Chapter 15: Chapter Fifteen

Liam groaned when the light shone in his eyes. He had blackout curtains in his room that allowed him to wake up when he damned well wanted to.

It meant he opened his eyes, a frown on his face as he wondered why the hell he hadn’t shut those miraculous draperies.

A mutter from beside him, along with a shifting body, only brought up more questions.

The answers came as he glanced down to find Ashley curled against him, her head on his chest.

The night before came back to him, and that he’d crashed in Ashley’s room rather than returning to his own. Her warm, naked body had been far too tempting.

Erik had thought the same, it seemed, because he was stretched out behind Ashley, on his side and facing her.

His eyes were already open, not that it shocked Liam. Erik had always woken earlier, had always been the lighter sleeper.

When was the last time they’d fallen asleep beside a female?

Liam’s lips tipped down. Had he and Erik ever done so? They’d fucked plenty of women together, spent hours driving away whatever they needed to between the thighs of countless partners, but he didn’t think they’d ever slept afterward.

That required some level of trust they’d never managed.

Erik had slept beside Beth, though Liam had never done so with any women. Even with Kara, after their quick flings, he’d returned to his own room after a long and very hot shower. It was only after she’d found her mates, once he’d known she was cared for, that Liam had been able to take a deep breath and admit how much he’d hated what they had.

However, the night with Ashley had helped chase those memories away, helped scour them off and replace them with something infinitely more pleasant.

Ashley snuggled closer, an unhappy mutter on her lips that spilled over his bare chest. The movement caused the light to hit her in the face, too, and lines appeared in her forehead a second before she opened her eyes.

“Morning,” Liam said, unable to stop the smile that tugged at his lips, especially at the unhappy look on her face.

So, not a morning person?

“What time is it?” Sleep saturated her voice.

Erik reached over for his phone on the nightstand. “Eight-thirty.”

She twisted, gaze landing on Erik as though she’d just recognized she’d slept beside not one but two men. The point at which she recalled she’d done a lot more than just sleep beside them was clear when she went red and covered her face with her hands.

Adorable. She was unfairly cute, and for a man who had had little of that in his life, Liam found he couldn’t get enough of it.

“You do realize that covering your face when you still don’t have a stitch on you is sort of useless, don’t you?”

She rolled to her back and groaned. “What was I thinking?”

Erik dragged his fingers up the center of her chest in a soft, teasing stroke. “Whatever it was, I think we can get you thinking it again.”

Her stomach grumbled, a loud complaint that reminded Liam none of them had really eaten dinner.

As tempting as her naked, sexy body might have been, that alpha side of him couldn’t ignore her being hungry. “Come on,” Liam said as he sat up. “Let’s see what Torrin wants and order breakfast.”

Torrin’s name broke the comfort of the morning as surely as if he’d snapped the safety on it. Ashley’s expression fell, her hands moving from her face.

Liam sighed. Torrin wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have, but he had to admit, he’d thought the stubborn fool would have given in the night before, too.

Leave it to Torrin to be the only alpha stupid enough to turn down a wet and desperate omega like Ashley.

“About Torrin—”

She shook her head and sat up, curling up into one hell of a defensive position. “Don’t. It’s fine.”

“It clearly isn’t fine.”

“He’s made it clear that he isn’t interested in a relationship with me. I need to stop hoping for something he’d already told me no about.”

Erik set his hand on her back and rubbed gently. “Torrin is difficult.”

She snorted softly, as if the word ‘difficult’ didn’t come close to explaining it. It didn’t, really, but she also didn’t understand.

She hadn’t been there.

Liam twisted so he could look at her, needing her to understand that it wasn’t her. The way Ashley reacted to praise said she needed that build-up, and Torrin rejecting her over and over was tearing her down. She attributed it to her own failings, and only because she didn’t know the story.

“Ashley,” he started, voice soft. “Torrin lost his mate a long time ago, and he never really got over it.”

When her eyes met his, the empathy there stunned Liam. He’d never been great with things like empathy, with understanding people, with being able to care all that much unless they were in his direct circle. Even then, he didn’t want them to hurt, but he didn’t feel that hurt.

Ashley’s eyes said she did, right down her core. What a treasure she is.

“He said he lost someone but wouldn’t tell me about it. What happened?”

Liam tore his gaze away, so Erik picked up the story. “His mate, Gilly, was murdered by people who were unhappy with Torrin. They tortured her first, wanting to make sure he understood the message.”

That wasn’t the full story, of course. It left out the reality of their lives, that they had made their fair share of enemies. Not just another business who had outpriced them, or stolen a contract, but the sort of enemies who didn’t mind burning down homes with the people still inside.

Still, it was vague enough that she should understand the problem.

Erik kept rubbing her back as he spoke. “He blames himself, of course. It’s why he doesn’t think he can have you, why he’s afraid of claiming you, of you carrying his scent. He doesn’t want history to repeat, doesn’t want to risk you.”

She frowned, so much pain on her face as she seemed to hurt for Torrin, for a wound long passed. “And the person who did it?”

Telling her the gruesome way Torrin had dealt with the men responsible would not have been a good piece of information for her to have. Liam chose to answer that one, treading that line between lie and truth. “Justice was served, but he’s never let go of it.”

She let her shoulders drop, as though that understanding helped her to see that what was going on with Torrin at least wasn’t all her fault. “He’s used to taking care of everyone around him, to bearing the weight of their safety. I can’t imagine what someone he loved being killed because of him would do to him.”

Liam froze, with Erik doing the same.

She’d picked up on some truths to their dynamic that not many saw. Normally people never saw beneath Erik and Liam being heartless bodyguards and Torrin being an unfeeling, ruthless tyrant.

Yet Ashley saw deeper, recognized that there was more to them all.

She straightened her back as though their staring unnerved her, so they both looked away. Liam rose from the bed, trying to shake the strangeness away. It was one thing for him to understand others, for him to have a view into them, but he wasn’t sure he cared for Ashley knowing him so well.

It felt as though she’d peeled off his skin and peeked beneath.

Instead of saying that, because he doubted there was any way to do so and have it come across well, he leaned forward for a quick kiss to break the tension.

He pulled away just when she started to lose herself to the kiss. The darker places inside him enjoyed how she chased it with her lips when he broke apart from her. “Get ready, sweet. I’ll see what our fearless leader wants and get food ordered.”

Torrin groaned as he rubbed at his hip. It hurt so much more than it had when he’d been younger.

Maybe he’d just had more energy to deal with it then, or perhaps survival had been more important at the time. Maybe he’d simply thought it would get better, that time would heal it.

Now, though? It was an ache he could never quite rid himself of. He’d had imaging done, seen specialists, and all had said the same—some injuries never quite healed.

They’d offered different methods of pain relief, but he preferred not to take anything that might dull his mind.

It was all he had anymore.

Well, that and what he’d built with it.

He sat on the balcony, trying to stretch out the aggravated injury to relieve the tightness there.

How many had he taken down to build what he had? Strong men who were so much more than he was in so many ways. Men who had had everything handed to them all their lives, who expected to win by some birthright, and Torrin had outsmarted them all.

He wondered at times what his uncle would think of him now. Torrin didn’t know his father, so he never thought of him. His uncle, though? Liam and Erik’s father? The only father-like figure he’d ever had?

He’d be proud, and that left a dirty taste in Torrin’s mouth.

Not enough to stop what he was doing, though.

He’d been on the bottom before, knew what being stepped on felt like.

Torrin dug his fingers into his hip, massaging as if that would help, as if it ever helped, as he closed his eyes.

Ashley’s face haunted him.

It wasn’t the hurt, not exactly. Sure, that killed him, but what stuck with him was the absolute certainty that he’d put it there. It was knowing she’d endured it because of him.

The ends justify the means. Solid advice he’d always lived by, yet hard to swallow when the means included hurting her.

But a little hurt now was better than a lot of hurt later, wasn’t it? A little heartbroken now was better than her mangled corpse later.

Not that it removed his guilt, but he’d long ago learned to live with that. It was his constant companion, like a pet forever trailing at his heels.

He’d claimed work obligations during breakfast and lunch. It wasn’t entirely a lie. He could always find work that needed doing, even on the weekends.

Besides, there was plenty for him to deal with now that they had plans for Gregory. Kara had come through with some information, as usual, and Erik’s contacts were trickling in useful tidbits.

Nothing substantial enough for a plan yet, but they had a direction at least.

It was more than they’d had days before.

With the extra security, they had a bit more freedom.

Gregory had moved from the place he’d rented, and finding his new location was proving far more difficult. It seemed he realized how far their information network reached and had chosen to remain more anonymous. At least it meant he recognized them as a valid threat.

Erik might hate to be seen as a threat, but Torrin enjoyed a bit of fear.

People were either feared or afraid.

He knew which he’d prefer to be.

The pain in his hip drew him back, like it always did.

The ringing of his phone offered a distraction, one he desperately needed. “Hello?”

“Mr. Kansas.” Torrin didn’t recognize the male voice on the phone, but it held the sort of self-assured power that always made him tread carefully.

“I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage.”

A soft laugh came through the line. “That’s how I prefer to do business. I’d like a meeting.”

“I don’t meet people when I don’t even know who they are. That isn’t how I prefer to do business.”

“Fair enough. We have a mutual friend. Gregory.”

“‘Friend’ is a rather large stretch,” Torrin pointed out.

“I’m pretty sure it’s a stretch for anyone who deals with him. You see, I’ve heard your name come up a few times recently, and at first I thought you were a business associate. Come to find out, you’re nothing more than another piece of his little obsession.” The man’s words turned sharp, sounding as though he often ranted about the very subject.

Torrin let him continue without interruption. Sometimes it was best to let them work themselves up.

“I would like to speak to you about something that could potentially help us both out.”

“That’s rather vague. It would be a large risk for me to show up anywhere when Gregory is currently intent on killing me.”

“I’m not trying to trick you, and to prove it, I’d like to meet you on Friday at six in the evening. You can choose the place, so you know you aren’t being set up. Send me the address at five, so you can already have your people set up to ensure it isn’t an ambush.”

Torrin tapped his fingers on the armrest of his chair. He doubted there could be a better deal. The risks would be limited, and security would be easy to attend to with those guidelines. The biggest threat would be to Ashley during that time, when he and his cousins would be conveniently drawn away from her…

Even that could be managed, however.

“Give me some hint to what you want. I do not walk into meetings blind,” he pressed.

The voice let out another one of those soft laughs, as if the conversation pleased him. “You sound like you might be the right man. You want a hint? Very well. Come to the meeting, Mr. Kansas, because we both have the same problem—Gregory—and it has a very obvious and permanent solution. I hope to see you Friday.” The call ended, leaving Torrin there in the darkness of the balcony.

There were so many unknowns, so many moving parts. His hip ached, but he tried to ignore it as he sat back in the chair, hearing the laughter from inside. Ashley and Liam seemed to be playing some game, and Erik, while he didn’t join in, watched from the sidelines with a smile across his face.

Torrin couldn’t fail. Of all the choices he’d made in his life, all the times the stakes had been high, none had mattered more than this.

He swore to himself that he’d find a way to keep them all safe, no matter what the cost, and ignored the pain in his hip from what he’d paid the last time he’d made such a promise.