money you’re going to give me and my friends here. I’d say you’re worth, what, a few million at least? All those high-profile fights back in the day, this big house, all those businesses. We’re not asking for much. Five hundred thousand and we’ll be on our way.”
“Okay,” Liam says at once.
Quinn flinches. He looks to me as if I might have some answers for him. I find myself shrugging. I’m sickened to even have this much communication with him. My aunt really did have the worst taste in men.
“Okay?” Quinn murmurs.
“Of course,” Liam says. “I don’t want anybody to get hurt. You’re all bigger than me, which is a hard feat, but there it is. You’re bigger and I’d be in trouble even if you didn’t have guns. But you do. So what the fuck am I supposed to do?”
I stare at Liam, trying to see if he’s being serious.
But his face is hard and unreadable.
Then something clicks, and I recognize that look in his eyes. It’s the beast he lets out when he’s alone with me – the beast he was in the MMA cage – but this is a different breed.
His eyes are sharp and focused. Hunter has grown very still, too. It’s like they’re getting ready for something.
“How do we do this?” Quinn says, sounding lost.
“I’ve got a safe where I keep a million in cash,” Liam says. “I don’t trust banks to take care of all my money.”
“A million?” one of the men snaps. “We’ll be taking all of it, then.”
Liam shrugs. “If you want. I just want you to leave.”
“Where is this safe?” Quinn asks.
“In the basement,” Liam says. “I can show you.”
“Alright. But one of my men is staying here with the girl. If you try anything, he’ll slit her throat and rape the slut. I can’t promise in what order that’ll be, either.”
A pulse moves through Liam’s jaw at the same time as it moves through my chest, making my ribcage feel weirdly tight. I want to scream as the bald man starts to move around the couch, pistol raised, moving toward me.
Liam starts to stand slowly, one hand out palm-down toward Hunter, a signal for the dog to stay.
