40. Liam

40

LIAM

T ime seemed to slow. I knew immediately the man wasn’t one of Dominic’s guards because they wouldn’t be hiding behind a tree. Then I saw the glint of a rifle.

I lunged toward Dominic, hitting him in the chest and knocking him to the ground.

“Stay down!” I yelled.

A bullet shattered the window, and Dominic rolled us, putting himself on top of me. “Don’t move.”

I nodded, unable to speak or even breathe. I watched as he pulled a gun from a shoulder holster and rose to his knees.

“Watch out!” I yelled, but he ignored me.

Another shot exploded from outside. Dominic aimed, waited a beat, then fired off a single shot.

I stared at him, completely frozen. After a moment of silence, he turned to me and nodded. “I got him.”

I lay there trying to catch my breath as I stared up at Dominic. Was this even real, or I was dreaming?

He looked down at me and smiled, something I hadn’t expected.

“It seems like you might be useful to the family after all.”

I smiled back. I had been useful, hadn’t I? As Dom pulled out his phone and barked orders for his men to see to the dead man in the backyard, I managed to pull myself to a sitting position.

Dom ended the call and held his hand out to me. I took it, and he pulled me to my feet. He was strong as hell, not that I’d doubted he would be, but you’d never expect that kind of strength seeing his lean build in a suit.

“Who was that?” I asked.

“We’ll find out soon. I asked my men to bring the body into the basement.”

I suppressed a shudder at the thought that I’d be expected to accompany him to look at the dead man. I’d never seen a dead body outside of a funeral home until a few weeks ago when Val killed a man for touching me.

Dom gave me an assessing once over. “I think you’ll do for my son after all.”

Was he serious? “What changed your mind?”

“My mind was never made up. I just wanted to see if you had what it takes to survive this family. You’ve got a willingness to stand your ground and quick reflexes. We can work with that.”

Was he actually accepting me? “Thank you, sir.”

“As long as you love my son and never betray him, there will be no need to thank me for my protection or anything else.”

“Yes, sir.”

Dominic’s phone rang and he stepped away to answer. I could still hear him easily, though.

“Are you certain?…Investigate. Follow this back to the source…I think you know as well as I do that we don’t need that part of our past coming back to us.”

Dominic returned his phone to his pocket. “The gunman was here for me, not you. He’s not associated with the McConnells.”

I wanted to ask who the man was and why he’d want to kill Dominic, but I was certain Dominic didn’t like to be questioned.

He sighed when his phone rang again. “Yes, he’s here, and he’s safe…I actually think I like him.”

Was it Val?

“I’ll hand him off to you.” Dom put his phone away again and faced me. “Valentino will be picking you up in about ten minutes. You have an audience with Cathal O’Keefe.”