And then the door closes once more, and it’s Liam and me.
SEVENTEEN
ANA
Ifeel calmer with Liam standing there. Alexandre isn’t that much taller than me, but Liam is inches taller, so he looks down at me, his face creased with worry.
“He didn’t hurt you, did he, Ana?”
“Do I look hurt?”
“I mean with words. Emotionally. Shit, I don’t even know what I mean now, lass. It was torture leaving you in here with him. But you asked, so—”
“I appreciate it,” I say softly. “I know you don’t want to hear it or even think it, and neither do I—but thereisa chance that the baby is his. And so I needed to talk to him alone.”
“He’s right.” Liam lets out a sharp breath, evidently able to admit it without Alexandre present. “The odds are that it’s his. The two of you had unprotected sex, to completion, often. You and I—”
“You don’t need to say it again.” I lean back against the counter, gnawing on my lower lip. “Alexandre wants me to go back to Paris with him, of course. He says we can raise this baby together.”
“And what did you say?” Liam’s expression is carefully guarded, as if he’s afraid of my answer.
“I told him no.” I see the relief that flashes across Liam’s face, though he hides it quickly. “He and I can’t raise a child together. What he and I were to each other—it wasn’t that kind of relationship. It couldn’t ever be. I can’t go back to Paris with him, but—”
“But what?” Liam prompts, his expression concerned again.
“The baby might not be yours. If I’m not going with Alexandre—do you want me to go back to Manhattan? You can’t possibly want me now—I might be carrying another man’s child, and after all of this—”
Liam crosses the space between us in two strides, shocking me into silence as he reaches for me, one hand on my waist and the other cupping my cheek. He looks fiercely down at me, his green eyes glistening with emotion.
“I don’t care whose baby it is biologically, Ana, his or mine,” Liam insists, his voice full of passion. “Iloveyou, and if you want this baby, if you want me, then I am yours. We’ll be a family.” His voice deepens, taking on a darker edge. “I’ll kill Alexandre for you or have Niall do it if you don’t want the blood on my hands, and you’ll be free of him. He and Yvette both. I’ll—”
“No!” I gasp, pulling back and shaking my head. “No, Liam, please. I don’t want that. I—”
Liam pulls back, too, defeat creasing his features, making him look older, exhausted. “You still love him,” he murmurs. “After everything—”
“It’s not that,” I insist. “I just don’t want himdead, Liam. There’s a middle ground betweenI want to go back to himandI want him murdered.Ineedyou to understand that.” I reach for his hands, enclosing his broad palms in mine. “This isn’t all Alexandre’s fault, Liam. He’s broken too, in so many more ways than you know.”
Liam reaches up, pulling one hand free to push a lock of blonde hair out of my face, his fingers tracing my jaw as they slip down. “As long as he’s alive, Ana, he’ll haunt us.”
“If he’s dead, he’ll haunt us too,” I say quietly. “This—all of this—comes back to me and my choices from the very beginning, to go infiltrate Viktor’s Bratva to try and help Sofia. I can’t live knowing I’m the reason for his death. I just can’t.”
Liam frowns, clearly upset. I can see it on his face, the way his forehead is creasing, the frustration in his eyes. “You wouldn’t be, Ana,” he says firmly. “This isyourchoice. To keep the baby or not, to go with Alexandre, to stay with him, even to leave us both and do this on your own—you can choose whatever you want. All of it is your choice, and as for Alexandre—he chooses for himself, too. If he stays and fights for you, after you have told him no, the consequences of that are his. Not yours.”
He pauses, his thumb passing softly over my lower lip. “You know what choice I want you to make, Ana. But it’s yours. Only yours.”
I look up at his green eyes, so full of emotion, full oflovefor me. He bends down, his lips brushing over mine softly, and I suck in a breath, leaning into the kiss. The soft press of his mouth against mine is enough to send tingles rushing over my skin, heat building in my stomach. My hands go to his hips, pulling him against me so that I can feel the heat of his body, burning through his clothes and into mine.
“I love you, Ana,” Liam whispers against my mouth. “Nothing and no one can change that. But youwill haveto choose.”
“I know,” I whisper, my eyes fluttering closed against fresh tears. “But for now, Liam, I just want to go home.”
“To the penthouse?” he asks softly. “Or Manhattan?”
“The penthouse.” I look up at him, wanting him to understand what I’m asking. “Our home.”
Understanding dawns in Liam’s eyes, and he nods. He takes my hand, his fingers threading through mine. Together we walk out of the bathroom and into the main room of the hotel suite, where Alexandre is sitting in front of the fireplace, his head bowed. He looks up instantly at the sound of our footsteps, his face pale and drawn.
“I’m leaving, Alexandre,” I say firmly. “Please don’t try to stop me. If I want to talk to you, I’ll call you. If I change my mind, you’ll be the first to know. But—” I take a deep breath, my hand tightening in Liam’s. “I won’t.”