Despite Liam’s assurance, I was on edge. This person had snuck into the cabin and attacked me in bed. What kind of friend could this have been?
Pressing my hand against my arm, which was still hurting from my being slammed against the wall, I turned as my attacker removed his ski mask.
He appeared a little older than Liam, maybe in his fifties. He had a chiseled jawline and what appeared to be a thick five-o’clock shadow. With grays speckled throughout his dark hair and matching goatee, he had a sexy silver-fox look about him. And even though he was slightly leaner and shorter than Liam, if the fight he’d put up was any indication, he could take care of himself just fine.
“Kyle, I could have slit your fucking throat.”
“If I thought you could’ve slit my throat, I wouldn’t have snuck in here like I did. And as you can see, I can hold my fucking own.”
“Why would you sneak around if you knew I was here?”
“I wouldn’t call it sneaking around. We’re all being cautious right now. I was playing scout to make sure you didn’t have some trap set up for us in here. There’s a fucking mole, Liam. We’re all on high alert. Plus, I saw this kid from the trees, not you, so I had to make sure he was on our side before we came knocking on the door. For all we know, he could have been some dumb goon with an AK-47.”
Dumb goon? Was that what I looked like to him?
“I guess I can’t blame you when I have about as much trust for you right now,” Liam said. “The rest of F5 with you?”
F5?
“Yes, Tara and Mick are here, of course.”
Now that we were out of harm’s way, I was noticing a bead of sweat running between Liam’s thick pecs. He’d stripped down to his boxers before we’d gone to sleep, and was looking awfully sexy after having just saved my life—or at least, that’s how it had felt, even if it had all been some ex-pal of his from the IPB giving us both a good scare.
“Good. Relieved to hear they’re with you,” Liam said. “Hell, I was starting to worry when you hadn’t returned my message.”
“Just being careful. The guys at the IPB, even the ones on our side, are keeping an extra-close eye on everyone, so we had to play it safe and get off their surveillance before responding. Would have been here sooner, but it took Mick forever to decrypt those coordinates you sent over.”
“It’s his program!” Liam said, sounding stunned.
“If it takes that long for him to figure it out, you think anyone else is going to?”
“Good point.”
“Hey, guys?” I interjected. “This is great and all that you’re playing catch-up, but I’m totally lost about what’s going on. So can you do me a solid and maybe speak in layman’s terms?”
Kyle turned a suspicious glare on me. “Well, Liam, not gonna lie, as happy as I am to have found you, I don’t know that it was the best idea to bring your boyfriend with you. He’s cute, though. You’ve always had good taste in men.”
Liam’s jaw stiffened. “You better show my friend some respect.”
“Or what? You’ll try to cut me with your knife? Didn’t seem to be doing such a great job with that.”
“I got your leg.”
“A mild inconvenience. Hell, if I was working for the enemy, you think you could have taken me? Really?”
“More than confident. And if you don’t treat Ty right, we’re gonna be waiting for you to wake up from a coma before sorting through this mess.”
Kyle turned and offered a smile, one that seemed forced, before passing the knife to his other hand and offering a shake. I took it reluctantly, as though some part of my body was still telling me that he was the enemy and I needed to be careful. I reminded myself that if Liam was cool with him, then he had to be a good guy.
Even from what little I knew of Liam, he wouldn’t have formed an alliance with someone without properly vetting them. Hell, with how guarded and closed off he always acted, I was amazed he had formedanyalliances over the years.
“I’ll give the guys the all clear,” Kyle said.
“Ty and I are gonna throw on some clothes while you do that.”
“Don’t let me interrupt anything. Just let me know if you need a hand…or a mouth.” The way he glanced between us, I didn’t doubt that he was totally serious about his offer, but Liam chuckled and said, “Get Tara and Mick, you fucking dick.”
Kyle displayed what looked like the first warm smile I’d seen from him since he’d unmasked himself. He headed out the door, giving Liam and me an opportunity to dress. We grabbed some clothes from the closet, and I slid into a pair of jeans.
