Chapter Eighteen #2
“It started with gambling,” he begins. “I was doing well, making decent money and met JJ O’Leary at one of the casinos.
He’s Victoria’s brother. He sucks at poker and lost more than he ever won.
JJ noticed I was winning against some wealthy men and offered me a deal one day.
He’d pay the expensive buy-ins for the high-stakes games, then we’d split the profits.
“Ultimately, it sounded like a good arrangement, a no-brainer really. Gambling with more money can lead to bigger payouts if you know what you’re doing.
After I won a tournament, he wanted more, almost obsessed with the thought of what this could lead to.
By the end of it, I lost, and we were out one hundred and fifty grand.
Of course he was pissed, but he had pushed and encouraged me to do it knowing the risk.
He told me I was responsible for my half, and when I said I didn’t have seventy-five thousand, he confessed it wasn’t his cash. ”
“Whose was it?”
“His father’s.” Liam swallows hard. “JJ stole the money and needed to replace it before anyone noticed.”
“Oh shit.”
“His dad’s a scary man,” he explains. “A multimillionaire who runs a lot of big-time deals in Vegas.”
“Deals? What’s that mean?”
Liam licks his lips, lowering his eyes as if he’s afraid to say it. “His father is a mob boss.”
“What?” I shriek. “Like…the mafia?”
Liam nods. “His name is Johnny O’Leary. Irish mobster.”
“Oh my God,” I gasp. “JJ didn’t tell you that beforehand?”
“No.”
“So…” I try piecing all the information together. “How does that relate to you marrying Victoria?”
“She’s Johnny’s only daughter and basically a mafia princess. But she wants out of the family business and the only way for her to do that is to get her trust fund.”
“And that involves you how?”
“She’ll get it either when she gets married or she has to wait until she turns thirty. She’s only twenty-one and nine years is too long for her. She wants the money and her freedom now.”
“So that’s why it’s arranged…” I say, and Liam confirms with a nod, but I’m still confused. “But why you? Couldn’t she have married anyone? And why would you agree to it in the first place?” My mind goes crazy as I try to understand all this.
“Technically, yes. However, an opportunity came up, and she took it, and it’s the reason I didn’t have much of a choice.”
“Meaning what, Liam? Just…say it.” He’s still holding back.
“After I lost the money and JJ told me the truth, I ran. I didn’t have enough cash to pay it back.
I flew home and ignored JJ’s messages for months while I tried to figure this shit out.
I worked extra jobs and sold some things.
Then he added interest and claimed the clock was ticking.
I’d hoped they’d give me more time, but then a couple of months later, your picture arrived with that note on the back.
“Threatening to hurt you was how they got me back to Vegas. They knew where I was and who I lived with. I couldn’t risk them coming after you or anyone else in my life.
I texted JJ and he agreed to meet me so we could make a deal.
But once I arrived, I realized he set up and got my ass kicked by Johnny’s bodyguards.
They tied me up, then put a gun in my face.
He was seconds from pulling the trigger when Victoria barged in, begging him to stop because I was her lover. She saved my goddamn life.”
“She stopped him?”
“JJ told her what was happening and she barged in at the last fucking second. Victoria told her dad we were together and engaged to get married soon. That’s when he lowered his gun and asked me if it was true.
I agreed because hell, I didn’t want to die.
Once we were alone, she revealed why she did it, and I was willing to do whatever she wanted in return for saving my life.
I don’t know how she planned to get her trust fund before that, but I owed her either way. ”
“Wow…” I exhale slowly. “That’s a lot to digest.”
“It’s embarrassing as hell that I got myself into this situation and the last thing I wanted was for you to be involved.”
I grab his hand and squeeze. “That week you came home from Vegas all beat up, you said a fugitive did that to your face. It wasn’t, was it?”
He shakes his head. “Johnny’s men bruised my fucking ribs and gave me double black eyes. That’s when JJ set me up.”
“Jesus.” Now knowing what Liam’s been through has tears filling my eyes. My heart aches that he’s had to keep this to himself.
“I should’ve shut the hell up when Johnny antagonized me, but then his bodyguards showed me a live feed of you, and I lost my shit.”
“They had footage of me?”
“Yes, and I knew they weren’t messing around.
The mob doesn’t think twice about threatening loved ones in your life if they think it’ll get them what they want, which is exactly what he did.
He’d been watching me, us. They knew you were important to me after stalking me for several days.
Saw the way I drove you around, how we interacted, and knew we were roommates.
It was easy to see we had…something, which is why you were the target.
Maddie, they followed you around campus.
It was terrifying.” His voice hitches and a cold shiver runs up my spine.
“So…if Johnny thought we were together, why would he believe that you love his daughter and were getting married?”
“I downplayed what you meant to me and said you were my roommate’s little sister and that we were only friends. He bought it after Victoria was persistent about our relationship. The deal was that after we got married, they’d leave you alone but—”
The defeat in his tone gives him away. “But they’re still watching?”
“Yeah, well…recently. They backed off and only checked in a couple of times, but I noticed them again yesterday while I was tracking a woman. I told Victoria to take care of it, but she doesn’t want to give her father any reason to be suspicious of our marriage.
If he finds out we lied, it puts everyone I love at risk.
He won’t just stop at me or you, but everyone who means something to me will be in danger. ”
“When did you marry her?” I ask, the thought making me sick to my stomach.
Liam swallows hard, and I have a feeling I won’t like his answer. “Seven weeks ago.”
“Almost two months ago and you didn’t tell anyone until last week?”
“Mads…” He brings a hand to my face and slowly rubs his thumb over my cheek. “I didn’t want anyone to get mixed up in this, but Victoria insisted that if I didn’t bring her home to meet you all, her father would get suspicious. Since his men randomly check up on us, I didn’t have a choice.
“He doesn’t trust me. I’m an outsider and her entire family doubts everyone’s motives. You have to understand, this is her game, and I’m just a pawn with no control over the situation. Getting married right away meant my debt was forgiven and you were safe. That’s all that mattered to me.”
“How long until she gets her money?” I ask, my nerves nearly shot at all this information. “When can you two get a divorce? You can, right?”
“Yes and we are,” he reassures me. “The deal was to be married for six months so she can get her trust fund and leave.”
I nod in relief. Six months isn’t so bad. It could be worse and much longer. Pulling my bottom lip between my teeth, Liam brings his thumb to my chin and plucks it out.
“Marrying her was my only choice, Mads. He literally had the barrel pressed to my forehead and in those last seconds…I only thought of you.”
My heart squeezes and tears threaten to release, but I want to stay strong for him.
Liam bows his head, but I saw the way his eyes watered.
His confessions have my hands shaking. He’s never been this vulnerable before, and it’s a side I never expected to see, but now that I have, it changes everything.
The feelings I’ve made more than obvious all these years—he has them too.
“When you say was…has the deal changed?”
He shrugs, clearing his throat before he meets my gaze. “Before I brought her here, I went there to meet her grandmother who was visiting from New York. Now that Victoria is a happily married woman, she’s asking about grandchildren.”
“Oh my God. Liam.”
“I’m not…I told her I didn’t agree to start a family but—” He swallows hard. “I’m not really in a position to negotiate. Even if I said I wanted out and had the cash to pay my debt, Johnny would kill me for knowing too much. Or hell, for thinking I broke his daughter’s heart.”
“So you have no options. That’s what you’re saying?”
Liam gives the slightest of nods and my stomach drops.
“I have to see this through on Victoria’s terms. She could throw me under the bus at any time. JJ knows, but she’s supposed to be taking care of him and making sure he keeps his mouth shut. The marriage has to end when she’s ready because it not only puts you at risk but Mason and Sophie too.”
“Because they live here?”
“Yes, which is why they can’t know about any of this, Mads,” he states firmly.
“They’ve been through so much already and are finally happy.
The last thing they need is to worry and be stressed out about it.
Sophie already wants to kill me for kissing you, and if they find out why I had to marry Victoria, it’ll change everything.
Fuck, I’ve been lost in my head about this for weeks, and I’m so fucking sorry. ”
“I know you are, Liam. Anyone who’s met you would say you’re an amazing friend and wouldn’t intentionally put any of us in harm's way. Do you think we’re in danger right now?”
“No, but if I step out of line, Victoria could destroy everything and they’ll come for me. If they’re following me and you’re with me, you’re a target. It’s why I’ve been pushing you away while wanting to protect you at the same time.”
“It’s why you’ve been so strange,” I clarify. “Asking me where I am and when I’m coming home.”