Page 53 of Darkest Game

“No. It’s… it’s Liam’s shirt. Liam O’Connor. My… husband.”

All the color drains from my mom and sisters’ faces.

“Your husband?” Mom demands.

“It’s a long story. But I was forced to marry Liam because of his boss, Jack Finnigan. He wanted to make Mikhail and Nico suffer by making me one of them.”

Natalya turns to Mikhail. “Is Liam dead?”

“No. We couldn’t find him and Irina really wanted to come home. I didn’t want to keep her in a position of danger any longer so we left.” His eyes flick to me, silently asking me questions. “I’m sure Irina wants to settle back in. We can talk more later.” He heads to his office. I know Mikhail wants to know why I tried to spare Liam’s life.

I’m still wondering that myself.

But deep down, I know it’s because Liam didn’t have to save me the way he did. He could have easily let Jack have me. Couldhave easily let all those other men have me. But he chose to save me time and time again. How can I not be affected by that?

“Are you hurt?” Mom asks.

“No. I’m fine. A bath would be nice.”

“A bath is coming right up.” She leaves, motioning for Ana to come with her, leaving me and Natalya alone.

“You would tell me if you actually got hurt, yes?” she asks.

“I’m fine. I promise. I wasn’t raped, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

Some of the tension leaves her body. “That’s good. That’s great. I never wanted you to have to face that kind of pain.”

“Liam saved my life.”

She stares at me with wide eyes. “He what? He’s the reason you were taken in the first place.”

“He… was. But he also saved my life when he didn’t need to.”

“Irina… it almost sounds like you’re trying to defend him.”

“He is my husband.”

“No. He’s not.” Her tone speaks to no disagreements. “He forced you into that marriage. When Mikhail kills him, you’ll be free of him. Now, come on. Let’s get you into that bath so you can relax.”

I want to tell Natalya that I’m not sure I do want to be free of Liam. The reality is, I want to see him again. But I know that Natalya won’t understand so I choose to remain quiet and follow her upstairs to the bathroom.

Liam

I make it back to my nightclub where my right hand guy, Jimmy is in the office, looking over the books.

“Liam?” He scrambles to his feet. “I haven’t heard from you for the past few days. Are you ok?”

“Got married,” I say as I grab a spare shirt from my desk and slip it on. “Killed Jack Finnigan. And now his wife is hunting me down. We need to go after her. Elaine Finnigan. She keeps escaping me before I get the chance to kill her and it’s very inconsiderate.”

“Wow. Um… that’s a lot of info.”

“Then process it and then help me. We need to end her life.”

“Hold on. If you’re married, where’s your wife? Who is your wife?”

I hesitate but Jimmy needs to know everything. “Irina Petrov. Jack made me marry her. But Mikhail and Nico found her and brought her back home. It’s where she belongs.”

“Even though she’s your wife?”