Chapter 10
Liam
Frustration mirrors her gaze. The same want burns through my veins.
“I have to get that.” She sounds soft and wrecked.
I lean in closer, lips hovering above hers. “They’ll go away, Luv.”
Knock, knock, knock.
Again. And again. And bloody again.
Her body shifts, resignation mixed with annoyance. “I know who it is.”
Someone calls from behind the door, loud and insistent enough to wake the dead. “Lexie, babes, open the door! Now, before I huff and I puff. You know I will!”
More relentless knocking. She isn’t going anywhere.
I tilt my head, lifting a brow.
“It’s my best friend,” Lexie adds, almost apologetic. “Trust me, she won’t go away. She’ll pick the lock.”
“Elexia Claire Carter!” she screeches like a banshee. “Come on, you doodle bug, open the door!”
The absurdity of it all. Here I am, hard as a rock, pinning a beautiful woman to her couch, and we’re being interrupted by someone calling her “doodle bug.”
Though every fiber of my body protests, I rise, letting Lexie up. She takes a moment to gather herself, smoothing down her dress, running her hands through her curls.
She makes her way to the door, and I move toward the kitchen doorway, giving her space but keeping myself in view. I want to see who this friend is. Want to know who is allowed to bang on her door like she owns the place.
Lexie unlocks the door and pulls it open.
A young woman sweeps in like a force of nature—all dark waves cascading down her back as she removes a silk scarf with a dramatic flair.
Designer coat, skinny jeans, heeled boots that make her legs look a mile long.
She’s beautiful in that polished, high-maintenance way.
The kind of woman who knows her worth and isn’t afraid to show it.
She kisses each of Lexie’s cheeks, and I catch the scent of her perfume: expensive, floral, the kind that costs more than most people’s rent.
“Hey, River,” Lexie chirps, trying to sound casual. “Come on in.” She steps aside.
River tosses her scarf onto the couch and turns on her heel to face Lexie, her dark eyes sparkling with excitement. “Get dressed, babes. Wear something sexy. We’re going to the Hamptons.”
Lexie blinks. “What? Why?”
River beams, her teeth white and perfect.
“I got us in at the most exclusive, hottest Valentine’s party ever!
A singles party—some gothic vampire-themed event at Thornfield Manor.
Imagine the possibilities. All those mysterious, masked millionaires just waiting to sweep us off our feet. We’re going to get you a—”
She turns, and her words die.
At first, she gawks at me standing at the entrance to the kitchen, my hands stuffed in my pockets until her face shifts from excitement to shock to something else entirely. Appreciation. Interest. The kind of look I’ve gotten from women my whole life.
Her mouth falls open. “Holy damn hotness in a sweater!” Her elevator eyes roam every inch of me. She’s eye-fuckin’ me, not even trying to hide it.
I nod to her, my lips twitching with mirth. “Pleasure to meet you.” Thornfield Manor…hmm, how fitting.
Lexie tries to keep her voice light. “I picked him up in an alley.”
River blinks, her gaze still locked on me.
“How’s about ye?” I crook a grin.
“Huh?” River glances at her friend.
Lexie smiles. “He’s Irish.”
“Oh my fucking—” River sidles against Lexie, nudging her with her elbow. “What are you doing with a buffer, tattooed version of Cillian Murphy in your apartment? And what’s with the bruises on his cheek and jaw?”
I close the distance between us. “Got into a wee bit of trouble with a gang. Fortunately, I had me an angel of a florist find me.”
River grips Lexie’s shoulders with both hands, slightly shaking her. “Okay. Lex, I’m only saying this once.” She gestures to me. “You hit the lottery with…”
She trails off, waiting.
“Liam,” I supply.
River clasps Lexie’s hands like she’s delivering the gospel. “Lexie. Liam. Lottery. Got it?”
Lexie’s face turns that lovely shade of pink. “Okay. Duly noted.”
“And he’s coming with us,” River announces.
Lexie’s brows shoot up. “What?”
This is my cue. I step forward, sliding my arm around her waist and pulling her against my side. She fits there perfectly. “Sounds like a grand plan.”
She twists to look at me, biting her lower lip. “Can I have a word with you? In the bedroom?”
River blows us a kiss. “If you need a quickie, babes, just put a sock on the door.”
Flipping River the bird, my Darlin’ shoves me toward the bedroom. I go willingly, letting her close the door behind us.
The second we’re alone, she rounds on me, crossing her arms. “So, what? I can’t go to work, but I can go to the Hamptons for a party?!”
I lower my head and bump noses with her. She’s fierce when she’s riled up, and I love it. “Safety in numbers, Lex.”
She juts a finger at me. “No, no, no. Only River gets to call me that.”
I rise. “Duly noted.”
“Can you even dance in your condition?” she fusses.
“I’ve been to the Hamptons many a time, Darlin’,” I note. “Not all about dancin’.”
“Won’t someone recognize you?”
I shake my head nonchalantly. “Not at this particular party. It’s a masked event.”
Frustrated, she kneads her brow. “Of course it is.”
With a sigh, Lexie drops her arms to her sides. “I’m not about to argue. I’m more afraid of River than you.”
Smart girl.
“Grand.” I tip my imaginary hat to her.
She opens the door, and River is standing there, tapping her foot, her arms crossed like a disapproving mother.
Lexie spreads her hands in surrender.
River jumps up and down, squealing. “Okay, we’re going shopping first, Lex. My treat.”
Lexie looks confused. “What’s the point of wearing something sexy then?”
River guffaws. “You can’t go shopping in the Hamptons in your peasant dresses or pit bull shirts. Do you need help finding something?”
I lift a finger, unable to resist. “I volunteer.”
“No!” Lexie fires back, blushing something fierce.
River tosses her hair back and snips, “By the way, you haven’t properly introduced us.”
She extends her hand, and I take it, lifting it to my mouth to kiss the back. Old-fashioned, aye, but it never fails to make an impression.
River squeals through pressed teeth. “I’m River Rogers. Lexie’s former girlfriend but lifelong best friend, who makes sure she doesn’t turn into a flower-hoarding hermit.”
Former girlfriend.
The words hit me like a punch to the gut, and something shifts in my chest. Not jealousy, exactly—they clearly don’t have that relationship anymore. But it’s information. Important information.
I watch how Lexie avoids my eyes, how her hands fidget.
“Charmed.” I release River’s hand.
Lexie backs away toward the bedroom. “Be right back. I need to take a quick shower, too.”
As she disappears behind the door, River turns to me, her expression serious. She sets her hands on her hips, tilting her head, and I can see the wheels turning in her mind.
“So, Liam,” she asks in a low, conspiratorial voice. “What are your intentions with my girl?”
I meet her gaze head-on, not backing down an inch. She’s sizing me up. Trying to figure out if I’m a threat or a prize. Trying to decide if she should warn Lexie away or give her blessing.
But I also see her innate care. The protectiveness. She loves Lexie, even if it’s not romantic anymore. And that earns her great respect from me.
“My intentions,” I assert slowly, “are to keep her safe. And to make sure she’s well taken care of.”
Suspicious, River tests more. “That’s a very diplomatic answer.”
“I’m a very diplomatic man.”
“Bullshit,” she says, but there’s no bite. “You’re trouble. I can smell it on you.”
“Aye,” I admit. “But I’m her trouble now.”
River assesses me like she’s pricing cattle before the tension deflates. “Good. She could use some excitement in her life. She deserves it after all she’s gone through. “
I glance at the door, knowing a darker history exists, one River has witnessed.
“And if you hurt her, you hot Irish stud muffin, I will hunt you down and make you wish you’d never been born.”
I don’t argue. “Noted.”
She turns away, moving to the couch to retrieve her scarf.
We make a bit of small talk. I don’t shy away from the details.
She is the type of woman who loves all the juicy details.
And she doesn’t mind if she looks like a fool, doubling over with laughter—even a snort or two—at the story of how I cleaned Lexie’s apartment, cooked her dinner, and bent her over the table. She reaffirms her “lottery” opinion.
Then, I hear the bedroom door open.
I turn, and my lungs stall.
Lexie’s changed into a pink dress—soft blush pink with a V-neck cut and delicate lace trim that shows the curve of her collarbone.
A snug bodice. An A-line skirt swishes around her knees while the lace detail continues down the sleeves and hem.
She’s paired it with a cream cardigan, but the dress has my attention.
She didn’t just throw on the first thing she grabbed. She put thought into this.
She is radiance. So much life about her now. She french-braided her hair, pinning it to the side.
“You look perfect, Lex!” River squeezes Lexie’s hands and kisses her cheek. “Ready?”
Lexie nods, grabbing her purse from the hook by the door.
I move to her side, my hand finding the small of her back. She shivers under my palm. I claim the space, letting River see.
Lexie is mine. And I’m not letting her go.
River catches the gesture, gifting her approval. She knows what I’m doing, and she’s not protesting.
“Let’s go,” I hum low to Lexie.
As we step out into the hallway, I keep my hand on her back, guiding her, protecting her. River walks ahead of us, her heels clicking against the floor, and I sense the tension in Lexie’s body—the awareness of my touch, the chemistry between us that hasn’t faded.
This trip to the Hamptons will be interesting, so it will. I may have a few contacts with the owners—old money types with inherited wealth, the kind who know how to be discreet and have no connections to the Family.
A masked party. A singles event. And my beautiful florist on my arm.
Let the games begin.