Chapter Seven
“Jesus. Vivien.”
Liam didn’t remember crossing the room; the next thing he knew he was kneeling beside her prone body. She lay facedown on the floor, her normally perfect hair spilling out of its pins around her face, hiding her features from view. Her back moved up and down steadily with each breath. Aside from the fact that she was unconscious, it didn’t appear as though anything was wrong with her. All her clothes looked to be in place, except for one pointy-heeled shoe that must have slipped off when she’d fallen.
Carefully, he turned her over, sucking in a sharp breath when he saw the trickle of blood running down her porcelain forehead.
“Vivien. Come on, you gotta wake up.”
“Oh God. Is she okay?” Greer’s voice came from beside him, but Liam didn’t bother to look away from Vivien, searching for some sign of life. “What happened? Shit. I shouldn’t have left her alone up here so late.”
“I don’t know what the hell is going on tonight,” Eli said. “And it’s really starting to piss me off. No signs of forced entry here, either. Damn it. Is she okay?”
“I’m awake, you idiots. I’ve been awake. My head just hurts—a lot.” Big green eyes widened in momentary fear and disorientation. “What happened? Is he still here?”
“Hey, hey. It’s okay. It’s just me, Greer, and Eli.” He helped her sit up. “Is who still here?”
Vivien reached up to touch her head where the blood still oozed out of the cut and winced. “Um. Greer was here. Then she left and I went back to work. But I needed a break, so I went out for a few minutes—maybe five, ten minutes? I came back in and—there was a tall guy. In black. He—was surprised to see me. I went for my phone to call for help. Before I could dial 911, he hit me with something and all I could see was pain. What time is it?”
“Almost ten.” Eli knelt beside them, offering her a tissue for the cut. “My guys have called in the police. I’m going to get a bus out here to check out the cut on your forehead.”
Vivien tried to shake her head, but Liam caught her wincing again. “No. I don’t need the paramedics. I’m fine. How did someone get in? What were they after? Is anything missing?”
“We don’t know yet,” Liam said, keeping an arm wrapped lightly around her shoulders, not trusting her balance. “But you are not fine. Looks like he beaned you across the head pretty good.”
“It’s nothing,” Vivien insisted. “I need to be here. It’s my responsibility.”
A harsh bark of laughter erupted from Greer. “You’re so freaking stubborn. For once in your life can you let someone else do something? This isn’t a damned business meeting. You were hurt. Someone broke in. Last time I checked, you aren’t a security expert. And I’m calling the company doctor. He lives just off campus.”
Eli turned Vivien’s face toward him. “Does your head hurt?”
“N—” She paused, and her shoulders slumped under Liam’s arm. “Yes.”
“Follow my finger.” Eli slowly moved his finger in front of Vivien’s eyes. He studied her for a minute, still stone-faced.
Liam didn’t like that look. “What is it?”
“I’m no doctor, but I’ve got enough field medic training to know she’s got at least a mild concussion. The cut looks worse than it is because it’s a head wound, but I still recommend letting the paramedics or the doctor check you out.” Eli stood, gently guiding Greer to her feet as well, his arm lingering around her waist. “The last thing you want is for a serious brain injury to go undiagnosed.”
Liam carefully removed his arm from around Vivien’s shoulders and stood. Before she could say another word, he scooped her into his arms.
The weight of her body felt good in his arms, and the faint scent of her perfume, a cross between floral and citrusy, did more to ease his earlier panic than anything else.
“You’re seeing Doc Barnes. End of discussion. There’s nothing you can do about the break-in right now. Eli and his people will work with the police to determine what exactly happened tonight. First thing in the morning, we can regroup and debrief.”
Greer hurried to grab the door for him as he strode out of the office, but he didn’t miss the shock on her face. It mirrored the expression on her sister’s. He bit his tongue. Yes, he was usually Mr. Easygoing. Didn’t mean he couldn’t get shit done when the situation called for it. He was done with stubborn—no pigheaded—women. So, so done.
…
Vivien’s head throbbed out a beat steady enough to make Ringo Starr weep with envy, but she still came up with a litany of curses to throw at Liam Hale as he carried her through the darkened halls of MT and into the elevator. Two things kept her from letting them loose.
One, the genuine concern and worry in her sister’s usually hostile gaze.
And two, the stubborn—okay and sexy—look on her captor’s face.
He’d put up with a lot of shit from her the last couple weeks, and it looked as though he’d reached his limit. Once again, he was stepping in to take care of her. Three times now he’d done this, and damn, if it didn’t make her knees a little wobbly.
She hated feeling so weak. She wasn’t the helpless, damsel-in-distress type. She’d taken self-defense classes as soon as she got her first apartment in New York. She’d visited some of the most politically volatile countries in the world and come home without a scratch. Hell, she hadn’t been sick since college.
And she certainly didn’t depend on a man to take care of her. Then again, none of the men she knew would physically carry her out of a building. How the hell was a scrawny nerd boy able to carry her through the halls like this? And why did the knowledge that he could send heat to her girly bits?
Being this close to Liam was not doing a damn thing to help her regain her equilibrium. If the muscles bulging under his T-shirt weren’t enough, the citrusy undertones of his soap sent her already addled sense reeling.
“I can walk, you know,” she muttered, hoping Greer wouldn’t hear.
Liam let out a soft snort. “Yeah, I could see that from the way you could barely sit up without wincing. Give it up, Monroe. You’ve got a war wound, and we’re getting it looked at.”
By the time they got to the lobby, men in MT security uniforms were leading police officers into the building. A man in an ill-fitting suit stopped them before they made it to the door.
“I’m Detective Yang from Dallas PD. One of you in charge here?”
“I—” She started to speak, but Liam cut her off.
“Ms. Monroe is the acting CEO, but as you can see, she was injured during the break-in. You’ll want to talk to Eli Williams, Head of Corporate Security. He’s in the executive suite on the sixth floor where Ms. Monroe was attacked. Greer, can you show him the way?”
Although she wanted to smack him upside the head for his high-handed behavior, Vivien was grateful that he sent her sister away. Walking the tightrope of their sisterly dynamics was the last thing she wanted to deal with right now. The bright lights from the lampposts and police cars outside burned her eyes, so she shut them as soon as they stepped outside.
“I really can walk,” she insisted. “You’re going to hurt your back. I’m not exactly a featherweight. And you’re not the most coordinated guy I’ve ever met. You almost fall over your dog at least three times a day.”
Liam just kept walking. “I’m fine. I promise I won’t trip over my own feet. Also, there’s not a damn thing bad about your body. I can think of a lot of women who would kill for curves like yours.”
She fought the urge to bury her blushing face in his shoulder at the backhanded compliment. “What are you even doing here? Shouldn’t you be at home playing video games or walking your dog?”
“Someone keeps adding work to my to-do list that doesn’t need to be there because she doesn’t know how to relax.” He frowned and paused mid-stride. “I forgot about Flynn. He’s still in my office. Remind me to text Greer to get him once I get you to the doc.”
She struggled against him a little. “Put me down and go take care of your poor dog. He’s probably scared out of his mind. I’m fine.”
“Forget it. I’m ninety-nine percent positive Jed will come back from the dead to kick my ass if I don’t make sure his daughter is taken care of after finding her unconscious in her office.” Liam let out a sigh of relief as the ambulance drew up along the curb in front of the building. He carried her over and waited for the paramedics to open up the rear doors.
“My dad wouldn’t kick your ass even if he were alive. He sure as hell wouldn’t do it over me.” She put more conviction behind the words than she felt as she’d never seen her father react to her being hurt or ill, at least not since her mom died.
Thankfully, Liam didn’t argue with her. Instead, he began to explain what had happened to the paramedics, the words flying between him and the older of the two men faster than laser fire in his latest video game.
When he finally set her down on the stretcher, she felt oddly cold without his body pressed against hers, despite the fact that it was a June night in Texas. Huh. The throbbing in her head prevented her from dwelling too much on the sentiment, at least for now.
She submitted to the paramedics’ examination and then Doc Barnes—son of the kindly man her father first hired as the company doctor years ago. She tried not to snap at the men as they asked her dozens of questions and took her blood pressure. It wasn’t their fault Liam suddenly decided to turn into an obstinate ass. Never in a million years would she expect him to go all bossy alpha male on her. Eli? Sure. It came with his job description. But Liam? He was supposed to be the quiet one. Yes, he called her on things when he thought she was going too far, but the whole caveman routine from him was way off.
“Looks like a mild concussion. I don’t suppose you’d let us take you to the hospital for some tests?” The doctor raised an eyebrow.
“No. I’m fine. I promise. I—I hate hospitals.” They reminded her too much of her mother and dying and sadness that might be even worse than this pain.
“I can’t force you to go, but I do think it would be best. If you’re insistent and you promise on a stack of Bibles you didn’t lose consciousness, I won’t press the matter.”
“Oh believe me. I was awake the whole time. Wish I wasn’t, but the pain wouldn’t let me lose it.”
“You don’t look like someone who plays high contact sports, so if you’ve got someone at home to wake you up every few hours, then you won’t need to come in to be monitored. I’ll make an appointment for you to see a neurologist in the morning.” Doc Barnes looked at Liam when he said this.
“I’m living with my sister right now, so that shouldn’t be a problem,” she said before Liam could insert himself into her business any further.
He ignored her. “Don’t worry. She’ll be looked after.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” With a shrug, the doctor motioned for the paramedic to bandage the cut on her forehead before motioning that she was free to go.
She thanked him and turned to let loose on Liam for once again being annoyingly high-handed. Her words were stopped by the furry ball of energy that barreled into her legs. Flynn wriggled between her and Liam in full-blown puppy excitement. He didn’t know what was going on, but he’d found his person and that was all that mattered in his little world.
Greer jogged up to them, a slightly sheepish look on her face. “Sorry, Liam. He tugged the leash out of my hand as soon as we got outside.”
“It’s okay.” Liam leaned down to give the dog the attention he craved, making silly little noises and murmuring softly to reassure him. From bossy pain-in-the-ass to soft and gooey in five seconds flat. Vivien might get whiplash to go along with her concussion.
“What’d Doc Barnes say?” Greer asked, directing her question to Liam rather than Vivien.
Rolling her eyes, Vivien crossed her arms over her chest. “They said I have a mild concussion. Since I didn’t lose consciousness, they want me to have someone wake me up every couple of hours tonight, but I can go home as long as I’m not alone.”
“I’m driving you home.” Liam stood, Flynn’s leash in his hand. “We don’t know yet if this was an isolated incident or if they went to the house, too. Flynn and I will stay at Haven tonight and help Greer look after you.”
Vivien wanted to protest, but the relieved expression on Greer’s face pulled her up short. Her sister’s shoulders sagged a little. “Good. Eli wanted me to ask you about that. He says his gut tells him this wasn’t something routine, whatever that means.”
“Who are we to question Eli’s gut?” Vivien was only being a little sarcastic. One of the reasons she recommended Eli for the job was that his instincts for spotting trouble were uncanny. Besides, hers were telling her the same thing.
Speak of the devil. Eli walked up, his stubble-shadowed jaw clenched, his hands coming to rest on the small of Greer’s back in a protective gesture. “Just got word from the detective on scene. Someone tried to break into Haven.”
“What?” Greer’s voice reached an octave that made Vivien’s ears ring a little. “I was just there.”
“Looks like it happened around the same time as the break-in here.” Eli scanned the crowd, the military man in him coming to the forefront. “Bastards coordinated the whole thing.”
Vivien thought she heard Liam cursing under his breath, but she was struggling to focus. “What do you mean they tried to break in? How could they get in here but not at Haven?”
“Whoever attacked her was a professional who likely had help from the inside. They knew our system and how to get in.” Eli and Liam shared one of those guy looks that made Vivien’s blood boil. “The person who went to Haven didn’t have as much insight. They didn’t count on the fact that the gated community had security guards on patrol or that they’d be any good at their jobs. It was good luck the guards drove by, too. It sounds like the front door was left unlocked.”
Turning to Greer, who was leaning into Eli, Vivien narrowed her eyes. “Seriously?”
Surprisingly, her sister didn’t back down. “Back off, Vivi. I locked the door. I swear.”
“Everyone take a breath,” Liam said. “We’ll head back to the house and see what happened before we start biting people’s heads off. Eli, will you drive Greer?”
Everything about these break-ins felt wrong, and not for the usual reasons. Her head hurt too much for her to make sense of it all right now. This was the last thing she needed. The copycat games were bad enough. To have someone attacking them on home turf? It made her sick to her stomach.
Rather than fighting, Vivien let Liam lead her out to his car. The midsize SUV oddly worked for him. She settled herself in the front seat while Liam let Flynn into the back seat and strapped him in with a harness of some sort. “A doggy seat belt? Really?”
“Dogs need seat belts, too.”
Liam pulled the car out of the parking lot, turning toward Haven. Even this close to the city, Vivien could see a few stars scattered across the black sky. The clock on the high-tech dashboard told her it was almost eleven. This whole night was a blur. She should still be in her office, getting work done for the meeting she had with some of her biggest clients the day after she got back to New York. Three days wasn’t enough time to plan for everything. On top of that, she still had to decide who to recommend to the board as her replacement. She didn’t have time for this, damn it.
“The work will still be there when your brains haven’t been scrambled by the tall, creepy bad guy in a mask.”
His words echoed through the silence of the car, and she flinched a little at the sound. “Did I say that out loud?”
“Yup.” He kept his eyes straight ahead. “You’ve had a rough night. I think even your bosses in New York will give you a break since you have a concussion.”
She groaned, or maybe laughed. She couldn’t tell at this point. “You’d think that. I’ve seen people come into work with the flu rather than face the wrath of the partners if you don’t show up. The fact that they’ve given me these two weeks is a miracle.”
“But they didn’t give you two weeks.” Liam’s voice took on an edge. “I’m not well versed in corporate practices, but I’m pretty sure that taking bereavement time doesn’t usually involve you still working your ass off from dawn until midnight.”
“I can’t afford to lose any ground.” Vivien sent up a silent prayer of thanks that Haven was so close to MT. They pulled into the drive behind her BMW. “I have responsibilities that can’t be neglected because my dad got himself killed in a stupid motorcycle accident.”
Liam shut off the motor. “What about your responsibilities to your family? To your sister? Those mean anything to you? There’s more going on here than meets the eye, Vivien, and it’s not going to go away because you hand things over and run back to New York. Your sister needs you. MT needs you. Think about that when you’re going through your list of responsibilities.”
…
Liam and Flynn settled themselves in the guest room closest to Vivien’s bedroom. As soon as they’d gone over the pertinent details with the DPD detectives the private security firm called in, Vivien and Greer both disappeared into their respective rooms. He’d set an alarm to go check on Vivien every two hours per the doctor’s instructions. Adrenaline still coursed through his veins, making sleep a slim possibility for the near future. Briefly, he considered texting Sophia to let her know about the…developments, but he didn’t have the mental fortitude to deal with her tonight.
However, there was one call he had to make or he’d never hear the end of it.
“Liam Andrew Hale. Why am I just now getting a call from you?”
“Sorry, Mama.” Liam tucked the phone under his ear as he opened his laptop and logged into Haven’s wifi. “Tonight’s been a little…insane.”
Diana harrumphed. “From what I saw on the news, that’s an understatement. Are you okay? Is Greer?”
“We’re both fine,” Liam assured her. “Vivien has a minor concussion, though, and I’m staying at Haven to keep an eye on things.”
“Break-ins at MT and Haven? The thought of someone trying to hurt those girls gives me heart palpitations.”
Liam could see his mother pacing her colorful bedroom, probably wearing one of her crazy silk robes.
“Eli and I are on it.” Liam opened up his browser, wanting to do more digging into Viv’s past. He was too wired to sleep anytime soon, so he intended to do what research he could. There was something personal about tonight’s break-ins, and he didn’t want to sit back and do nothing. “There were no signs of forced entry at Haven. Either the door was unlocked or someone had a key. The list of people with keys was short, which made the former option more likely.”
“So, you’re there to keep an eye on things,” Diana mused. “Would things happen to have pretty red hair and been spotted driving away from MT in your car?”
“How do you know I drove her home?” Liam demanded, his Spidey-senses tingling. His mother was up to something.
Diana sighed. “Sweetheart, the local channels had footage up by the end of the ten o’clock news. And one of the detectives interviewed said something about the acting CEO having to be carried out of the building by another executive.”
“Great,” Liam muttered.
“You like this girl.”
Yep, definitely up to something. “She’s a friend, Mama. Maybe not even a friend. She’s my boss.”
“Your very attractive, very single boss from what the internet tells me,” Diana said.
Liam’s stomach flipped. “Jesus. Tell me you didn’t Google her.”
“Of course I did. What kind of mother do you take me for?”
“The kind who doesn’t interfere in her son’s life?” he said hopefully.
Diana chuckled. “It’s not interfering to want you to enjoy yourself, baby boy. All of my research shows she doesn’t normally bring a date to any of the functions covered in Page Six. There’s one man, midforties, she’s pictured with a few times, but nothing serious.”
“Because women like Viv don’t do serious. She’s too sophisticated for that. She has lovers or whatever,” Liam said.
Shaking his head to dismiss the thought of him and Vivien being more than colleagues, he said good night to his mother. Vivien Monroe and relationship didn’t belong in the same sentence, at least not for him.
Legs twitching with restless energy, he checked the time and decided to go ahead and look in on Vivien. Motioning for Flynn to stay on the bed, he made his way through the dark halls. Why in the hell did she get under his skin so much? He’d been genuinely worried about her when he thought something had happened in her office. The relief when she opened her eyes and sassed him in his arms worried him even more. He should not feel this connected to a woman so opposite of what he wanted in a partner.
He tried to imagine how his mentor would react to his protégé sneaking into his oldest daughter’s room in the middle of the night. Jed never struck him as the overprotective-father type, but Greer never showed much interest in dating. She kept to herself and pursued her art rather than trying to snag a guy. He wondered if Jed scared away any of Vivien’s boyfriends when she was a teenager. As much of a knockout as she was now, she had to have been a heartbreaker in high school, too.
Before going to bed, he’d asked Vivien to leave her door open to make it easier for him to check on her. She’d protested, but obviously, she decided to listen to him for once. He stepped into the room, dark save for a small lamp left illuminated on the dresser and the light of a show playing on her iPad—it looked like a cooking show or something. Her phone stood at attention beside it, ready at a moment’s notice.
Liam expected her to be one of those women who slept with the silk mask things and didn’t move an inch in their sleep. Instead, he found her curled in a ball, her arms and one leg wrapped around a large pillow. Released from its usual confined style, her hair spread out around her in snaking tendrils of fire, the color even richer next to the white of the sheets and the cream of her skin.
Speaking of her skin…the pajamas she wore—if you could call them that—set his blood ablaze, even in the dim light. The dark-blue shorts must have ridden up when she cuddled the pillow because a large expanse of sleek thigh gleamed in the lamplight, sending his brain darting down trails it definitely didn’t need to go down. One strap of the silky camisole fell precariously off her shoulder, threatening to give him a glimpse of the full swell of her breast.
He took a seat on the bed beside her. His eyes drifted down to her lips and her messy red hair. What would she do if he leaned down and kissed her, burying his hands in that wild hair? He could never tell where he stood with her. It would be so easy to test her reaction. She’d be warm from sleep, and she’d probably taste as sweet as she smelled.
Steeling himself against his baser instincts, he reached out and gently shook Vivien’s shoulder, moving his hand back the instant she started to stir. A frown marred her forehead as she tried to shake off sleep.
“Liam? What the hell are you doing in my room? On my bed?” Her voice, rusty as a steampunk corset, sent another jolt of awareness through him.
He told himself to stop imagining what that voice would be like to wake up to every morning. Focus. She had a concussion, for God’s sake. “I’m supposed to wake you up every few hours to make sure you’re not dead, remember?”
“Oh.” She sat up a little, tugging the loose strap up her shoulder. “Right. Well, as you can see, I’m alive and well.”
“You feel okay? No dizziness? Nausea?”
She groaned. “No. My head feels like it was whacked with a baseball bat, but other than that I’m fine.”
“You sure?” He reached out and stroked her hair back to get a better look at the bump on her head.
Wincing, she nodded. “Yes. Was there something else you needed? Or did you just come in here to bug me?”
“You scared me, Viv. When I saw you on the floor—” His voice caught in his throat, suddenly feeling like the little kid who’d lain awake on the nights after his dad blew out of town again, scared that he’d lose his mom, too.
To his surprise, her hand came up to stroke his cheek, heat following the path of her slim fingers. “Hey. I’m okay. I promise. I’ve got a hard head.”
Unable to help himself, Liam leaned forward. He took his time, giving her a chance to pull back, her breath mingling with his. When she didn’t, he settled his mouth against hers. He kept the touch soft, easy, sipping and tasting rather than devouring her like every cell of his body screamed for him to do. As much as he might want her, tonight was not the night to push his luck. This kiss was about reassurance, about letting himself feel that she really was here and not still crumpled on the floor all alone. She returned his kiss uncertainly, her hand stealing into his hair.
His tongue teased hers, his hands stealing along the curves of her arms, then up her silk-clad side. It’d be so easy to push aside the straps of her camisole and cup her bare breasts in his hands. They’d be more than a handful—he didn’t doubt that for a minute—and the color of the sweet cream ice cream he’d favored as a child.
Jesus. The feel of her thumb rubbing the skin behind his ear had his blood pounding straight to his cock. He wanted her hands all over him, driving him insane with need before taking him over the edge in the silky warmth between her legs.
Then, as soon as the kiss started, she pulled away. For a moment, she stared at him, her breath coming in shallow pants. “What was that?”
“That was a kiss,” he replied, watching her carefully.
“I know that, nerd boy.” She moved back against the headboard, shoving her hands through her sleep-tousled hair. He thought he caught a gleam of desire in her eyes, but her mask of cool indifference slipped back into place. “It can’t happen again. We’re… We can’t go there.”
She was right, of course, but it didn’t take any of the sting out. That kiss rocked something inside him, something that scared him even more than the sight of her on the floor. He wanted her. Maybe even needed her. He hadn’t needed a woman this much in a long time—maybe ever. Her body pressed against his felt irrationally right. Shit, he needed to get out of here before he did something incredibly stupid.
Clearing his throat, Liam nodded, ignoring the odd mix of awkwardness and tension. “Okay. So… I’ll just go back to my room then. See you in a few hours.”
Damn it. He needed to get his head on straight. Kissing her was a seriously dumb move. She didn’t want to stay, but the thought of her leaving pissed him off. As he settled into the bed, his dog curling up beside him, it slowly sank in. He wanted Vivien to stay, and it went beyond the professional benefits to having her stick around. No matter what he told himself, his thoughts were drawn to her, his body responded to her in a way he hadn’t experienced in a long time—maybe ever. That kiss wasn’t going to help matters any.
The last woman he dated didn’t even begin to hold his interests half as much as Vivien did. That woman—Robin—should have been perfect for him. A computer science professor at SMU, she understood what he did and was looking for long term, but she bored him to tears. Hell, not even Sophia had held his interests as much as Viv did. But Vivien Monroe was all wrong for him. So why the hell did he want her so much?