Page 96 of Fighting With Light

“I understand, Liam. Plus, I feel like if the handcuffs didn’t freak me out, stalking me in Hawaii and not doing anything wouldn’t scare me off, either.”

“Yeah, but…well, I was being a creep. Granted, it was for a valid reason, but now we’re…” he trails off.

I don’t want him to say it, either.

“We’re in a temporary relationship to work together to take down our fathers? Yeah, I know. To be honest, I would have done the same to you if I were put in the same position.”

“Do you think he knows?” Liam asks.

“My father?” I ask him.

He nods, eyes studying me.

“I haven’t checked in, and neither has Ben as often since I have his phone. He’s probably starting to suspect something. But it wouldn’t surprise me if he finds out when we go to Colombia.”

“Why?” he asks me.

I shrug. “Call it intuition, and I sort of forgot to…Whoops.”

He looks down at me with crumpled eyebrows. “Is there something I don’t know?” Liam asks.

My heart surges, and I feel like I could puke. Not only are we temporary, but if my father is not imprisoned for all he’s done, then I’ll be married off the next day, and he will hunt Liam down like an animal. And if it’s not my father who will force a marriage, I know my brothers could push for it because it’s good business. Though I might be more apt to sway them to why they shouldn’t marrymeoff, and they should do the marrying instead. Then again, that would mean two of the three have to stop womanizing.

“No, nothing,” I sigh.

Liam seems to accept that answer, but I’m sure he’s thinking about every conversation and every kernel of knowledge he has about me. I don’t think he knows about the marriage, but I’m also not going to be the one to tell him. It would hurt too much.

The sky is beautiful this morning, but I can’t take my eyes off of Liam watching it. God really is an artist, He created Liam.

“So you’re not mad?” he asks.

I shrug in his arms and look back at the sunrise, brightening the world around us. I grab his neck to pull him closer. “Do you think I would be here if I didn’t want to be?” I ask him.

“I’m not sure of anything anymore, Aelia,” he whispers.

“Well, I am,” I murmur against his lips. Before kissing him deeply and thoroughly, he takes it back, claiming control. I relinquish all of mine to him and savor everything I can. And for the moment I pretend we’re on our honeymoon or just traveling on an adventure, happy and in love with no one or nothing to stop us. The dream feels nice, and in this moment, itisreal.

36

Aelia

After we watch thesun rise high above the ocean, Liam carries me back to our villa. I lay across the bed while Liam focused on his phone.

“Hey, Liam?”

“Yeah, babe?”

“How long are we going to stay here before going back to California?” I ask him.

“We can chill here for a few more days to gather as much information as we can before we get to Colombia.”

“Oh, well, I don’t know how much you’re going to be able to get.” Colombia feels like a bad idea, but I keep my mouth shut.

“Neither do I, but we have to keep trying. The guns, the lack of serial numbers, and a shipping port won’t be good enough to open an investigation into a Congressman. At best, it’s murky,” he says.

“Yeah, I get that,” I sigh. I get up from my chair, grab some shorts and a t-shirt to get changed. It’s time to get back to work.

We continue looking for multiple needles in all the haystacks that we can find. Secretly, I’m hoping that we find something that will keep us from having to go to Colombia. Every time I think about it, I get a bad feeling in my gut. I was excited, but reality has set in. Now I don’t want to go, and I’m hoping we find what we need right here, safe in El Salvador.