The Real Thing

by Lexi Aurora

  "Are you sure you're up for this? Because if you don't want to be here, we can get in the car and go back to the house right now. No questions asked," Liam said quietly, resting a hand on her shoulder. His hand was strong, the weight of it on her shoulder oddly comforting, and she reached up and squeezed it before turning to face him with a smile.

  “We’re not going to do that. It’s just your family, that’s all. It’s not like they’re monsters, right?”

  “Careful making assumptions,” Liam laughed ruefully, looking up at the house involuntarily.

  "They're family anyway, and that's important. Now come on. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. You told them we were coming, right?" She asked the question with determination, doing her best to keep a brave face. Being out of Liam’s house again terrified her. Even knowing that an entire team of security was sitting in the SUV behind them didn’t soothe her completely. She’d grilled Matt about the security at Liam’s family home, too, making sure that she would be well protected. At the end of the day, she had to trust that all of these professionals, now more on alert than ever, would keep her safe. So, too, she needed to trust that Liam would not have asked her to make the journey if he didn’t think she would be safe. Not again.

  “That I did. My sister, Rebecca, specifically. She’s sort of impossible to say no to.”

  “And she thinks we’re together? Like, really together?” Felicity asked carefully. Liam shifted uncomfortably and laughed.

  “Like really together. Christ, it sounds like we’re in high school, doesn’t it?”

  “Sure, except that my time in high school wasn’t exciting enough for me to be included in any of the dating rumors.”

  “Okay, well, I don’t believe that for a second.”

  "You don't have to believe it, but it's true. My life was really kind of boring before I met you," she said before she could stop herself. Her face burned as soon as the words came out of her mouth. She could feel him looking at her, maybe wanting to ask her more, and her heart started thumping uncomfortably in her chest.

  “Sorry, I don’t know what I’m talking about. I might be a little nervous, in case you couldn’t tell.”

  “Want to know a secret?” Liam said, linking his arm through hers and standing so close she could smell the spice of his cologne.

  “Um, always,” she laughed as they started to the massive front door.

  “I’m a little nervous, too. If you see me make a run for it, just follow my lead.”

  The two of them laughed up to the front door, and when Liam rang the doorbell, Felicity didn’t feel nearly as nervous as she could have. Unfortunately, that only lasted until the door opened and she got a look at a very blonde, very perky girl who looked about as old as she was.

  "Hi," Felicity said uncertainly, "Are you, Rebecca?"

  “Me?! Are you kidding?” The blonde shrieked, “No way! I’m Laurie, his stepmom. It is just so damn good to meet you! Come on in.”

  Felicity glanced back at Liam in surprise, who rolled his eyes as Laurie ushered them inside. If possible, the house looked bigger from the inside than it did from the outside. The floors were made from what looked like polished marble, and the ceilings had to be sixteen feet high. Everywhere she looked there was rich mahogany wood, and the overall effect was of a palatial residence the likes of which she had only seen on TV.

  "Liam," Laurie squealed, "it's so good to see you! Now, Rebecca isn't here yet, but you know how she is. Always loves to make an entrance, that one."

  "Huh, I don't know. I think she just runs late," Liam answered dryly. Laurie's smile faltered, and she shrugged her shoulders as she led them down a very long hallway and into a room she called the parlor. Felicity had never been in an actual parlor before, and she wasn't sure she would want to be in one again. It was an entire room designed around the idea of ‘look, don't touch’ and to make matters worse, Liam's father was already sitting on one of the leather couches with an open decanter of scotch on the table beside him.

  “Liam, my boy!” he said in a loud, booming voice, “I didn’t think you would show!”

  “Hey, Dad, good to see you. I told Rebecca I was going to come.”

  “Sure you did, but you don’t always follow through on that kind of thing, do you, son?”

  Felicity looked at Liam in time to see his jaw clenching reflexively. She could see him as a little boy looking at him that way. She could see him standing in this same room and getting chewed out by his dad for doing something he shouldn't have. She could see him trying to deal with the grief of losing his mom and trying to navigate a stepmom he probably had no desire to get to know. Coming to the place where he grew up, made her see him as a whole new person, and when she looked at him now, it made her heart ache.

  “He’s been really excited about coming, actually,” she chimed in, speaking up before she knew she was going to do it, “he really wanted me to meet you all.”

  "Ha! I'm sure he did," Mr. North scoffed, only giving her a passing glance. Liam opened his mouth, and Felicity squeezed his hand, afraid that whatever he said would only make things worse. When the front door opened loudly, and she heard the distinct sound of a new arrival, she sighed with relief.

  “Hello?” A rich, female voice called out, “Where the hell is everybody?”

  “We’re in the parlor, Becs,” Liam shouted back, ignoring his dad’s look of disapproval. They all stood and listened to the sound of impossibly high heels on hard floor. Felicity held her breath, no idea whatsoever of what a new personality was going to bring to the mix.

  "Jesus, Liam, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that? I swear you're dense on purpose."

  Liam laughed and met his sister with a hug, ignoring a slightly dumpy looking man behind her who Felicity thought had to be her husband. Rebecca was intimidating, there was no doubt about that, but Felicity liked her right off. She sensed a warmth in her that wasn't in the father, and she liked the ‘devil may care’ attitude the woman exuded. Still, when the hug was done, and Rebecca turned her attention on her, Felicity's stomach jumped with fear.

  “And look at you,” Rebecca said appraisingly, “you actually came. Tell me your name again?”

  “Becs, watch it,” Liam said warningly, a smile still on his face.

  “I’m doing just fine, thank you very much. I just want to know the girl’s name. I’m not going to hurt her or anything.”

  “It’s Felicity,” Felicity said shyly, “Felicity Reynolds.”

  “That’s a great name. You sound like you could be an heiress or something. I always wanted a more interesting name.”

  "I don't know. I think Rebecca is a nice name."

  “Ugh, no you don’t. Anyway, are you ready?” Rebecca asked, tapping one perfectly manicured nail on a solid gold globe.

  “I’m sorry, ready for what?” Felicity asked, her eyes flitting nervously to Liam.

  “Oh no, big brother can’t help you now,” Rebecca said merrily, striding forward and taking Felicity by the arm. “He’s got positively no control over me at all.”

  “She’s not lying,” Liam said, “but really, Rebecca, don’t you think you could let her get used to being here for a minute?”

  “Nope, not at all. I just want to get to know her a little better. What do you say, Felicity? Willing to take a turn around the gardens with me?”

  “Um, sure. Absolutely, that sounds nice.”

  “Good! It’s settled. You boys can hang out here. I'll expect lunch to be ready when we get back. Shall we?”

  In what felt like a total whirlwind, Rebecca led Felicity out of the room and further down the hallway. She didn't say anything until the two of them were out of the house and sitting on a bench, in the kind of garden Felicity would expect to see in an arboretum. Rebecca steered them to a bench, and Felicity's pulse sped up. She couldn't shake the distinct feeling that this whole thing had been one-hundred-percent planned like she was being directed in a play she hadn't realized she was actin
g in.

  "Here," Rebecca said with satisfaction, plopping them both down on the old wooden bench, "let's have a little conversation."

  “Um, sure. I can do that. What did you have in mind?” Felicity asked nervously, picking at her already chipped nail polish.

  “Do you really have to ask?”

  “You want to talk to me about Liam, is that right?”

  "I do. I just..." Rebecca trailed off, and when Felicity looked at her out of the corner of her eye, she saw that much of the humor was gone from the sister's face. She was staring off into space and Felicity thought she might be looking into a past Felicity knew nothing about. When Rebecca suddenly made eye contact again, that suspicion only got stronger.

  “Look, how much do you know about Liam?” she asked pointedly.

  "I don't know. Not as much as I should, I guess. I know he's funny and generous. I know he works very hard."

  “Right, but how much do you know about him? Like, his dating history and all of that good stuff?”

  "Honestly? Nothing," Felicity admitted, feeling very much like a fool. Rebecca nodded like the answer was exactly what she’d been expecting. Felicity looked longingly at the house where Liam was probably trying to avoid a fight with his dad and wished that they could go. She wasn't the biggest fan of lying in the world, but up until this point, her deception had been a vague issue with little to no lying to a person's face. Now, not only was she lying to somebody's face, but it was Liam's sister, too. She might have been doing it for Liam, but that didn't stop her from feeling like a total jackass.

  “That’s kind of what I expected,” Rebecca said, not unkindly. “Liam’s not much for talking about his past. Especially his past with women.”

  “Oh! Oh, you don’t need to tell me about any of that,” Felicity said quickly, flustered by the whole conversation.

  "I do actually, and not for your benefit. See, the thing is, Liam is seriously capable, but he's also a hell of a lot more sensitive than he lets on. My guess is that he really, really likes you. Because he moved you in, but it's in the way his voice sounds when he talks about you, too."

  “I don’t know about that. Thank you, though,” Felicity answered uncertainly.

  “Don’t thank me yet. There was another girl before you that he really, really fell for. Her name was Tori and she completely, totally broke his heart. She cheated on him, totally shattered him, did the kinds of things you only expect to see in the movies. I was really worried about him for a while there, it coming so soon after our mom dying.”

  “That’s terrible,” Felicity said quietly, shocked by such an unexpected wealth of information on a man who was still such a mystery to her.

  “It was. It was awful, watching him in that kind of pain. I don’t intend to see him there again,” Rebecca said with fire in her voice.

  “I don’t know if I understand exactly what you’re trying to say,” Felicity finally answered after several long moments of trying to figure out what she was supposed to say. Rebecca surprised her by taking her hand and squeezing it, still looking out at the lovely gardens.

  “What I’m trying to say is that if you really care about my brother, if you don’t plan on hurting him, I’m thrilled to have you around. I’d love to get to know you better, too. But if you’re not, just go, okay? I don’t want to see my brother hurt again. I honestly don’t think his heart can take it, and I can tell by the way he looks at you that you could definitely rip him to threads.”

  “Again?” Felicity asked quietly, “What do you mean?”

  “God, you two don’t know a whole lot about each other, do you?” Rebecca asked with a little laugh.

  “No, I guess we don’t,” Felicity answered, her face burning with embarrassment.

  “Look. He had his heart stomped on. His ex just about destroyed him with the way she left, and I never thought he would want to be with someone again. It’s why I insisted on meeting you.”

  “I wouldn’t do that, Rebecca. Whether we know each other well or not, I wouldn’t. I...I really like him. It probably doesn’t make sense, doesn’t really make sense to me, but I do.”

  “That’s good. I really hope you do. But just think about what I said, okay? Really think.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Liam North

  THERE WAS A KIND OF wall up between Liam and Felicity after the lunch with his family. It was his fault, and he knew it. He should never have brought her to that place, never inflicted his father on her, for starters. And then there was Rebecca, God love her. It was after her walk with Rebecca that Felicity had really seemed off, and although he'd made a couple of attempts to get her to talk about what was going on with her, she'd stayed silent. It was driving him crazy. It was driving him so crazy that he was glad when Matt called him for an unexpected meeting. After the tensions brought on by Felicity's strange silence, the loud security rooms were a welcome distraction.

  “Hey, boss, sorry for the short notice,” Matt apologized, shaking Liam’s hand heartily. Liam looked at him closely and saw that the man was full of nervous energy.

  “No apologies needed, brother. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”

  “Sure, definitely. We’ve got hold of some intel on our thieves,” Matt said eagerly while he rifled through a folder of papers.

  “That’s excellent news. What does that mean?”

  “There’s a gallery opening tonight for some hot-shot photographer,” Matt started, his eyebrows knitting together in concentration, “don’t ask me who. I don’t know shit about that kind of thing.”

  “I don’t expect you to,” Liam laughed. “I don’t know shit about that kind of thing, either.”

  "Doesn't matter. That part isn't important. What is important is that the assholes you've been trying to nail are supposed to be there. If you want to draw them out, I don't think there's going to be a better time."

  “Good. Done. You don’t have to tell me twice. Just tell me what I need to do and it’s done.”

  "THIS IS BEAUTIFUL LIAM, but you didn't have to bring me here. And the dress! This is too much, don't you think? You keep spoiling me, and I haven't done anything to deserve it."

  “Are you kidding me? I’m the lucky one. You look unbelievable, Felicity. I always forget how beautiful you are when you’re not around. It always surprises me when we’re together again.”

  She glanced at him quickly, almost like she was trying to figure out if he was making fun of her or not. She'd been giving him a lot of weird looks like that tonight, and it was leaving him with decidedly jangled nerves. It was like she was grading everything he was saying like she was weighing it to see how much bullshit he was spouting. The most annoying thing about it was that she was right. He had gone back and forth all afternoon about how much, if anything, to tell her about the evening. On the one hand, Felicity knew why she was at his house in the first place. She was being well-compensated with the understanding that she was there to do a job. The job was to grab the attention of some not so nice characters. He had been entirely forthright about that part from the beginning. On the other hand, he thought they could both use a night out on the town to maybe shake off some of the funk they had both been in. She'd been a real trooper going to his father's place for lunch, and he wanted to do something nice for her. He wanted to take her somewhere she hadn't been, to show her something she might not otherwise have seen. He had been thinking a lot about things like that lately, as a matter of fact. Places he wanted to take her. Trips the two of them could go on. The closer they got to the end of their strange arrangement, the more he seemed to think about what might happen after.

  Also, and this was the less savory part of things, he needed to make one last attempt at drawing the criminals out of the woodwork. It was the last time he was willing to try it, at least with Felicity. If it hadn’t been for the recognition he knew she sparked with the people he was trying to draw out, he wouldn’t have her make the trip in the damned necklace yet again. After this night, he woul
d leave everything in the hands of the FBI, and gladly. The first thing he would do was give them the damned necklace. At this point, he never wanted to see it again.

  “You know you don’t have to do that, don’t you?” she said casually, looking pointedly at the photographs instead of at him.

  “I don’t have to do anything, as far as I’m concerned. I’m only telling you the truth. You look amazing. Your body in that dress...” He reached for her, resting his hands on her hips and running them suggestively down to her ass before moving up to the small of her back.

  “Liam, come on. This is a fancy art gallery. We need to behave,” she said laughingly.

  "Sure, I see what you're saying. Although I have to point out, we've already set a precedent for this kind of thing."

  “Liam! Come on!” she squealed, her face turning that pretty shade of pink he had come to like so well. “I told you. We’re not going there again. Stop being such a jokester.”

  Felicity turned towards the closest picture as if the case were closed. She probably thought he was joking, but he wasn't. Every time he touched her, he wanted more. It was why he had made a point of staying away lately. Even her scent made it hard for him to concentrate, forget the feel of her supple skin. He'd tried to ignore it, but it wasn't going anywhere. He'd tried to convince himself that his desire for Felicity was just a matter of proximity and that when their weird arrangement was over, things would go back to how they had been before. Now, he couldn't lie to himself anymore. He wanted her more now than ever, and after the show was over, he was going to have to talk to her about it.

  “Oh my God! I can’t believe it. It’s you!”

  The sound of that voice cut through Liam's thoughts like a knife. He knew that voice. He told himself it wasn't who he thought it was, but even as he turned around, he knew. He grabbed for Felicity's hand but either she didn't catch the gesture, or she didn't want to take him up on it. He shoved his hands into his pockets instead and took a deep breath as he turned around.