Illicit (The Wrong Alpha 3)

Lifting his chin, Liam gave her his most confident look. “I don’t know what high places your orders come from, but my future brother-in-law is the heir apparent to the throne and your future sovereign. Do I really need to involve him to resolve this misunderstanding?” Never mind that he would rather punch himself than ask anything of Westcliff. She didn’t know that.

A flash of annoyance and discomfort appeared in her eyes. She glanced at Jules, her jaw clenching. “I apologize for the misunderstanding,” she finally said. “There’s no need to involve the royal family.” With a slight bow, she walked away, pulling out her phone.

Liam breathed out.

“Phew,” Jules said. “That was quick thinking, though I don’t like using Devlin’s status this way.”

Liam smiled crookedly. For all Jules’s outspokenness, his sense of self-worth wasn’t high, and he was actually rather shy in social situations. It would have never even occurred to him to use his position as the future king’s mate to get out of this situation.

“Get used to it,” he said, squeezing Jules’s hand before letting go. “As the king’s mate, you will be constantly under public scrutiny, so you should use the few perks you get.”

Jules pulled a funny face. “Sometimes I wish I could kidnap Devlin and move with him to another planet.”

Liam chuckled and then cleared his throat. “Is there news?”

“I haven’t heard anything. But I haven’t seen Anthony. The real Anthony. Fuck, it’s still so weird. I still can’t believe the other Anthony was an impostor. But I guess, that’s good, right? That means you’re not brothers.”

Liam shrugged, avoiding Jules’s gaze. “He lied to me. He lied, Jules. He knew how torn up I was about the whole thing, but he kept lying. Fuck that asshole.”

“Uh-huh. You look like you didn’t sleep last night.”

Because he hadn’t.

“I couldn’t sleep because I was angry.”

“Right,” Jules said. “You aren’t worried for him at all.”

Glaring at him, Liam said nothing. There was nothing to say. Nothing Jules would believe.

“I need to talk to Ant,” he said, just to escape Jules’s knowing, pitying eyes.

Gods, it was so humiliating. How pathetic must he look to be so very obviously worried about the lying asshole who’d made a fool out of him?

He walked away before Jules could say anything.

Liam hadn’t lied to Jules: he was furious. After the long, sleepless night, anger was the prevailing emotion. The impostor had been lying to him. He’d let Liam think he was a disgusting pervert for wanting his own brother. It was infuriating. And it hurt so much—it was proof of how little he cared for Liam’s mental state. For Liam, period.

And yet Jules wasn’t wrong, either. Liam still wanted to know that he was all right. He was angry—he was furious—but he wanted the asshole to be alive to be able to be furious at him, to be able to punch his face, dig his fingernails into it, and then—

Liam cut off that train of thought, not liking where it was going.

He found Ant in the office.

Once again, the sight of him seated behind that desk took him aback. It seemed… so wrong.

“Is there any news?”

Ant lifted his eyes from the paperwork. “Uncle has confessed that he hired the sniper. It appears he’s been deep in debt for years, which is why he was desperate to get access to the Blake accounts. He said Mother refused to give him money anymore, even for his medicine—she didn’t believe he wouldn’t just waste the money—and he shoved her off the stairs in his anger. He says it was an accident. He denies that he killed her in cold blood. We’ll see what the lie detector shows when the court authorizes its use.”

“Is he still sick?” Liam said without any interest, desperate to get to the subject that really interested him, but knowing that changing the subject abruptly would look weird.

“No,” Ant said. “It seems his experiments have borne fruit and he was cured of his terminal disease. They’ve already arrested one Doctor Navarra who conducted the illegal experiments and invented the cure.”

Liam tried to look like it all meant something to him. He nodded. “What about the—the man who impersonated you?”

Ant raised his eyebrows. “I thought they’d put you under NDA.”

“They tried,” Liam said with a shrug. “So what’s his status? Did he—he survive?”

Ant rubbed his forehead with his fingers, his expression becoming tight. “As I said, my access has been revoked. I don’t know where he’s being treated. But I’m listed as his next-of-kin, so I would have been notified if he died.”

Liam let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

All right. That was enough. That was all he needed to know.

Liar, a voice said at the back of his mind. Liar liar liar. He wanted to know everything, the need nearly choking him.