Liam’s expression darkened. “You were right. Theyarescum.”
“Maybe not all?” Eve suggested.
Jesus, was she defending them now? Liam’s head snapped up and he frowned, clearly thinking the same as her, and probably wondering if she’d lost her damn mind. Perhaps she had. It was time to get out of there before she said something even stupider.
“Anyway, I just wanted to say I was sorry. It’s not you personally that I took offense to. It could have been any Viper.”
She turned and started to walk from the room, but Liam called her back.
“Agent Sincero?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
She nodded then turned to walk out of the room but paused on the threshold.
“Liam?”
“Hmm?”
“You can call me Eve.”
It was only after she’d arrived in the living room, and her stomach growled loudly, that she remembered she’d been in the process of making breakfast. Go figure.
Mates. More trouble than they were worth.
Chapter Six
Liam
When Hawk threw his head back and let out a loud guffaw, Liam’s mouth twitched, threatening to lift into a full-blown smile. He’d been jealous as hell when he’d seen the man hug Eve earlier that morning, even though he had no right to be, but it had to be said, the agent was growing on him. Plus, the man had taken the armchair that Liam usually sat in, which left the couch for Liam and Eve. Okay, so it was unlikely that the agent had sat there intentionally so that Liam could sit next to Eve, but the result was the same.
Being this close to the woman made shivers roll down Liam’s spine and made his cheeks flush with arousal. Twice when she’d leaned toward him and he’d caught the scent of her intoxicating perfume, he’d had to place one of the throw pillows in his lap in an effort to disguise the effect she had on him.
The old nineties movie they’d been watching was nearly over and they’d eaten their way through huge quantities of popcorn. It was turning out to be one of the best nights that Liam had ever had, and he couldn’t help but wonder whatthatsaid about him.
But he knew the reason for it, didn’t he? And she was sitting just a couple of feet away from him. There was something so magnetic about Eve that made Liam feel desperate to win her approval. He would have given anything to see her breathtaking smile trained on him or to be the cause of one of her melodic laughs.
Hawk knew how to make her laugh. It was obvious that they were close, but on closer inspection, Liam could tell that the bond they shared was only one of friendship. There was lots of banter, and plenty of teasing, but it wasn’t done in a flirty way, but rather in the way one would tease a sibling. Liam felt relieved about that, though he wasn’t sure why. Eve could barely stand to look at him, after all. And even if she could, Liam would never have stood a chance with someone like her. Firstly, he wasn’t worthy of her, and secondly, they were far too different. Liam had succumbed to a life of crime and Eve had chosen to fight it. A relationship between them would never work, but it was a nice fantasy, just the same.
Perhaps if things had been different—if he had been born into a nice family and wasn’t reliant on pills to keep him sane—then she might have seen him in a different light, or at least as something other than a potentially dangerous inconvenience, but there wasn’t anything he could do to change either of those things. It was pointless wishing things could be different. They weren’t. End of.
Liam had been so lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t noticed that the movie had ended and something else was on in its place. The show that played now was a rerun revolving around the members of a biker gang. Though the Vipers weren’t a biker gang exactly, the show hit way too close to home and as the plotline unfolded, Liam became aware of both Hawk and Eve watching him from out of the corner of their eyes. They had to have been only doing it when they thought he wasn’t looking because every time he glanced in their direction, they would look away. After a while, Hawk gave up the pretense of watching television and turned to Liam fully.
“How did you get involved with the Vipers?” he asked. “I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but you’re nothing like I expected a Viper to be.”
“Whatdidyou expect?” Liam asked.
Hawk shrugged. “I don’t know—someone a bit rougher around the edges.”
Liam grinned. “You mean someone full of tats who curses a lot?”
Hawk chuckled. “Pretty much.”
“It was through Silas,” he explained. “Whenhejoined the Vipers, I wanted nothing to do with them. I got myself a job in a garage fixing bikes but after he’d been with the gang for a while, he came looking for me. He said he had a good life with them, that they were a tight-knit group, more like a family than just friends.”
“So, you knew Silas from when you were younger?” Eve asked.
