16. Eva
16
EVA
N o.
I gasped against Liam’s hot mouth as he deepened the kiss.
No. It’s not supposed to feel this good.
He slid his fingers further back, cupping my face to hold me close. The taunting grip of his hand like this was an ultimate thrill. To feel like I was his to command. His to have.
No. Not like this.
I wrenched back, breathing hard as I stared at him. When I licked my lips, he tracked the moment and growled with need.
“Last time, you told me to get out.” I swallowed, struggling past this urgency to shut up, go for what I really wanted, and kiss him again. “That I was just someone to fuck. A convenient piece of ass, remember?”
He furrowed his brow, and I dared him to scowl at me and deny it. I’d spent too many hours licking my wounds from his harsh words.
“An itch to scratch.” I heaved in a deep breath, tormenting myself with another dose of his scent.
He smoothed his thumb over my cheek, frowning deeper.
“We said it was the last time for that last time.” Staring him in the eyes, I stayed as bold as I could. “I want you, Liam. I won’t lie. I want you so bad, but I will never let a man toy with me like that. You can’t decide the terms of our attraction.”
He grunted, stepping closer to wrap his free arm around me, hugging me—and Olivia—closer. It was domestic, somehow, like we were a little family of three.
“I’m sorry for what I said before.”
I closed my eyes as he lowered his face to mine and brushed his lips over mine slowly.
“And I won’t lie, either. It’s getting harder to convince myself that we should keep this no-strings-attached.” He weakened me even more with a longer, harder kiss with tongue.
“Because fuck me, Eva. Seeing you holding my daughter…” He slid his hand lower, caressing my ass and using his big hand there to push me toward him. “It’s messing me up.”
I smiled, slow and sly, as I welcomed his embrace. “Yeah?”
“You look good like this.” He brushed my hair back, and we kissed until I grew desperate for air. “I like seeing you with her, acting like a mother might.”
Like… the mother of your children? I wanted it. I wanted it so bad. Though it was sudden, it was potent and true.
I swayed, leaning against him. His deep, low tone was turning me on more, drugging me with the illusion of his wanting to commit.
“You’re making me wonder if we quit screwing around in secret and fighting each other…”
I whimpered, needy and impatient, as I pulled him close for a kiss.
“If we gave up fighting, if we could?—”
“Liam—oh!” Tessa’s voice came and went as she burst in. She popped in and closed the door quickly, catching us so close together.
“Goddammit,” Liam growled softly, stepping away.
I exhaled, feeling on edge and so riled up. She’d interrupted us, and I missed the moment we’d been sharing. Liam was so hot and cold—but so was I. Both of us lasting that long without being mean was a new record.
“What, Tess?” he demanded as he opened the door and found her wincing on the other side.
“Sorry. Really.” She leaned past him to cringe at me. “So, so sorry. But Romeo texted me and asked that I make sure you both stay in.”
“We got the message,” I told her.
“Yeah, but?—”
My phone rang, and after I pulled it from my back pocket and answered on speaker, I let them listen in to whatever Franco had to update us with.
“Eva? Make sure you all stay in. More guards are coming as backup just in case.”
“What happened?” I asked, used to this yet not. It’d been a while since Dante would’ve put the order in for this much security.
“The Giovannis are attacking multiple locations. Reports of the MC are in too.”
I shook my head, pissed that both of our enemies were ganging up on us. Catching Liam’s scowl, I knew he was just as frustrated—no doubt on a personal level since they’d hurt him last.
“Stay in and stay alert. Ask Liam?—”
“I’m here,” he replied to Franco.
“Liam, stay on guard. I know you haven’t officially started on payroll, but?—”
“Of course,” Liam answered. “I’m always on guard.”
The steely glint in his eyes was no joke. He was already in protective mode, just from the word of security concerns.
“I’ll call when we know more.”
I disconnected the call. Liam sighed and ran his hand over Olivia’s hair, watching her get sleepier as she rested against me. Her tiny fingers clutched and released on my shirt, and the little gesture melted my heart.
“So, yeah. That ”—Tessa pointed her fingers at the phone in my hand, smiling sheepishly—“that was why I was rushing through the house to find you. Nina’s staying in my room with me, nervous.”
“Should I come and help?—”
“No!” Tessa backed up, holding her hands in the air as she retreated toward the door. “No, no, no. You two can carry on and… yeah. Sorry again.” She hurried to turn and leave, clumsy with her rush and almost tripping into the hallway.
Once the door closed, I glanced at Liam. The moment was gone. That spell of desire was broken and a sober seriousness took over the room.
He sighed and took my hand, leading me toward the couch in the living area of his suite. “What is all of this about the Giovannis?” We sat, and he ran his hand through his hair as he sank against the cushions. “I’ve met some of the MC men, but what’s with this other group?”
Nothing could stop me from confiding in him. He would soon be working for my uncle, and I bet he was already getting lots of information from Uncle Dante himself and Franco. I saw Liam and Franco speaking quite a bit, and I knew they’d be excited for him to officially start as a recruit. His military career was simply that impressive.
Liam fit in with us, though, regardless of his employment status. He already seemed to be one of us, and I had no qualms about speaking up.
“Stefan Giovanni, the head of the Giovanni Family, used to be one of Uncle Dante’s close friends. He, Stefan, and Henry Bardot—Nina’s father—used to be good buddies back in the day. Back before they all drifted apart.”
He frowned. “Didn’t Nina’s father go into the military?”
“He did. Before he enlisted, those three were close friends. Uncle Dante took the Constella name to accumulate great power and wealth. Stefan tried to as well, but over the years, he made lousy decisions and lost a lot. He sided with the Domino Family, another rival, but the Devil’s Brothers wiped them out. They fought over business, and the bikers ended them.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah.” I sighed, relaxing with Olivia’s weight against my chest. She sure looked comfy, so much so that I tried not to move with her this close to falling asleep. “When the Dominos were taken out, Stefan lost a lot of money. He lost manpower, he lost product, but most of all, he lost a ton of money in backing the Dominos against the MC. Stefan wanted to get Dante’s backing, to claim the Constellas as an ally, but Dante wanted nothing to do with the Giovannis.”
“Or the MC, right? Since he took Nina from Reaper?”
I winced. “Try not to word it like that.”
He furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”
“That Reaper ever had Nina to begin with. He didn’t. The night Nina’s brother lost that bet was the first time she ever saw the man. He never had her, and Dante hates the idea that he ever could’ve had her.”
He nodded slowly. “Noted.”
“Stefan has joined with Reaper, though, in retaliation to the Constellas’ actions.”
“Like not giving Nina up?” he guessed.
“That and the way Dante told Stefan to fuck off when he wanted our backing with gun routes. And Romeo, uh, Romeo got a little ahead of himself and pissed off the MC even more when he killed one of their lawyers.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
“Because that lawyer was supposed to marry Tessa.”
“Damn.”
I nodded, hoping all of this wouldn’t intimidate him. “If anyone were to want my opinion?—”
“I do.” His tone wasn’t mocking, and I appreciated that.
I smiled. “Thanks. In my opinion, Dante is hoping they’ll piss each other off to the point that they’ll kill each other off. We can’t take on both groups at once, but neither of them has staying power to remain a valid threat for long. The bikers, especially. They’re new to wanting power and likely won’t last. The presidents change over quickly.”
“Lots of infighting,” he guessed.
He sounded distant, like he was just saying something because it was his turn to speak.
I glanced up from gazing at Olivia sleeping on my chest. He was watching me with something soft yet potent stirring in his eyes. Adoration and desire. The gentle smile tugging at his lips was sexy as hell, and at once, my libido was kicked into overdrive.
“What?” I asked quietly. “What are you looking at?”
“You.” He gave in to a slow smile, a full one that tugged at my heartstrings. He was always so guarded—like I was—and it felt like a rare treat to see him at ease with me.
“You really calmed her down.”
I nodded, quite proud of myself. “I’m not sure how. I don’t exactly have experience with babies.” As I stroked her soft hair and relished the steady rhythm of her sleepy exhales, I swore I fell in love that much more. “But I’m wondering if it’s just something that clicks.”
“Maybe.” He reached over to rub her back, staring at her with the same feeling of gratitude, like he couldn’t believe he’d been so blessed. I was so glad that this little girl had reached out to me, that she saw my face and knew she could count on me.
“I still struggle with the newness of it all. That I’m her dad. That I’m a father at all. I feel so damn clueless, but I’m figuring it out. She’s figuring me out.” He glanced up at me. “Like you are with her too.”
And what about me and you? I swallowed down the urge to ask him that, but when he looked back up at me a moment later, I was convinced that he was wondering the same thing.
He gave me an apology and I accepted it.
I told him not to play games with me, and he started to suggest that we stop playing altogether and get serious.
But how? In what capacity?
What’s next?
In this cozy, comfortable moment we were sharing, I felt like I was ready for anything more that he wanted to give me.
If I could be honest, I’d admit that the idea of having it all with him sounded like heaven.
But I’d be damned if I'd beg for it.