“Like he wasn’t gone these past six years?” I challenge. “I know the magnitude of what we’re dealing with, Liam. That cylinder is a miracle that could become a disaster. What else can you call something the size of a pencil eraser that can power the world with clean energy and still manage to crumble economies and create dictators?”
“That is why he made sure the world believes it’s dead, right along with him.”
“Which is exactly why he won’t risk seeing me and putting us back in danger. And I know you, Liam Stone. You aren’t going to let that happen, either. I just . . . the past seventy-two hours since he dropped this bomb on us has been a whirlwind. I don’t think he had to do this. His creation of the Circle of Trust was enough to protect us. Twelve people who have a piece of a map to find the cylinder and triggers to bring them together. We made suggestions for the Circle but we don’t know who he chose, Liam. And Chad swears he approached them with a fake identity. Make me understand why all of that added up to today.”
His lips thin. “That’s exactly what I asked him three days ago when he handed me this bombshell to pass on to you.”
“And he said what?”
“Too many people connect us to him to be safe,” he explains. “He needed those people to get the message that he was gone and he’d never shared his secret with us.”
“All those responsible for killing my family and hunting us all those years are in jail.”
“The people who hired Chad to find the cylinder in the first place are in jail, true. But Jared and Meg are both missing, completely unaccounted for.”
Everyone my brother trusted betrayed him. It makes me value the trust I have with Liam all the more. “Jared was captured by the Chinese when we gave them the fake prototype.”
“Perhaps promising them our secrets for his freedom. He betrayed us. We can’t trust him.”
“He doesn’t know our secrets.”
“They don’t know that, Amy. The bottom line here is what I just told you: Chad felt that too many people had connected us with him for safety. His objective was to give them all a reason to write us off as potential sources of information.”
His words deliver a hard punch of betrayal I have no choice but to face. “And since he knew all of these things from the moment he came up with the idea of the Circle, he clearly planned his death from the beginning.”
“It would seem that way.”
“He should have been honest with us.”
“I told him that.”
“And his defense was what? Or did he even bother to offer one?”
“He didn’t want you to fight him,” he admits grimly.
I shake my head. “And I would have. How ridiculous is that? I mean, if he doesn’t want to be in my life, then why am I fighting so hard to have him in it?”
“Amy,” Liam says, his voice softening. “Baby. I know this hurts, but this isn’t like the last time. He didn’t fake his death and let you believe he was dead, the way he did six years ago.”
“Because I’d expect him to do just that, and I’d look for him if he had. He’s not a fool, Liam. He knew that. He had to keep me in my place.”
His expression darkens, and as much as I want him to deny that I’m right, he does not. “He’s not gone,” he says instead. “Call him. Hearing his voice will reassure you that this isn’t a repeat of the past.”
“Right now, if I call him and he doesn’t answer, I’ll spend the entire flight worried that I’m never going to see or talk to him again. And if he does answer, I don’t know what I’d say to him.”
“Tell him how you feel.”
“Yeah, well, I’m pretty sure screaming would be involved.”
“I’d say screaming is acceptable.” The engine roars into high gear and the plane begins to move. Liam lifts his hand, which I now realize that I’m clutching, and kisses mine. “The pilot said it’s going to be bumpy taking off. We both need to buckle up.”
I nod and reluctantly release him, fighting the urge to hold on and never let go. Some part of me is afraid he’s going to disappear, like everyone else does in my life. The thought shakes me to the core, and a memory of that horrid casket rips through my mind. That could so easily be Chad’s future, and I wonder if I’d even know. The thought rattles me all over again as I try to fasten my belt. Liam settles into his seat, and he must see me trembling because he reaches over and buckles me in and then covers my hand with his. “Easy, baby.”
I swallow hard. “It’s just . . . it’s been a rough day.”
“I know. Remember what Dr. Murphy told you. Just breathe.”
I inhale and let the breath out, mentally willing myself to calm. “Yes. Breathe. I’m okay.”
“I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. I’ve got you, baby.”
Emotion tightens my chest. “I’ve got you, too,” I reply, because no matter how alpha, how dominant, there’s a broken part of Liam that understands and fits with the broken parts of me.
His eyes are warm and he leans in, his long fingers curving over my jaw. “We have each other,” he promises, his lips brushing mine, lingering when they lift, an electric, warm feeling blossoming between us and stealing a tiny part of my pain. That is, until the stupid plane jerks and we jolt with it, shot back into reality, when Liam is forced to shift back into his seat.
Ridiculously, the small space between us is somehow as giant as the Godzilla I call my enemies and fears. I want to reach for Liam again, pull him back to me and lose myself in all of his strength and calm, but the plane is jostling back and forth and I can’t seem to make myself move. Liftoff comes with back-to-back clusters of shakes and shimmies, but it is nothing compared to the trembling I feel inside. The turbulence continues for a few minutes, fading away even as lightning strikes outside the window, seeming to hit the plane. I am oddly calm at what could be a deadly event, and my one thought is: We won’t die, because I’m here and I don’t die. It’s everyone around me that dies.
Almost as if he has heard me, Liam is suddenly unbuckling my seat belt He pulls me to my feet and sits down in my spot, dragging me across his lap the way he did the night he found me after I’d run away from him. I sink against him, inhaling that rich, male scent I can find arousing one moment, calming in another such as this, letting my head fall to his shoulder. I remember wondering that night: if my life was a book, would readers think I’m a fool for trusting Liam? Now I wonder if they would think I am selfish for staying with him and making this his life.
“AMY.”
Liam’s deep, rich voice wakes me and I blink him into view, finding him kneeling in front of me. Disoriented, I’m shocked to realize that I’m coming out of a heavy sleep. At some point during the flight, Liam seems to have placed me on the couch across from our seats, covering me with a blanket and placing a pillow under my head. “How long have I been out?”
“The entire flight. We’re about to land.”
Groggily, I sit up and stretch, noting his missing suit jacket and the way his tie is yanked down beneath several loose buttons on his shirt. “Did you sleep, too?”
“I’ll sleep when we get home,” he says, leading me back to our seats where we both buckle up, the plane in obvious late descent.
Something about the way he doesn’t look at me and the stiff line of his spine furrows my brow. “You have to be exhausted. We left the Hamptons for the funeral in Texas at the break of dawn this morning.”
Before he can answer, the plane hits the runway, the noise discouraging conversation, and almost the moment the sound softens, his phone rings, and it’s like an alarm going off in my body. Every nerve I possess is instantly alive and unwell and I find myself holding my breath, watching him dig his cell from his pocket, concerned the caller is Chad and I’ll have to talk to him. Worried it’s not. Liam glances at the caller ID, grimacing as he punches the answer button. “Why are you calling me from the front of the plane, Tellar?”
I let out a breath, disappointed, relieved, and angry at Chad all at once. And that only makes me angry at myself. Why fret over a brother who clearly doesn’t want me in his life?