38. Liam

38

LIAM

I looked down at the text I’d received from Val.

Meeting with your family soon. Tony is needed with me. My father will take care of you. Don’t be afraid to stand up to him. He won’t hurt you.

I stared at the phone with my heart beating wildly, no longer able to breathe.

“Liam?” Elio said. “Are you okay?”

Tony’s phone buzzed before I managed to respond. He looked up, confusion on his face. “Lucien wants me with him. Dom is going to take over watching Liam. A car with one of his guards is on the way.”

“I’ll go with Liam,” Elio said.

Tony shook his head. “Liam has to go alone. That was made clear.”

I tried to speak, but my mouth was too dry for words to come out. I swallowed and tried to take a breath, but my lungs felt constricted.

Elio laid a hand on my shoulder. “You can do this. He just wants to meet you and probably test you. Stand up to him and stay strong.”

I wanted to ask questions to find out what they knew about Dominic, but the doorbell rang before I could say anything other than “thank you.”

Tony motioned for me and Elio to stay back. He checked the peephole with his hand on his weapon. He must have recognized the man who stood outside because he unlocked the door and opened it.

A big man in a black suit stepped into Val’s apartment. He nodded to us in greeting, then turned to Tony. “I’m here for Liam. I was instructed to tell you to drop Elio at home and meet Lucien and the others at headquarters.”

“This is Liam,” Tony said, gesturing toward me. “Liam, this is Sticks. He’ll take you to Dominic’s house.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sticks said.

“Nice to meet you too.” I wished my voice sounded stronger. I was going to have to gather every scrap of confidence I could find. I could not appear weak in front of Dominic Marchesi.

“So you want to marry my son?” Those were the first words Dominic said to me.

Had Valentino actually mentioned marriage? Whether he had or Dom was making an assumption, I wasn’t going to contradict it. “Yes, sir.”

“And what do you bring to the family? As far as I can see, potential trouble with the Irish, a debt that now won’t be repaid, and the ability to make my son forget the rules I’ve set for him.”

Stay calm, I told myself. You can handle this. I knew what to say, but I’d wanted to tell Val first. “I love your son.”

Dominic huffed. “Love. I believed in love once, and it almost got me killed. Why should I believe you’ll be any better for my son than the bitch who did this to me?” He touched a finger to the scars on his face.

“Love is real, but some people use it to manipulate.”

“And I’m supposed to believe you won’t?”

How could I convince him otherwise? “I told Valentino I would work off my debt and then leave Boston. I was willing to walk away if that was what he wanted. It isn’t.”

“You’ve clearly got him wrapped around your finger, willing to say whatever you want him to. There are a lot of ways to play this game, but if you persist, and you become part of this family, you will not leave us any way but in a coffin. So, if you are playing a game with Valentino, you will regret your choices.”

Dominic was so cold I could practically feel the chill coming off him. How did Val get any sense that his father had feelings? I wasn’t sure the man was capable of that.

“I love Valentino, and I want to be with him. How can I prove that to you?”

The evil smile he gave me made me realize I shouldn’t have asked him that. “I don’t believe in love, not the romantic kind you mean, at least. You can only prove your loyalty over time by making sure you don’t keep Valentino from his duties to the family. If I see any evidence you are too much of a distraction to my son, or if it becomes clear you were only after his money or the power he can bring you, you will suffer. I know how to get to your sister, and she certainly means a lot to you.”

“Leave my sister alone.” I no longer cared if I angered him. No one threatened Ava.

He laughed at my fury. “I know what happened to your parents, but the police don’t. I could easily ‘find’ some evidence that pointed right to you as the guilty party. It would be a shame if new evidence turned up and the case was re-opened.”

“You can’t prove anything against me.” Tears burned behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. This man was not going to see me cry. “My parents’ death was not my fault. I had nothing to do with it. The accident was staged. I can prove that now.”

“Sure of that, are you? You have no idea the power I wield.”

This man was pure evil. “I know I love Valentino, and the two of us will protect each other, no matter what.”

“What kind of protection do you think you could provide?”

Movement outside the window caught my eye, and I turned to see a man crouched behind a tree in Dominic’s back yard.