He’d been watching out for her this whole time. God, it sounded as if he had an entire network of casino spies looking out for her.
Liam’s blue eyes were marred by red. “Did he hurt you?”
“Not really. Thanks to you.” She paused, her throat thick and painful. She opened her mouth, wanting to ask how he’d been.
“Don’t. Just don’t. I’m…I’m glad you’re okay.” And without another word, he left her apartment.
When she gave her statement to the police, Liam didn’t stick around. He didn’t call the rest of the night and neither did she. How could she? What could she say?
When her head hit her pillow late that night, her eyes remained wide open, glued to the dark ceiling. She knew the haunted look on Liam’s face would keep her up all night long.
A week later at Percolate, Cynthia walked into the break room, huffing mad. “Jesus. If Fred tells me one more time to smile at those goddamn customers, I will shove a bottle of caramel syrup into his mouth. I don’t care if he is the new manager. I know my goddamn job.”
Kate grinned. “Be patient with the newbies.”
“Says the other newbie.” Cynthia grabbed a copy of the local paper and thumbed through it while Kate had her egg salad sandwich on nutritionally-poor white bread.
To hell with gluten-free. Since seeing Liam, her emotions had been all over the place, and she’d eaten whatever the hell she’d goddamn wanted. If someone offered a Twinkie/bacon sandwich, she’d wolf it down and ask for seconds.
“Wow,” Cynthia said, laying the newspaper on the table. “He really did it.”
“Who did what?”
“You know,” she said, snapping her tattooed fingers, searching for a name. “Hot stuff who owns those casinos. Liam Boyle.”
What? “Doyle. It’s Liam Doyle.”
“That’s it!”
“What’s he done, Cynthia?”
She peered at Kate. “Where’ve you been? It’s been all over the local headlines.”
“What. Has. He. Done?”
“He’s sold all his casinos.” Cynthia made a face. “Fuck me, Kate. You’re in a weird mood. Weirder than usual.”
Kate felt all the blood drain from her face. “What?”
“Hadn’t you heard? He’s been talking to some rich Russian who owns those hot new clubs in New York, Champagne and Liberty. I think he’s Russian. I would totally let that dude fuck me, too.”
As Cynthia prattled on about rumors of Markov being connected to the Russian mob, Kate dropped her sandwich and pushed away from the table.
“Shit. You look like you’ve seen Amy Winehouse’s ghost.”
She stood and whipped off her apron, looking around nervously. “Can you tell Fred I can’t finish my shift? There’s something I have to do.”
“Sure thing, spaz lady. I’ll tell him you have feminine problems. That’ll give the kid hives.”
Kate raced out of the back room, unsure of what she was going to do, but knowing she had to do it.
Wade stood at the front entrance of Vice as she ran toward the door.
“Kate. Long time, no…whoa. Are you okay? Where’s the fire?”
“Is he here?”
“Liam? Yeah, he’s in his office.”
“Please. I need to see him.” She gulped for air. Even the run from the taxi bay had winded her. Sometimes the only thing worse than going on a health food diet was going off it again.
“Sure. I’ll take you.”
She didn’t bat an eye at the statues of naked goddesses or the flashing lights from the slots on the way to the elevator. Not even the goddamn ceiling of smoke made her blink. She remained focused, needing to see Liam. She just needed to know…
The door opened into his office, and there he was. Facing away from them, Liam stood at the window, looking out over the Strip. No suit today. Just a rumpled grey T-shirt and faded jeans. His hair seemed a bit longer in back, and from her angle, she spied a bit more beard growth on his jaw.
He still took her breath away, even with his face turned.
Wade called out. “Liam, you have a visitor.” He ushered her inside and stepped back into the elevator. As the door closed, he gave her a wink.
Liam turned. His lips parted with a breath. “Kate.”
Her heart hammered in her chest. In those torturous seconds, she wanted to fly into his arms. Her eyes watered. Before she could collect her thoughts, a huge sob wracked her chest.
Liam raced over. He grabbed her by the shoulders, holding her gently. “Baby, please don’t cry.”
“You sold them. Your casinos.”
“Yes. My pal Alex took them off my hands.”
“Why?”
His lips turned up on one side into a grin that made her belly ache. “I did it for you, Kate. I did it all for you.”
Kate pulled away. “But I didn’t want this! I didn’t want you to throw away your life for me, Liam. These casinos, you built them up from the ground. They’re part of you.” She crumpled to the carpet and buried her face in her hands.
He joined her on the carpet, sitting in front of her, and pried her hands from her wet face. “Kate, the casinos aren’t me. They’re bricks and mortar and poker chips. They’re illusion and dream.”
He tipped up her chin to make her look at him. His husky eyes no longer bore any hint of fatigue. He looked good. Refreshed. Sexy as hell.
“Look, I sold the casinos for a couple of reasons. I didn’t want you to worry, but I’ve been having some chest pains for a while.”
She stared at his chest, wishing she could see right through it to his heart, to see if it was pumping properly.
“My doctor says I’m okay, but too stressed. He’s been trying to get me to slow down for a while now, so I am. I let these casinos take over my life. Hell, I have a condo I never see. I’m always here.” He stroked her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. “My dad died of heart problems at a young age. I refuse to go down the same road.”
Okay, she could accept that reason.
“Secondly,” he continued, his deep voice making her feel better already. “Like I told you, I always felt bad about taking Shauna’s money to start my business. Well, I’ve decided I need to forgive her. That’s never been easy for me. So in order to finally let her go, I needed to put her money to better use. I’m very comfortable after the sale of the hotels, so I took the amount Shauna gave me and I donated it to New Horizons.”
“That was you? Rod told me about the donation, but I never dreamed... Liam, that was a lot of money.”
“It’s only the beginning. I want to support your group, Kate. It’s time I gave back. You were right. I ignored the problems under my own nose for too long. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against casinos, but I want to help the people whose lives have been impacted by them.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
Liam drew closer and pulled her onto his lap. “Then let me say a few more things.” He slid his arms around her waist and she wrapped her legs around his hips. “Kate, you told me I needed to hit rock bottom with Michelle. You were right, but that wasn’t my true rock bottom. Rock bottom was when I watched you walk away.”
“Oh, Liam, I’m so sorry.”
“No, don’t be. Turns out I have an addictive personality, and you were my addiction. I treated you like my own personal casino. It was too much, too soon. All of it, including the wild animal sex.” He grinned and the balls of his cheeks reddened. “Although I did enjoy that part.”
“It was okay,” Kate teased.
“Okay, she says.” Liam leaned in and teased her earlobe with his teeth. “I really want to start over and see if we can work our way back to the insane monkey sex.” She giggled and he danced his fingers under her shirt, smoothing them over her waist. “I do love you, Kate. I don’t want to fuck this up.”