23. Valentino

23

VALENTINO

I got in my car and followed Liam. I kept enough distance between us that I doubted he would notice unless he was watching for me. Would he expect me to follow him? He should if he knew me at all. I might’ve pretended to acquiesce to him being on his own, but I wasn’t letting him out of my sight.

You’re losing it.

I didn’t give a fuck. When that piece of shit reached out for Liam, I realized what could’ve happened if I hadn’t waited there, if I hadn’t been so fucking obsessed with Liam that I couldn’t walk away even when I thought he regretted letting me touch him. I was going to have to figure out a way to make this work. Maybe I just needed to get over my hesitation. Maybe I just needed to tell my father that this was how it was and move Liam in with me. I’d marry him if that would make my father accept it more easily.

When I saw Liam turn into a storage facility, I knew something was up.

I waited a few moments before following him in. The gate was closed, but luckily my family owned the facility, so I had an access code. If I hadn’t, I still would’ve found a way in, even if it meant breaking down the gate. I wasn’t going to lose track of Liam. I needed to know why the hell he was here.

What secrets are you keeping, Liam?

Had he really killed someone? Why? I needed answers.

I saw him turn in between a row of buildings. I followed slowly and noted him parking at the end of the row. Then I drove one row over, parked, and got out of my car.

I expected Liam to go up to one of the units close to where he parked, but he didn’t. He started walking, and I followed him. I was moving quietly, but it was clear his instincts weren’t telling him he was being followed. He wasn’t glancing around either; he was looking down, fumbling for something in his bag. He wasn’t listening to what I told him about being aware of what was going on around him. I was going to have to make it clear that his safety was too important for him to ignore. If he was going to associate with me—and he goddamn well was—then he needed to be on alert constantly.

He crossed the main road and went into a section of units on the other side. I continued to follow him. Fortunately, there was no one else around at this hour. Finally, he stopped in front of a unit and bent down to undo the lock. When he pushed the door up, the lights from the parking lot illuminated enough of the unit for me to see a mattress on the floor and a few boxes scattered around it.

He was staying here, not with a friend, not in a different apartment. He didn’t want me to know he’d lost his apartment, and he was keeping his car hidden so no one connected it with this unit.

He’s here because your family is demanding all of his money.

I knew he was still working at Benny’s Bar, but he’d had to cut his hours to dance for me. Everything he earned at the club went to me, and I was sure everything from Benny’s went to his sister, it was no wonder he couldn’t pay rent.

Liam had clearly been struggling long before he’d started spending six nights a week at Pound. I couldn’t let him keep living here. If I helped him, Dom would eventually figure it out, but I’d just have to deal with the consequences. I’d have to bet on my father not actually killing me. He’d punish me some way, I knew that, but as long as I survived it would be okay. Vito would help me take care of Liam if I was out of commission.

I walked back to the Corvette and drove it as close to Liam’s unit as I could. I was about to approach the door when my phone rang. I glanced at it, expecting it to be Vito letting me know that the clean-up was done. It was my father.

I considered not answering, but he’d call again. He was nothing if not persistent. “Hello.”

“That’s two deaths this week. Both your fault. We can cover things up, but you’re making it very difficult. I’m considering taking the club from you.”

I’d honestly expected worse, but I couldn’t stop myself from stating my case. “They were both necessary to protect one of the dancers.”

“So your brother tells me. That same dancer owes us money. That’s why he’s working there right?”

“Yes, sir.” I wiped sweat from the back of my neck. How much did he know?

“And now he’s causing us more trouble?”

“No, sir. We’ve just had a run of bad customers.”

“As fun as it might be, we can’t slaughter all the bad customers. It’s not good for business, and it’s not good for the family. I don’t want to have to call in any more favors because you’ve decided to become someone’s personal protector.”

I squeezed my hand into a fist, wishing I could punch something or someone. I wanted to tell Dom that nothing was more important than Liam, but he wasn’t going to listen to that.

“Stay away from the club for the next few weeks. If the death rate goes down, I’ll consider letting you go back.”

I wanted to assure him I could stay there and things would calm down, but as long as Liam was there, and there was a chance of any man even looking at him wrong, I couldn’t make that kind of a promise. I could either do as ordered or openly challenge my father. What a great fucking choice. “Who are you putting in charge in my place?”

“I thought I’d let Vito have a try. Hopefully he won’t fuck things up even more than you.”

I could handle that. Vito would keep an eye on Liam while he was at the club. There was no one I trusted more.

“Hopefully Vito will meet your standards. I’ll take two weeks off from the club, but after that I’ll be back.” With Dom, there was a fine line between giving in and holding my ground. I was teetering on it, but I wanted him to know I wasn’t taking this lightly.

“We’ll see.”

“Good night, Father.” I ended the call and slumped back against the seat. Liam had closed the door of his unit. He’d said he wanted to shower, but clearly that wasn’t going to happen here.

I hated thinking about him covered in blood and unable to wash it off. I wanted to take him home, bathe him, give him my clothes to wear, then curl up around him and hold him for the rest of the night. The Marchesi family had given me a hell of a lot, but they’d taken a lot too.

How could I leave Liam here in a fucking storage facility? If I didn’t intervene, how long could this last anyway. Liam wasn’t good at hiding or watching out for danger. Someone would report him, then where would he go?

My bed. That was the only choice, but storming in there and taking Liam now wasn’t the smart thing to do. I needed to work out a plan, one Dom would accept.

I sat there in my car, watching the door and checking the area around me. If Liam was going to stay here, someone needed to be watching him. We had cameras on the place, but they weren’t monitored around the clock like the ones at our more sensitive locations.

It wouldn’t take a lot of skill to get past the alarms and get in. I knew how quickly someone could be taken or killed. No one would respond in time if they weren’t already on the premises.

It was possible Liam’s stalker had just been after the thrill of overpowering and fucking a man he was horny for, but until I’d investigated him, I wasn’t going to count on it. I hadn’t been subtle about my desire for Liam, and I had plenty of enemies. We tried to keep them out of the club, but I couldn’t identify everyone who hated me and all their associates. Even Dom couldn’t do that.

We had a good relationship with the Irish, but if he was still working for them, did that mean the John O’Keefe Liam’s father had worked for was the John O’Keefe currently doing time for racketeering? I needed to find out.

As the hours passed, I considered what I could do without risking my father taking Pound from me permanently or sending someone else to handle Liam’s debt.

I stayed by his unit until the sun was up. I was due to check in at the office where we conducted our lending business in a few hours. I knew if I knocked on the roll-down door of Liam’s unit, it would scare the shit out of him, so I called him instead.

He didn’t answer my first call, but I called again, and this time he gave me a sleepy “hello.”

“Open the door.”

“What?” My dick reacted to the thought of him all mussed from sleep, looking drowsy and confused.

“I’m standing outside your unit. Open the door and let me in.”

“I don’t…You’re here?”

“Yes.”

Seconds passed, then the door began to roll up.

I bent to step under it and was hit with a wall of heat. How the hell had he slept in here? I saw that he had a fan, but it wasn’t running.

“Fuck, Liam. You’re going to suffocate in here. Go get in my car.”

“I’m not dressed.”

He as only wearing briefs, so I grabbed one of the designer T-shirts I’d bought him and a pair of shorts from a nearby laundry basket. He put them on and followed me, closing the door behind him.

I started my car and turned the AC on full blast. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“How did you know where I was?”

I ignored the question. “How can you sleep in that heat?”

“Exhaustion. I guess.”

I studied him as he ran a hand through his hair trying to tame it. I didn’t like how little color he had. “I’m getting you something to eat.”

“No, that’s not necessary.”

“Yes. It is.” I put the car in reverse, but Liam popped open his door. “I have to lock the unit.”

“Hurry. And get some shoes. You’re going to burn your feet on the fucking pavement.”

He came back wearing slides and holding keys and a wallet in his hands. “Tell me you’re not keeping the cash you make each night here.”

“I can’t get to the bank every fucking day.”

“Then put it in the safe at Pound.”

“Should I learn safecracking so I can get in?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You really aren’t scared of me, are you?”

“Should I be?” His voice was quieter now, less sure.

“Yes. Anyone with good sense would be.”

He shrugged. “My life sucks. Are you really going to make it worse?”

I sighed as I shook my head. “No, I’m going to make it better. I’m getting you breakfast, then we’re picking up a generator for you to use until I can line up a new apartment for you.”

“I can’t afford a fucking apartment, and you said you weren’t paying my debt. If I want to live in a storage unit so all my money goes to pay off my loan, that’s what I’ll do.”

“You have a second job, right?”

He sighed. “I do, but it doesn’t pay enough for me to make rent. I was already going to be evicted before you ever showed up at my door.”

“You’re telling me that shit hole was too expensive?”

“Yes. Do you even have any idea how much rent is these days or how impossible it is to make it on minimum wage? Even if I’d been making enough, I can’t take as many hours now that I’m working at the club most nights.”

He hadn’t mentioned any other debts. “Why did you borrow money from my family?”

“I’m not going to tell you that.”

I turned and wrapped a hand around his neck. “Try that again.”

“Please. It’s my secret. Let me keep it.”

Tears formed in his eyes, and I let go for now. I’d made plenty of men cry, made them sob and beg for mercy I was never going to give them, but I couldn’t stand seeing Liam like this.

I should never have left him last night. He’d needed to be held. Even if all he cared about was paying the debt, he was my responsibility. He was mine and I needed to make him see that, even if he couldn’t love me, I wasn’t letting him go.

“Fine. Keep your secret for now.”

I was going to find him an apartment and cut him a deal on rent, and I would see that he took care of rent and food before he paid me. I didn’t care how long it took him to pay my family back, I wouldn’t allow him to be hungry or homeless.

I went through a fast-food drive-through and got him a breakfast sandwich and a coffee. He polished them off like he was starving. “When did you last eat?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Liam, when did you last eat?”

“Lunch yesterday. I had some wings.”

I growled. “That’s not acceptable.”

“Do you want me to stop buying gas and walk home from work at two in the fucking morning so I can afford more food? What do you want me to give up that I haven’t given up already?”

I didn’t have a good answer.

I pulled into a big box store and turned to look at him. “I’m going in to get you some food and a generator. You will stay put. If you and my car are not sitting right here when I return, I will track you down and make you very sorry. If you think I tormented you last night, that was nothing compared to what I’ll do to you if you disobey me now.”

His eyes were wide, his mouth hanging open. I wanted to kiss him, but I forced myself to step out of the car and walk away.