“And I’ve the proof of how my new investments are already paying off. Fools don’t understand how the true power doesn’t lie in drugs and human flesh anymore.” I turn to the side but keep monitoring Eamon, marking him as I convey, “It’s in 1’s and 0’s. It’s in the double-sided coin of the massive data centers—the five corporations spending the equivalent of 3/4 of our military defense budget on AI technology—and my equal investments in green energy companies and lobbyists.”
“Very shrewd, Liam.”
“Returns will come in the billions, Eamon. See the word spreads.”
I turn and walk away before I can wrap my hands around his throat just for mentioning Lexie’s name. I have to protect her. I’ll burn the world to ash before I let one speck of me rot touch her.
I check for a tail three times on the drive back, winding through the back towns around the Hamptons. Not one car on my ass. Not one familiar face.
By the time I reach O’Connell’s manor, the adrenaline is a dull roar in my ears. I need to see her. I need to know she’s real.
I slip into my bedroom, the only light coming from the moon filtering through the curtains. Lexie is waiting for me in the center of the bed, a dream made of silk and moonlight. She’s wearing a sheer chemise, sheer, intentional. Her curls sprawl across the pillows like a copper halo.
“Liam…” she whispers, stirring.
As I sit on the edge of the mattress and kick off my boots, she turns closer. Her presence is a balm, pulling the jagged edges of my soul back together.
She reaches out, touching my chest. Her soft eyes search mine, full of a concern that makes my heart ache.
“You look tired.” She leans in until her lips brush mine, anchoring me. “And stressed. What’s going on?
Nostrils flaring with a sigh, I brush a thumb across her cheek, then kiss her brow. “Never too tired for you, Darlin’.”
I give her all my attention, knowing I can’t keep her in the dark anymore.
“It’s time I shared somethin’ from me past, Lexie,” I say, my voice rough with a decade of silence. “Somethin’ I haven’t shared with anyone. And the reason…” I pause, my gaze flicking down to where her hand rests over my heart. “The reason my dick hasn’t touched any pussy but yours.”
She doesn’t flinch. She just scoots closer, pressing her body against mine, and holds me here with a fierce, quiet loyalty.
“I’m listening.”
CHAPTER 19
Elexia
Liam doesn’t look like a mafia boss right now. With his hunched shoulders, he looks like a man who’s been carrying a mountain for too long.
“My mother…” he starts, low and gravelly, barely more than a vibration. His accent nearly disappeared. Something purposeful. “She was a massage therapist on my father’s staff at his estate in Montauk. She was young, barely out of college, trying to make a way for herself.”
Solemn respect deepens inside my heart.
“During one session, my father…” He trails off, his jaw steeling. Shadows cloud his expression.
I sense where this is going. Tension radiates from him, muscles turning to granite. Even his tattoos seem blacker.
“Oh, Liam, I’m so?—”
He touches his hand to my lips, shaking his head. “Don’t, Luv. It’s how I was conceived. My mother hated him. She feared him, especially because his wife couldn’t have a child. So when she learned she was pregnant, she ran.”
He lets out a harsh, dry laugh. “She moved upstate with a friend. She could have chosen to terminate the pregnancy or give me up for adoption. She would have been justified. But she keptme. She raised me as a single mom, worked her ass off to provide for us. We didn’t have much, but we had everything.”
His lips press together into a hard, white seam. A cold, controlled rage.
“But… my father discovered what happened. He tracked us down. Mum tried to run with me to the Canadian border. But he caught up with us.” His voice cracks, a sound so raw it makes my heart bleed. “He slit her throat right in front of me.”
“Oh, God, Liam…”
Horror hits me like a physical blow. I slide my arms around his neck, pulling him toward me. He doesn’t resist. He collapses into my arms, burying his face in the crook of my neck. Holding me tight, he presses his hand against the base of my spine as if he’s trying to fuse us together.
