34. Liam

34

LIAM

“ T ell me everything you know about your father and don’t keep anything back. If I find out you’re lying, you’ll never walk out of here.”

“What’s going on, Val? I don’t understand.”

He glared at me. “Start talking.”

Tears stung my eyes. Why was he acting like this? “I already told you what happened to him. I don’t know what you want to hear.”

“What did he really do for work?”

“He was an accountant. I already told you that. What’s going on?”

He closed his eyes and squeezed the back of the chair across from me. The way he was looming over me, so suddenly angry, made me want to run. It was the first time I’d been seriously afraid of him since the day he’d agreed to let me work at Pound.

“Did he ever take you to work with him?” Val’s voice was even now, some of the tension seemed to have drained from him. “Or talk to you about his work?”

“No, he didn’t really share things with us. He was a decent dad, but he wasn’t very involved. All I knew was he went to the office in the morning and came home at night. I wasn’t really interested in the intricacies of it. His work sounded pretty boring.”

Val looked like he was trying not to smile, which made me feel a little better. “Please tell me what’s going on.”

Val ignored me. “Did he go on business trips?”

“Why are you interested in my father?”

“You truly have no idea?”

“No, I don’t. He occasionally went to conferences or to visit clients. He was in corporate accounting, I think.” Why did I not know more? Was that weird?

Val shook his head. “Your father wasn’t really an accountant. That was a cover. He was a man much like me, except he worked for the Irish.”

The room spun as my vision narrowed. Did I hear that right? My father was a mobster? No. It couldn’t be true. “I…I think you’re confused.”

“The accident wasn’t an accident; it was murder.”

I shook my head. “No.” My heart pounded so I hard I thought it might explode. “No, that can’t be true.”

Suddenly Val was there on his knees in front of me he took hold of my hands and pulled them from my face. “Focus on me.”

I tried but the room was spinning too fast.

I stared into Val’s eyes. He was speaking but I couldn’t hear the words, then the darkness closed in and there was nothing.

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was a ceiling fan above my head and a cold sensation on my forehead.

“Liam? Thank God you’re awake.” It was Val. I realized he was sitting next to me.

“What happened?”

“You passed out? Do you remember?” He lifted the cold cloth for my forehead and drew it across my cheeks and over my throat. “Do you need some water?”

“No. Maybe.” Everything came back to me slowly. Val got a call from Vito, and he was angry with me, but I didn’t know why. Then he told me my father wasn’t who I thought he was. “I think I remember now.”

“I’m so sorry I was angry with you. I thought…For a moment, I thought you knew everything and that you were playing with me.”

“Did you really think I could hide something like that from you?”

“I shouldn’t have it’s just…You asked me why I would fall for you, but that question seems so crazy to me because why would I not? You’re kind and caring, and I’m like I am. My world is full of torture, death, and betrayal. It changes how you see things. I’m everything you don’t want, so I can’t see why you would want to be with me if you don’t have an ulterior motive.”

Was he crying? I reached out, brushing my hand across his cheek and coming back with wetness on my thumb.

“Val, it’s okay.”

He shook his head, slipped from the bed, and went down on his knees. I sat up and stared at him in disbelief. He took both my hands in his and held them tight. “Forgive me. I was scared that I was losing you, that I’d imagined all this between us.”

“Of course I forgive you.” I didn’t even think before the words were out. Val had actually just admitted he was scared. I knew that that to be extremely rare for him.

“I’m so sorry. I should’ve told you the news another way.”

That this strong, powerful man was asking for my forgiveness nearly made me pass out again. I understood the enormity of his apology, and it made me think he might actually feel as strongly as I did. Maybe this was real after all.

Except, apparently, nothing else in my life was.

When I finished the water and the chocolate bar Val insisted on bringing me, he carried me to the couch. I sat back, and he pulled my legs into his lap so I could turn and look at him.

“I want to know everything.” I said. “How did you find all this out?”

“I’m going to start from the beginning. When you told me the story about the accident, the name John O’Keefe rang a bell. But I figured there had to be an untold number of John O’Keefes in the city. What were the chances your father’s boss was the one I was thinking of, the one with criminal connections? But when you described the circumstances of the accident—the car coming out of nowhere, the way it seemed to accelerate—something didn’t sit right with me.”

“I told you not to worry about it. You should never have?—”

“Liam, you need to know what really happened.”

“I already told you everything I remembered.” I didn’t want those memories back.

Val ran his hand up and down my legs, trying to soothe me. “I know you told me exactly what you saw, and I knew there were possible explanations for the driver’s behavior. He could have been drunk or lost control, then gotten scared and ran.”

I didn’t want any of this to be true, but I saw how serious Val’s expression was. “You’re sure that’s not what happened?”

“I am. We don’t have to talk about the accident itself, but I need to know what happened then to protect you now.”

I leaned into the couch and closed my eyes. “None of this makes any sense. My father was never gone at night. He never….”

“Give me a chance to explain what I know, then we can see if we can piece together anything else.”

I didn’t want to wait. I was full of so many questions, but it would be good to know the facts first. I sat up straighter and looked at him. “Okay.”

“After I realized the man who attacked you had been watching you before you started dancing at the club, I knew we needed answers, so I asked my people to look into your past.”

“Without telling me?”

He sighed. “Yes. If we have people connected to the Irish coming onto our turf, trying to take out someone who’s working for us. I need to know about it.”

“Did that mean you had to keep it from me?”

He rubbed my feet as he replied. “I didn’t want to freak you out if I was wrong.”

“Or you were hoping I wouldn’t find out.”

Val shook his head. “I was always going to tell you if I learned that my suspicions were true.”

It was going to take me a long time to process all this, if I ever could. “My family seemed like a regular family.”

“Your parents were trying to protect you by sticking to their new roles. Let me tell you the rest of what I know.”

I nodded. As crazy as this was, I couldn’t actually hide from it.

“Your father is related to the O’Keefe family. He was known as Sharps before you were born. Back then, the O’Keefes ran things in Irish territory. There was a power grab when you were a baby. A lot of people were eliminated, some disappeared with no one knowing if they were dead or somewhere in hiding. Some just kept a low profile and stayed quiet.”

“You’re saying that’s what my dad did?”

Val shook his head. “I’m saying that’s what John O’Keefe did. He helped your father change his identity, because the McConnells—the family that took over—would’ve wanted to track him down. Your father was a talented assassin. He changed his name and everything about his identity, then worked in some capacity for the O’Keefes, possibly actually doing something clerical like accounting.”

“Was he still…did he still kill people?”

“I don’t think so, not at first at least.”

Was this all true? I had been horrified at the easy way Val killed when my whole childhood I was living with an assassin. “He must’ve been being paid for something. I mean, we always had enough money.”

“Enough to look like you lived on accountant’s salary, not like?—”

“We were rich.”

“Right.”

Except where did the money go if my parents had been rich before? And why did they leave me and Ava out of their wills? “So the McConnells found out who my father really was?”

Val reached for my hand, and I was thankful to have something to hold on to. “Someone did, and they staged a car crash to eliminate him, probably thinking it was the best way to prevent any connection to them.”

“But there was no guarantee anyone would die in the crash.”

“That’s right, but the McConnells would eventually have seen to things one way or another. You didn’t cause the accident. There’s nothing you could’ve done to prevent it.”

“Maybe my father could have. Maybe he could not have done what he did for the family. Maybe he could’ve left Boston.”

Val frowned. “If any of those maybes were true, then you wouldn’t be here with me now.”

I let out a long breath. There were so many thoughts running through my head. Everything I’ve ever known had suddenly shifted. Part of me really wanted Ava there. “Tell me my sister isn’t some super spy working for the Irish.”

Val smiled. “Not that we know of. I think she’s trying to make it through college and really worried about her brother.”

“Have you been spying on her too?” Would she tell me if she thought someone was following her?

“I’m making sure she stays safe, that’s all.”

I didn’t love that, but I was thankful for his protection. “Why would these people come after me now?”

“Because in the last year, power has shifted again, and the O’Keefes regained control.”

“But I didn’t do anything to the McConnell family. I didn’t even know who my father really was.”

“They don’t care. You’re his son, his legacy. They don’t want anyone from his line to be in power again.”

“This is so fucking stupid. I’m not a part of this.”

“When you’re in the family, you don’t get a choice.”

“No, I—” I realized what I’d been about to say, that I didn’t want to be part of that kind of family, but didn’t I? Didn’t I want to be with Val?

“Whether you want to or not, you’re in this.” He looked away like he was thinking, but I knew I’d hurt him.

“Val.” I laid a hand on his arm. “I’m scared. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know who my parents really were. Nothing makes sense. But I…” I had to pause. I wasn’t sure I could tell him how deep my feelings went, so I said the closest thing I could. “I still want you.”

“Good because I’m not giving you up.”

“You’re not?”

“No. Never.” He caressed my cheek, and I leaned into his hand.

“Even if the Irish mob is after me?”

He huffed. “We’re going to put an end to that.”

“How? I won’t let you put yourself and your family in danger for me.”

“My family is always in danger. That’s the nature of our business.”

I knew that was true, but they shouldn’t be in danger from each other. “But you can’t even tell your father about me. If you go after the Irish, he’s going to want to know why. What will happen when you tell him?”

“We’ll find out soon.”

I shifted so I was facing him more fully. “What do you mean?”

“I’m going to talk to him tonight.”

“What? You can’t.”

Val pulled me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around me. “It’s better to face this straight on. He’s going to find out, that’s inevitable. If I tell him before I take any action, then I have a much better chance of convincing him I’m right.”

My heart slammed against my chest. “You’re really doing this now?”

“Someone is after you. They have a vendetta against you, and they are the enemies of the current family in power. This can’t wait.”

I tried to draw in air, but my chest was tight with fear. “I don’t understand why they think I’d be a problem for them.”

“For exactly the reason you’re about to be—or rather I’m about to be.” I stared at him in confusion. “I’m going to find them all and end them. I’m your protector now. What they didn’t realize was that they are too late. You’d already earned my family’s loyalty before they tried to get to you.”

“Your loyalty, not your family’s.”

He cupped my face in his hands. “That’s not true. Vito is prepared to kill to protect you and so are the other guards I assigned.”

“And your father?” He was really the person I was worried about.

“He has no love for the McConnells, and they are too weak to fight us now. They’ve made a fatal decision.”

“What about the head of your family? Lucien? Won’t he have a say.”

“My father works autonomously most of the time, but on this…yes, I’ll likely have to convince Lucien you’re worth the trouble too.”

“But I’m n—” Val laid his fingers against my lips.

“You are. I won’t hear anything else, not from you or my father.”

“What if he won’t support you?” I couldn’t ruin Val’s relationship with his family. I couldn’t take any more guilt.

“Your life is on the line. I will make this work.”