I couldn’t resist smiling. God, what such a simple compliment from him could do to me.
“I’ll grab that coffee for you,” he said, once again pulling his gaze from me. He went to the counter and fetched a mug from the cabinet, filling it with coffee from the maker before preparing it with such care and attention. As soon as I took a sip, I was impressed.
“Just the right balance.”
“Well, now that you know the truth, I can tell you that in my line of business, I have to be very good at reading people.”
He went back to the stove and made his own plate.
“Here, I can get your coffee while you finish up there.”
“You don’t have to—”
“Cream and sugar? No… Black?”
“You got it.”
“Oh, I guess I’m good at reading people too. Or reading you, at least,” I teased before grabbing a mug from the cabinet and pouring him his coffee.
I returned to the table, setting his mug beside his plate. He waited for me to be seated before he took a sausage link and stuck a quarter of it in his mouth.
Unlike the night before, when I hadn’t really wanted to eat the buffalo chicken wrap, that morning I was fucking starving and going at my food like it’d been days since I’d eaten. And Christ, Liam sure made a good omelette. I took another bite, swallowing before asking, “So you’re going to the store?”
“Yeah, I figured I’d spend some time making sure the place is safe before heading out. Then I’ll get in touch with my team.”
“And we can trust these guys?”
“I don’t trust anyone,” he blurted out.
Certainly, something I had already picked up on. Although I was starting to understand why.
“But I trust these guys more than I would anyone else.”
He devoured some more of his breakfast and then took a sip of his coffee. “Wow. This is shit.”
We enjoyed a laugh together. Didn’t seem like he was talking about the coffee as much as the whole situation we found ourselves in.
He inspected me briefly before saying, “You must have more questions for me.”
“I have plenty. I think the issue is trying to figure out which ones are the most important. And I can’t tell if that’s the reason for this headache or if it’s from the punch to the face.”
“Well, you took it like a champ. I mean that. As foolish as it might have been for you to come back and take that guy on, the intent behind it wasn’t lost on me.”
“Wish I could have actually taken him out or something.”
“Those were big guys. Not pros, no special training that I could make out, though they obviously know how to fight. But that’s not what’s important. You really know what makes a man when he throws himself into a fight, and you stepped right up to it. Honestly, it surprised me.”
“What did you think I would do?”
“It wouldn’t have been a terrible thing if you had frozen up or run. Wasn’t expecting this Ty kill-mode. Although, maybe I should have.”
I laughed. “Ty kill-mode. I like that. Yeah, wasn’t much of a kill-mode, I guess.”
“You got a few good punches in. And that’s saying something when you’re up against guys who’ve probably spent most of their lives as goons.”
I knew Liam well enough to know he wasn’t blowing steam up my ass, and while his reaction was nice, it didn’t keep me from feeling like I’d failed us by not being able to help him more.
He took a sip of his coffee before saying, “Finish up, and I’ll give you the grand tour.”
