Liam

 

I might have to start mandatory drug testing for the resort staff, because those bitches had to be high as kites.

Of all the crack-headed, moronic yapping I heard in my life, I think what I just heard those women say to Bellamy took the cake.

As far as I was concerned, firing and banning them from this resort for life had been kind, because what they really deserved was my size twelves up their asses.

I was feeling some kind of way right now. And not just murderous either.

Protective, possessive… guilt-ridden.

I raced down off my private strip of mountain, already incensed, to get to Bells and make sure she was safe. The sudden and unexpected release of Crone was not good. Not good at all. Walking into The Inn, a place she wanted to work, and overhearing those cows dumping their insecurities all over her and finding out she’d been silently enduring this treatment from day one?

Oh, fucks no.

How did I not know about this? Why did Alex? What else had I been overlooking and not shielding her from?

And fuck, them pointing out the fact my girl didn’t have a fat diamond on her finger wasn’t Bells’s fault. It was mine.

What kind of message was that sending to everyone in this town? Bellamy was good enough to screw and impregnate, but not good enough to marry?

Maybe I was high, ‘cause that shit was unacceptable.

Holding on to her tight, I leaned my head against the seat inside the Hummer. Last time things blew the fuck up, it drove a wedge between us. It had been hell, and I wasn’t making that trip again.

Alex pulled up in front of his A-frame, and I nodded in approval. Without turning around, he shut off the engine. “Figured talking here might be better.”

“What’s going on?” Bellamy asked, fear creeping into her voice. “You never cut training early.”

I frowned. “Maybe I should have.”

She lifted her head off my shoulder and wrinkled her nose.

God, she was beautiful. I reached up to the base of her neck and pulled out the pins holding all her sunny hair into a bun. It fell down her back as I pushed them all into the pocket of my coat she was wearing, then dragged my fingers through it, spreading it out.

Her blue eyes made me think of tropical waters, and the very light sprinkle of freckles over the bridge of her nose made me smile. Her face was smooth, skin baby soft. She didn’t have any makeup on, and it was the way I preferred her.

“I love you,” I whispered, still taking in all her features.

Alex was already out, moving around the side of his ride toward the back door.

“You’re scaring me.” Her lower lip trembled.

I sat forward and brushed a kiss over the wobbly lip. “Don’t be scared, sweetheart. I’ll take care of you.”

“I don’t want you to take care of me,” she announced, stubborn.

The door beside us opened, and Alex peered inside. “Y’all done making out?”

“We aren’t making out.” Bellamy grumped.

I held her out, and Alex lifted her down to the ground. The three of us went inside. Bellamy barely had the coat off before she said, “I take it you didn’t pull me out of work because of that little incident.”

“It wasn’t a little incident,” I snapped. Then I blew out a breath. “But no. We came for another reason.”

“Just tell me what it is.”

Alex and I glanced at each other, then back at Bellamy. “Perry Crone is being released from prison.”

She blinked as a stunned look crossed her features. Instantly, her hand went to her belly and rested on the round bump. God, I fucking loved that belly.

Seeing her walking around pregnant was the biggest stroke to my ego. I was damn proud of her pregnant state, damn proud that was my kid she was carrying around.

“He-he’s getting out of jail?” she echoed. “But I thought he was in there for life.”

“He was,” I spat.

“Money talks, Bells,” Alex quipped. “He probably paid off quite a few people.”

“I don’t understand.” She worried. “Could he really pay off that many people? What about the FBI? What about the fact that he killed my father…?” She looked at me. The shock was wearing off and now panic was setting in. “And yours…”

I went to her, put a hand on her back, and guided her to the couch. “Sit down,” I instructed.

“I don’t want to sit down!” she exclaimed. “I want to know how this happened!”

“I don’t know yet,” I replied. “I haven’t made any calls.”

“How do you know?” she demanded. I saw the hope in her eyes that maybe I was wrong.

“It was on the news this morning,” Alex said.

“Oh my God.” She fretted, eyes seeking out mine. “He’s going to come for me.” She gasped. “My baby. He can’t hurt my baby.”

She stood up from the couch as if she planned on running. Like escape was her only option. It was her default setting it seemed. It was how she’d stayed alive this long.

I wrapped my arms around her from behind, holding her against me, hoping she felt the strength in my body and heard the promise in my words. “No one is going to hurt you or our baby.”

Her hand clutched my arm. “Alex?” Bellamy whimpered.

“Same, girl who got away. Not only will that man have to get through Liam, but he’ll have to go through me, too.”

That didn’t seem to make her feel better. “I don’t want either of you to get hurt.”

“The only way I’ll be hurt is if you or my son are.”

She was shaking. Keeping my arms around her, I backed us toward the couch, lowering until I was sitting with her in my lap. One hand moved to her stomach, splaying out over the baby in a defending gesture.

“He’s out now?” Bellamy asked.

“No, he’s still locked up. He’s not out yet.”

Alex went to the TV and switched it on, putting it on the news station, hoping the story would play again and we might get some details we missed before.

“That’s good,” she said, relaxing. Then she sat forward, as if an idea just came to her. “Maybe he won’t care.” She hypothesized, glancing at me with a new light in her eyes. “He already said the debt was paid. It’s been months and nothing’s happened. Maybe he was serious. He’d been angry I’d gotten him sentenced to life, but now he’s getting out. There’s no reason to hold a grudge anymore.”

My eyes met Alex’s over her shoulder. Neither of us wanted to disagree with her or take away any kind of peace she might find.

But damn. I didn’t believe that, and neither did my best friend.

Bellamy’s eyes searched for mine, pulling me from the silent convo I shared with Alex. “What are we going to do?”

I pursed my lips. “You’re going to go make some hot cocoa while I try and get some answers.”

“Hot cocoa!” she exclaimed as though I were being preposterous. “This is no time for that.”

“I could use some.” Alex put in. “I was so busy at work today. I haven’t had time to eat.”

Bellamy’s mothering instincts kicked in. “You haven’t eaten?” She made a sound. “I’ll make you a sandwich.”

I rubbed her belly. “Make me one, too, sweetheart?”

She kissed my cheek.

On her way into the kitchen, she informed us, “By the way, I know you’re totally distracting me while you call the FBI.”

“You’re my favorite girl,” I called after her.

Pretty sure she muttered something about charming cavemen.

“Someone called me before you did and told me to turn on the news,” I told Alex, keeping my words quiet.

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Who?”

“Unknown caller.”

He made a rude sound. “Let me see the number.”

I called it up and handed my phone to him. He took a screenshot and texted himself the photo. “Give me a few.”

I nodded and dialed up my good buddy Agent Frost. When he answered, I said, “You didn’t think a heads-up was warranted?”

“Mr. Mattison,” he surmised immediately.

“What the fuck, Frost?”

“I take it you’ve seen the news.”

“Is your FBI badge real?” I questioned.

“We were blindsided by this just as much as you were.”

“Oh, did that dickwad kill your father, too? Try and kill your girlfriend? Send you letters from the slammer?”

“Letters?” he asked, emphasizing the plural.

I made a sound. “It was just the one.”

“Look. I know this is very upsetting. Crone managed to bankroll some people in some very high places. We’ve been scrambling all morning since this shit broke.”

“And?” I pressed.

“And he’s got his business dealings zipped up tight. So far, all we know is he’s being released early next week. The paperwork is already in processing.”

I paced to the opposite side of the room. “What’s it going to take to stop it?”

“We’re still working on that.” He hesitated and then confided, “Truthfully, it’s not looking good.”

“Jesus H. Christ,” I swore. “Do you have any idea what kind of stress this puts on Bellamy and my baby?”

Frost paused. “Bellamy is expecting?”

“Forgot to mention that, did I?”

“Well… I suppose there hasn’t been a need for us to be in contact. But a heads-up would have been nice.”

“Now you know how I feel,” I muttered.

Frost sighed dramatically. “Witness protection is always an option. It’s the only way the FBI—”

“No,” I ground out. “You know she won’t go for it.” Besides, how the fuck did they think they could wipe out my identity? I was known around the world. The country of Thailand gave me a truck, for God’s sake.

I glanced at Alex, who was speaking quietly into his phone on the other side of the room.

Our stares collided.

He knew and I knew this was beyond the FBI now. These assholes hadn’t even known about Crone’s release before we did.

Incompetent. Unreliable.

Definitely not up to the task of keeping my family safe.

Without another word to Frost, I pulled the phone away from my ear and hung up.

Alex lifted his chin.

“They aren’t going to be any help.”

That subzero part of him that he rarely let anyone see slipped to the surface. “Then I guess we’ll have to handle this ourselves.”

I nodded.

A voice in his ear turned his attention away, and the phone in my hand went off. It was Frost. I debated not answering, then figured it would be stupid to alienate any source of information I might have.

“Yeah?”

“If it’s any consolation, Crone will be heavily monitored and is only authorized to be in his home state of New York.”

“It’s not,” I deadpanned.

“I didn’t think so.” Frost sighed. “If I find out anything, I will let you know ASAP, okay? And you know the FBI will do whatever they can to protect you and your family.”

“If that was the case, that fucker wouldn’t be walking free next week.”

“We’ve been keeping close watch on his organization. As far as we can tell, Crone has made no plans of coming after you.”

“If he comes after me and I kill him, self-defense stands. Correct?”

“Mr. Mattison, I would advise that if Perry Crone or any of his people come near you, call 9-1-1 immediately.”

“And if he attacks me or mine while I’m waiting for the police?”

There was a pregnant pause. “Self-defense stands.”

“I’ll talk to you later, agent.”

I didn’t wait for him to say anything else, ending the call.

I looked up as Bellamy approached, carrying a plate filled with food. “Was that Frost? What did he say?”

“Thanks, sweetheart,” I said, taking the plate, then squeezing her hand. “Sit down with me.”

She did, and I couldn’t resist sliding my hand over her round belly.

“Liam.” She reminded me gently.

I was tired of Crone getting in the way of my life. “The FBI doesn’t know much more than us. But Crone isn’t allowed to leave New York.”

“Shouldn’t we have been notified? In movies, the victims get to testify at hearings before criminals are let out of jail.”

“I don’t think things operate like that where Crone is concerned, sweetheart.”

“Got it,” Alex exclaimed and came over. His plate in one hand and his phone in the other. It made a sound, and he hit the screen.

“You know this dude?” he asked, turning it toward me.

Bells and I both leaned forward to look.

“I’ve never seen him before,” Bellamy noted.

I had. “It’s the guard from the prison. He was there the day I went to see Crone. I had a conversation with him.”

“Well, you must have made an impression because he felt compelled to call and warn you,” Alex mused, set his phone down, and picked up the sandwich Bellamy had delivered.

He made a sound as he chewed and nodded, shaking the food in her general direction.

“He called you?” Bellamy inquired.

I nodded. “To warn me about Crone’s release.”

“Why would he do that?” Bellamy wondered.

“I got him winter Olympics tickets for next year,” I said, offhand.

Her voice held a note of wonder. “You did?”

I shrugged. “It was minor. He recognized me, we had a conversation, so I did him a solid.”

“Minor?” Bellamy asked. “Why do you two always say that?”

Around his food, Alex answered, “It’s minor. You know, no big deal. Nothing to worry about. It’s not major—”

“It’s minor.” I finished.

“So it’s bro code.” She surmised.

“No bro code is something else entirely,” Alex said.

She made a face, which I thought was cute as hell, then changed the subject. “If you didn’t know him”—she pointed to the pic on Alex’s phone—“how did you find out who he was?”

Alex shrugged. “Skills.”

Her nose wrinkled. “What kind of skills?”

“Skills an innocent like you don’t need to know nothing about.”

“You think I’m innocent?” She seemed surprised by this.

We both laughed.

“I’m hardly innocent.”

“Don’t worry. We like you that way.” Alex assured her, and I nodded.

“I killed a man! I emptied an entire clip into him!” she declared as if I needed a reminder.

I dropped the half-eaten sandwich on my plate and glanced at her. “Which is exactly why you don’t need to be worrying about any of this.”

“Liam Mattison,” Bellamy declared and stood, towering over me because I was sitting. Her hands went to her hips, which molded her shirt to the baby growing inside her. “I’ve had just about enough of your egotistical, macho, chest-beating ways!”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

“Army skills,” Alex said, still eating. We both looked at him.

“What?” Bellamy asked.

“It was some army skills. I made some calls. I know people.”

“And you think I’m too innocent to know that?” She scoffed.

Alex’s eyes shuttered a bit as he shoved more food into his mouth.

Bellamy felt the change and glanced at me.

I grabbed her hand and tugged her down. “Alex doesn’t like talking about his years in the army, sweetheart. You know that.”

“I’m sorry.” She apologized to Alex.

“Don’t be sorry, baby girl. It’s all good.”

I let out a rumble, and Alex grinned because he knew what he did. I let it go, though, because he just dipped back into the dark waters he left behind.

“That call cost you anything?” I asked, serious.

He paused in chewing, then shook his head. “Naw. It’s cool.”

“You’ll tell me if it did?”

“Yeah, bro. I’ll tell you.”

Bellamy looked between us. I felt her questions, but she didn’t ask in fear of upsetting Alex.

“I think I will make some cocoa after all,” Bellamy said, heading toward the kitchen.

I watched her go and began to worry. Just when things started calming down, Crone had to go and stir them up again.