Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
ANDIE
After asking Tessa to pull up the live camera feed, I finally locate Liam in the gym on the floor two levels below mine. I’m going to have to get Pearson to give me a crash course on the layout of Falcon Tower, all exits and entryways, what each floor is used for, and what’s behind every door. There’s so much I have to learn—real quick. Why Declan thought I was ready for this…
As soon as I step out of the elevator, I hear Liam’s loud grunts. I find him punching the shit out of a heavy bag hanging from the ceiling. He’s shirtless, sweat dripping off curled strands of his dark brown hair. His muscles bulge and flex with each forward punch and uppercut of his arms and every shift of his legs as he switches positions. I’ve had four orgasms so far since waking up today, but fuck me if my clit isn’t pulsing like the greedy whore it is as my eyes trail over Liam’s gorgeous, glistening body.
Toeing my ankle boots off, I silently pad barefoot over to him, the sounds of my footsteps dampened by the foam board floor. The gym, open and airy, takes up the entire space on this level. Every piece of workout equipment imaginable is in here, including a massive functional training system that looks more like a jungle gym on steroids. Near the back is a full-sized boxing square like the one the guys were using at Kellan’s cabin. And everything is matte black, red, or gray in color, even the flooring and walls. It’s like the room has been color-coordinated where the color of the wall matches the color of the equipment and weights next to it.
Carefully approaching Liam so I don’t startle him by my sudden presence, I take a stance behind the heavy bag and hold it steady for him as he delivers two hard jabs with his right fist. I have to plant my feet at the impact to hold myself in place against the raw power of his hits, and even then, the force of them manages to slide me backward a few inches.
Liam suddenly stops when he notices me, his unwrapped, red hands falling to his sides. He really is absolutely beautiful. All masculine power in a ripped body with the face of an angel. My angel-turned-devil.
“Hey. I’ve been trying to find you,” I tell him, raising my hand to touch him.
He steps back out of my reach when his stormy gray gaze immediately goes to the bite marks on my neck. He growls at them before turning on his heel and stalking away.
I guess we’re doing this the hard way.
“Liam, stop.”
Whirling a one-eighty, he demands, “Why?”
I come around the bag, propping my hands on my hips. My broken finger protests but I ignore the pain. “Because I want to talk to you.”
Clearly angry, he replies, “You didn’t want to talk to me earlier. I was asked to kindly fuck off and leave.” His focus returns to the bite marks on my neck. “Are you that desperate for dick? I don’t want their sloppy seconds.”
As low blows go, that one hits its target straight into my heart. Part of me wants to lash back out at him. Flay him with cruel words that I don’t mean. But I refuse to go there. I knew when I made my decision that choosing to be in a relationship with four different men would have its problems, fights, arguments, and misunderstandings. Our road is not going to be an easy one to traverse. I accept that. I want it. Nothing good in life is worth having if you don’t have to fight hard to obtain it or to keep it. Liam is lashing out because he’s jealous. He feels like I chose them over him, when clearly that isn’t the case. If only he’d give me a fucking minute to explain.
Getting an idea, I walk over to the center of the room. When my feet hit the spongy mat, I turn around.
“What are you doing?” Liam’s voice doesn’t sound as angry anymore.
Standing barefoot, I curl my index finger at him, telling him to come here. Of course, he doesn’t. The stubborn bastard.
I challenge him with the hard set of my stare. “You want to punch something? Fight? Get whatever it is off your chest so we can talk without you trying to bite my head off? Come on then. Because you don’t get to walk away from me.”
I bend at the waist to stretch out my back and legs, my hands gripping my ankles as I do a slow count of five before straightening back up.
Liam hasn’t stormed off again, but he’s tracking every move I make. “I’m not fighting you.”
I arch to the side and reach an arm over my head, then switch to the other side. Straightening up, I go through some warm-up practice punches while bouncing and shuffling on the balls of my feet.
He scans me from head to toe, the movement of his eyes like a physical caress across my skin. My nipples tighten painfully behind the stretchy fabric of my halter, and I have an urge to pinch them just to get some relief.
When Liam still doesn’t make a move to join me, I bring my left leg fully up into a ballerina’s high hold, thankful the leather of my pants is pliable.
His breathing becomes labored and his fists clench into tight balls as we stare at one another.
“I’m waiting.”
Like he has no control over his body, he takes two menacing steps toward me, then abruptly jerks to a standstill.
I tense in place, ready for whatever is coming. But nothing happens. Because he turns around and walks away from me, spitting out a “Fuck this.”
“Damn it, Liam. You difficult asshole,” I mutter under my breath.
I sprint across the room and tackle him from behind. It’s like running headfirst into a brick wall. We tumble together to the floor like a felled sequoia, but Liam somehow manages to twist midair and cradle me protectively in his arms right before we meet the ground. His back hits the mat with a hard thud. I allow myself a nanosecond to relish being pressed against his sweaty, hard chest, wanting more than anything to lick up each ridge of muscle from his abs to his neck. Unfortunately, that’ll have to wait.
Taking advantage of our positions, I immediately break from his grasp, shoving on his shoulders and pinning them down, then anchoring myself to his broad chest with the grip of my thighs. Pleased with this outcome, I blow out a breath to get my loose hair out of my eyes when it cascades over my shoulder and circles his stunned face like a waterfall.
“Now are you ready to talk?”
His moonlight eyes eclipse with dark determination. I yelp when he rolls us over and pins me beneath him. But I was expecting it. In a single, lithe move, I bring my knee up between us and push against his chest while rolling out from under him. We both pop up onto our feet at the same time, facing off like two pit bulls.
Liam slowly circles me. “I don’t want to do this with you right now, Andie.”
Andie, not bella .
“Too fucking bad.” Lunging, I drop low, sweeping a leg out to knock him off his feet, but he’s quick to react and evades it.
I go through the motions of a few punch combos, ones he easily blocks. It’s all for show. I’m not trying to hurt him. What I am trying to do is break down those fucking walls he put up.
“Andie, stop it.”
I fake an uppercut and step to the side, hooking my foot behind his left leg. His thigh muscles lock, and he grabs my arm, flipping me over with a twist of his wrist. I gracefully roll across the floor and come up in a kneeling position. Unfortunately, I push down with my left hand, and the pain from my finger has me cursing.
Liam is on the floor in front of me in an instant, worry and regret that he hurt me drawing his mouth down in a frown.
“Fuck, bella . Let me take a look at it.”
He palms my hand within his, delicately lifting it to his lips, and the pain gradually ebbs away with each butterfly kiss he presses to my finger. This man is always taking care of me, even when he’s mad as hell at me.
When his face lifts, those long lashes shuttering his slate-gray eyes, I slide myself into his lap and snuggle into him, my head finding the perfect resting place on his shoulder. Liam breathes in deeply and wraps an arm around me, pulling me in closer.
“I love you, Liam.” My confession is like a whisper of the wind against his neck, but I know he hears it by the rapid thud of his heart and the tightening of his arm. “But I love them, too.” I lean back and brush my fingers over the rough stubble of his jaw. “The part of my heart that I gave to you, they will never own. It’s yours forever. If you want me, I’m yours. But I’ll also be theirs. I’ll never choose between you and them because there is no choice to make.”
I don’t demand he say he loves me back. He could never utter those words for the rest of our lives, but I would know the truth. And that’s all that matters. Words are meaningless without the actions to back them up, and Liam has proven his loyalty, obsession, and love for me a thousand times over.
But love can also be a shackle. You can come to regret loving someone if it binds you to a life you don’t want. Look at how many relationships are destroyed when one person loves another to the point where they give up their dreams. When they give up who they are just to conform to what the other person wants. That’s not true love. True love is selfless. It’s both wonderful and painful. It makes you feel alive and gives you strength. It allows you to forgive, but also be forgiven.
Like it’s the last time I’ll ever kiss him, I cover his luscious mouth with my own, slipping my tongue inside to stroke and taste him, crushing my body to his until we become one. And as much as I’d love to rip the remainder of our clothes off and fuck him until we can no longer move and pass out, I know there are cameras on us and eyes other than my men’s watching. I’m honestly surprised that Keane and Jax haven’t barged in yet. Surely, Tessa would have gleefully informed them by now about me and Liam sparring.
Liam grips the back of my head and pulls me in to deepen our kiss. I swear, I absolutely melt into it.
When we eventually pull apart, I place a sweet peck to his nose, and I’m rewarded with double winks of his dimples when he grins.
“There’s nothing that makes me hotter than when we argue and fight, but this right here—” I trace his full lips. “These moments are the ones I love the most.”
The tip of his finger glides under the strap of my halter, and he traces a lazy, sensuous line back and forth. His eyes dip, locating every bite mark and hickey blemishing my pale skin.
“May I?” he asks, and I nod yes, tilting my head to the side to give him better access.
He pulls my shirt down and chooses the area right above my heart, sucking on the skin in hard pulls and then giving me a quick nip with his teeth. He smiles broadly as he examines his handiwork.
“Are we good?” I ask him, curling my hands around his neck, my thumbs caressing the underside of his jaw and behind his ears.
He sighs, kissing my lips. “I’ve never wanted a woman as much as I want you. I don’t know how to do this with them.”
“Neither do I,” I reply. “And it’s not like I planned it. It just happened.” When our eyes align, I chuckle lightly. “To be honest, I came home prepared to kill them if it came down to it. Attempted to do just that a couple of times when they pissed me the fuck off.”
Liam’s low rumble of laughter joins my own. He threads his fingers through my hair, playing with the silky ends, then tucks the strands behind my ear. “Wish I could’ve seen that.”
My smile grows. “You’ll probably get a lot more opportunities to in the future. Especially between me and Keane.”
Liam brings our foreheads together. “Aye.”
“I love it when you go all Irish on me,” I comment. “Can you do dirty talk in Gaelic?”
He shifts me in his lap, and I hum when his hardness presses against my center. “Maybe.”
“Can we talk now?”
“Hmm,” he murmurs, nuzzling the hair at my temple.
“I know you’re not happy about Declan putting me in charge. It should be you or Pearson.”
His lips freeze their journey.
“Andie, I’m not mad because he didn’t choose me. I’m upset because it puts you in even more danger. Declan has a lot of enemies. So do I. And those enemies will become yours once they find out who you are.”
“Your enemies?” I’m not stupid enough to think that Declan hasn’t amassed a list of people who would love nothing more than to take him out, but who’s after Liam?
“I told you I wasn’t a good man.”
“And I remember telling you I only care about the man you are with me now, not who you once were. Do you blame me for the things I did in my past?”
“No. But if you knew about the awful shit I’ve done, you’d think otherwise.”