Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
LIAM
My leg bounced beneath the table with an unsteady rhythm, my nerves growing to a near-unbearable high.
With Thorne and Oren missing for over twenty minutes now, my mind immediately wandered to the possibility of Stefan having stuck to his word, finding out we’d come here and decapitating Oren in front of our prior commander.
I was losing my mind, and there was no way I would be able to keep going like this. Every thought was suffocated by Stefan’s presence and all the threats he’d promised me over the phone. Maybe if I called and offered myself back to him… Maybe then he would leave them alone—
A squeeze to my thigh pulled me from my spiral as my gaze greeted hazel irises. “Hey, it’s Oren and Thorne. They probably just went to fuck.”
“They seemed angry,” I whispered, my attention settling on the half-eaten plate of food in front of me.
“I mean, angry sex is a thing, but I’m sure they’re alright, darling. You know Thorne wouldn’t let anything happen to Oren. We’re all safe, okay?”
“Maybe coming here was a bad idea…”
I am ruining everything around me. Everyone.
Simon curled his fingers beneath my chin, dragging my face to his before pressing his lips to mine. It was short, sweet, and gone too quickly as he planted another one on the corner of my mouth. “Stefan can’t reach you here, I promise.”
“You can’t promise that… Not with someone like him.”
“Yes, I can, because I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”
Opening my mouth to speak, that sunshine timbre returned, as if nothing had happened. “Sorry to interrupt your dessert, but it’s time to discuss why you both came here.”
Oren slid back into his chair, running a hand through his messy curls as he flicked his attention to Thorne one last time. There was a waver in his gaze that suggested everything wasn’t fine, but when Thorne rejoined us at the table, it vanished.
Simon cleared his throat. “Well, shit, how do we start?”
My hands were trembling in my lap, every part of me recoiling at the thought of having to disclose everything.
Thorne seemed to catch my unease. “Is it what I think it is?”
I only nodded.
“What you think it is?” Oren cut in, glancing between the two of us.
“You… He knew?” Simon turned his head to me, and his shoulders tensed. “You didn’t… before me?”
“Oh, for the love of fuck, Simon, get over yourself,” Thorne snapped, his gaze narrowing. “He told me a long time ago because you elected to push him away. Who the fuck else would he confide in?”
Simon’s jaw feathered, but he didn’t say anything else as one hand remained on my thigh, the other scratching at the underside of the table. Nails digging into the wood, he fixated his attention on his empty plate.
“It’s okay, Simon,” Oren said, his timbre steady. “You’re allowed to feel upset, but ultimately, it was Liam’s decision, and there’s nothing he did wrong. I can see the fear in your irises, Liam. If… If this is too much, we can take a break, okay?”
Inhaling deeply, I shook my head, mustering the courage to speak even though my tone wavered drastically. “No. I, uh… We need to talk about it because if we don’t, I fear it will put the two of you in danger as well.”
“Us in danger?” Oren twisted to Thorne, narrowing his gaze. “Baby.”
“There’s a slew of things the two of you don’t know,” Thorne responded, glancing between Simon and Oren. “And if either of you elects to lean into your anger, direct it at me, not him.”
“Thorne, you don’t have—”
Cutting me off, he lifted a hand. “Ever since Liam confided in me about his past, I’ve been researching to try and pin down the man responsible for his torment.
My final decision to establish this organization came as soon as I determined his location and the operations he oversees.
He was Andrew Valens’ right hand and go-to with everything regarding the black market and human trafficking. ”
“My father’s right hand?”
Thorne nodded. “In comparison to his other partnerships that waded in the depths of corruption, your father spent over ten million dollars more on Stefan ?or?evi?. Needless to say, he seemed to have a favorite.”
Oren blanched, a nod sufficing as his engagement.
“I want him dead,” Simon muttered, running his palm along my leg like he always did to calm me. “Actually, I want him more than dead.”
“That’s our goal.” Leaning back, Thorne folded his arms over his chest. “But we have to be strategic about how we move. If Stefan happens to figure out where Liam is, that will only throw an even larger wrench into the works.”
“He does know,” Simon answered, his voice void of its normal vibrancy.
Thorne fell still, his chest rising with a shuddered breath. “What?”
“He called earlier, fucked mentally with Liam, and said he’d put a bullet between my brows while—”
“Simon, stop.”
“Liam,” Thorne practically snarled, his gaze settling on me. “When the fuck did this happen?”
“Right before we came over here. Thorne, I swear, I’m not keeping anything from you. I had no clue that he—”
“Did he hint at knowing anything further?”
My stomach sank, every single word Stefan uttered coming back to haunt me. “He saw us… or had eyes on us… at… at the diner.”
“And he knows about you and Oren,” Simon added, finally lifting his gaze. “He, uh, said if we told you, he’d cut off Oren’s head and serve it to your dogs.”
It was Oren’s turn to grip the table, his breath catching as he struggled to regulate his inhales. As his stability fractured, Thorne’s evaporated, knuckles driving into the wood with a force that immediately drew blood.
“FUCK!”
“He… my head?” Oren brushed his fingers over his neck, his cerulean irises darkening as he slipped somewhere else.
“Ah, fuck, Oren. I didn’t mean to—”
“Shut the fuck up, O’Neill,” Thorne barked, running a hand through his hair. “You’ve said fucking plenty at this point. Given the progression, I need to push the urgency of this meeting with Sebastian. We do not have a fucking week to spare.”
The room spun with his admittance, the sudden spike in his uncertainty bringing forth every doubt I’d concealed for years.
In escaping Stefan, I had dragged the safety of every person I loved into the mix, and now, someone was going to get hurt because of me.
He’d threatened Simon and Oren, but I knew if he could get his hands on Thorne…
he wouldn’t hesitate. The past I’d tried to escape had become the very thing to rip our safety out from beneath us.
It was my fault.
Piping in, I stood up. “I’ll just… I’ll just offer myself to him. I can’t… I can’t keep fucking doing this anymore. You guys are in danger because of me, and I… I-I… I—”
Simon slapped his hands on the table as he jumped to his feet. “Fuck that! You think I would willingly let you go? And you’re suggesting… you’re suggesting leaving?”
“What else am I supposed to do?!” I screamed, pointing between the three of them. “All of you are fucking panicking, and it’s because of me! My past and the danger it brought forward! My history and Thorne’s desire to help! It falls on me!”
“Because we all love you!” Simon shouted, slamming his fist into the wood. “And I would rather take a bullet between my brows—”
“Stop it!” It was a guttural yell that tore from my throat, tremors rocking my frame as I blinked back tears. “S-Stop… Stop it!”
Simon paused, flexing his fingers as he looked at me. With a softened tone, he continued. “If you think I’m able to let you go back to him willingly, you don’t know me. We all know the risks, but you’re worth it.”
I spoke before I could stop myself, the words spilling from me with a harshness I didn’t intend. “And you want to know what he told me, Simon? He said that even if you attempted to fucking fight to keep me around, all it would take was one fucking kick to render you useless.”
“Liam…” Thorne warned, his tongue dancing across his teeth.
Simon cleared his throat, but it was evident the blow had hit as his eyes glossed over. “I just…”
Not saying anything else, he stood, pushed in his chair, and headed for the back door. Either the words had taken a shot at his ego, or his prosthetic was bothering him, because he limped through the glass doors.
Swallowing, I glanced between Thorne and Oren. “I’m sorry.”
Without giving either of them another second to respond, I quickly followed, pursuing Simon just as I always had. He’d continuously pushed me away in the past, shoving me so hard that chasing after him felt redundant. But this time? I wouldn’t let him walk away.
Sliding the door shut behind me, I approached him with slow uncertainty. “Simon, I… I didn’t mean… God, I’m sorry.”
Wiping at his cheeks with the back of his hand, he stared at the fading horizon, the sun beginning to lower. Fingers curling into fists, his shoulders shook, evidence of the cries he was stifling.
“Simon…” I reached forward, gently grabbing his arm. “Simon…”
“I know I’m broken,” he whispered, barely audible above the wind.
“No.” Shaking my head, I pulled him toward me. Stepping around him, I planted myself in front of him with a clear refusal to back down. “Love… That is the furthest thing from the truth.”
“One kick… One kick and—”
Cutting him off, I stepped forward and pulled him into my arms, inhaling his cardamom and pepper scent. Fingers lacing through his hair, I coaxed his head into my shoulder, rubbing his back with my other hand. “You are not broken, Simon.”
“God, yes, I am! I’m not… I can never be a soldier again. I limp everywhere, and I’m… I’m in so much fucking pain all the time. And he’s right. One kick and I wouldn’t be able to save you, and that fucking haunts me!”
My throat bobbed, lips quivering as I struggled to reel in my emotions.
“You’re my soldier, my hero, Simon… I’m sorry you’re in pain…
I’m sorry I’ve overlooked you. I’m sorry I haven’t understood and that you’re scared because of this…
because of… because of me… But… But I love you as you are. I don’t care about anything else.”
He blinked, and tears cascaded, cresting over his waterline in a never-ending stream. “I… I failed. The mission that day. Everyone got hurt because of my carelessness, like always. If I… If I had missed that land mine, things could be different. We… I would be strong enough to protect you.”
Brushing my thumb over his cheek, I wiped away a few droplets of his sorrow. “You are strong enough, Simon. You are stronger than any of us…”
A fractured sob tore through him as his knees bent, fully collapsing into my arms as he wept. “Fuck…” Heaving between breaths, he clung to me, shattered.
“I’ve got you, Simon. I-I’ve got you…”
Burying his face in the crook of my neck, his wails turned ugly, tremors racking his frame as everything he’d built crashed. “Fuck, Liam… I’m so broken.”
“And so am I…” I breathed, my tears slowly escaping. “Which is why we complete one another.”
Sniffling, he relaxed slightly in my hold. “Please,” he mumbled against my skin, “please don’t… please don’t say those things again.”
My fingers combed through his hair, and I planted a gentle kiss on the crown of his head. “I won’t. I love you.”
“I-I love you, too.”
But deep down, I knew that if I had to give myself up to keep him safe, I would do it time and time again. For him, I would do anything.