“Easier said than done.” He picked up a small stone, tossed it over the edge. “My twin brother, Logan, broke his leg once because he followed me. I jumped off a boulder, he tried to follow but hesitated. Spent the rest of vacation in the hospital. Wrecked the whole family trip, and it could’ve been so much worse.”
“Were your parents upset?”
“Mom was furious at the time. Kept telling me I was an adventurer, a leader, and with that came responsibility for whoever followed.”
“That’s true, but did you tell Logan to jump?” When he shook his head, she pressed on. “You’re an adult now. Look at it from your mom’s perspective—injured son, a rush to the hospital. Maybe she wasn’t angry so much as freaking out. I doubt she blames you. You didn’t make Logan jump, and you didn’t make decisions for Christiana.”
Funny how the words made sense when applied to someone else’s situation. Because it sure felt like she was responsible for whoever the Bratva hurt because of what she’d dug up.
His mouth pinched. “I didn’t mean to dump all this on you. Just trying to explain that Friday, when you tripped, I was right back there and…I’m sorry.” He looked at her, blue eyes intense. “I shouldn’t have freaked out like that.”
“You saved me from taking a header off the cliff.”
“I am glad I kept you from falling. But after…I shouldn’t have held you like that without?—”
“Liam. I wasn’t mad. I trust you.” Strange to say the words, but now that she had, she knew they were true. Something about this guy made her feel somehow…settled. Despite the chaos of her life. “But Iwasworried about you. Thank you for telling me.”
He straightened, eyes softening as he searched her face. “Since we’re having sharing time—you ready to tell me why you’re really here? Or still pretending those satellites are about finding yourself?”
Oh.
His eyes held hers, steady, refusing to let her hide. For a moment, she wanted to spill everything—her shattered childhood, the Bratva’s pursuit, her ache for a sense of belonging.
But the more he knew, the more he could be in danger.
So she laughed, sharp and brittle. “You don’t want my sob story, ranger.”
A small smile curved his lips—the first real one she’d seen tonight. “I think I want to know a lot more about you, Nimue. But I’m a patient man.”
His knee brushed hers. Her heart stuttered.
And suddenly, the air simmered, charged and loaded.
She couldn’t tell him everything. But maybe something…“My dad died when I was young, and my mom…made bad choices. Like the guys she dated. My sister used to steal from them to buy food for us. Once she got caught, only the guy thought I’d done it. He came after me.”
Liam stilled beside her.
“Emberly saved me, but then he took his anger out on her. I blamed myself for how badly he beat her. But…”
“You can’t carry the weight of other people’s bad choices.” He finished for her.
She blinked at him for a moment, then cleared her throat. “Exactly. Anyway, after that, I ended up in foster care.”
His shoulders stiffened. And of course, she expected that. People reacted all sorts of ways to that revelation—pity, wariness, judgment.
Somehow she’d hoped it would be different with Liam.
“When my sister was eighteen, she found me in my current foster home, and we took off for Florida in this old car that broke down in Tennessee. My sister then stole the van of this family and…well, as Providence would have it, they were this amazing foster family who offered to take us in.”
He was watching her, his blue eyes on hers. Unnerving.
Or not. Maybe just intense.
“The Davidsons were amazing. Took in lots of kids. My sister ended up leaving, but I stayed with them until I went to college. I still call their farm home and consider them my parents, in a way. You’d like Boz—his full name is Boaz. He’s a good man.” She hated how defensive she sounded.
“I’m sure I would. I have great respect for people who open their homes like that.” He met her gaze. “I wasn’t…I didn’t…My reaction wasn’t about you.”
“How could it not be?” Maybe they’d shared enough for one day. She dusted her hands, preparing to stand, but his hand landed gently on her arm. She stared at his grip until he pulled it back.
