“I tried to tell you all about this,” I said in an even voice. “You’re the one who didn’t pick up.”
He had no right to complain. He was the one who hadn’t been there. This was me improvising the best I could. If he’d answered, I would have told him about the barrow falling. The pack and Brax too. All of it. Because he was my person and that’s what you did when you were in a relationship.
Regret showed on Liam’s face. “There wasn’t a signal where I was.”
“I figured that much out.”
It would have been nice if he’d given me a warning beforehand. Just a heads-up. A “Hey, Aileen, I’m going to be out of communication for a while.”
“You know I can’t always tell you where I’m going.”
The laugh that scraped my throat was bitter. “Just like I can’t always share when something pertains to a client.”
Our divided loyalties were our biggest issue. Liam to Thomas. Me to my business.
So far, we’d managed to navigate the potential pitfalls. Partly because I understood operational security and the need to keep some things secret. I could thank my military background for that.
But I had a feeling a reckoning was coming. When Liam or I would have to make a choice we didn’t want to. The things we valued—or each other.
“Caroline’s your client,” Liam guessed, sounding very certain.
I lifted up to fix him with a hard look. “What makes you think that?”
“I’m aware that Columbus’s barrow fell.”
Under the sheets, my hands clenched. “Aren’t you well informed.”
Here less than a day and he already knew everything.
Liam snagged me around the neck, bringing my front flush with his side. His thumb brushed a caress along the side of my jaw.
I closed my eyes, struggling with the urge to snuggle into that touch.
“The Summer King has the pack, doesn’t he?”
The moment was ruined.
“He has Brax,” Liam continued.
I sat up, the sheet pinned to my chest, to scowl at Liam. “I hate when you do that.”
His lips quirked in the slightest of smiles.
“How did you figure it out?” I asked, a little sulky.
“Thomas got word about the barrow the night it fell. You show up with Caroline the next day. It wasn’t hard to put together.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”
“When you also factor in her maker’s presence—a woman I know your friend avoids whenever possible—and the company of two other pack members that she’s not particularly close to, the picture becomes clear. Your antisocial nature is well established. I doubt you would have allowed anyone on your vacation except those you trusted.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re spying on Caroline.”
How else would he know that tidbit about Sondra and how she wasn’t close to the other two pack members.
Liam’s smile was microscopic. “I’ve found it wise to keep abreast of the people in your life.”
“By spying?”
