Instead, I followed him behind the first barn to where paddock blocked the path to a ring of trees. Their thick bows draped the ground in shadows, but the orange glow of a fire showed through.
“Liam! What’s the craic? I was beginning to think you wouldn’t make it,” the cousin with round glasses and a curated mustache beamed. He jogged out of the barn, Connor hot on his heels. “And Gabriella’s here too. Grand!”
I braced myself, ready for impact as the hipster came in for a hug. But Liam was faster. He hauled me back. I stumbled, catching the skirt as I tried to find my feet.
“Kevin.” Liam’s fist crashed into his shoulder as the cousin tried to skirt around him.
“What’s that for?” he slurred. “We’re family.”
“We are, and you’re drunk.” Liam glared at Connor, who raised his hands.
“I’m just saying heellow to my cousin,” Kevin protested, wobbling in my direction.
Liam shoved him to the ground. “She’s mine. You don’t touch what’s mine.”
Those words packed a heavy weight.
If the bumbling idiot sensed that, it was hard to say. “Jeeze, man, lighten up.”
But Connor was there, hauling the hipster to his feet. “Let’s go. Ceremony’s about to start.”
Liam’s death glare followed the pair, waiting for them to put a healthy distance between us.
“Jealous much,” I muttered, fluffing the skirt of the ridiculous,gorgeousdress. I couldn’t say I wasn’t relieved. Something about that cousin never sat right with me. He was shrewd. Like a fox. Always watching and scampering underfoot for scraps.
Turning into me, Liam caught my chin.
I stilled. Excitement raced down my spine. If I was sleepy before, being here had me wide awake. The look in the monster’s eye? A pure, undiluted shot of adrenaline.
“I’m not jealous, little bird.”
I snorted. “Could have fooled me.”
“Jealousy—” Liam’s thumb stroked my bottom lip, tugging in a way that made the place between my legs tingle “—is over something I don’t have. I’m territorial, Gabriella. You’re already mine.”
The air caught in my throat. That was quite possibly the most romantic thing he’d ever said. It was harder by the minute to remember that I wasn’t staying. That I wasn’t truly his, and I needed distance. He said it with such conviction. As if his declaration could erase the core root of my being.
“Here.” Liam pulled something from behind his back and handed it to me. “I…uh…got you something.”
I drew in a short breath. The gun was sleek in his rough hand. Compact, it didn’t look menacing.
“Is it loaded?” I breathed.
“Well, yeah?” Liam’s words were laced with confusion. “Wouldn’t do much good if it wasn’t.”
I shook my head. “Gun etiquette means you hand it to someone disarmed. Or at least,” I rushed to add, “that was how I learned it.”
A slow, devastatingly beautiful smile spread across his lips. “Someone taught you well, little wife.”
And that someone was six feet under because he taught me so well. Right where I put him.
My darkest sin.
The reason my hands were stained with blood that would never wash away.
Hiding the shudder, I resisted the urge to clutch the horned pendant I wore tonight. I might be with the masked devil, but the extra protection against the malocchio seemed fitting. I gestured to the gun with my hand. Liam dropped the clip, jacked the shell free, and left the slide open. Only then did I take it from him. Pointing it at the ground, finger off the trigger, I moved the weapon back and forth.
“You got this? For me?” It was such a badass gift. The freedom it afforded me…wow.
