by A. J. Macey
“Huh, it seems you've done your research,” the older man observed. “And American. How quaint.” Only it didn't sound like a compliment, almost like a sneering insult. I worried about how the rest of this would go down if this was how it was starting.
“What do you want with me?” I asked when I’d gathered enough courage. I was tired at that point from being kidnapped so many times.
“Do you know what we do?” He continued the twenty questions game.
“I know you're a crime family or a mob or a gang… whatever you want to call it,” I stated, “but that's about the extent of it.” I couldn't stop the exasperation from filling my words. The older man chuckled at my attitude.
“Do you know who you're being targeted by?”
“No.” I was aware it was someone Liam knew, but after finding out who he was, that didn't exactly narrow down any suspects.
“Do you know anything?” the other brother snapped, pushing me over the edge.
“Of course I fucking do, but I’ve just been kidnapped for the second time today. Probably chloroformed, if I'm correct in assuming what you smashed up against my face.” I waved a hand at the one who had snatched me off the street. “So, excuse me, that I'm taking a little time to get my brain back online.” Liam’s lips twitched slightly, laughter filling his expression. His brother—the one in the plaid button-up—burst out laughing.
“Smartass. I like her,” he exclaimed to Liam elbowing him in the arm.
“A mouth that'll probably get her killed,” the fourth man who hadn't said anything up until that point finally stated. He didn't look like the others, with blond hair and deep brown eyes, an extremely fair complexion, and he was eyeing me with intense hatred. I was growing tired of the back and forth, of trying to stay safe while being kept in the dark, basically being a chess piece for someone moving me around on a board I couldn't see. I tried to take a deep breath and calm myself, but at that point I had reached my limit.
“Well, whatever you're planning on doing with me, I suggest you just get it over with or let me leave, because at this point? I'm fucking over it.” The room was silent, all five men staring at me with various expressions of shock, smirks, or downright hostile glares. I stared back, forcing my spine straight. I was already this far, and there was no way I was backing down now. Let's hope to hell I made the right decision to challenge them instead of staying quiet.
I guess only time will tell.
Liam
“Do you know anything?” Theo snapped, and the wave of anger that had built until that point grew until I was positive I would’ve punched him. If I knew it wouldn’t startle an already scared Harper.
Her expression shifted at his snark, her eyes hardening and her shoulders rolling back. The longer I was around the woman, the more I realized just how much steel and backbone she had. And I loved it, the fire in her eyes turning me on faster than her beauty. Always did enjoy a woman with an attitude.
“Of course I fucking do, but I’ve just been kidnapped for the second time today. Probably chloroformed, if I'm correct in assuming what you smashed up against my face.” Harper’s hand waved animatedly at Hunter who stood stoically next to me. “So, excuse me, that I'm taking a little time to get my brain back online.” It took everything within my power to not smile and, based on the curious glint in her green gaze, I wasn’t successful.
“Smartass. I like her,” Hunter exclaimed, elbowing me in the arm sharply. Grinding my teeth, I kept my ‘she’s mine’ comment to myself.
“A mouth that'll probably get her killed,” Sam bit out.
Not if I have anything to say about it.
“Well, whatever you're planning on doing with me, I suggest you just get it over with or let me leave, because at this point? I'm fucking over it.”
A wave of pride filled me at seeing Harper challenge my father, brothers, and Sam, but no one responded to her, so she scoffed and threw her hands in the air before turning and striding from the room. I waited for my family to say something. I could tell she was terrified despite her front and I was sure my family did too, but none of us stopped her, all of us too curious about the woman that I had rescued.
“Hmm,” my dad mused, seeming pleasantly surprised. He glanced over at me. “She might just make it out of the situation alive.”
“She will,” I told him resolutely.
“We'll see,” my dad countered ominously, waving a hand toward the door. “Go on, go get her.”
With that dismissal, I started out into the hall, not wanting her to have to run into too many people. Not everyone here knew that she was mine and I worried about how anyone might react to a new woman here in the complex.
I didn't look back at my brothers, but I could hear their muttering and snickering to each other, no doubt coming up with ways to torment me with snarky one liners here and there later.
“Harper,” I called when I finally found her at the end of the hall, eyeing several of the offshoots. Curiously, her head whipped around and her expression shifted once again, fear and surprise to rage.
“What?” she snapped when I neared her. My eyebrows raised, wondering where the anger came from.
“Are you all right?”
She looked at me as if that was the dumbest question on the planet. “What do you fucking think? I was chased after witnessing a murder. You then kidnapped me, and then I find out you're fucking Liam King, son of the infamous mob boss and in line to run the Auckland Kings crime family,” she ranted, slicing her hand through the air when I opened my mouth to respond. “And then your fucking brother kidnaps me off the streets!”
Before she could say anything else, I grabbed a hold of her and ushered her into the closest room.
“Will you stop manhandling me?” she snarled when I finally got her into the empty space.
I had no problems with her expressing her irritation, but I didn't want to do it in front of everyone else. She was already a target just by being a gorgeous woman and I didn't want her to have any more risk than she already did.
“No,” I ground out, trapping her between me and the now closed door with an arm on either side of her head, “because you’re mine, Harper. I don’t think you truly understand the kind of danger you’re in—”
She scoffed, but I’d had enough and pressed closer until her eyes widened.
“You have no clue what you’re up against,” I whispered. “I’m dangerous, my family is dangerous, but you should be scared because the men who are after you are just as bad if not worse.
“They’re sex traffickers, drug peddlers, and a whole bunch of other shit I’m sure I don’t know about. So, yes, Harper. I have killed before, I’ve stood by and watched men scream as I’ve broken their bones, and the crew coming after you will have no qualms doing it to you.”
“What about the Auckland Kings? Wouldn’t they do the same to me too?” she asked softly. It wobbled slightly in her fear, but she still wouldn’t look away from me. Although, that might have been because I had the entire length of my body pressed into hers.
“My father and brothers? No,” I admitted. “They push and prod, see if you’re who you say you are. Hence them separating the two of us so they could take you.”
“And the rest of them?”
Hm, smart, I noted when she picked up my half-truth.
“If you’re not under my protection then I’m sure they’d love to do whatever they damn well felt like. But you’re not just some woman wandering around here, now are you?” I saw her lips thin, but she kept her mouth shut so I continued, “You said you’d trust me, and I expect that to continue.”
“Or what?” she hissed, pressing forward into me to shove off the door. She didn’t get more than a couple centimeters before I took another step forward, pinning her again. It was distracting, but I forced myself to focus.
“It’s your freedom or your life. Your choice.”
7
Harper
Life or freedom.
Well when he
puts it like that, I grumbled, deflating. I hated it, not just this situation, but that he was a killer, and that for a split second I thought I could trust him.
How foolish of me, but he was right—as much as I hated to admit that too. He was the only one capable of helping me. Kara or my other friends would no doubt get put in the crossfire and I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to them.
“Fine,” I muttered, despising the sexy smirk that curled up on his handsome face. Most of my anger was at the situation and that he was who he was, but a small—okay, large—portion of it stemmed from the fact that even during his scary tirade, I was turned on.
What kind of normal person does that?
“Good, because I’m not letting that sexy ass out of my sight in case you go off and get yourself kidnapped again. I told you to stay in the house,” he snarked, eyeing me expectantly.
“Excuse you, that was before I knew who you were!” I exclaimed, hoping to hide the small prick of pleasure at hearing him say I had a sexy ass. It’s just an expression, Harper, get over yourself, I tried to command, but my body was on a different wavelength than my brain.
“Ugh, fine. Now that I have you for more than the two seconds it takes for you to give me your name,” I started, redirecting the conversation. I shoved him, noting the hard planes of his chest beneath my palms. Instead of forcing himself to stay where he was plastered to me—not that I didn’t enjoy it—he took a couple steps back with a chuckle. “What the hell is the plan?”
There were way more questions than that, but I figured that was the first one I needed answered in case he decided to dash off.
“Figure out what the Phantoms want and figure out how to keep you safe for longer than the meantime,” he explained, shrugging as if it was simple.
“The Phantoms? Wow,” I huffed. Cheesiest name ever. “All right, well how long will that take?”
“Do I look like I have a crystal ball to see the future? My God, you are a handful.”
“Guess it’s a good thing you clearly know how to handle a lot of shit,” I countered, propping my hands on my hips. I was sure I should have been nicer to him because of everything he’d done in his past, with how dangerous he was, but I wasn’t going to stay under his protection walking on eggshells. “I asked, Mr. Sassy, because I only have two outfits, so unless you want me to start stealing all your clothes or running up your utility bill by doing laundry every day, we’ll probably need to grab some more.”
“Hunter’s right, you do have a smartass mouth on you,” he murmured with a smirk.
“Hunter? I’m assuming that’s the one that snatched me off the street?” Finally I had the chance to pepper Liam with questions. I would push going to the shops in a moment.
“Yes, he’s the middle brother. Theo is the oldest.”
“Then I’m assuming the others were your father and then another Auckland King?” It was fascinating to know I was standing here, in the middle of a mafia mansion with a murderer. Should I have run away screaming for my own self-preservation? Probably. Would I? Also, probably, but not right that moment.
Curiosity always got the better of me.
“Yes, Oscar King is currently the boss of Auckland Kings and Sam is his lieutenant. Focusing on security.”
“Hm, that explains why he hates outsiders so much.”
“Any other questions or can we get the hell out of here?” Liam asked, his focus shifting to the door where I heard footsteps and laughter filling the hall.
“Being here make you nervous or something?”
“Me here? No. You here? Yes,” he admitted, closing the distance between us again. My heart rate tripled, and I gulped when his broad chest brushed against mine. “Like I said, I don’t want to worry about any of the men or women here putting hands on or interfering with what’s mine.”
“I’m not a piece of property, Liam,” I ground out, seriously reconsidering that running away idea again.
“No, but you are my girl while you’re under my protection and I think I have the right to be worried, don’t you? Especially after the fact that you’ve gotten into how much trouble so far? And it’s only the first day we’ve been together.”
He chuckled, low and deep. Him clutching me to his chest and maneuvering me out of the way of the door cut off what I was going to say in response. To stay upright, I latched onto his T-shirt, noting the contrast between the warm and soft material and his solid muscles underneath.
Really, Harper? Now is not the time to be thinking with your lady parts, I chastised as he guided me into the hall, still refusing to let me out from under his arm.
“All right then, love, let’s go get you some clothes,” he said firmly, putting an end to our previous argument.
It had been only a half hour at the store and Liam hadn’t left my side for even a moment. I wanted to be peeved at his hovering, feeling as if I was being watched intently while I browsed, but I couldn’t. The way his eyes tracked me through the racks, his head tilting whenever I picked something up… all of it messing with my thoughts and focus.
Has it really been that long? I wondered, collecting the few items I’d found to try on. So long that I’m finding myself attracted to my captor? When he followed me to the changing rooms and stationed himself immediately outside the curtain, I knew the answer was yes because my skin electrified and I couldn’t stop the blush from blooming on my cheeks at the thought of him being on the other side of the material.
“I’ll be right here, don’t worry,” Liam reassured quietly, mistaking my glancing back over my shoulder as worry instead of desire. Nodding, I didn’t trust myself to speak as I stepped in fully and closed the curtain.
The first two items were simple T-shirt and jeans, while the next couple of things were weirdly cut. I added them to the return to rack pile I’d created and moved on to the final few items, a pair of cut off shorts and a loose tank top. Eyeing myself in the mirror, I frowned a bit, debating if I could really pull off such an outfit. I’d always carried a bit of extra weight, which made my ass look amazing in jeans, but standing here in short shorts, I questioned if I should.
“Harper? You all right?” Liam asked after a long while. When I glanced at the small gap between the curtain and the doorframe, I saw the leather of his jacket leaning against the divider. Swallowing the sudden nerves, I turned and opened the curtain slightly.
“Does this look okay?” I forced the question out, looking down at the items. He was silent, making me second guess if I should have asked at all, but he leaned closer and his pupils dilated.
“If we weren’t in a public store right now,” he murmured in a sinfully smooth tone, “I’d fuck you right here and now.” My body ignited, but my brain had control of my mouth, a soft scoff filling the echoing dressing room.
“I’m not just some hussy that I’m sure you’re used to—” I started, but Liam didn’t give me a chance to finish, pinning me once again between him and a solid barrier, this time the mirror. Bending down, Liam’s face hovered over the curve of my neck. Each breath sent a wash of heated air over my sensitized skin, goosebumps pebbling in their wake. I was playing with fire, and if my heart thudded any harder, I was sure he would hear it.
“No, you’re not like them,” he admitted in a whisper. “Nor did I feel as addicted to them as I do to you.”
Holy shit, was all that came to mind for what seemed to be the tenth time today. The internal war I was struggling with kept me silent, wanting to lean in to him and beg him to do exactly that while the other craved to shove him off. Only, I didn’t get to do either before he stood sharply and dropped his hands from either side of me.
“Get changed and let’s get out of here before anyone spots us.”
He strode out of the dressing space, closing the curtain behind him. Shifting on shaky legs, I knew only one thing my head and body could agree on. I had the biggest case of feminine blue balls ever and it sucked to hell and back.
Liam
“God
dammit,” I muttered, tossing my jacket onto my bed. Harper was out in the living room, curled under a blanket and browsing TV, but the woman was burned into my brain. I’d been hard as a fucking rock since we were at the Auckland Kings headquarters, and I’d let myself go too far at the shops. There was something about her though, that I just couldn’t stop myself. She was a drug and I wanted to never get clean even though I knew it was a dangerous move to get too close, especially with the Phantoms after her. With that stark reminder, I was able to tuck away the urge to go out to the living room and pull her sexy ass into my lap, and I made myself focus.
Sinking down at my desk, I started researching what I could. It wasn’t as if the Phantoms would just have their information plastered all over the web, but I figured it would be the best place to start. The Phantoms had an interesting structure to their hierarchy, almost compartmentalized between each unit, so while I knew it was only four men, I had no idea what they did in their organization to help narrow it down.
News sites brought up how an accountant at a big business had been found shot in the same area where I’d saved Harper, but other than listing his name and company, I had nothing to go on. Grinding my teeth at the lack of information in the news, I dug out my cell.
“Hello?” a bright and cheery man greeted after a few rings.
“Inspector Carter,” I stated simply.
“Ah, Liam,” he continued, more hesitant and quieter than before. “What’s the information you’re needing this go around?” I chuckled, glad that the man I’d relied on for inside police resources recognized why I was calling.
“Paul McCreddy. What do you have on his murder?”
“McCreddy? The accountant? Not much, killed with two center mass shots with a Glock.”
Hm, the exact kind of gun the Phantoms love to carry.
“Any leads as to who or why?” I hadn’t expected them to know much since it had only been about eight hours earlier.
