I don’t wait for Alek to reply. I’ve heard enough. Before Babydoll can advise me to wait, I shove open the door and storm into the room that appears to be Liam’s office. When he sees me, his eyes widen.
“What the—”
I don’t give him a chance to speak or lunge for the concealed weapon in his drawer. I round his desk and punch him straight in the face. A sharp crack hints I’ve broken his nose, but it’s not enough.
I punch him once, twice more, relishing in him squirming in his leather seat, attempting to flee. But he’s not going anywhere.
Gripping the collar of his now bloody shirt, I pick him up and shove his back into the wall. He tries to fight me but is rendered inept when I snap his wrist backward, breaking it.
“Where is he?” I snarl, pressing us nose to nose.
Liam spits in my face in response.
Laughing dangerously low, I snarl, “Have it yer way then.”
Lifting his feet off the floor, I toss him onto the desk and use him to sweep the contents off the surface. Pressing my forearm over his throat, I push all my weight onto him as he writhes on his back, fighting to stay awake.
“Where is he?” I repeat, never breaking eye contact with him.
“Ye fucking cunt,” he says, looking overhead at Alek who still sits serenely in his chair, despite the violence. “Ye played me.”
Alek reaches into his pocket for a cigar. “It’s not my fault you’re an idiot and failed to realize needing to use the bathroom was code for fucking you up.”
An amused chuckle escapes me because as far as insults go, Liam just got owned. “This doesn’t have to end badly for ye. Just tell me where Shay is.”
“I’m not tellin’ ya a thing.”
“Aye, ye will.”
A silver letter opener catches my eye, which would be the obvious torture choice. But I like to be creative, so I reach for a stapler. Without warning, I slam a staple into Liam’s cheek. The sting of the staple as well as the force of my hand stuns him into submission.
“Oh, bravo,” Alek commends happily, lighting his cigar.
Liam tongues his cheek, feeling the staple imbedded deeply into his flesh. “A’ll fucking end ye all.”
His empty threat is a sign he’s scared and knows he’s lost. He’s all smoke and mirrors, which is why I intend to torture him painfully slow.
“You—”
His words die in a muffled mess as I take hold of his tongue and push the stapler into it once, twice, three times. The more violence I inflict, the more I want. I won’t be able to stop. I know it.
“I can do this all day,” I say with a smile as I hover over Liam, pressing my weight into him so he can’t move.
“Shay.”
When I hear Babydoll’s voice, I’m ashamed that I only just remembered she is here.
With my arm still crushing Liam’s windpipe, I peer up and see a beautiful woman holding Shay’s hand.
“Samia, ye dirty whore,” Liam wheezes, indicating someone else just betrayed him.
Alek clucks his tongue. “Come here, pet.”
I watch as Babydoll gently gestures for Shay to come to her. The trust between them is evident when Samia lets go of Shay’s hand, and he runs toward Babydoll. She bends low and scoops him into her arms, hugging him.
“Shh, it’s okay. I’ve got you.”
Samia walks toward Alek, and I watch with interest as she drops to her knees before him. He reaches forward and rubs his thumb across her pouty lips. “Don’t bow for any man, возлюбленная.”
Alek can cast a spell on anyone he meets, and that’s what makes him the powerful, feared leader he is.
She nods, her eyes fluttering as he caresses her cheek. “Thank you for returning the boy.”
“Ye better stay on yer knees ’cause when I’m finished with ye—” Liam once again speaks as if he believes he is getting out of this with his head attached.
“Cami,” I say, not wanting her and Shay to see this. “Go back to Belfast. I’ll meet ye there.”
Liam only realizes his sister is here and snickers. “Yer pathetic. Ye should be thankin’ me for killin’ his girlfriend. She gave ye up awful fast. Even her own wain.”
That I don’t believe as I know Aoife would have protected Shay with her last dying breath. I’ll never know what happened—the truth died with Aoife.
“What were ye doin’ at her house?”
“I was lookin’ for my beloved sister. So ye can imagine my surprise when I found out she was gone. Sean trusted Aoife for a reason. I always wondered why, but when I saw the boy, I knew why.”
“Why were ye lookin’ for Cami? Ye were the one who brought her to Aoife’s in the first place. Ye were more than happy to work with a Kelly to get whatcha wanted. Why the change of heart?”
I suspect Liam wanted to kidnap Cami and hold her as collateral against Sean. He knew she was the only thing he had over me. But if he took her, he could blackmail both of us. But something still doesn’t make sense.
Something has changed for him to believe he can take us both on. He needed to work with Sean to get what he wanted, but to betray him this way means he’s working with someone else. He knew Sean’s and my weakness and was planning on exploiting that.
But I beat him to it.
Dread fills my stomach because we now have another player in the game, someone who’s kept under the radar—until now.
“You couldn’t have Cami, so ye took Shay, is that it?”
“One Kelly is better than none,” he replies, snickering.
“Cami—” My voice is dripping with venom as I don’t want Shay to hear another word. When he finds out the truth, it’ll be from me, not some fucking sociopath. “Have one of our men take ye home.”
“Let’s go. Shay?”
Risking a glance overhead, I witness a look of utmost violence reflected on Shay’s face—it’s a look I know all too well.
I promise myself here and now that I won’t allow Shay to ever feel this way again. It’s because I don’t want him living the life I did, that I lock eyes with Babydoll, pleading she leaves. They’ve both seen too much.
She nods once, but I know leaving me is tearing her apart.
With Shay in her arms, the two most important people in my world leave, making room for the demons who demand vengeance and bloodshed. I trust they’ll be okay as I know my men outside will die protecting them.
Samia stands, looking down at Liam with no remorse. “The men are in the kitchen, drinking. They’ll be a while.”
“Yer dead. You and yer family, they’re all dead.”
“Samia, I will come find you,” Alek interjects. “You’ll be rewarded for choosing the right side.”
Her cheeks redden as she bows in gratitude.
She leaves the room and gently closes the door behind her, sealing us three in.
Liam wiggles, but he’s not going anywhere.
“I want to know why ye’d betray Sean now. What’s changed?”
Liam runs his front teeth over a staple and manages to pry it out. “I got in before he did. I’m no eejit. I know it’s only a matter of time before he does to me what was done to my father. What you did.”