Page 149 of Cruel When He Smiles

Still, I don’t let him off that easily. “So, this loyalty… what does that actually look like for you two?”

A corner of his mouth lifts, but it’s humorless. “It looks like him keeping me alive more times than I can count. Talking me down when I’ve had a blade or a gun in my hand and too many reasons to use it. Pulling me out when I’ve gone too far in my head. Making sure no one else got the chance to put me in the ground.”

That’s… a lot.

“And for him?” I ask quietly.

Liam’s gaze doesn’t waver. “For him, it’s me keeping him from killing our father before we were ready. Talking him down from his own shit when it gets too close to boiling over. Making sure he doesn’t end up in a cell or worse when his temper takes over. He’s the only person I’ll never cross, Nate. Because he’s the only one who’s never crossed me.”

I stare at him, the pieces rearranging in my head. This isn’t just family. It’s not even just loyalty. It’s mutual survival in its purest form.

“Sounds… intense,” I say finally, because I don’t know how else to summarize what he’s just laid out.

“It is,” he says simply, like there’s no point pretending otherwise. “We came from the same rot, and we both learned early that nobody was coming to save us. So, we saved each other. We still do.”

There’s a part of me that wants to push more, to ask about the funeral, about the kind of shit that would make them both swear their lives to each other in ink at seventeen. But I can tell from the set of his jaw that this is as much as I’m going to get right now.

I think about the tattoo again, running my tongue along the inside of my cheek. “Guess that explains why he looked at me like he’s trying to decide if I’m worth not killing.”

Liam’s mouth curves slightly. “That’s because he is. Killian doesn’t trust easily, and you’re… complicated.”

“Complicated?” I raise a brow. “That your nice way of saying I’m a pain in the ass?”

He actually lets out a quiet laugh, the sound low and quick. “You’re both.”

I can’t help smirking at that, even though part of me is still chewing on everything he just said. “So, you’re saying if I piss him off too much, he might actually make good on those looks?”

“Not if I tell him not to.”

“And you would?” I tilt my head, watching him.

His eyes stay locked on mine. “Every time.”

There’s something in the way he says it that pushes down the last of the stupid spiral I’d been working myself into. “You could’ve just said that,” I tell him after a moment, my tone a little lighter now.

“You wouldn’t have believed me without the details,” he says. “And I’m not in the habit of giving those unless someone earns them.”

I huff out a laugh, shaking my head. “You make everything sound like a test.”

“Everything is a test,” he says, smirking faintly. “And you’re doing better than most.”

I let the silence stretch again, then I can’t help but pout. “Still not sure how I feel about you both having matching tattoos.”

His smirk sharpens. “You jealous?”

“I was, yeah. Thought maybe there was more to it than you were saying.”

“Would it matter if there was?” he asks, his voice dropping.

“It would’ve,” I admit. “But now… I get it now. And besides, my birthday is September 13th, so there’s another reason for you to love the number.”

He tilts his head, studying me for a long moment before speaking again. “Hmmm, guess thirteen is indeed my lucky number,” he says without missing a beat. Then, leaning forward slightly, his eyes catch mine with that soft dominance he uses when he wants something from me. “Now, stop thinking about Killian and focus on me.”

I raise a brow, but he’s already smirking again, and I realize that as much as I’d been spiraling five minutes ago, he’s already pulled me out of it without me noticing.

And I hate how easily he can do that.

Liam