I caught her in the shoulder, knocking her sideways. The knife clattered from her grip. "What the fuck are you doing?" she hissed at me.
"Saving you," I snarled, kicking the knife across the floor. It skittered wildly off the foot of the table and slid harmless into the kitchen.
"You stupid bitch," Dahlia hissed. She tried to get up, but fell back with a sharp cry of pain.
"Dahlia?" Liam moved to the crumpled woman on the floor. "Oh shit, Shay, call an ambulance."
"I'm fine," she snarled at him, then went white with pain.
"I think she broke her hip," Lily said, dully. All the rage had gone out of her, and she collapsed back into her chair like a broken down doll.
I whirled and ran for a phone. My own cell battery was run down and I had no idea where Liam's was. Without thinking, I ran down the long hallway that twisted around the great room. The sound of cheering crowds filled my ears and I found myself wondering perversely if Darius had turned up the volume in the media room on purpose. To drown out the noise of the fight.
"Darius!" I banged on the door. "I need your phone! Now!"
The door flew open immediately. "Phone," I ordered. He cocked his head in confusion, but handed it over immediately.
I whirled back and dialed 911 on the fly. "My boyfriend's mother...shit...grandmother might have broken her hip, please come as soon as you can."
The three of them were frozen in a weird tableau of family as I rushed back into the great room. Mother sat on the chair, looking down at her son as he cradled his ailing grandmother in his arms. For a strange moment, everything seemed peaceful.
Until Darius followed behind me.
"Lily?!" His deep bass voice echoed off the high ceilings.
Lily froze. We all froze and turned to where Darius stood stock still in the doorway. He spread his hands in disbelief.
Lily's mouth worked, twisting in silent whispers.
Darius lifted his hand to his face, and for the first time since I met him, he took off his sunglasses.
His eyes were gray. The color of a storm over water.
Liam's eyes.
Lily made a sound like a wounded animal. "Darius? You...Darius?"
"It's me." He opened his arms and Lily went to him, eyes wide.
She suddenly burst out laughing. "You got old!"
He tucked a strand of frazzled white-blonde hair behind her ear. "You're still beautiful," he murmured.
When he kissed her, I turned in shock to Liam, ready to demand an explanation. But from the look on his face, Liam had no more idea what was happening than I did.
That's when I heard the noise. Dahlia, crumpled in a heap, cowering on the floor, hissed like a cat. "What in God's name...?"
But Darius and Lily were too wrapped up in each other to hear her. "You stayed," Lily breathed, touching his face.
"I had to," Darius said, lifting his head and facing Liam, gray eyes meeting stormy gray eyes. "He's my son."
"What?" Liam's voice broke.
Darius looked down at Lily, who nodded slightly. "It's over now," she muttered. "He knows. And she can't hurt us any more."
"Remember all those times you told me you wished I was your father?" Darius's voice caught as he looked at Liam. Their faces were mirror images of shock and grief.
"Yes," Liam choked. I rushed to his side, ignoring Dahlia's hiss. I touched his shoulder and he clutched my hand and nodded at Darius. "Yes of course I remember. Are you really...?"
Darius nodded. "I am." He lifted his chin, letting the fire in his gray eyes declare the truth. "Lily is your mother and I am your father."
Chapter Thirty - Four
The ambulance wailed off into the night, its sirens far below us.
"Darius is taking Lily...your mom...back to his place," I said softly from the doorway.
Liam was lying on his back in the dark of his bedroom. But when he heard my voice, he wordlessly turned and reached for me.
Of course I went to him.
He pulled me next to him, crushing me to his chest, gripping me painfully tight. I buried my face into his chest and just let him cling to me. However hard he needed to hold me, I would be there.
But when his grip only grew tighter, I knew what he needed.
I pulled back. "Sssh," I told him, pressing my finger to his protesting lips. "Just let me."
His gray eyes were watchful and wary as I turned to the walk-in closet. I had to stand on my tiptoes, but I could just pull the box down from the shelf above my head.
When I pulled the silky white rope out, his eyes glittered. "I know what it feels like, " I murmured as I went to him. "Like you're shattered. Like you're going to fall to pieces and you need something to hold you together." I gently wound the rope around his wrist. My movements were clumsy and unpracticed, but he held so still, holding his breath while he watched me secure the knot.
I pressed my free hand to his bound one. "That's what I'm here for. To hold you together." I brushed a kiss against his lips.
And then I wound the rope around my own wrist.
Liam shifted, sitting up straighter. I wound the rope, around and around and around, finishing the knot off with my teeth. I closed my fingers, intertwining them with his, the rope biting into each of our wrists. "Together," I repeated, kissing him again.
He made a low sound. Cupping his hand under my ass, he pulled me to him. "I love you so goddamned much," he snarled. He sounded angry, but the gentle heat of his lips on my neck was anything but.
I moved my bound wrist behind my back, dragging his with me. His free hand caught our bound ones and I was suddenly immobilized. His eyes were only inches from mine, and I could feel the heat of his breath on my skin. "I love you too," I breathed.
He yanked us backward, falling flat onto the bed. We were bound together, not just by rope, but by love as well.
"I love this," he growled into my ear, holding up our wrists, "but I'm going to untie it now."
"Why?" I moaned. I liked the feeling of moving in tandem with him.
"Because," he reached over and deftly picked apart my clumsy knots. "I can't touch you properly without both hands free." He caught up my wrist and kissed the rope burn, smoothing it away with his fingers and tongue.
I moaned a little as I sagged back onto the bed. "Then are you going to tie me up?" I asked, trying to keep the begging note out of my voice.
"No," he said, rolling over on top of me and lifting my shirt over my head. I wiggled down, barely able to move, crushed as I was under his chest, but I was able to get ahold of his zipper.
"If you don't tie me up," I protested, arching towards him, "then I'm going to be able to touch you everywhere."
He pulled back, brushing my hands away form his zipper impatiently. He lifted my skirt and shoved my panties aside, his eyes dark with love and lust. "Good," he exhaled as he freed himself and thrust inside of me. "That's what I want."
Chapter Thirty - Five
"Are you ready for this?"
"I'm not worried about me," I chided Liam. "Question is, how are you?"
He didn't answer, but I could see the slightest tremor in his hands as he turned back to face the mirror. The last button eluded him, and I saw anger cloud his face.
I went to him.
He watched as I buttoned the last two buttons for him and took a deep breath. "It's still not real to me. But I owe it to them to at least hear them out...."
I nodded. "Without Dahlia." Liam's mother...no, grandmother...was still a wild card. She was safely hospitalized now, but the break was clean and she would be healed soon enough.
But that was not what today was about.
We walked together. The fresh morning air felt good on my face and walking next to
Liam felt so good, so normal, that I could almost forget the strangeness of our mission. That is, until we entered the steamy diner and saw Darius and Lily already in the booth.
Seeing Darius without his shades...I wasn't sure I could ever get used to it. But I now at least I knew what he had been hiding behind them....