A Dom Is Forever (41 page)

A shiver went up her spine. Thomas had sent Malcolm to kill her boyfriend? “It’s not like that.”

But now she wondered. Thomas liked to touch her. She’d thought it was just affection, but there had been times when he would hug her too long or his hands would slip. And he did seem to be deeply possessive.

“He’s the one who made sure you didn’t have friends at the office,” Simon pointed out. “He’s been isolating you. He’s actually quite odd, you know. I haven’t been able to spend much time with him. Every time I try, he puts me off.”

“Because he made you a long time ago.” Liam’s eyes strayed to the massive cathedral.

Simon stopped. “Bugger. How did he make me? I’ve been careful.”

Liam motioned for Simon to keep up. “Doesn’t matter, but if Nelson knew who to send Ian’s files to, then you better consider yourself compromised, and MI6 is going to need a new plan. You might talk to MI5 or Scotland Yard. See if you can legally search Molina’s town house. I think that might be your only shot or you’ll have to work this from another country. Either way, Avery’s out. She’s not going to be alone with the bastard again.”

“Don’t I have any say in this?” Avery asked. It was all happening too fast.

“No,” both men replied at the same time.

“You’re out, Avery. I’ll carry you out of this country kicking and screaming if I have to,” Liam vowed.

“You’re giving up a lot, mate. You really think this Nelson fellow killed your brother? You’re never going to know for sure if you run off with her.” Simon walked along, a smile on his face like they were talking about the weather and he hadn’t just dropped a bomb that might explode in Avery’s face.

Liam was going to leave. He had to. He would need to find the truth. Even when she hadn’t known his real name, she’d known the man. He was hard in so many ways. Even though he’d had problems with his brother, Liam would need to find the man who had killed him.

Liam was the one who stopped this time. “I’m done here. Do you understand, Weston?”

“Damn me. I wouldn’t have suspected that.” Simon pulled away. “This is where we part ways. I think I should probably head to the club. My days of working for the
UOF
are probably done. Hey, maybe Knight will save me from a formal dressing down and just fire me on the spot. I wish you two the best of luck.”

Simon disappeared into the crowd.

“You’re not leaving me?” Avery asked, well aware the question came out with a vulnerable sigh.

“I told you I wouldn’t leave again.”

“But you thought about it.”

His hand tightened around hers as though he was afraid to let go. “Of course I did. I thought about it long and hard, and I decided that you’re more important than revenge or the truth or anything. Now let’s get home so we can very quietly get you packed. I’m going to take a shower and clean up, and then we’ll go out for the evening. Just a nice night on the town.”

“We won’t go back.” She would be on the run. It seemed incomprehensible. Just yesterday her biggest worry had been what she would cook him for dinner, and today she was afraid for her life. And his.

“No, we won’t go back to your place. I don’t know where we’ll be. We’ll find out in the morning, but wherever it is, I’m going to take care of you. I won’t let him hurt you. The lads will figure this out. I promise. We won’t be in hiding forever.”

“You’re going with me.” It sounded dumb. Why would he go with her? Did he feel that sorry for her?

“I am, Avery. You’re not getting rid of me. I told you so.” His face went stubborn, and he turned to the station. “Let’s go. I want to get out of that flat as soon as we can. We need to disappear. I don’t like the fact that he wants you.”

It made her a little ill. “I’m sorry I didn’t get the files, but I did find something. He wears contacts. Why would he do that when he’s got perfect vision? At least that’s what he told me. And don’t you find it weird that he was agoraphobic and now he’s fine?”

“Did you see the contacts? Were they colored?” Liam gripped her hand.

“I didn’t look.”

“And you’re sure he doesn’t need them to see?”

She should have opened them up and looked. “I don’t know. I guess he could have lied, but why?”

“Bloody hell,” Liam cursed, shaking his head. “I should have figured that out sooner. Molina never went out before and then all of the sudden, he up and wants to take an up close and personal interest in the business. Simon is right. He should get fired. I would bet money that Nelson planted someone years ago. He needed a way to move the arms around and he needed money to back it up. Even a few million wouldn’t really be enough to start this on a large scale. But a few million would set up the scam that could replace Molina with someone else. Molina was a loner.”

She was starting to follow his logic. “He only had a relationship with his brother. He didn’t even like staff being around according to the articles on him.”

“His brother was a drug addict and had gone through the trust fund their parents had left him. They settled the majority of the money on Thomas because they knew Brian would blow through it. Why didn’t I see this could be a possibility? What if the man you know as Thomas Molina is someone else?”

That couldn’t be true. “There were pictures of Thomas before this started. He looks the same.”

“That’s what the initial money was for. That’s what the bonds were for, to set someone up as Thomas Molina. He would have to be roughly the right height and build, but other than that, plastic surgery can do wonders. But it can’t correct the color of a person’s eyes. He would need contacts if they didn’t match.”

“And then he could easily take over the company because he had no close ties to anyone. He wouldn’t even have to really answer uncomfortable questions.” So much of her life for the last six months had been one long lie. “I met Brian in a rehab facility. For my legs, not drug rehab. He was getting over an injury. He said he’d just come into a bunch of money. He died a couple of months after he introduced me to Thomas.” She shook her head, horrified at her own naïveté. “I was surprised that someone like Thomas would want an assistant with so little experience, and then Brian told me he liked to get them while they were still innocent. ‘All the better to corrupt them,’ he said. I thought he was joking, but he wasn’t was he?”

“Probably not. But it doesn’t matter now because you’re out of this and so am I. Though it makes me wonder exactly who Nelson got to do that little job for him. Who could have hated his life so much that he was willing to do anything to change it?” Liam paled, a tremble going through his body, but he shook it off. “Like I said, it doesn’t matter. Come on, love. I need that shower and some Scotch.”

He took her hand and led her to the trains. They huddled close, every moment of their time together playing through her head. She followed him, utterly numb. She was a zombie walking where Liam told her to go because she knew she was going to have to make a decision, and she wasn’t ready for that yet.

Twenty minutes later, he sat her down on her couch and passed her a couple of fingers of the Scotch he’d bought earlier in the week. “I won’t be long.” He gestured around the room as though to remind her that someone was listening in. “We need to leave in an hour. The show starts at seven thirty sharp. We can have dinner over in the West End. All right?”

She was supposed to be specific when they could hear her. “Yes. That sounds nice.”

He nodded and walked away, leaving her alone for the first time.

He was going to take her on the run. He would be protecting her twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week until the threat was over. There was no way she would be able to stay out of his arms. She would end up in bed with him again. She would submit to him again. She would fall in love with him again.

When would it end? Everything ended. When would Liam O’Donnell end, and why should she even try to take a chance? She’d lost everyone she’d loved. She would just lose him, too.

She shuffled through the apartment, her little London flat where everything had seemed ready to bloom. This was supposed to be her second act, but now she realized that everything before the day she’d met Liam had been a dress rehearsal. He was the real second act. He was her chance, but she wasn’t sure she dared to take it.

Tears blurred her eyes, but she couldn’t cry. They would hear her. She quietly opened drawers, gathering the few things she couldn’t leave behind. Her real passport. A change of clothes. Her medications.

A small book of photographs lay buried at the bottom of her drawer. Pictures of her parents, her husband, her baby. She’d buried it in here, tucking it all away like something that should be hoarded, something that she should hide.

Tears fell as she opened it. Her parents. So loving, so kind. They’d been taken far too soon, and she still missed them every day of her life. Brandon. Would they still be married? Had it really been love or had she been looking for a way out? She’d struggled for so long with questions that didn’t matter. He’d been good to her. He didn’t deserve to be hidden away.

And
Maddie
. Her little girl who hadn’t gotten to live.

She’d spent so much time worrying about forgiving the girl who had killed them that she’d never forgiven herself for surviving.

This was why she was ready to push away a man like Liam O’Donnell. She’d taught herself to walk, but she was still in that car. She could play at being alive, but she hadn’t been forced to really live. She hadn’t been forced to put her heart on the line and pray that everything worked out because life could be so hard and cruel. She hadn’t chosen between fear and hope yet.

She looked at her daughter, so small and sweet in her father’s hands. Brandon looked terrified, but he held
Maddie
close.

She’d asked what Stephanie owed her, but what did Avery owe these two precious people? What did she owe them? What did she owe herself?

A life. She owed them a life, and not the half-life she’d been living. She’d been a tourist. She’d fought to walk again and then all she was willing to do was watch as life passed her by. She’d spent all her time in museums and art galleries allowing no one to really touch her. It had been easier, but she couldn’t do it any longer. She owed everyone who had loved her a real life, with real risk.

With real love.

Liam O’Donnell might come to his senses somewhere down the line. He might wake up and realize she wasn’t beautiful enough for him, but no one would ever love him the way she did. She had to take the chance.

She heard the shower running and slowly took off her clothes. She dropped them on the counter. A bloody bandage sat near the sink, a smaller one beside it. He’d obviously torn it off before he’d gotten into the shower. Two fresh ones were waiting along with alcohol and some swabs. He was going to dress it himself? He didn’t think she would help him?

She needed to make it plain to him that she would take care of him, too.

She could see him through the glass of the shower. One hand pressed against the wall. His head was down, drooping like he just couldn’t hold it up. Her heart ached as she looked at him. He looked weary. How much had it cost him to tell her who he was? She’d taken it wrong, assigned all kinds of dumb motives to his actions, but he’d risked so much for her. What if he’d just done it for the purest reason of all? What if he’d done it because he loved her?

Swinging the glass door open, she stepped in. There was no hiding from this man.

“Avery?”

She put a hand out, touching the muscles of his back. She loved the way he felt, hard muscle under soft skin. His green eyes touched hers. There was an angry wound on his bicep. God, he’d really been shot. “Are you sure you’re all right? Should you be getting that wet?”

He turned, and she couldn’t mistake the way his cock hardened like it was a magnet drawn to her. She took comfort in it. Any time he was around, her pussy softened and prepared for him. She belonged to him in a way she’d never belonged to anyone else. Every piece of her lit up when he walked in a room.

A long sigh came from his chest. His arm wasn’t the only place that was hurt, and she realized just how much damage she’d done. “I’m fine. It’s all right, love. I’ve had worse. I can still take care of you, no problem. It doesn’t really hurt. And it didn’t even need stitches, which is good because Adam can’t sew to save his life.”

She reached out and touched it. It looked more like a burn than anything else. “I want to help you.”

He turned back to the showerhead, letting it hit his face. “You don’t. You’re just feeling bad, Avery. Give me a second and I’ll leave you to shower in peace. I want to be out of here in an hour, but we need to stop and check in with Adam and Jake first.”

He reached for the soap.

“I don’t want you to leave. I want to help you.” She reached out for him and was startled when he pulled away.

“It’s not enough.” He pumped the water up. Heat filled the room.

They could talk here. The rush of the water would filter out the sound of their voices. She stepped back. She wasn’t enough? Had she been wrong?

Liam didn’t wait for her response. “I don’t want you to help me, Avery. I want you to love me. I’m not going to be your good-time guy. Do you understand me? I
ain’t
going to settle when it comes to you. I can make you love me. I know you’re mad. I know you think you don’t know me, but you know more about me than anyone.”

“Liam,” she started. He was under some weird mistaken impression.

His hands found the curve of her hips. “No. I
ain’t
listening to you tonight. I know I fucked up. I know I lied, but I
ain’t
lying about this. I love you. I
ain’t
said that to another woman me whole life. I love you, Avery. Maybe my love
ain’t
worth much just yet, but I’m working on that. I’m going to be better. I’m going to be worthy. I’ll learn from you. I’ll change for you. I’ll be a good man. I’ll be a man you want for more than an orgasm. I’ll be a man you can trust.”

Oh, she’d done him such a disservice. Did he honestly think she only wanted him for that gorgeous body? Since she’d decided to look at him with an open heart, she could see how truly lovely he was. He was a man she could trust. He’d offered up his career and a truth he’d been seeking for years, and all he’d asked is that she allow him to protect her. “Why do you think I’m here?”