On the biology front, there was a stack of evidence. Her smell drew him in. Whether it was simply a question of pheromones or something else, he didn’t know, but she smelled like rain and sunshine. A rainbow! Could someone smell like a god damn rainbow? Her taste was intoxicating, and it made him crave more. Given time, it could become an addiction. In his arms, she was comforting. Her skin smooth as silk, and when he ran his fingers over it, she rewarded him with little shudders and the sexiest mewls. The indescribable sound went straight to his groin, making his cock stand to attention with the least provocation. He closed his eyes, but Cassidy’s beautiful face was behind his eyelids—as clear as if he was looking at her. He could see every freckle, every strand of chestnut hair, every damn curled eyelash. God, I hope she is always there when I close my eyes.
Cassidy’s teeth tugged on his lip, and he looked down at her. There was a playfulness in her expression that made him want to take her back to bed, but instead, he took her hand and led her through to the kitchen. He pulled an apron around his nakedness and held open the refrigerator. “What do you want to eat?”
She giggled. “You look like the naked chef.”
Liam pulled out a couple of steaks. “How about I fry these up, and we have them with salad?”
“Sure, sounds good.”
While Liam prepped the meat, he glanced over his shoulder at her. “Huh, I forgot to tell you, I picked up some clothes from the store. You won’t have to wander around naked anymore.” He leaned over and kissed her. “Mmm, on second thought, I may return them. I think I like you naked all the time.”
Cassidy skipped off back to the bedroom and returned a few minutes later with the store bags in her hands. While Liam heated the pan, she sifted through his purchases. Selecting a pair of black panties and matching bra, she wriggled into them.
“What do you think?” She stood with her hands on her hips posing.
Liam went to her, unable to keep his hands to himself, and explored both the satin and skin. “I think you are trying to kill me.”
“You bought them.”
“Mmm, I did, didn’t I? They look so much better on you than I expected. But if we are to actually get to eat, I think you should wear something over the top of them. I can’t focus on what I’m doing.”
After pulling out another item, Cassidy wriggled into a shapeless sweater dress. On the hanger in the store it had looked cute, but on Cassidy it was unbelievably sexy. Despite it being straight, Cassidy’s curves were somehow emphasized. She disappeared into the bathroom, and then came out beaming. “I love it. I have never owned a dress before.”
He laughed. “Well, you do now. I may have gone overboard on the dresses.” He’d bought her three, and just one pair of jeans and a couple of tops. “Somewhere there is a box with knee length boots and a belt.”
It was fun to watch Cassidy’s excitement as she dug them out and added them to her outfit. “What do you think?” She twirled around.
“Hmm, I like. A lot.” He liked it so much, his apron could do nothing to hide his appreciation. “You should definitely wear dresses more often. Your legs are amazing.”
“Ryker only ever bought me saggy jeans and baggy shirts. He wouldn’t let me wear anything remotely stylish or sexy.”
He tugged her into his arms. “Well, I happen to like sexy, so feel free to indulge me.”
She lowered her eyes. “I have no idea how I can pay you back for all of this. The hair, the clothes… putting me up here. Thank you, Liam. I’m grateful for everything you’ve done.”
“Oh, I think you’ve paid me back.” His hand slid over her ass, and he squeezed it. Liam didn’t care how much he spent on her, it would never be too much. ”Besides, I’ll just claim it on expenses.” Liar.
He’d paid for everything out of his own pocket. The organization would give him enough for a care package—just the essentials—if he asked, but he hadn’t been about to go to Walmart for her things. She deserved something a little classier. Cassidy had probably shopped at Walmart her whole life. Every woman deserved to be spoiled sometimes, and for the few days they had left, he was going to damn well spoil her rotten.
Chapter 20
It had been almost a week. Six days and seven hours to be exact, and Cassidy still hadn’t heard anything from Ryker or Falcon. Every time she asked Liam, he told her these things take time. But time was dragging its feet, and she was truly going batshit crazy here.
A couple of times during the week, Liam had to go out to do church things, leaving her at the condo. Joe always turned up five minutes before Liam left, and spent the entire time Liam was out standing by the door. Honestly, Cassidy was pretty sure he was only there to keep her in the condo.
For days now, she’d scoured the online newspapers to see if there were any reports of gang activity. It was remarkably quiet, and she wondered if there had been a truce called between the Bowker Street Devils and the Creed brothers.
Crime reports remained consistent. There was nothing to say that Kane Munch was either stepping things up, or cooling things down. She’d even hunted through hundreds of websites to see if her name popped up, or if there was any mention of this special organization Liam said he belonged to.
Apart from the very serious and not at all talkative Joe, Cassidy had not seen or spoken to anyone from Liam’s organization. There was no mention of who these people were or what faction of the police they represented. She sighed. Even nationally, she couldn’t find anything concrete about similar groups. Just various whisperings that there may be specialist law enforcement that may or may not be investigating gangs and infiltrating them.
She sighed. What did you expect? These organizations are meant to be secret, duh!
Instead of driving herself crazy with trying to find out more about who could be backing Liam, she decided to check out information on witness protection. An hour later, she quit that research, too, as the whole thing terrified her. What if they tried to force her into it before they got Ryker out? Would they ever be able to see each other again? Liam hadn’t been kidding when he warned her that the life she knew would be over. Everything she read said all ties were cut with the world the witness once knew. They were transported across states, and often across the whole of the United States. She could literally end up anywhere.
With not a lot else to do, she began typing in ‘Liam’ to the subject bar, then felt foolish because fake name or not, that was the only name she had for this man. She didn’t even have a last name for the guy. Okay, so let’s think outside the box here. Someone has to know his proper name. From some dark corner of her mind a blurry image of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman appeared in her head.
Lily Murray.
The name just landed with a clang in her head. Lily Murray had been Liam’s mother. Cassidy wasn’t sure how she knew this, but she was absolutely positive that she’d remembered it correctly. She had a vague recollection of sitting in the dirt with the other kids, watching the adults of the gang process with a coffin on their shoulder. It was at the cemetery, and she wasn’t supposed to be at the funeral. Her dad had said it was no place for a kid.
Yet she clearly remembered seeing the bowed head of a blond-haired boy, stoically holding back the tears. Cassidy wracked her brain trying to recall how long ago this was. She’d been seven or eight, had to be, because her dad was the one who specifically told her she couldn’t go, and it was only a couple of months later when she lost him.
That time, she’d been horrified that she had to go to his funeral and had sobbed through the whole thing, while Ryker put his arm around her shoulder. She remembered thinking it was so much more horrifying when it was your own parent that was being lowered into the ground.
She shook off the image and typed, Lily Murray. After getting a ton of references, she narrowed her search by adding, died 2009, Chicago. After yet more searches, she still hadn’t got anything that led her to the Lily she knew to be Liam’s mother, or any link to the Devils.
Cassidy let out a big sigh, and slumped back in her chair. Joe’s gaze landed on her, and she felt self-conscious and shut the laptop. What a waste of two hours! All she had to show for her efforts was a headache. She went to the bathroom and searched in the cabinet, but found nothing useful for her head. Back in the bedroom, she hunted through her purse, and instead of painkillers, she discovered the book she had totally forgotten she had stolen from Kane’s pocket. She pulled it out and chewed on her lip. Hmm, I wonder what secrets you hold?
She drummed her fingers on it, and was just about to open it, when Joe appeared at the door.
“Liam is on his way back. He should be here in ten minutes.”
Dropping the contraband hurriedly back into her bag, she nodded at him. “Thanks. You wouldn’t happen to have any painkillers, would you? My head’s killing me.”
“Sorry. Maybe Liam has something.”
Her eyes drifted to Liam’s bag in the corner of the room. “No worries, I’ll ask him when he gets back.” She didn’t want to go through his stuff. They’d not been together long, so it might look weird if she did.
Joe went back to his position by the door, and she went to follow him, but another twinge at her temples made her stop and change her mind about checking Liam’s bag. Just a quick look.
She pushed aside a few items of clothing, a murder mystery paperback, and a toiletry bag. As she picked up that last item, she realized too late that she had it upside down and it was open. A razor, shaving cream, Tylenol, and toothpaste dropped out all over the floor. Bingo.
Snatching up the painkillers, she hurriedly gathered up the rest of the things and went to pack them back into the bag. To her surprise, there was one more item that hadn’t fallen out—a small passport sized photograph of Kane Munch.
Now why would Liam carry around a picture of Kane? She scrutinized it and shuddered. The picture had to be more than twenty years old, perhaps even more like twenty-five. Although it was a little faded and chipped around the edges, there was no mistaking who it was. Kane had been a pretty good-looking guy back then, but she could still see the hardness and cruelty in his eyes. She flipped the picture to see if there was a date on it, and her eyes widened.
To Cameron Kane Murray
Your father, Kane Munch, 1994
Underneath, in smaller writing, was xxx Lily Murray.
Cassidy stared in disbelief. Was Cameron Kane Murray, Liam’s real name? Why else would Liam have this picture? A noise in the lounge alerted her that Liam was back, and she hurriedly shoved the toiletries and the photograph back in the bag. Shaking, she ran to the bed and lay down. Two minutes later, Liam appeared at the door. “Hey…” he frowned at her. “You okay? You look really pale.”
“I have a splitting headache; it’s from being cooped up inside all the time.”
Liam went to his bag, and she almost passed out. Would he notice that she’d been through it?
“I have some Tylenol.” He stood up with the packet in his hand, his expression neutral. “Here, take a couple, and I’ll see what I can do about getting us out of the house for a while.”
She took the caplets from him and dry swallowed two of them. “I’m sorry, I really am grateful for your help, it’s just that being stuck inside all the time is making me feel caged in.”
He put his arm around her and ruffled her hair. “Yeah, I know. But things are calming down.”
“They are?”
He beamed at her and handed her his phone. “I heard from Ryker. He left a message for you.”
Tears pricked in Cassidy’s eyes. “He’s okay? Oh, God, I was beginning to think Kane had done something to him.”
Liam pressed a button on his phone and Ryker’s unmistakable voice came through loud and clear. She had to ask him to play the very brief message another couple of times as she was so flustered at hearing Ryker’s voice she could barely process his words. Even though her brother only reassured her he was safe and didn’t say anything about what had been happening to him, it was enough to put her mind at ease.
“Thank you. I feel so much better hearing his voice.”
“Everything is going to be fine. A few more days, that’s all he needs. Ryker just wants to find one last piece of evidence.”
“What is he looking for?”
“Nothing you need to worry about. A book, something Kane keeps close to him and he writes everything down in it.”
Cassidy’s heart almost skipped a beat. Was Ryker looking for the very thing I have in my purse? She opened her mouth to say something, then shut it again. The picture of Kane Munch in Liam’s toiletry bag stopped her. Until she could be sure Liam wasn’t Kane’s son, she decided it was better to keep her mouth shut.
Liam stood up. “How about I take you out for dinner?’
“What? Really?”
“Yeah. We’ll go somewhere out of town. There’s this little place I know way outside of the Devil’s territory. Why don’t you get dressed up, and we’ll have some nice food, maybe walk along the shore after?”
If he’d asked her this a few hours ago, Cassidy would have been ecstatic, but now she was a little more subdued. “Sure, let me go and have a shower.”
Cassidy locked herself in the bathroom and ran the water while she sat on the toilet and thought about the picture of Kane and the little black book in her bag. Did she dare hand over the book that her brother was looking for? Up until now, she had thought Liam was helping Ryker and Falcon, but what if she had got this all backwards. If Liam’s real name was Cameron Kane Murray, if he was Kane’s son… would he be on her brother’s side or his father’s?
Was this the real reason he managed to leave the Devils without repercussion? Did Kane know who he was? Did Kane let Liam stay outside the gang for a reason? Hmm, she’d read in her research about police infiltrating the gangs, but what if that was also happening the other way around? What if everything Liam said he had done was in fact the complete opposite? What if he was really working for Kane and gathering information about the police, so they could carry out bigger and better crimes?
Fear for her brother’s safety seized hold of her. Was Liam going to double cross Ryker? What if he was trying to help his father get the book back, and they were using Ryker to find it for them?
She felt physically sick. All this time, have I been sleeping with the enemy? Liam, or Cameron, was his father through and through. Just look at how fast he got me into bed. God, how could I have been so stupid! Talk about leaping out of the frying pan and into the fire!
Chapter 21
Once Cassidy disappeared into the bathroom, Liam picked up the Tylenol and threw them back into his bag. He wondered if Cassidy had just been looking for the meds when she went through his stuff, or if she was looking for information about him. He pulled out the picture from his bag, which had gained another crease from hurriedly being shoved back inside. How much would Cassidy glean from this? Too much, probably. She was smart, and his nickname as a kid would easily have given it away. Even though she probably presumed Cam was short for Chameleon, it wasn’t exactly a quantum leap.
He zipped up his bag and went through to the living area. His eyes drifted to the laptop and he opened it up, checking through the history. Okay, baby let’s see what you have been up to. Hmm, what order had this happened in? Did the photograph spark the search of his bag, or was it the other way around? He quickly investigated the sites she’d been to and decided there was nothing there that would cause him a problem. Curiosity, probably. He doubted she’d found anything conclusive.
While he waited for her to dress, he wondered if she withheld any secrets from him. Liam’s eyes fell on her purse beside the sofa. She’d dropped it there the night she arrived, no, it was on the table earlier. Hmm, what goes around comes around, baby. Liam went to the bedroom door. He could still hear the shower running so he opened up her purse. Well, what do we have here. Nestled between a pack of tissues and a room key, was a thick little black book. Liam lifted it out and flicked through t
he pages. The fuck! Was this Kane’s? How the hell did Cassidy get hold of it?
The shower shut off, and he quickly replaced the book and positioned the bag back where he’d found it. Liam hurried into the kitchen and poured some water. Even though he hadn’t had much time to examine the book, it was obvious from page one what he was looking at. This was the only thing keeping Ryker at the Devils, yet it was here in Cassidy’s purse.
The only reasonable explanation could be that she didn’t know what she had. Liam might not know Cassidy that well, but he knew she wouldn’t fuck her brother over. Damn it, I need another look inside. Perhaps I was mistaken, maybe this isn’t The Book, just a book.
Liam gulped back the whole glass of water and wished it was something stronger. He would confront her tonight, get her to show it to him voluntarily. He tried to think how much he’d told her about the mission. Perhaps this was my fault. If I’d made it clear what Ryker was looking for, then maybe she’d have surrendered this. Unless Cassidy doesn’t trust me.
The bathroom door opened, and he could hear her getting dressed. His fingers were itching to get hold of that book again.
“I’m almost ready.” She peeped around the bedroom door and gave him a big smile.
He returned it with his own grin. “Take as much time as you like, baby, I’ll just get Joe to book this little place I know.” He brought out his phone and sent the text.
She vanished back into the bedroom, and Liam grew serious in his thoughts again. Ryker was on borrowed time. Every day he stayed with the Devils only brought him closer to being discovered. Liam had to get a message to the guy. Falcon and Ryker had to get out now. The longer they stayed there, the more likely it was that Kane Munch would find out that Cassidy had his precious book and would come after her.
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