There was no taking the comment back. A damn shame too, since I’d laid the trap so nicely with the priest. No matter, I would find another juicy tidbit to drop and see if the Man of God told the mobster my confessed sins.
I tipped my head up. “We needed groceries. I acquired the money to buy them.”
The monster loomed over me. The temptation to pluck the mask off his face, to see the beast behind the plastic, was strong.
“When you need something, you ask me.” Liam’s words were a bite against my skin. A shiver raced down my spine. “I provide for you.”
Since I wasn’t going to show him how uncomfortable I was, I laughed roughly.
He didn’t take the mockery well. Those death-stained fingers cinched around my wrist.
“Am I that evil?” Liam snarled. “You won’t come to me for basics like food?”
“Honestly, the theft was easier.”
He released me as if I’d burnt him. “Jaysus, you’re…you’re something.”
Stabbing at the spaghetti and giving the strands a vicious twist, I shrugged. “What’s the point?”
“Come again?”
I glared at him, food suspended between us. When did he move so close?Don’t look at his mouth…don’t do it.“What’s the point of asking you for groceries, if you won’t eat the food I make us?”
His tongue darted out to wet his lips.
Warmth bloomed deep inside my body.
His voice dropped an octave. The sound was husky and rough against my ears. “I’m not around much.”
Right before I gave into the magnetic pull, Liam straightened, moving away.
“Don’t go to trouble on my account, cailín.” With that parting shot, he strode out of the dining room.
I grumbled, “Noted.”
It’d been an incredibly lonely day. Despite Tuesdays being my favorite, there was nothing else to fill the long hours after the walk. If I was being honest, I’d hoped he would come home for dinner, just so that I didn’t have to eat alone. After living with nine sisters, and working in a bustling restaurant, the quiet was maddening.
Re-twisting the pasta onto my fork, I ate. The warm food was ashen on my tongue. I nearly choked, too full of emotion to swallow properly.
I will not cry.
Liam wasn’t worth a tear. But maybe…maybe the tears were for me.
The far door, the one that led to the hall, banged open. Liam strode through, looking like a predator out on the hunt. I tensed as he marched straight for me.
“Here.” He slapped threethickstacks of bills on the table beside my plate. “Will that cover the groceries?”
The fork dropped from my fingers. It clattered on the table, pasta strands unraveling everywhere. I’d never seen so much money in my life.
With a growl, he disappeared into the kitchen.
The door swung back and forth, swooshing air in a whisper.“Money. Money. Money,”it seemed to urge.
I reached out, ran the tip of my finger over the first stack. They were all hundred-dollar bills. Even with buying regular food,not cheapening out to make the meals last, this could feed two people for years.
There was only one word fluttering in my mind:Escape. Escape. Escape.
The door crashed open again. This time, I jumped.
