Slade! That was it.
Slade reached his hand up to his shoulder to indicate the woman’s height. “Red hair. I mean red like a fucking fire hydrant. She’s um, probably dressed as a devil.”
Liam put his hand to his chin, partly to hide the smirk on his face, but he gave the impression he was thinking things over seriously. “Nope, can’t say I recall anyone matching that description. I’m sure I’d remember a devil running around…” Across the church he noticed the other man approaching the confessional. “Excuse me, there is no one in there.”
The man ignored him and put his hand out to the door. A sound inside made the man raise his eyebrow. “Slade, get over here.”
“Please, there is no one there. You’d be better off checking the office and the…”
“Shut the fuck up, Father.” Slade pointed a warning finger at Liam, and then hitched his head at his colleague. “Open it up, Roy.”
Roy took hold of the curtain and yanked it open. A god-awful hiss and bloodcurdling screech echoed around the church for approximately three seconds. The two gang members leaped backwards, and a bundle of black fur flew through the air and landed two feet on the floor outside the ornate confessional.
The black cat arched her back, hair standing in a ridge along her spine, tail fluffed out like a cartoon caveman’s club. The Devils backed up a couple more steps as the cat advanced, retreated, and then advanced again, all the time baring her teeth and emitting terrifying yowls and hisses.
“I did warn you.” Liam smiled politely at the men. “Spook doesn’t like to be disturbed while she is having her morning nap.”
The men muttered something under their breath, but Roy looked at Slade, and they seemed to come to a split decision. “Sorry for disturbing you, Father.” They turned and left the church.
At no point during the altercation had Slade even showed the slightest recognition of Liam. He breathed a sigh of relief as the men left, but Liam had virtually no time to reset as three flushed, laughing, elderly women bustled in through the door.
“Ladies, so nice to see you. Come on down to the front, I’m not sure how many we are expecting.”
“I thought we had two new congregants.” A seventy-year-old woman looked over her shoulder at the disappearing Devil members.
“Oh, you’re hysterical, Maureen. They were more likely here to rob the church.”
Liam went and greeted the ladies. “Now, Miss Ida, that isn’t very charitable. The gentlemen were just looking for a missing person.” Spook rubbed up against his leg, depositing black hair all over the cuffs of his jeans. Her fur was now smooth, and the only sign of her being disturbed was a slightly larger than normal, fluffy tail. “Unfortunately, Spook here gave them quite a fright.”
Ida crossed her arms in front of her chest and beamed at the black cat. “I always loved that cat. She is a great judge of character, aren’t you, Spook?” Ida tickled the cat’s ears. “Oh, that reminds me, I have something for you.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a package of wax paper and carefully laid it on the floor. After she unwrapped it, Spook dove on the small piece of fish. The cat’s silver star name tag glinted in the candlelight as she bobbed her head to wolf up the treat.
“You spoil her, Miss Ida.” Liam gave the woman his arm. “Let’s get this show on the road, shall we, ladies. If anyone else arrives, we can catch them up.”
Chapter 18
Cassidy looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror and wasn’t sure who was looking back at her. Lorna had cut her hair, reducing its length by a good ten inches. Apart from anything else, her head felt extraordinarily light, but she decided she liked the new choppy style that fell almost to her shoulders. The bangs, however, would take some getting used to, and the jury was still out on them. But one thing for sure, with her hair color now matching her eyebrows, Cassidy didn’t recognize herself—which meant, hopefully, none of the Devils would recognize her, either.
She left the bathroom and came back into the lounge. Lorna was just packing up her bag, and Joe was leaning against the wall by the door. He’d been there the entire time Liam had been out.
“You look stunning, truly stunning, honey.” Lorna patted Cassidy’s cheek. “Now, have you thought about makeup?”
“Sorry?”
“What’s your usual routine?”
“Um, I don’t really have one.” Ryker chastised her the few times she’d tried the barest hint of makeup. He said it would make Kane notice her even more.
“Well, we’ll have to remedy that, then. Sit down, let me see what suits you.”
The first look that Lorna tried was a lot of fun. Heavy smoky eyes and the deepest red lips, but Cassidy had so much makeup on, it felt like she was hiding behind a mask.
“I love this look on you.” Lorna snapped a Polaroid picture and then turned Cassidy back to the window, makeup wipes in hand. “Now, for something completely different.”
Cassidy wondered if this was what it was like to have girlfriends. She’d grown up in a heavily male environment, with few friends outside of Ryker and Falcon. Neither of them ever commented on her looks, and even if she tried a new hairstyle and asked them about it, they simply shrugged.
She liked the second version of Cassidy, a lot. Everything was much simpler and wholesome. “Wow. I should always wear makeup, it makes me look pretty.”
Lorna laughed as she snapped picture number two. “That has nothing to do with the makeup, that is all you in there, honey. Now, which do you prefer? Or shall I leave you stuff for both? I have these handy-dandy crib sheets that show you how to recreate each look, step by step.”
Cassidy looked over the instructions Lorna gave her. She wasn’t sure she could do either of them justice. Besides, Lorna had used a ton of stuff on her face, and it would cost a fortune to buy it all. “Um, would it be terrible of me to opt for just mascara and a tinted lip gloss?”
“Of course not, honey. Here you go.” She held out both the items Cassidy requested.
Cassidy reached for her purse, and then blushed. She doubted she had more than twelve dollars in there, the change from Falcon’s twenty he gave her for breakfast earlier in the week. She briefly wondered if she could ask Joe to pay for it and promise to pay him back later when she got some money. Yeah, and how will I do that? It’s not like I can go the ATM. I don’t even have a bank account. Cassidy had never had any money. The only time she had a few bucks was if Ryker or Falcon had given it to her.
“Oh, don’t you bother yourself with that, Liam has already paid me. Now, give me two minutes, and I’ll be out of your way.”
After a flurry of activity, Lorna bustled out of the condo, leaving Cassidy to sit in silence. Across the room, Joe remained in the position he’d adopted when Liam left her. She wondered if he was there to stop someone coming in, or to prevent her from leaving.
With a sigh, she pulled the laptop Liam left her onto her lap. As she lifted the lid, Joe’s eyes drifted to her. “No social media, and no emails.”
“Of course, I understand.”
Instead, she floated around YouTube for a bit, catching up on some clips from the late night political satire hosts and then half an hour later, she fell down a rabbit hole watching videos of baby goats wearing pajamas. When she got bored with that, she tried to involve Joe in a conversation, but his single word answers made it clear he wasn’t there to socialize, so she gave up.
Bored, and missing Liam, she typed “catholic priest” into the search bar. After running through countless pages, she had a good grasp of what it entailed to be a priest, and her heart felt heavy. Shit, priests were celibate. No freaking sex! Her cheeks heated, and she closed the laptop lid.
I’m going to Hell for this. Shit, shit, shitty-shit. I seduced a priest, and now he is going to Hell, too. Oh, God. Could I be arrested for this? Could Liam?
Cassidy tried to remember the turn of events that led to her and Liam ending up in bed. Fuck, I think it was me. I made him break his vows. Jesus, why am I such a terrible p
erson?
Joe stood up straight, his hand going to his gun, and Cassidy was momentarily distracted from her thoughts.
“Go to the bedroom,” he barked, and she didn’t hesitate.
Joe scared her a little—okay, more than a little. Cassidy was grateful he was on her side. Least I hope he is on my side!
Inside the bedroom, she moved away from the closed door and held her breath, trying to listen for what Joe had heard. A moment later, the front door squeaked open, and Liam’s booming chuckle drifted under the door.
“Put that away.” The front door closed, thudding back into the frame, and Cassidy exhaled in relief.
“Where is she?”
Joe must have pointed because Cassidy didn’t hear him answer, but a second later, the door to the bedroom flung open. “Jesus Christ!” Liam stopped at the threshold and his mouth dropped open. “Fucking hell.” He muttered as he stared at her.
Cassidy fiddled with her hair self-consciously. Was that ‘fucking hell’ an approval, or did he hate her new look?
Liam strode across the bedroom, tossed a pile of store bags onto the bed, and swept her into his arms. She was crushed against him, and his mouth possessed hers. As he devoured her, his hand crept under the oversized tee she’d borrowed from him and travelled across her midriff and up to her breast.
Several minutes passed before he stepped away, leaving her flushed and panting. “Don’t move,” he growled, then disappeared into the living room. There were some words exchanged between him and Joe, but Cassidy couldn’t hear what was said. After the front door slammed shut, Liam appeared back in the bedroom.
“Now, where was I?” He strode to her with a purpose, and before she had time to figure out what he was doing, her tee had disappeared over her head, and the boxers were around her feet.
Liam turned her around and pulled her back into his arms, his hands exploring her nakedness as he greedily went to work on her neck. He held her so tight, she could barely move, and all she could do was allow the sensations to course through her body. Her nerve endings thrummed, and the now familiar feeling of an orgasm building swept across her whole body and hung there in delicious anticipation, before a heartbeat later, it detonated, sending a myriad of shivers across her skin. Cassidy’s body convulsed involuntarily, and her cries of ecstasy were loud as she collapsed into Liam’s arms. Only those strong biceps prevented her from melting into the floor.
“Damn, I’m never gonna tire of that.” Liam finally came up for air and loosened his grip on her, enough for her to turn around in his arms. Still shuddering, and with wetness coating her thighs, she opened her eyes and saw the clerical collar.
What she’d read on the internet came rushing back into her head, and she was at once mortified. Cassidy backed up and swept her shirt off the floor. She held it against her, trying to hide her nakedness. “We can’t do this. It’s wrong, it’s…”
Liam raised an eyebrow and stepped toward her. “Mmm, we most certainly can. And I’m planning on doing it multiple times, I want to find as many ways as I can to make you come.” He tore his shirt over his head, and his fingers went to the button on his jeans.
“Stop!” The word came out as a high-pitched shriek, and Cassidy put a hand in front of her eyes to try to obscure the sight of him removing his jeans. “We can’t do this. Your vows… this is wrong, we’ll both go to Hell.”
Liam chuckled as he pulled off his jeans. “I can think of no better way to get admitted.”
“How can you laugh? Jesus… oh, shit… Christ—saying Jesus is blasphemy, isn’t it?”
“I reckon saying Christ in that tone, is too.” Liam was now as naked as she was and advancing on her.
Something clicked into place in her head. Liam used those words before, too. Why would a priest say stuff like that?
“God, I fucking love this.” He combed his fingers through her hair.
“You can’t say that… the church says it’s wrong to use God’s name as profanity—”
Liam lowered his mouth to hers, and his fingers began a spine-tingling journey down her torso and towards the apex of her thighs. “Enough with the talking, baby, just let me fuck you.”
Oh, hell! She so wanted him to do that, too, but… “Liam, you took a vow of chastity, we can’t do this.”
He stopped kissing her throat and backed up. “That’s what this is all about?”
She pulled the tee over her head and nodded. “I swear, I didn’t know that priests weren’t supposed to…”
He shook his head, and a wry smile developed on his lips. “I didn’t take any vows, Cassidy. This is all fake.”
“What?”
“The collar, the whole ‘Father Liam’ crap, it’s not real.”
“But the church, your parishioners, that fluffy cat that lets itself in… how can all that be fake?”
“Spook? You met her, huh? Well, no, they aren’t fake exactly. But the church was closed for years, it only reopened when I was placed here on assignment last year. It has like ten people who regularly attend. Spook’s real, though. She came with the building, has been the chief rodent catcher there for years.” He wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair. “You didn’t make me break any vows, baby. I’m keeping the only one I ever made.”
She frowned at him confused.
“When I left the Devils, I vowed I’d find a way to get you out. In another few days, I’ll have done that, and then this will be all over.”
Cassidy’s head was reeling. Although she’d questioned his authenticity before, she hadn’t actually believed that Liam wasn’t who he said he was. “I-I don’t know you.”
“You know more than anyone else, baby. You know the real me. The identity I was born with. You know where I came from, but what you need to know is that I am never going back there. All the rest is part of my job. It’s all to protect you and save Ryker and Falcon. When it’s done, I’ll no longer be Father Liam, and you’ll never have to fear Kane again.”
“But who will you be? Who will I be? Jesus, is Liam even your real name?”
“For now, yeah. My real name doesn’t matter, it’s gone, and it’s dangerous for anyone to know. But for now, Liam is me.”
Cassidy chewed on her lip, and he tilted her chin up to him. “I’ll never be fake with you. Whatever name I use, you’ll always have the real me.”
In the scheme of things, Cassidy wondered if it really mattered. What was in a name? Hell, she had no clue what half the people in the Devils’ names were, either. They all went by nicknames or aliases. Falcon, for instance—she was pretty damn sure his mother hadn’t named him that at birth. But the fact she didn’t know Falcon’s real name didn’t make a blind bit of difference. She still adored and trusted him.
“Hmm, so do you think it would be a sin for you to fuck me while wearing your fake collar?”
Liam chuckled. “No, not if you are wearing your fake devil horns when I do it.”
Chapter 19
Liam had dodged a bullet. Cassidy was back in his arms, and they spent the rest of the afternoon showing just how much they wanted each other. But the fact she’d been spooked enough to retreat from him made him nervous. There were so many secrets between them, Liam wasn’t sure they’d ever be able to truly be honest with each other.
He buried his face in her hair and inhaled. How many lungfuls of her scent would he need for it to imprint on his brain? How many times would they need to fuck before he’d be able to recall every fine detail weeks—or years—from now when they were no longer together?
Do we have time to build up enough memories to sustain me? The biggest lie of all was the one about how they’d get to stay together. In actuality, they had days, if they were lucky.
Liam had been involved in enough of these missions to know what happened next. As soon as he got Ryker and Falcon out, he’d lose her. Cassidy would be whisked away to some unknown location. He’d never get to hear her testimony, wouldn’t be involved in her interrogation, and he certain
ly wouldn’t know where they’d send her after she’d been processed.
Witness protection was going to keep her safe, she’d be hidden from Kane’s view, and the Devils would never find her.
And neither would Liam.
Damn it, I am a fool.
But fool or not, he hadn’t been able to stop himself. Throughout his own exile, he’d had only one thing to cling to, and that was the kiss he shared with Cassidy four years ago. All through his training, it fueled him to do better, to become the best. Every minute, every hour, every bench press, every practice shot. The hours he’d spent on the shooting range, in the gym building his strength, getting his ass whooped in the sparring sessions, every damn thing, had been working to this moment. Cassidy’s freedom, payback to Ryker and Falcon, and then… the ultimate goal, to get even with his father.
Liam extracted himself from Cassidy and wandered over to the window. He stood there naked, his hands resting on the sill looking out, down at the gray cold streets. A flurry of snow had swept through, and along the edges of the sidewalks was a slight dusting of the white stuff. In another few weeks, you wouldn’t be able to see the paving as the snow would take over the city for months.
But he’d be long gone by then. Somewhere warmer perhaps. There was talk of moving him down to Miami to infiltrate a group in the suburbs. Another case, another identity, but the same demons would probably follow him. Though this time, he’d have the memory of Cassidy to comfort… or destroy him.
Cassidy’s arms slipped around his waist. He should have been concerned that he’d been too far in his head to notice she had crept up on him. Perhaps it was for the best that they didn’t have a future since this thing with her made him careless.
“Hey, baby. You hungry?”
He turned away from the window and gave her his full attention. Stroking her hair from her face, he wondered if there would ever be a woman that could take her place—do I ever want there to be?
Cassidy was beautiful, but he’d been with many beautiful women over the years. What exactly drew him to this specific girl from his past was something far more complex. He wondered how much of it was biology, and how much was the connection of their roots.
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