“Maybe.” He swirls his glass and sips. “Want another?”
“I should get home before Dad notices I’m missing.”
“He’s keeping tabs on you now?”
“I think he’s making sure I don’t try to escape before the wedding.”
“Smart man.”
“Exactly. Who could blame me if I tried to run from you?” I flash him a quick smile and he returns it. But the light moment passes. “Do me a favor. I want you to watch out for Luke.”
“Ah, Regan, I don’t know?—“
“Please. I’m not asking you to be his guardian angel. You don’t need to follow him around. But try to nudge him out of trouble if you can. You have sway, don’t you? I mean, that’s why you’re marrying me?”
“Look at you, all full of yourself.”
“Tell me it’s not true.”
“I’m not a savior.” He finishes his drink and slides it carefully from him. “That’s not my skillset. I’m more of a killer.”
I run my fingers over the bar top wood. It’s wet and cold and I try not to look at my future husband. ThekillerI’m going to marry. Fear threatens at the edges of my mind and I push it back hard. “Try anyway?”
“Stop asking me to help people.” Liam gets up and tosses some cash beside his glass, more than enough for both our drinks and a healthy tip. “I’ll do what I can. Alright? But no more.”
“Consider it a wedding present for me.”
He touches my hair, brushes it from my neck. His fingers graze my skin and I lean toward him unconsciously. “A better man could offer more.”
I watch him walk away, not sure what the hell he means, but too twisted up in my own problems to think too much about it.
CHAPTER 12
LIAM
As I lean my shoulder against the door and quietly turn the knob, I think about what my pretty wife’s going to look like on our wedding day.
Auburn hair spilling down her shoulders. Or maybe twisted into some complicated braid on her head. White dress hugging her curves. Will she go traditional and conservative? Or maybe piss her father off and flaunt her lovely figure?
I slip my lockpicks back into my pocket and listen quietly in the dim apartment’s foyer for several long seconds.
How will I kiss her when the priest says the words? Should I make it quick and chaste? Or deep and lovely, let her know that she’s mine? Make her knees quake?
And the wedding night itself…
I know what she’ll say.Oh Liam, this is just a business arrangement between our families, I couldn’t possibly suck your throbbing cock and ride you until I scream myself into oblivion!Something like that, anyway.
But I suspect she’ll willingly wrap her pretty legs around my hips and moan as I sink deep inside her.
I’m buzzing with lewd thoughts as I move deeper into the apartment. The cheap old wood creaks under my footsteps but I don’t hear anything stir. The living area’s messy and cramped with old furniture around a decent television mounted to the wall. The kitchen’s surprisingly neat, if a little tight. I pick up a tin of what looks like Russian cookies and peek inside.
Coffee grounds. I sniff and toss them aside.Cheapcoffee grounds.
This is usually the part where I start searching the place, but I don’t have the time or the inclination. Instead, I angle toward the back hall, bypass the bathroom and head for the closed bedroom door.
Fucker’s snoring. Loudly too.
I push open the door and sneak inside.
