My throat closed andopened.
Liam let go of my hand but not of my body. He cupped my cheeks and spoke to me gently. “We don’t need this property, Ness. The pack has a lot of land.Ihave a lot ofland.”
“But it’s—” I wanted to say my family’s, but my dad had sold his share to buy the plot where he’d built our house. The inn and the rolling hill on which it stood wasn’tmyanything. “Can the pack really afford to part with this property?” I swallowed, blinking back the heat building behind my lids. “Your father sold Aidan Michaels so much land . . . Wasn’t it enough?” I whispered. “Did he really need this placetoo?”
Every line on Liam’s face seemed to sharpen, and his grip turned almost bruising. After a minute of complete silence, he said, “Aidan Michaels is a greedy son-of-a-bitch.”
I placed my hands over his and pried his fingers off. I shouldn’t have reminded Liam of the deal his father had struck with thedevil.
“At least the Sillin isn’t in Aidan’s hands,” I mused, mostly to ease Liam’s lingering tension. “Can’t believe that the man who hates werewolves wasn’t interested in buying pills that can make usweaker.”
Matt crossed his arms. “My guess is he doesn’t know aboutthem.”
“He hates us, Matt. Has entire files on us. The man surely knows aboutSillin.”
“What I meant was maybe your cousin didn’t tell him about thestolenones.”
I raised my eyebrows.Oh.After a beat, I said, “Can’t believe Aidan Michaels sold Everest out thatquick.”
Lucas grunted. “The man has no fuckingscruples.”
“Everest dying is in Aidan’s best interest.” Liam’s expression had gentled again. “The quicker it happens, the quicker he gets the deed to this place. That’s why he sent you the bike. He wanted to leadyou, or one of us, back to him, so he could boast about his clever littledeal.”
“How are we even sure he’s telling the truth? Maybe it’s atrap.”
Liam stroked a finger along my neck, leaving a trail of heat. “I left the bastard in the hands of Greg and two Boulders. They have orders toslowhis healing process if he lied. So again, it’s in Aidan’sbest interest that we find yourcousin.”
I sighed. This was so many shades of messed up, but at least I’d gotten answers. “We should set outtonight.”
Liamfrowned.
So I elaborated, “To recover Everest. We should head to Denvernow.”
“I already told you. You’re not coming withus.”
I jerked back. “But Iwant—”
“No.”
“Liam—”
“No.”
Lucas drew the door open. “I could use a beer right ’bout now.Matty?”
“Lead the way.” Before trotting up the stairs, Matt glanced at me, then at Liam. Wisely, the blond giant decided to stay out of ourdiscussion.
I crossed my arms. “He’s my cousin,Liam.”
“Which is precisely why you’re notcoming.”
“I won’t get in theway.”
“Ness, unless memory fails me, your hand wasn’t upearlier.”
“Just because I don’t want him dead doesn’t mean I’d interfere with a packdecision.”
“I’m still not taking you along. I don’t want you to witness this. Even if the person deserves death, it isn’t a prettyact.”
