Chapter Seven #2
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
I chuckle darkly as I push off him and stand. “You ain’t the first to ask, Hank. Trust me.”
“Whatever,” he mutters, resting his cheek on the ground. “Just take me in.”
“Oh, thanks for the permission. So glad we’re finally on the same page now. You could’ve saved me three days if you’d just been at your last known address.” I bend down and pull him to his feet.
“Got evicted,” he tells me.
Gripping his arm, I lead us back to the house. “That’s what happens when you don’t pay the bills, man. Don’t you think it’s time you got your life together? Bumming off bitches ain’t cute at thirty-five.”
He snorts, stumbling as he walks. “And who made you Dr. Phil? Easy for you to say. I didn’t grow up with a silver spoon like you.”
I whip my head at him and scowl. “That excuse make you feel better for your shitty choices? I read your file and all the charges…” The moment we get to my truck, I push his face into the window.
“I see you like to hit women. I saw the one you were with this morning, lookin’ like you smacked her around a bit. Is that what gets your dick hard?”
Wrapping my hand around the back of his neck, I squeeze.
“What the hell?” He strains to get out of my grip. “You can’t assault me for no reason.”
“Yeah?” I ask with amusement. “Who says?”
“Fuck off, asshole.”
I push his face harder into the glass. “See, I have a real issue with woman-beaters. A coward like yourself used to hit one of my best friends, and he got a bullet to the head. Then his dipshit brother tried to hurt her and ended up with a bullet to the leg before he died. So don’t push my fucking limits. ”
“What do you want?” he hisses.
“You’re gonna get in my truck, sit quietly like a good little felon, and let me take you to jail without a fight. If you try anything, I won’t think twice about tasing your ass. Got it?”
Hank grunts, jerking in my grip and mumbles, “Yeah, got it.”
I lean in. “What was that? Couldn’t hear you.”
He clears his throat, shooting murderous daggers at me. “I said, got it.”
I pat his shoulder. “Good boy, Hank.” I pull him by his shirt, open the door, then help him get in and buckle up. “Gonna zip-tie your ankles so you don’t try to kick my window or me. Put them together.”
He does as I say, and once the plastic band is tightened, I boop his nose. “Road trip!”
It’s a three-hour drive to the jail, and once he’s booked, I head home. Finally.
No one’s home when I arrive. Maddie must still be at school, and Sophie and Mason most likely haven’t left work yet. I ate on the way home, so I hop in the shower.
Wrapping a towel around my waist, I step out, then jump at the figure in front of me.
“Jesus, Soph.” My heart nearly stopped. I could’ve sworn I locked the door.
“Hey, roomie. How was your trip?” she asks, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.
“Is there a reason you’re in here? I’m basically naked,” I say, tightening my towel.
Sophie rolls her eyes, then steps closer. “You don’t seem to mind when you walk around the house half-naked, so why is now any different? And relax, you don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.”
“Excuse me, Peeping Tom?” I grab my deodorant and hair gel. “Gonna tell me why we’re hanging out in the bathroom?”
“Well, I wanted to catch you before you ran off again.”
I glance at her. “Okay, I’m here. What’s up?”
“Where did you really go?”
“I was on a job. Three hours south. Why?” I ask, grabbing my toothbrush.
“You weren’t in Vegas?” Her question causes my heart to race. I don’t like where this conversation’s going. Sophie might be one of my best friends, but I’m not comfortable talking about this with her—or anyone.
I’ve been avoiding JJ for over a month. He sent me a text on Easter a couple of weeks ago, and I ignored it although his threats got progressively worse. I can’t pay him and refuse to show myself to his mobster father unless I have the money.
“No,” I tell her honestly. “Why would you think that?”
“I found something a while ago and wasn’t sure how to ask you about it but…” She avoids eye contact and chews on her lips. “I’m concerned about you.”
Straightening my stance, I search her face. “What’re you talking about, Soph?”
She pulls something out of her back pocket, a chip I recognize, and a piece of paper. “These were in your jeans pocket when I was doing laundry, and when I showed Mason, he had no idea what it was about either. So I decided to drop it, but lately…” Sophie lingers when I grab them from her hand.
“What’s this?” I unfold it and realize it’s a receipt for sixteen grand I’d won months ago. My jaw tenses, and I’m pissed she found this. This will undoubtedly raise more questions, but I don’t have any answers for her.
“I wouldn’t have brought it up, Liam, but you’ve been different the past couple of months, and if you’re struggling with a gambling addiction, I wanna help.”
My eyes snap to hers, and my chest tightens at the way she’s looking at me. “Soph, I’m fine. You’re worrying for nothing.”
“Sixteen thousand dollars is a lot of money. Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
I fist the receipt, crumpling it in my palm, and shrug. “It wasn’t a big deal, I guess. Decided to stop after a job and won a few rounds of blackjack.” I toss the chip on the counter.
“Then explain why you’ve been traveling more for your job recently? You fidget as though you’re anxious to get another fix.”
I narrow my eyes at her, wondering if she’s being serious right now. “Another fix?”
“You know, a gambling fix. I’m sure lotto tickets and dollar scratchers aren’t enough for a true addict.”
“I’m not a fuckin’ addict, Soph. Not that it’s any of your business or anyone else’s for that matter, but I took the money and invested it, okay? My job doesn’t exactly have health insurance and 401(k) benefits. I opened a financial account to save money.”
I fucking hate that I’m lying to her right now, but I have no choice. Protecting her and Maddie are my top priorities, and I refuse to drag them through my bullshit.
“Oh,” she says softly, and I feel bad because she looks embarrassed.
“Now…” I smirk, hoping to change the subject and lighten the mood. “Can I get dressed before Mason finds us like this and tries to kick my ass?”
She perks a brow up at the word tries, though we both know he’d never win against me. Not that I’d ever want to fight him.
Once she leaves, I get dressed, then go downstairs to grab a drink. Loud moans echoing from the kitchen have my feet glued to the living room floor.
God. Are they seriously fooling around in there? Mason and Sophie are still in the honeymoon phase and can’t keep their hands off each other. And though it’s cute, it’s disgusting to witness.
“Mmm…so good…” More moaning.
For fuck’s sake.
“What is that?” I jump at the sound of Sophie’s voice and realize she’s standing next to me.
Blinking, I furrow my brows. “I thought that was you in there again.”
“That was one time! We didn’t know you’d be home,” she defends, which causes me to snort.
“That’s no excuse! I didn’t know we needed house rules for no sex in the kitchen.”
“Who’s having sex in the kitchen?” Mason asks, and we both turn and see confusion written all over his face.
“Maddie,” Sophie confirms. “Well, no. She’s not having sex in there. I don’t think so anyway.”
My blood boils at the thought of Maddie with a man. I turned her down years ago and have balked at every advance since—minus the birthday night kiss—but that doesn’t mean I want any other guy’s hands on her.
“Oh my God, this is heaven,” Maddie moans again, and my control snaps.
I barge into the kitchen and find her sitting on the island. Her back is to me, and her head is rolling on her shoulders. I can’t see in front of her, but at this angle, someone honestly could be kneeling between her legs.
“What the fuck, Maddie?” I growl loudly, causing her to jump.
Sophie and Mason walk in behind me.
Maddie spins around with a spoon in her mouth. Drawing her brows together at my stance, she looks at us.
“What?” she asks.
“Care to explain why you’re in here making sex noises?”
She hops off the counter, then walks around it, and that’s when I see a pint of ice cream in her hand. “I wasn’t.” She pinches her lips. “Wait…was I? I wouldn’t know what my sex noises would be. Any guesses, Liam?”
My fingers curl into a fist. She’s testing my goddamn restraint.
We have a silent conversation as I shoot daggers at her, annoyed she finds any opportunity to rub my face in what we almost did.
Before I can respond, Sophie pushes around me and closes the gap between her and Maddie, stealing the carton. “Are you seriously having an ice cream-gasm?” Sophie teases. “We all thought you were in here getting lucky.”
“Oreo mint chocolate,” Maddie says, then shrugs. “Couldn’t help it.” She finds my gaze, and her lips tilt up, knowing her moans made me flustered and pissed off.
“Were you jealous, Hulk? Worried someone was in here fucking my brains out?” she taunts, which infuriates me even more.
I roll my eyes, not allowing her to see how much she affects me.
“Maddie!” Sophie scolds, flicking her arm. “Considering I just picked you up from school, I knew there wasn’t a guy in here with you. But I thought you were pleasuring yourself or something.” She giggles.
At the mention of Maddie getting herself off, my cock hardens, and I know I need to get the hell out of here.
“I’m leaving. This conversation got weird,” Mason says, walking to the fridge and grabbing two beers.
He hands me one, and I nod at Maddie. “Same. Enjoy your dessert.”
“Thanks, Liam,” Maddie says, overly sweet. “Don’t worry, I definitely will.”
“And keep it down. Jesus.” Mason shakes his head as we walk out together.
We sit on the couch, and he flicks through the TV channels before settling on something. After he drinks half his bottle, he asks, “So how’d the job go? Any trouble?”
“Nothing I couldn’t handle. Guy had a record from burglary, to DUIs, to domestic abuse, and has a drug problem.”
“Oh shit,” he mutters. “Lemme guess, he tried to run?”
I smirk. “Yep. Didn’t get far, though, with the alcohol and meth in his system. The ride back was enjoyable. I played Billie Eilish for the entire three hours.”
“What’s wrong with Billie Eilish?” Maddie interrupts, sauntering into the living room. Her dance clothes leave nothing to the imagination. “I love her.”
“Nothing, but this tool was suffering from a buzz, and he asked me three times to turn it down. Instead, I cranked it up louder.”
“What was that?” I asked, stretching my neck to the side. “You can’t hear it?” I turned the dial to the right.
“Asshole, I said turn it off!” Hank hissed.
“Ooh, let’s get the bass thumping, too!” I chuckled and sang the lyrics to “Bad Guy” while tapping my fingers on the steering wheel. I watched as he sneered through the rearview mirror.
That was what the fuckface got for using women as punching bags.
“That was mean,” Sophie says, but she’s too damn nice to understand the logistics of my job.
“Trust me, it was well deserved,” I tell her, then take a sip of my beer.
“Oh, Mads. You were gonna show me your backbend bridge thingy!” Sophie turns her attention to Maddie, who’s standing in front of the TV so I’m forced to look at her.
“Ooh, yes.” She sets down her Oreo mint ice cream on the coffee table, then stretches her arms above her head before leaning all the way back.
My body hurts just watching the way she moves.
Maddie’s flexible, but I’ve purposely avoided her at home when she’s practicing.
It creates bad, dirty thoughts—thoughts I try to keep out.
She does a slow backbend until her palms reach the floor.
As her body forms a bridge, she lifts one leg and points it to the sky before butterflying the other leg up into a pose.
She holds them there a moment before flipping herself over until she’s standing with a smirk.
The amount of strength and control she has is incredible.
“Ouch.” Mason laughs.
I’m impressed, but I don’t tell her that. Any compliment I give her is usually used against me later.
“Nice!” Sophie praises. “I couldn’t do that for a million dollars.”
Chuckling, I take another swig of my beer.
“What’d you think, Liam?” Maddie taunts.
Sitting her little ass on the table, she gives me a perfect view of her tits.
Ever since the night of her birthday less than three months ago, her underhanded comments and teasing have my willpower hanging by a thread.
She knows damn well the attraction between us is mutual, but I need to protect her, and to do that, I have to stay the fuck away.
Hell, there are a dozen reasons we can’t be together. Shouldn’t be together.
Her being a virgin, for one. She should save that for someone who can give her a helluva lot more than I can.
Too goddamn young. Too innocent. She should be treasured, not given to a man like me who’s shamelessly had more one-night stands than I can remember.
Yet the fact I’m running from the mafia—that’s the biggest fucking reason.
“Pretty decent,” I deadpan, not giving her what she wants—a reaction. I finish my beer and stand. “I had a long few days, so I’m heading to bed. G’night.”
After I throw my bottle away, I walk through the living room and look over my shoulder before taking the stairs. Maddie’s gorgeous dark hair is pulled up into a messy bun and her tongue slip out between her kissable, plump lips.
Fuck, I wish I could be what she deserves, but nothing will ever change the fact that I’m not.