Page 19 of Liam (R.I.S.C. Delta Team #5)

“What’s going on, brother?”

Liam looked up from his usual seat at the table in time to see Jagger plopping his ass down in the chair to his right. In typical fashion, the well-dressed man looked like he’d come straight from a GQ fashion shoot.

Skinny jeans. Dark blue, slightly fitted button-down shirt. Hell, the guy’s leather dress shoes were fancier than anything Liam owned.

Probably more expensive, too.

If this were a typical day, he’d already be razzing the other man about how much money and effort he put into his appearance. The guy seriously spent more time on his hair than any woman Liam knew.

But this day was anything but typical, so chose to remain quiet. He was too on-edge, and there were too many conflicting thoughts and emotions warring inside him to be in the mood to joke.

So instead, Liam went with a jut of his chin and a low-muttered, “Hey,” before looking back down at his phone.

He’d spent the last several minutes blindly scrolling through social media, not reading half of what had rolled past his screen. It was a choice made out of desperation. An attempt to silence the second-guessing thoughts in his head.

From the guilt he felt for leaving Allison and Maddie behind to obsessing over that mind-blowing kiss, Liam couldn’t seem to get his anxious thoughts under control. He hadn’t felt this keyed up in a long damn time, and he wasn’t sure how to deal.

“What crawled into your cornflakes this morning?”

Liam looked away from his phone to the man at his right. “What do you mean?”

“What do you mean, what do I mean?” Jagger looked back at him as if he were insane. “I’ve been sitting here for well-over sixty-seconds, and you haven’t said a word about my clothes or my hair.”

Leaning back in the red leather chair that matched all the rest, Jagger crossed an ankle over one knee and rested both hands behind his head.

“So let me get this straight.” Liam swiveled his chair around so that he was facing the other man head-on. “Someone doesn’t shit about your appearance, that equates to there being something wrong?”

“Someone? No.” Jagger huffed out a laugh. “You? One hundred percent.”

Liam opened his mouth, to say what, he wasn’t sure. Mostly because his teammate was right. Some of the guys on their team were masters at compartmentalizing and keeping their emotions in check.

Not him.

As much as he wished it wasn’t the case, he’d always worn his feelings like a badge of freaking honor. Despite his efforts to the contrary, he apparently still put that shit right out in the open. And as usual, Jagger didn’t miss a thing.

No point in denying it. He’ll just keep at you until you cave.

With that in mind, Liam drew in a deep breath, exhaling slowly before relenting and telling his friend the truth.

“I don’t like that Allison and her daughter are at my place and I’m not there.”

“You afraid she’ll go snooping and stumble upon your porn stash? Tell me where it is, and I can run over there real quick and?—”

“What?” Liam shot his own incredulous look. “No, you idiot. I’m worried something’s going to happen to them while I’m gone.”

“Oooh. Okay. That makes sense.” The other man nodded solemnly. A beat later, Jagger offered his services again. “But seriously” He leaned in closer. “If you tell me where it is, I can make sure it’s never found.”

“You’re an asshole, you know that?” Liam swiveled his chair back to its original position.

“Ah, come on, Cutler. You know I’m just messin’ around.”

Yeah, he did. Of course, he did. But that didn’t change the fact that Liam was on edge with worry for the mother and daughter he’d come to care for a great deal.

“The wives are there, right?” Jagger resumed the conversation a few minutes later.

“Meg, Ro, and Raegan,” he listed off those who’d been available to help.

“Raegan’s there?” The other man waved the concern away. “Anything goes down while you’re gone, that woman will take care of business.”

Meg was married to Christian, and Ro was Brody King’s wife. Meg owned a coffee shop not far from the Delta Team office, and Ro ran her own personal marketing business from home.

Raegan Rockland, however, was a former Army M.P. After helping authorities take down a major terrorist network right here, in the Windy City, she followed her dream and joined the FBI. Her promotion to Special Agent recently came through.

“It’s not that I’m doubting Raegan’s abilities,” Liam clarified.

“Then what?”

“I don’t know.” Yes, you do. “I mean, it’s been me watching over Allison and Maddie from day one.”

Jagger’s dark brows dipped inward. “Day one? Brother, it’s been like, what…less than a week ?”

“I get that, but I?—”

“You what?” The other man waited. “Ah, hell.”

Liam frowned. “What?”

“Dude.” His teammate lowered his voice. “Did you sleep with her?”

Without hesitation, he bit back a harsh, “No, I didn’t sleep with her.” His gaze rounded the room to make sure no one else was listening.

“But something happened.”

Hell yeah, it did. And he couldn’t stop wishing it would happen again.

“We kissed.”

Jagger didn’t respond right away, his expression that of a man who was waiting for more. “ And? ” he finally asked after a stretch of silence passed.

“And nothing.” Liam shrugged. “She came into my office, we were talking about her case, and the next thing I know…we’re kissing.”

“So. How was it?”

Incredible.

Amazing.

The best kiss I’ve ever had in my entire thirty-two years.

He inhaled deeply before blowing out a long, steady breath. “It was pretty great, actually.”

There. He’d said it. And then, Liam waited.

He fully expected his teammate to start rambling off all reasons why he and Allison should keep things platonic.

Things like “Don’t shit where you eat”, or “When emotions get involved things get messy”.

Or even worse, “Starting a relationship with her while she was still technically married to Gallo would be a really bad look.”

Jagger, however, said none of those things. Instead, the man dropped his foot back to the floor, wheeled himself closer to the table, and said, “Well, there ya go.”

That was it. That was all the frustrating man said.

“There ya go?” Liam repeated. “That’s your big advice?”

“Would you rather I lay a bunch of bullshit at your feet?”

“I’d rather you tell me I’m an idiot for getting involved with a client.”

A smart, sweet, gorgeous client with an amazing little girl.

“You’re kidding, right?” Jagger’s brown eyes searched his. “You do remember the circumstances in which four of our teammates found love…right?”

“That’s different.”

“Uh…nope. I’m pretty sure it’s not.”

“Christian and Megan have known each other since they were kids. Same with Brody and Ro.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll give you those two.” Jagger sighed. “But what about Rocky and Cade?”

John “Rocky” Rockland met Raegan when she rented the house next door to his. Technically, Cade met Kerrigan two years ago, but the two didn’t become romantically involved until she became the target of a serial killer.

“Their wives weren’t Delta Team clients, either,” he argued back.

“Client, shmient. All four of those relationships started after the guys stepped into a protector role. Just like the one you’re currently in now. Besides, didn’t you tell me she isn’t actually paying for our services?”

“She will, once this mess with her asshole husband is sorted out.”

Or Tommy Gallo is dead.

“My point”—Jagger continued—“is that if your girl hasn’t paid us anything or signed any sort of contract, then she’s not really a client, is she?”

Son of a bitch. He was right. But that was a matter of simple semantics.

“She’s still married.”

“Not by her choice.”

It wasn’t the first time Liam had considered the argument. Truth be told, he agreed with Jagger.

As far as he was concerned, Tommy Gallo ended his marriage to Allison the first time he touched her in anger. The abusive prick also forfeited any rights he’d previously had—as a husband and father.

The only problem was, “I don’t know how Allison feels about all that.”

“You said the kiss was great,” Jagger reminded him. “So I’m assuming she kissed you back?”

And then some. “We sort of kissed each other.”

“Then I revert back to my original statement of…there ya go.”

A few more minutes passed while they waited for the rest of the team to arrive. Liam used the time to think about all his teammate had said.

By the time the whole gang was present, and the unscheduled meeting was about to begin, he’d come to a decision about him and Allison, and how they should proceed moving forward.

He looked to the man who was probably his closest friend with a hushed, “Thanks, man.”

“Any time, brother.” Jagger flashed him a knowing smirk.

One hour and forty-seven minutes later, Liam was walking back into his home. A round of rambunctious laughter greeted him as soon as he opened the door.

“I’m not kidding!” Raegan Rockland put a palm up to to emphasize the claim.

Christian’s wife Megan chuckled with disbelief. “So the guy actually pooped his pants?”

“And peed,” Raegan confirmed. “The perp had spent like ten minutes mouthing about how big and bad he was, and how much money his parents had, and how we were all going to be sorry. But as soon as he lashed out and tried punching me in the face, my partner tazed the shit out of him and he went down like a sack of potatoes.”

“Nasty, rotten potatoes.” Aurora “Ro” King playfully pinched her nose.

The room erupted once more as Liam’s gaze zeroed in on Allison. She was sitting in his favorite recliner, laughing right along with the other women in the room.

Her smile erased all remnants of his earlier fear. Not only had she remained safe in the care of Raegan and the others, but the enticing blonde looked…happy.

She looked his way, and he could’ve sworn there was an extra little twinkle in her eye when she spotted him. He tried not to put too much weight into it. Did his best not to let himself believe it had appeared simply because of him.