Liam chuckles. “I got to say, I didn’t expect you to say that.”

I comb my hair that has dried since the shower at Liam’s. It looks better if I get a chance to blow dry before styling, but we don’t have tons of time. I need to get ready, but I also need to hear this.

I can hear everything Liam is telling me without speaking. He’s taking me home to meet his family, just hours after I spilled every last part of myself. I need to have that same secret from him, the one he’s keeping locked away from anyone else in his life.

He huffs out a long breath, rubbing his palms together between his knees. He’s looking down at his hands, taking a few deep breaths.

I stand in the doorway, curling iron in hand, waiting for him. I would have started questioning him earlier, but he distracted me when he sprung a visit with his family on me. He distracted me again in the shower, though that was definitely a different distraction. My thighs clench, reliving the memory under the spray.

Liam’s eyes meet mine. His shoulders square, nodding his head once. “Remember when I told you, I don’t do bets?”

I think back to that small interaction on our first date. I suggested a silly bet; he flat-out denied me. I remember his constant smile leaving his lips in that split second. I replayed what I said, wondering if I offended him. A smile quickly fell back into place, but it wasn’t the same, sexy grin that graces his face effortlessly. It only took a couple of minutes before his forced grin turned back to something genuine, but I nod. “Yeah, I remember that.”

“Some shit happened while I was living in Chicago.” He rubs his hand along the back of his head. “I really had been missing my family a lot. I’m man enough to say that it hurt like hell each time my sister had to remind Tanner, my nephew, who I was. It got better, the older he got, but it was hard in the beginning when he would cry. The shit that went down helped push my decision to come back home.”

Liam gets up from the bed, walking toward me. He brushes his knuckles along my cheek. I lean into his touch, staring up into his eyes. They’re so open and pleading, begging for me to keep looking at him the same way I do now. Our connection was strengthened tenfold last night. I may not know every detail about this man, but I know him deep in my bones. “Get ready, baby. Just listen.”

I step away from the doorway and in front of the mirror. He follows me into the bathroom, looking at me through the mirror. He leans against the wall, waiting for me. I put down my curling iron and begin to section my hair, my eyes jumping back and forth in the mirror from my task to his eyes.

“I analyze people and situations very well. I’m good at reading a room, knowing underlying issues without anyone saying anything.”

“I’ve noticed,” I grumble. “I hid a lot before you waltzed your way into my life. It was working pretty well for me.”

“I don’t waltz, baby. And, it’s going to work even better for you now that I’m in your life.” He shoots me his easy, sexy grin. “Anyway, I analyze. This translates well into poker. My dad taught me to play poker when I was young and started to show an affinity for math, numbers, and knowing when someone was lying to me. He taught me how to be patient, persistent, and calm.” He arches an eyebrow, letting me know he knew every time a lie, even the half ones, passed my lips.

I give him my most innocent expression as I continue to ready my hair to curl.

He chuckles, shaking his head softly. “I was good. Really good, and always had a lot of fun playing with my dad. I’m just like him, able to bluff with the best of them. We analyze every room we walk into, often being able to communicate with each other without speaking. Every important talk my dad had with me was over a game of cards.” Liam looks down at the floor, his hand landing on the back of his neck. He squeezes then looks back up into the mirror.

“The first time I saw my dad after moving back here, he poured our favorite whiskey and grabbed our deck of cards. It was my fucking welcome home and I had to be a bastard and turn him down. I lied to my dad. I never lie to him, and even if I did, he can tell when I’m lying. He knew I was lying that day when I tucked tail and left their house. I saw it in his eyes. I felt the weight of the disappointment all the way home.”

My heart breaks at the pain in his eyes.

“A guy from work in Chicago introduced me to an underground poker ring. I’m a guy who will try anything once. He told me this ring was run by some notorious crime family and to not ask questions. I thought it sounded interesting, thought I would only go one time. It was high stakes poker. The money I won that first night fucking fueled me in ways it shouldn’t have. I had been bored for a long time, doing the same thing over and over again. That night was like throwing a match into a vat of gasoline. I left that poker den, high on the money lining my pockets.”

The curling wand hangs mid-air, shock coursing that Liam willingly walked into a poker den run by a crime family. “Oh, my God, Liam. That’s so dangerous.”

He chuckles darkly. “Believe me, I know.”

Fear seeps into my pores. I gulp, trying to go back to my task.

“I did this for about a year. I made a lot of money, but I also lost a lot of money. It became an addiction. I needed to fuel that spark for each win. My friend from work was descending even farther down that dark rabbit hole. He started buying and using some of their product.”

“Product?” I ask, confused.

“Drugs, mostly blow.”

I’m trying to picture Liam in a place like that. I can’t imagine the guy looking at me in the mirror surrounded by dirty money and drugs. The two absolutely do not connect in my mind.

Reading my thoughts again, he says, “I was a different person when I was there. During the day, I was the man standing right here.” He makes a sweeping motion in front of his body. “On poker night, I was someone different. The moral compass my mom pounded into me flew out the window. Sure, I didn’t touch the drugs, but that was only because I wanted to stay sharp to win as many hands as possible. My friend, high out of his mind, started losing money. They will let you borrow money, but it comes at a high cost.”

Liam sighs, coming up behind me when I finish the last curl. He brushes my hair to one side, kissing my neck, breathing me in. “Don’t think differently of me. I don’t like the person I became in there.”

I look at him in the mirror. “I don’t, Liam. I’m terrified that you were in some dangerous underground thing with scary guys, but I know who you are.” I turn toward him, laying my hand on his chest. “You’ve shown me who you are and I’m happy I get the chance to learn more.” Standing on my tiptoes, I kiss him on the mouth. He breaks the kiss, going back to leaning against the wall while I start my makeup.

“So, my friend borrowed too much money, kept losing. He was in debt in his own life. He took out credit cards in his wife’s name, maxing them out at ATMs, maxing himself out with the crime family. When the debt with the family was due and he couldn’t pay, he was beaten pretty badly, among some other things I’d rather not fill your head with.”

He looks at me, pleading to not make him tell me exactly what happened to that other man. I give him a small nod. I don’t need the gory details of this other man, just of the one I’m falling for. Falling for? How can I fall for someone I’ve only known a few weeks? But, there it is. I am falling for him.

“I still don’t know how to this day, but he convinced the family that I agreed to take on his debt.”