I didn’t know what to expect when Joe told me Luna was in the lobby for me. It sure as hell wasn’t the terrified expression I walked into. When I entered the room, she stood from her chair and crossed her arms in a weak attempt to look pissed off and tough, but I knew her too well to believe it. She wouldn’t have come here if something didn’t force her to, and that thought alone kept me frozen in fear.
It'd been two weeks since I’d last seen her. Two weeks of pure hell, and I’d kept the same chip on my shoulder since the day she kicked me out. The Flamingo Hotel served as a daily reminder for the one and only time I’d ever let someone in and where that stupid decision had led me, but I was too much of a masochist to attempt to move on yet. Having her large, bright eyes in front of my face again didn’t help the rage pulsing through my body with nowhere to go.
Joe tried to make light conversation, either not sensing the tension in the room or being too fucking ignorant to care. I knew Luna wouldn’t say a word about the real reason she was here in front of him, though, so I cut in before I gauged my eyes out in anticipation.
“… I told Luna she should keep those bags with me for safekeeping,” he joked, smiling down at her.
“Can you give us a minute alone?” I bit, earning a disbelieving huff from Luna’s side and a grimace from Joe.
“Sure,” he agreed, slowly backing away with his eyes still on me, finally taking a minute to assess the situation he’d injected himself into. When he was apparently satisfied with the answer he got, he turned his back and walked into his office, making sure to slam the door behind him.
“What was that about?” Luna’s nose was scrunched into a scowl that crinkled her eyes in the most adorable way.
“He was rambling.”
“No, he was trying to be nice to warm up the ice coming from your side of the room.” Her arms crossed over her chest again. The action pushed her tits together, offering me the perfect view through her V-neck shirt.
I redirected my eyes before she noticed me staring. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence, Princess?”
Luna’s head reared back in offense like I had just slapped her and looked off to the side, giving her head a slight shake. She must have expected a warmer welcome than that. Too bad, I was all out of those, especially for the people who’d ripped my heart out and stomped all over it. That population totaled one: the deadly beauty standing before me.
“I just thought you should know your little friend Monti decided to pay me a visit today,” she started, pausing to watch my reaction with tight lips.
My stomach did a flip. What the fuck did Monti want with her anymore? I’d made it clear last time I saw him that she wasn’t involved in anything. He was baiting me, knowing she’d come running here to tell me about it regardless of where our relationship stood. I was the only protection she had anymore, and he must have caught onto that. Unfortunately, she played right into his hand.
“And?” I prompted impatiently after a few seconds of torturous silence when she didn’t continue. Her eyebrow kicked up, challenging me. When did she become such a little shit? “Come one, Luna. You came to me.”
A sigh fell from her lips before she finally conceded. “He said to tell you that this isn’t over. That you’ll be feeling the effects of your actions soon.”
I considered the message, trying to decode his vague message . I had no idea what the fuck it meant. Regardless, he was waging a war. Using Luna as a messenger, threatening me, it was all a recipe for disaster and reciprocation. Things weren’t going his way and he was trying to make me pay for it and get a rise out of me at the same time.
“So, what does it mean?” She bounced on her heels nervously, the panicked look from before returning to her features when I didn’t respond.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I have no idea. Did he say anything else? Was he with anyone? Did he threaten you in any other way?”
Her head moved in a negative shake. “No, that was it. He mentioned Cooper’s attack but nothing else. Do you think he’s going to come after you?”
There was no explanation for Monti going to her, other than trying to fuck with my head. Frank hasn’t even told him I was done working for him in fear of him doing something like this. There had to be something I was missing.
“Liam? Answer me. Are any of us safe?” Luna prodded, bouncing into my line of vision to break me from my thoughts.
I scowled back, too frustrated to hold my tongue any longer, so instead I lashed out. “I don’t fucking know. What difference does it make to you? You didn’t want anything to do with any of this, remember? I don’t even know why you’re still here, warning me. Don’t you have a cake to bake or something?”
Everything about this conversation was wrong. I shouldn’t have been taking my anger out on her, proving her right about me. But I was filled to the brim with frustration and her naivety was an easy target.
Her war face was back on. “Because a member of your gang came into my place of work and threatened you. I need to know if mine or my family’s safety is in jeopardy from all of this.”
“No, Princess. I’ll make sure none of the bad men get to you.” I patronized, watching the blood creep into her face from pure rage. Her fists balled at her sides, and I bitterly laughed at how transparent she was with her emotions when I couldn’t even get mine together. It was all very fitting.
“What the fuck is your problem? I didn’t have to come here, you know.”
Fuck it. If I was already in the shit-house, I might as well get my side out. My head ducked down to look her straight in the eye while I said this, because it was exactly what I’d been feeling for the past few weeks since she’d kicked me out of her life.
“My problem is that you weaseled your way into my life and embedded yourself there like a fucking tick before you ended things the minute you found a detail about me you didn’t like. Sorry, baby, my life wasn’t as cushy and comfortable as yours was, so I joined the Reapers when I had nothing and no one and they were there for me. And you want to run to me for protection now that it’s convenient and demand answers because the big bad wolf tried to come and blow your house down? Fuck that, Luna. You made your choice. You needed to villainize me to justify your actions, so I let you. I let you take every ounce of my humanity with you so you could feel safe in your decision. You wanted to be the victim, baby. You don’t get to change your mind about me when things start going to shit. I’m either your villain or your hero; I can’t be both.”
My face inched closer to hers the more I spoke until we were practically nose to nose, both refusing to back down from the fight. Her nose flared with hatred, but her eyes screamed a different story. Sure, there was disdain there, but there was something else, too.
She hated that she needed me. Hated that her first instinct was to come to me for protection and I called her out on it. She couldn’t stand that this mess wasn’t just mine to deal with, it was hers too. But there was also the same look of adoration she wore before she ended things, when we were living in our own delusional bubble and she was falling deeper in love with me. And what she didn’t realize was that I was in this mess because of her. Because Monti threatened her life within weeks of me being around her. Because Cooper had a sick obsession with her that I wasn’t going to leave her alone to deal with. Because I was head over heels in love with her.
And she couldn’t fucking stand that she was still in love with me, too.
“What was I supposed to do, Liam? Keep this going when I knew I wouldn’t be able to stand it? When I would be questioning you every time you walked out the door, wondering if you’d ever make it back? I hate that things are this way, but I was doing it for my own safety. Now, I’m being approached by these men who want me dead—who have already sent people to kill me in the past—and you’re telling me you aren’t going to help me? That I’m on my own because of a decision I made for my own self-preservation? Do you think I’m enjoying this? Because I’m not! I’m fucking hating it. I hate this situation, and myself, and I hate you for bringing me here, to this exact moment where I have to explain to you how much I hate you when everything in me is screaming the opposite.”
Tears rolled down her reddened cheeks and fell off her chin with abandon. I’m not sure if she even noticed them there before I reached up and wiped one away. The action caused her to flinch and back away from my touch. She really was afraid of me.
It was as if the knowledge that I was a Reaper flipped a switch in her brain and made her see me in a completely different way, and I couldn’t stand it. I did what I had to do to survive back then, joining a family of people who had been nothing but supportive of me until my mom fucked it up, and now it was interfering with the life I craved. If I could leave the Reapers without repercussions, I’d do it in a second. Too much of my time had been wasted with them, and my life had been threatened too many times to make it all worth it. But you didn’t leave the Reapers unless you were in a casket and I couldn’t have Luna as long as I was part of them. So, I’d have to give her up.
But not before I knew she was safe.
“Everything will be fine. We’re going to get through this and then you can move on with your life as if you’d never met me or the people in my fucked-up life.” It was a promise I intended to keep, regardless of the rock it set in my stomach.
I wanted her to deny the statement, to tell me she didn’t want to move on without me; that she’d fight past her reservations so we could be together. I craved the words so badly, my stomach hurt. But they never came. Instead, she nodded and wiped away at the stray tears that were still rolling.
“Okay.”
And once again with one, singular word, my chest was caving in on itself. It didn’t matter if I walked out of this alive. I’d still never get to be with her, and that realization changed the game completely. Luna’s safety was my ultimate concern. No matter what it took, I’d make sure she remained untouched—even if it meant I was taken down in the process.