We wait at the crosswalk for the signal to notify us that we can move forward and once it does, we continue talking lowly amongst ourselves. Suddenly I hear screeching of tires and out of nowhere I’m thrashed on the ground with Liam toppling over me. My back is on the cobblestone street we were trying to get to, his arms are outside of my own, body protecting me like a human shield. I watch his facial expression, how he’s concerned about what’s going on around us but doesn’t dare move. He doesn’t know that I know the severity of what just happened, that someone just tried to run him over. I’m sure he’ll try to explain it to me like it was some freak accident and I’ll play along. I know better, though. I know what being targeted feels like.
“Update Luca!” Liam hisses out, bringing his eyes back to mine.
Footsteps scramble around us, “I have B and C after them. They won’t get far, boss.” B and C, I giggle to myself. It’s ridiculous how similar every branch of mafia is. We all use the same security measures. It’s a wonder that we haven’t capped each other yet.
“Are you alright?” Liam asks me, eyes scanning over my body.
I nod quickly, “Yeah, just a bit winded is all.”
He runs his hand across my face, scanning my features. “What are you doing?”
“Making sure you didn’t get hurt.” He says it so sternly, like he actually cares. For a second, I wonder if he does but then I remember that we’ve only known each other for one day. He doesn’t care about me. Not at all.
Liam takes my hand and pulls me up from the ground, not letting go as we walk in the direction of my apartment. “I will have someone outside your place tonight.” I glance over to him and see how soft his eyes are, of the worry that is spreading through him. “It’s just a precaution. Not all of my business associates are… the pleasant type. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”
I was right in coming here to Ireland and I know that now. Everything I’d heard about the Irish is spot on. They are kind and caring people.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” He asks, and I don’t even realize that I’m staring at him. I must’ve zoned out.
“Sorry. I’m just surprised I think.”
“Why would you be surprised?”
“I’m just not used to people… being so… protecting.”
“We protect things that are precious to us, Amber.” The moment he finishes speaking we both seem a bit shocked. I’m shocked that he spoke like I’m a precious thing to him, and maybe he is that he said it. I’m not quite sure.
“Is this you?” He asks, distracting the both of us, noticing that I’ve stopped.
“Yeah, just down the alley.” I comment, turning down the darkened alley. He’s holding onto my hand still and walks with me until I’m at the door that leads up to the apartment.
“I’m sorry for what happened. If I had known… I would have insisted we take the car.” His voice is soft, words full of regret.
“It’s not your fault, Liam. Freak accident and all.” I say, knowing better, but trying to ease his concern. I give his hand a good squeeze and start to pull away from him. At the same time, he pulls me towards him and I slam straight into his chest as he kisses the top of my forehead and whispers something to me, in Gaelic I assume. As he finishes, he switches to English. “I’ll see you tomorrow night, Amber.”
At that I’m released and head towards my door, smiling like the Cheshire cat.
Chapter Six
“Watch carefully the magic that occurs when you give a person just enough comfort to be themselves.”
- Atticus
Liam
I walk into the house and no sooner do I see my father standing at the bottom of the stairwell, staring at me like I’m a ghost. “Word travels fast,” I comment, taking off my jacket I set it on the rack right next to the doorway.
“It always does. This is our home, Liam. I find out everything that happens here.” I give him a slight nod, knowing that there is no keeping anything from my father. He is right, he finds out everything that happens here.
“Did anything come of it?” I ask him, knowing that he has some information. I can see it across his face. He’s never been able to hide anything from me.
“B and C chased him out of the city. Long story short he was run off the road and went straight into a tree. Bloody bastard lived through it from the looks of it, but by the time they got to his vehicle he was gone. It wasn’t from the accident. He shot himself in the head, so whoever he was working for must be high up on the food chain.” I bring my hand over my mouth, thinking of who the hell is behind this. Things have been pretty quiet on our end as of late. Volkolv is a constant threat but we’ve learned to deal with him in our own rite. “Luca informed me that you weren’t alone when this happened,” I turn my face and look at Luca, my right hand man, and traitor from the looks of it. “Who’s the girl?” My father asks me.
I turn my attention back to him, “A new bartender I hired at Maeve’s.”
“Why were you walking with her this late at night?”
“She’s new to the area and I saw fit to walk her home. Is it a crime to be chivalrous in this family?” I ask, waiting for the smartass response that he’s bound to throw at me.
“Is the girl okay?” His question surprises me. I expected him to respond with something witty. It’s not like he’s a callous man but to ask about her shocks me.
I nod, “She seemed to be okay when I left her. I made sure she got safely in her home and informed her that I’d have someone watching her place. It didn’t feel right to simply leave her alone after what happened.”
“Good on you. You did the right thing, son.” My father approaches me and smacks me on the back. “I have more news. Gabriele confirmed that his daughters are missing, publicly announcing it.”
I raise my eyebrows, surprised that Gabriele would do such a thing.
“Sergei offered a reward for his bride to be of over one hundred million dollars. I’m making bets that hunters across the world will be looking for this girl. She’s a real stunner in that natural sort of way.” He pulls his phone out of his pants pocket and swipes a few times on the screen, “She’s a looker, isn’t she?” he asks, turning the phone in my direction.
I take a look at the beauty before me and see someone who I had just last seen not even an hour ago. Amber my ass. Caprice DiGiovanni chose an interesting place to flee, an interesting place indeed. So many things run through my mind right now. I could tell my father exactly what it is that I know, but I won’t. He’d want me to toss Caprice back to Gabriele without so much as a care in the world for what happens to her in Sergei or her father’s hands. She doesn’t know that I know who she is and I can use this to my advantage.
My father and I speak for a few brief moments before he decides to go to bed. I head in another direction, towards the only woman I’ve ever been able to talk to – my stepmother. She may or may not be able to hear me, but I still find the comfort in being in her presence. What my father has done to her… hooking her up to all of these machines that keep her alive, it makes me sad. I pity her and him both.
I walk down the hallway and place my hand on the knob of her door, taking a deep breath and contemplating if I want to sit next to her for a bit. I hate looking at her, seeing what Volkolv has done, and what my father is doing, but I twist the knob and enter her room. It’s dimly lit and I hear the machines doing their job, keeping her alive. Closing the door behind me I approach her, taking a seat in the chair by her bedside.
I don’t know why I do it but every time I’m here I have to. I take her hand in mine and hold it tight, wanting her to feel my presence. “I wish you could talk to me right now. God knows I need it,” I tell her. She’d know exactly what to say in this moment. Even as a small child she had the right thing to say in every situation. She was a ray of light, every single person she met adored her like no other.
“There’s this girl, er, woman rather. Tonight, I’ve discovered a bit about her and I kn
ow what I can do… what I have the power to do…and then I know what I will do. You know I’m not the horrific type of man, but what I may do could horrify her. There are things that I need to do, Mum. Trials of life that I need to go through in order to take my rightful position. Father has told me about them, told me everything that he wants from me.” I sit in silence with nothing but the machines filling the void. “She may not know it yet but she has two options. I just hope she doesn’t choose the wrong one.”
Chapter Seven
“She was everything real in a world of make believe. “
- Atticus
Liam
I stare at her and just want to confront her about what it is that I know. I want to know what her reasons are. To find out exactly what it is that she’s doing here. Did she come to Ireland because she thought that she’d be safe? I’ve seen her, but where is her little sister? A week has passed, and I haven’t treated her any differently than I have the first day I met her. Part of me wonders why I haven’t. Then again, I don’t want her to know what I know, at least not yet.
Every night I’ve walked her home. I think that now I realize what danger she is in. Truthfully, I can’t live with myself if something happened to her. After my father showed me the photograph, I was concerned that he’d stop by the pub. Luckily, I’ve been able to keep him at bay. If he saw her, he’d just cart her right back to the Italians. I didn’t make up my mind on what I wanted to do until last night. I had a lot of time to think about it, almost giving myself the opportunity to talk myself down. I won’t do that, though. Because I don’t really have a choice. The other alternative would only send her to her deathbed, of that I am sure.
“Will you be walking me home again?” She asks, cheekily grinning in my direction. Over the past couple of days she’s become a little more flirtatious. What she doesn’t realize is that I’m not interested. It’s simply more beneficial for me if she is alive. My plan won’t work without her.
I look up from my paperwork into her deep eyes and nod. “Yes, we’ll be leaving in just a few minutes.”
She whispers something in response but I can’t hear it. Instead, I see her walk around the bar and wipe everything down, disinfecting all of the seats and making sure the tables are organized for the next day. I smile to myself, she’s making sure that whoever opens has less work to do. Out of all my employees she’s the only one that does that. Hell, Aemon doesn’t even do that. He’d rather just let the morning crew do it. Then again he is a lazy fuck.
“Are you both good here?” Aemon asks, walking out from the kitchen. We are, there’s no use in keeping him here. Everything that needs to be done Amber can do in the next few minutes, or should I just call her Caprice.
“Yeah, go ahead and get going. We’ll see you tomorrow.” I inform him and watch as he leaves off the front door.
Her and I are left alone in the bar for what seems like another twenty minutes. I told her I’d just be a few minutes, however I didn’t realize how damning the paperwork would be. In the corner of my eye, I see movement out on the street which is uncommon at this hour. I take a gander around, checking our surroundings. Luca seems to be outside in the SUV, like he normally is. Yet I can’t seem to shake this eerie feeling. My gut has never dissuaded me, if something seems off then something most definitely is.
All of a sudden there’s of loud crashing sound coming from the kitchen. I stand up off my barstool, prepared for anything that comes through the door. I look to my right and see her, a terrified expression drawn across her face. I place my hand at my side, right against my glock.
Footsteps become heavier and heavier as they approach us. I look over to her, motioning with my hands for her to get down. Like I said, she’s no good to me if she’s dead.
She follows my instruction and doesn’t even say a word. When the door opens, I’m shocked to see who is standing there. None other than the man who supposed to marry her – Sergei Kolosov.
“I hear from good friends that my pet is here,” he states, eyes venturing across the space.
I chuckle in response. “I can assure you nothing of yours is here, Kolosov.”
He makes his way down the length of the bar and comes out the other side, spotting Caprice attempting to hide under a table. Sergei’s eyebrows raise. “You said that nothing of mine is here and yet there is my pet.”
My eyes meet with hers and I watch as the fear spreads over her. My eyes don’t waver from hers as I speak. “No, Sergei. Caprice doesn’t belong to you. She’s mine,” Caprice’s eyes go wide as she discovers that I know her true identity. “Now, if you’d be so kind to get the fuck out of my pub that would be great.”
The tank of a man disregards what I’ve just told him and starts to head towards her. Who does he think that he’s dealing with? I tsk, aim my gun and fire into his right shoulder. Caprice screams and I watch as the bullet stuns him.
“I don’t remember asking you. Do it now, asshole.”
He turns back to me and let’s out a sinister chuckle. “You really think that you will keep her from me, Irishman? What is she to you anyway?”
I think about what it is that I’m going to say, realizing that I don’t have any better options. “She’s only my wife. Now, run along now and fuck off.”
“Wife? Someone went off and got married, did they?” he glares at her with all his might. No way in God’s name would I allow her to leave with him.
I sternly speak up, “Don’t you look at her. If you want to speak to her, you go through me.” I won’t have him scaring her.
Sergei cackles, “You have won this round, Irishman, but don’t think you have won the war.”
“Are you going to make me shoot you again? Leave.” I hiss out, venom lacing my voice.
He heads towards the front door, passing Caprice. I keep my gun trained on him the entire time until he’s in the doorway. “I will be back, and I won’t be alone.” Is what he states as the door shuts firmly behind him.
“Oh my god… what was that…” she mumbles. I can hear her voice cracking through her words as she speaks.
“Exactly what you witnessed,” I wittily respond, “C’mon, we need to get a ring on your finger before both our asses are fucked.”
The End
Want to find out what happens to Liam and Caprice? Keep an eye out for the full length novel releasing September 2019.
Add to your TBR here: https://goo.gl/FzjHqa
Prologue
Aracely
“You fucking, bitch!”
I screamed as the plates were slammed against the tile, pieces of ceramic flew across the room. I turned around, the pots still hot on the stove, and looked over at the burly man seated at the head of the table. The murderous look in his eyes told me I might not survive this night.
He pushed the chair back, the sound of the screech of the wood on the hard wood floor broke through the heavy silence. I screamed as he came at me, holding up my hands as he grabbed at me, yanking my hair back and shoving me against the stove. Pots rattled, and I yelled out as my hand flew back onto the hot stove to steady myself. Tears filled my eyes as he grabbed me by the neck.
“Did you think I wouldn’t notice, bitch. Did you think I wouldn’t know you were trying to poison me?”
I shook my head, trembling in fright. “I don’t understand,” I managed to croak out before he back handed me, sending me sprawling onto the floor.
I slid up, grabbing onto my burnt hand, holding onto that pain instead of the one he was inflicting on me. “I told you I was allergic to garlic, and you coated that salmon in garlic, didn’t you?”
I shook my head. “No! No, mine has garlic, but I would never…”
He yanked me up, only to backhand me once again. I whimpered, cowering into a corner. This had been my life for the last three years. I should have known from the beginning that he would be cruel, that he would destroy me. The first time he hit me, I had been eighteen, just out of high school. I didn’t know any better. He’d pulle
d me out of the dump I was living in, he’d given me food and shelter, in my eyes, he was my savior.
I had no friends, no family, I had been in the foster system my entire life. Being pushed around or beaten every once in a while. This wasn’t anything new for me. But that first time, he’d apologized so profusely that I’d believed him. How stupid of me.
He yanked me up by my shirt and slapped me again, I yelped as blood spurted from my mouth. He’d ripped my lip open once again. He flung me up against the refrigerator and I slid down, limp and numb from all the beatings he’d given me throughout the years. I prayed maybe this would be the last. That he’d kill me once and for all.
He crouched beside me and I barely blinked as I stared down at his boots. My vision blurred, and I knew my left eye was already swollen and sealing shut. Blood poured down my chin and my body trembled of its own accord.
“Fucking weak, bitch! I’m gonna make you eat every ounce of this fucking food,” he lifted the salmon that had been thrown on the floor and shoved it into my mouth. I screamed as shards of the plate came with it. Over and over he slammed it into my mouth, slapping me as he did. Forcing me to chew on it. At one point I whimpered as a shard of glass cut my tongue open.
He laughed at me then, as blood poured out of my mouth. The most diabolical laugh I’d ever heard. “That’s so you learn that I’m smarter than you! That you’re a piece of shit that doesn’t deserve what I have to offer.”
He slammed my head back against the refrigerator and grimaced at me in disgust. “Now get the fuck up and clean this shit up!”
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