If those photos got out, his mother would have an epic meltdown. And he’d have to pick up the pieces.
“We can’t control what he does, Mother.”
She sniffed again. “Isn’t there something you can do?”
Liam rolled his eyes. Sure, I can control who my father fucks or marries. “No, there isn’t. I don’t want anything to do with him, and I suggest you just ignore him.”
“You could at least try, Liam.” His mother released a breath. “Sometimes you sound just like him. I’ve always worried you’d turn out just like that man.”
Liam ground his teeth together. Thanks, Mother. “I really need to go now.”
“Very well. We have pre-dinner drinks soon. Goodbye, Liam.”
He tossed the phone on the coffee table and took a large sip of Scotch. He savored the burn. He just wanted to be left alone.
There was the bleep of a lock. His front door opened and he swallowed a growl.
Only two people had the code to enter.
“What the fuck, Kensington?” Mav prowled in like a panther, ready to strike.
Zane followed behind him, worry on his face. Both were dressed casually in jeans.
“You aren’t answering your phone.” Zane put his hands on his hips. “And you missed our rock-climbing session this evening.” Zane’s gaze dropped to the bottle on the coffee table. “Shit.”
“I’m fine.” Liam rose, and walked to arched, wood-framed windows. He stared blindly at the traffic on 5th Avenue below.
“Is it your father?” Mav asked.
Liam’s gut felt like a rock. The pictures were singed into his eyeballs.
His fucking father.
“Yes and no.”
Zane dropped onto the arm of the cream couch, watching him steadily. Zane was the king of Wall Street because he was so good at reading people.
“There’s a woman,” Zane said. “Simeon was right.”
Liam sucked in a breath. He was trying not to think of that certain, traitorous blonde.
Penn, the promise of her, was all a lie. Their connection was a lie.
Liam drained his drink, then swiveled, pulled back his arm, and threw the glass.
The heavy crystal hit the wall, then fell to the wood floor and shattered.
“Ah, hell.” Mav grabbed three more glasses from the built-in bar, then poured more Scotch. He took a glass and drank it all before handing the others to Liam and Zane.
“I’ve told you,” Mav said. “You fuck them, and that’s it.” Mav poured himself more of the amber liquid.
“Quiet, Mav.” Zane’s gaze moved back to Liam. “Who is she?”
“She started work at Kensington Group recently.” Liam ground his teeth together. “You remember the woman who stopped that guy hitting his ex-wife at the Nightingale House fundraiser?”
“The blonde in green?” Mav said.
“Yeah. She’s smart, funny, has a sharp wit.”
“And is easy on the eyes,” Mav grumbled, staring into his glass.
“A curvy, fit blonde.” Liam swirled his drink. “Strong face, not beautiful per se, but attractive.”
“And?” Zane prompted.
Hell. Liam dropped back into a sleek, modern armchair. “I liked her. Didn’t seem to care about my money. She was…”
“Real,” Zane murmured.
Liam met his friend’s gaze and saw that Zane understood. Zane had found that in Monroe.
“I didn’t see it coming. She even dived after a guy who fell on our site visit today in Brooklyn. On the sixty-fifth floor. She risked her life to save him. But she’s all a fucking lie.”
His friends both frowned.
“She came to my office tonight.”
Mav set his glass down. “I’m guessing this is where the story goes sideways.”
“She instigated a play. Blackmail.” Liam nodded to the envelope on the coffee table.
Mav reached for it.
“Don’t. Unless you want to see fucked-up photos of my father with underage girls. Multiple girls, at the same time.”
“Fuck.” Mav sagged back.
“What does she want?” Zane asked.
Liam sighed. “I don’t know. She hasn’t made any demands yet.”
“It’ll be money.” Mav swirled his Scotch. “It’s always money.”
“My fucking father. This will destroy Annabelle, the kids will get hit. They’re so young.” Innocent. “My mother will catch the edge, too, and have a meltdown. His new fiancée. Everyone will be dragged through the mud, and added to that, there are four girls who were too young to consent to this. They’ll have their lives ripped apart.” Liam scraped a hand over his face.
“How do you want to play this?” Zane asked.
“First, I need to see what they want.”
“They?”
“Penn says she represents a group.”
With a growl, Mav knocked back his second glass of Scotch.
“Call Vander,” Zane said.
Vander Norcross was former military, turned owner of a security firm based in San Francisco. The man was good—scary good. He’d helped Zane and Monroe, and he did a lot of work for Roth Enterprises.
Liam had his own in-house security at Kensington Group, but they specialized in protecting buildings and construction sites, not blackmail.
“You need intel,” Zane said. “Find out who the hell this Penn is, and more about this group.”
Liam nodded. “I can’t let those pictures get out. Not for my fucking father, but for my family, and for those girls. Even if they thought they were on board, they’re children.”
Mav and Zane nodded.
“I’ll call Vander. And then all I can do is wait for the fucking shoe to drop. See what their demands are.”
It didn’t feel like a shoe. It felt like an axe.
Dammit, he really wanted to punch someone.
Zane gripped Liam’s shoulder. “We’ve got your back. Whatever you need, whenever you need it.”
Mav nodded.
Liam felt a punch of warmth cutting through the ice of betrayal filling him.
These two men had been there for him for years. He trusted them, and he knew he had their full support.
He barely knew Penn. Her betrayal shouldn’t cut this much.
“Thanks, guys.” He straightened. “Whatever happens, I’ll deal. Protect my family, and find a way for my father to answer for his fucked-up choices.”
His friends nodded.
“Then I’ll bring Penn, or whatever her real name is, down.”
Zane frowned. “I’m sorry, Liam. Sorry she played you. Sorry you liked her.”
Grabbing the bottle, Liam poured another drink. “It doesn’t matter.”
But his gut was still a mass of thorny knots.
Zane tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair, his face thoughtful. “Seems strange that a blackmailer out for a big payday would almost dive off a building to save a stranger, though.”
Liam stilled with the glass halfway to his mouth.
“Just another way to earn Liam’s trust and deflect suspicion,” Mav said. “Women are cunning.”
That had to be it. Liam sipped, and decided he might just get drunk.