He drops them on top of my body, then seems to realize I can’t get dressed. Finally, he does extract a pocket knife and a moment later I can move. I expect relief, but my muscles are so sore from being held in the same position, all I can do is stretch, trying and failing to find comfort.
“You didn’t bring aspirin, did you?” I mutter, extending my arm up over my head and bending it down toward the middle of my back.
“She’s cute,” Ryder says, instead of answering me.
“That’s a no?” I ask Ali.
“I’m sure we’ve got some in the carriage,” he mocks, lightly.
“If not, we’ll send a footman,” Ryder adds, winking at me.
“A simple no was a lot to ask for, I realize.”
Liam is smirking as his friends pick on me, but all that’s forgotten a moment later when Liam, no longer restrained, approaches me. I’m still on the cot, but sitting up. I’ve managed to pull on my pants, but my upper body is still clad only in a bra. His eyes rake over me possessively, like he’s torn between taking inventory and deciding which part of me he’s going to devour first.
Eyes still on my body, Liam asks, “What day is it?”
“Saturday,” Ryder supplies.
Aggravation flickers in the depths of those beautiful brown eyes. “What time?”
Checking the watch on his left wrist, Ryder replies, “Almost 7:30.”
“Shit,” Liam mutters, finally meeting my eyes. “Get dressed. We have to go.”
I nod, opening the bottom of my shirt and slipping it over my head. As I pull it down past my face, I ask, “Where do we go now?”
I expect him to say another hideaway, the cabin in the woods, maybe the airport. Now that we’re free and Liam’s friends are here, the dream of going away to the sunset house is no longer lost. We can have a future now. Both of us. Together.
What I do not expect, despite everything that’s happened so far, is for him to say, “Pietro’s.”
My spirits drop. I stare at him as my jaw falls open, and his seems to lock up defensively.
He turns away to brief the guys, and I’m still fucking floored.
Finally I find my voice. “You can’t be serious.”
He doesn’t defend himself, merely looks at me and says, “We’ve gotta move.”
“We need to leave. We need to get the hell out of here.”
Ryder and Ali exchange glances, but Liam’s orders obviously trump mine and they walk out the door first.
Liam pushes me ahead of him and I walk out, but I can’t believe he would even think of going back. Not after all this. Not after we could’ve both died because he didn’t let it go the first time.
“Liam, why would we go there?” I ask quietly, since I figure maybe he’s just being a stupid idiot guy in front of his friends. Guys are supposed to be prone to that, right? I hadn’t experienced it firsthand since high school (since Paul’s always an idiot, friends or no) but I was sure that was a thing. Liam being a man with a lot of pride, I figure it’s possible.
“The party starts in a half hour.”
Of course I knew that when Ryder said what day and time it was, but I don’t know why we care.
Fear wraps itself around my stomach and I grab Liam’s wrist to get his attention. It works. Those brown eyes burn a hole right through me, delivering passionate declarations without a single syllable falling from his lips.
“This is our chance to run,” I implore, quietly. “To start a life together, away from all this.”
I want this to work—to remind him how close we came to losing everything, to want me more than he wants… whatever the hell it is he wants.
But I don’t expect it to. I expect him to retreat, to pull away from me. I’m relieved when he doesn’t. Instead, he leaves my hands wrapped around his wrist and he stops in the middle of the hallway to look me in the eye.