AllFreeNovel
Share Us
In the hallway, Liam walked quickly, gaining speed until he shot past Mavis at the entrance and bolted into the parking lot. Unwilling to stop there, he took a lap around the perimeter of the building, grateful for the stretch of his muscles and the familiar burn in his legs. When he came full circle, he did it again. And again. By the time he made it back to his desk fifteen minutes later, he felt much better. How these people could stand to sit in front of computers for so many hours out of the day was a mystery to him. It wasn’t natural.
“You coming to Danté’s with us after?” Otto asked, turning in his overstuffed office chair. “They have great microbrews on tap.”
Liam glanced over at Cora. “Is everyone going?”
She was shuffling papers on her desk, so she didn’t make eye contact when she said, “Not everyone. It’s just a local bar down the road. It’s not a big deal.”
“I’m not going,” Happy said with his usual pinched expression.
Otto swiveled to face him. “Come on, Happ. Just this once. You might actually enjoy it.”
“I’m surrounded by you people all day long,” Happy said, adjusting his jacket before standing and pushing in his chair. “Some of us prefer to find enjoyment in more meaningful ways.”
“Oh, yeah? Like what?” Otto asked.
Happy just shook his head, checked his phone and left without a backward glance.
When Rob Hopper breezed into the room, he swooped up to Cora’s desk, grabbed the back of her chair and spun her in a circle.
Cora let out a little shriek, but she was smiling.
Liam wasn’t. The man took too many liberties with Cora. He needed to change that. If he dared call her Peaches today, he’d drop the sorry bastard on his ass.
“It’s hump day,” Rob announced. “You’re going to Danté’s, Cora, because I need you to bring your friend Suzette. I’m still trying to win her over with my razor-sharp wit and hot body.”
Cora shoved at him, then adjusted her chair. “Suzette’s too smart to fall for you. Besides, she’s dating someone else, so don’t get your hopes up.”
“Nonsense,” Rob said. “I like a little competition. A good fight once in a while really gets the blood flowing, amirite, Liam?”
Liam gave him an assessing look. “Sure.” Rob was a couple of inches shorter than him, and even though he looked strong, Liam felt certain he could beat him at anything. He’d been in drunken fights with the Bricks a time or two, and he’d survived to tell the tale. This man was soft as porridge compared to them. “Anytime you need a challenge, let me know.”
“Excellent!” Rob made a show of bouncing on the balls of his feet and punching the air a few times. “How are you at boxing? We should go a few rounds sometime.”
Liam stood up fast. He was itching to expend some energy, and Rob was a damned fool if he thought he could best him. “I’m ready.”
“Ignore Rob,” Cora said in exasperation. “Nine times out of ten, he’s screwing with you.”
“True,” Rob said. “Except when I asked Suzette out last week, Cora. I wasn’t screwing around then.”
She stood and tugged on her jacket. “You’ve asked out every woman in the city, Hopper. I’m pretty sure screwing is exactly what you had in mind.”
He slapped a hand to his chest and turned to Liam. “She kills me.”
“You deserve it,” Liam threw back.
Rob stuck his tongue between his teeth and grinned. “Probably.”
Cora was halfway to the corridor before she glanced back. “If you want to go, Liam, you can follow me over. Unless you’re busy tonight.” She looked like she didn’t care, either way.
It cut deep, this casual disregard. Liam wasn’t used to it, especially not from her. He steeled himself with a renewed sense of determination as they left the station. No matter what his task was here in this lifetime, he and Cora were connected. One way or another, she was going to care for him again. He’d make sure of it.
Ten minutes later, Liam stood outside of the bar staring at the sign that read Danté’s Inferno. It was surrounded by dancing orange and red flames that blinked back and forth. The letter T, upon closer inspection, was a black pitchfork. A traveling bard back in Ireland had once talked about the seven circles of hell, so the irony was not lost on Liam. He tipped his face to the sky and barely refrained from muttering one of his favorite new words. Either this was a bad omen, or the angels had a wicked sense of humor.
A tall man with light brown hair rushed forward to open the door for Cora. He said something that made her laugh.
“Liam, this is my friend Finn Walsh,” Cora said over her shoulder. “Finn, meet Liam O’Connor.”
Finn’s smile was automatic, but it didn’t reach his eyes until Cora added, “Liam’s a new officer on our team. He just started this week.”
