Page 14 of Cruel Debts (Killers of Port Wylde #4)

TWELVE

TRINITY

“Oh, no. No, no no no no, not happening, no way, no fucking way.”

I watched Liam pace the floor, his shirt still hanging over his shoulder as he carded his fingers through his hair. Stress was written in every line on his face, and as much as I wanted to laugh, I couldn’t. My throat was closed off, refusing to emit a single sound.

Words were beyond me.

He spun on a heel and pointed at me, those gorgeous eyes I’d always admired flashing dangerously. “You’re not supposed to be here,” he repeated, looking very much like he might prefer to strangle me than speak to me. “I’m sending you back to your parents before something bad happens to you?—”

I crossed my arms in irritation. “You mean like being kidnapped and forced to paint murals around an entire house in the nude for a month and a half by some crazy dude who’s into trafficking humans? Hate to break it to you, but that ship has sailed.”

“You don’t belong in Port Wylde,” Asher muttered under his breath, his head in his hands. He’d collapsed into a nearby chair at the table, his face pale and sickly once he’d looked at me.

I didn’t think I was that unattractive. I mean, fuck me, man. He hadn’t minded me when I was painting his body?—

Oh my god, I painted Asher in the fucking nude.

Keehn would kill us both.

I’d do it again, given the opportunity.

Hawke, who’d unveiled me, so to speak, had disappeared into his room behind a slamming door when he realized who he’d just agreed to provide protection to.

Couldn’t say that I blamed him, really. He’d never gotten along with me growing up, and I didn’t expect that to change just because a few years had passed.

“Asher, go stash the weapons we cleared out of the spare room in Hawke’s closet,” Liam said suddenly, his eyes burning with a heated glare in my direction that could probably melt steel if given the chance. “I’ll sort this out?—”

“You’d better,” Asher grumbled as he rose from the chair, shot me one more look, and then fled from the room like the hounds of hell were on his heels.

So much for a reunion.

That left me and Liam alone, the two of us, the sassy spitfire and the arrogant asshole.

Hooray for me.

“Sit.” A chair was pulled out for me, but I refused it, preferring instead to perch on the edge of the table.

I was being intentionally difficult, but so what? They were treating me like a fucking leper, like I was some diseased rat here to ruin their whole lives or something.

Hey, it wasn’t like I asked for this shit to happen to me. I just wanted to find my brother, that’s all.

“Talk,” I demanded, arms crossed over my chest as he took the seat Asher had vacated, only a foot and a half from where I was.

“Your parents called me weeks ago,” he admitted, his eyes on the table, perhaps tracing the wood grain. “I told them I’d find you and get you home safe. So when the sun rises, I’m putting you on the first bus back home?—”

“Like hell you are.” I slid off the table, determination coursing through my veins. “I came here to find my brother, dammit, and I’m not leaving until I do. I told my father that, and now I’m telling you.”

I jammed a finger into his chest, still bare, and it must’ve woken up his awareness, because he was quick to throw that tee back on his torso and yank it over his perfectly sculpted abs.

Shame. It was a nice view while it lasted.

“Listen here, little girl, you’re?—”

I slid into his lap, something I’d wanted to do for years now, and threw my hands on his shoulders, forcing him to look at me, or look at my tits—either would get me the desired results, really.

But I’d appreciate the attention on my face.

“I need you to open your fucking ears and listen to me when I say this, Liam, but I’m not going anywhere.

I told my dad that last time I called him, and I’ll tell you the same thing.

You can call them and tell them you found me, but I’m not leaving.

” I leaned in closer, our noses almost touching, and smiled when I heard him suck in a quick breath.

“And I’m not a little girl anymore, big guy.

I paint naked people in a sex club two nights a week for a living. ”

“I’m aware,” he squeaked, clearing his throat to save face.

“Don’t remind me. You shouldn’t be in a place like that, let alone work in one.

” His hands settled on my waist and lifted me carefully from his lap, setting me on the table again.

“Don’t go asking for more trouble, Trinity.

Keehn is dead and gone, and no amount of stubborn bullshit you can pull out of your ass is going to change that. ”

“Did you see a body? Because I didn’t.” Arguing my case with my parents wasn’t as hard as arguing it with a man who I now knew had killed more than just wartime enemies. A man I knew was capable of killing again. Who made murder his profession.

And here I was, pushing his buttons.

Classic. Dangerous. Stupid.

Very, very stupid.

He glanced away, his tone and demeanor telling me he was very much done with this conversation. “Your parents called me. Do you know how worried they had to be to call me?”

He was right, of course. But it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t exactly have my parents’ numbers memorized, and when I lost my wallet and phone in the pickpocketing incident, I was too ashamed to reach out.

But now, the world had presented me with another option.

My grin widened.

“I have a counter-offer.” Sliding off the table, my feet barely made a sound as I walked around the back of his chair, hands sliding over his shoulders seductively, like I’d seen some of the girls in the club do to clients.

“You agreed to find me, and you have. You also agreed to protect the girl from the club. You did not agree to take me home to my parents. My parents must trust you, or they wouldn’t have asked you to find me.

” I gripped his chin and yanked his head back, the top of his scalp nestled between my tits as I stared down at his shocked face.

“So I propose you keep me here, where I’ll be safe. ”

His eyes widened as he stared up at me in abject horror. “Not a chance, Trinity McCoy. Put that bad idea out of your head right now.”

Well, it was worth a shot. I shrugged off his insistence and kept going, trying my damndest to slide back into his lap again.

I knew he wanted me. I’d seen the way all three of them had ogled me in the club.

They only wanted me until they knew I was their best friend’s sister. Then, all of a sudden, I was like poison?

Fuck that.

“Liam, I?—”

In a flash, he was standing, and my back was on the tabletop, hands pressed to the unyielding wood as he leaned over me and made himself as threatening as possible.

“In this place, I’m the Sentry, Trinity.

I’m dangerous.” He leaned closer, his hot breath fanning on my skin, igniting me in all the best ways, though I doubted that was his intention.

“I’m the monster your parents worry you’ll run into in a dark alley.

” Closer still, until his forehead was damn near against mine.

“You’re not safe here, in this dorm, with people like us. ”

I had nowhere else to go, nowhere to run.

Not that I wanted to.

“You’d never hurt me,” I whispered, jutting my chin out to show him just how little concern I had for my safety where he was concerned. “You promised my brother.”

And just like that, the magic words I had expected to turn the tide in my favor were like a bath in ice water on a hot summer day. He stiffened, pulling back like my nearness electrocuted him. The chill in the air was palpable now, thick and heavy and unwanted.

Of course I’d go and fuck it up.

“I’m sending you home, first thing tomorrow,” he grumbled, eyeing me up and down out of the corner of his eyes. “Don’t get comfortable.”

He stormed out before I could even ask him where the fuck I was supposed to sleep.

I sat at the table for damn near an hour before someone came out of their respective rooms and found me there, staring off into space. One might even assume I was breaking down, but what I was really doing was plotting.

I’d broken down already, on the inside. I’d hold myself together as long as I needed to, on the outside. Nobody would see me cry, not this time, not anymore.

I couldn’t argue my case if I was crying for escaping a seriously fucked up situation. Other girls had it worse and were far less lucky than I was. I should be grateful I escaped, grateful that I was lucky.

Instead, I was trying my damndest not to fall apart in front of someone. Anyone.

I was used to being alone. I could handle being alone. What I couldn’t handle was being perceived as the weak, pathetic little girl everyone treated me like.

No more.

Hawke sauntered into the kitchen, skidding to a stop when he clocked me at the table. With a pointed silence, he moved to the fridge and back, disappearing the way he’d come without a single sound to fill the room.

And in his place, twenty or so seconds later, was Asher, this time wearing a shirt, his mood no less irritated than Liam’s.

At least he wasn’t as grouchy, though.

He eyed me warily, half-hooded lids drooping like he was two steps away from sleep. “Why are you still here?”

“Liam hasn’t shipped me off yet.” I huffed a sigh, putting on my best pout. “Asshole.”

“Why would he send you home?” The look on his face was priceless, filled with a mix of confusion and shock.

“Because that’s what my parents hired him to do.”

His expression didn’t falter as he pulled a soda from the pantry, cracking it to pour over a cup of ice. “When the fuck did they hire him?”

That’s interesting. “He didn’t tell you guys?”

Hawke slid into the room, his ears red. Probably burning from eavesdropping around the corner. “No, he did not.”

Uh-oh, Liam. Someone’s in trouble, and this time, it’s not me. “Huh.”