Page 94 of Between Secrets and Obsession

“His father’s.” Liam swallows hard. “JJ stole the money and needed to replace it before anyone noticed.”

“Oh shit.”

“His dad’s a scary man,” he explains. “A multimillionaire who runs a lot of big-time deals in Vegas.”

“Deals? What’s that mean?”

Liam licks his lips, lowering his eyes as if he’s afraid to say it. “His father is a mob boss.”

“What?” I shriek. “Like…themafia?”

Liam nods. “His name is Johnny O’Leary. Irish mobster.”

“Oh my God,” I gasp. “JJ didn’t tell you that beforehand?”

“No.”

“So…” I try piecing all the information together. “How does that relate to you marrying Victoria?”

“She’s Johnny’s only daughter and basically a mafia princess. But she wants out of the family business and the only way for her to do that is to get her trust fund.”

“And that involves you how?”

“She’ll get it either when she gets married or she has to wait until she turns thirty. She’s only twenty-one and nine years is too long for her. She wants the money and her freedom now.”

“So that’s why it’s arranged…” I say, and Liam confirms with a nod, but I’m still confused. “Butwhyyou? Couldn’t she have married anyone? And why would you agree to it in the first place?” My mind goes crazy as I try to understand all this.

“Technically, yes. However, an opportunity came up, and she took it, and it’s the reason I didn’t have much of a choice.”

“Meaning what, Liam? Just…say it.” He’s still holding back.

“After I lost the money and JJ told me the truth, I ran. I didn’t have enough cash to pay it back. I flew home and ignored JJ’s messages for months while I tried to figure this shit out. I worked extra jobs and sold some things. Then he added interest and claimed the clock was ticking. I’d hoped they’d give me more time, but then a couple of months later, your picture arrived with that note on the back.

“Threatening to hurt you was how they got me back to Vegas. They knew where I was and who I lived with. I couldn’t risk them coming after you or anyone else in my life. I texted JJ and he agreed to meet me so we could make a deal. But once I arrived, I realized he set up and got my ass kicked by Johnny’s bodyguards. They tied me up, then put a gun in my face. He was seconds from pulling the trigger when Victoria barged in, begging him to stop because I was her lover. She saved my goddamn life.”

“She stopped him?”

“JJ told her what was happening and she barged in at the last fucking second. Victoria told her dad we were together and engaged to get married soon. That’s when he lowered his gun and asked me if it was true. I agreed because hell, I didn’t want to die. Once we were alone, she revealed why she did it, and I was willing to do whatever she wanted in return for saving my life. I don’t know how she planned to get her trust fund before that, but I owed her either way.”

“Wow…” I exhale slowly. “That’s a lot to digest.”

“It’s embarrassing as hell that I got myself into this situation and the last thing I wanted was for you to be involved.”

I grab his hand and squeeze. “That week you came home from Vegas all beat up, you said a fugitive did that to your face. It wasn’t, was it?”

He shakes his head. “Johnny’s men bruised my fucking ribs and gave me double black eyes. That’s when JJ set me up.”

“Jesus.” Now knowing what Liam’s been through has tears filling my eyes. My heart aches that he’s had to keep this to himself.

“I should’ve shut the hell up when Johnny antagonized me, but then his bodyguards showed me a live feed of you, and I lost my shit.”

“They had footage of me?”

“Yes, and I knew they weren’t messing around. The mob doesn’t think twice about threatening loved ones in your life if they think it’ll get them what they want, which is exactly what he did. He’d been watching me,us.They knew you were important to me after stalking me for several days. Saw the way I drove you around, how we interacted, and knew we were roommates. It was easy to see we had…something, which is why you were the target. Maddie, they followed you around campus. It was terrifying.” His voice hitches and a cold shiver runs up my spine.

“So…if Johnny thought we were together, why would he believe that you love his daughter and were getting married?”

“I downplayed what you meant to me and said you were my roommate’s little sister and that we were only friends. He bought it after Victoria was persistent about our relationship. The deal was that after we got married, they’d leave you alone but?—”