“Even though you ripped your stitches, your scarring should still be minimal,” he says, stopping as he glances at the various scars on my upper body finishing his scan on the one that slices through my eye.
There are questions there. Things he wants to ask but has no right to. Vulnerability in answers I no longer want to offer him.
“Not bad,” I say, sitting up to place new gauze.
“We’re required to have some medical training with the FBI. Never know when you might find yourself in a sticky situation. He sighs throwing the soiled towels into the trash bin, placing his elbows on the island next to me he leans down. “When I started fighting in the underground as a teenager I found it easier to fix myself up than to go to the hospital where they’d ask questions.”
Twenty minutes ago, this man was telling me to fuck off and now he’s trying to make small talk.
And I thought I had mood swings.
I meet his face and raise an eyebrow. “Didn’t ask. In case you needed a reminder, I’m meant to fuck off,” I say, hopping off the island and go to gather my things. Liam grabs my arm and spins me around to face him. “What?”
With a snort he releases my arm. “I think you owe me a ‘thank you’.”
A smile cracks across my face, I can feel the malice behind it from the way he looks at me.
“It seems I forgot to pack my manners, will a ‘fuck you’ suffice?” I giggle and turn on my heel. “I’ll take the bedroom upstairs. If anyone breaks in they’ll get you first.”
LIAM'S PHONE WEIGHS HEAVY in my hand as I sit on the dresser waiting for him to realize it’s gone. I bite back the urge to go through it to see what he has been up to since we parted ways, but I’m not ready to face the jealousy flaring inside me as I remember that bitch Mona.
The longer I stare at the blank screen, the more it grows. That image of her claws on Liam after he fucked me at the police department plays on repeat in my mind. I should have stopped there before going to New York and ripped her throat out.
As I’m about to give in and start going through Liam’s phone, I hear movement on the steps. Pulling my knife from my thigh and ready myself for him to burst through the door. His pace steadies the closer he gets to the room, and I can taste his hesitation before he enters.
The light is off, but there’s enough moonlight that I can see the outline of Liam’s face as he tries to sneak into my room. My dagger flies through the air and makes purchase in the wall, just barely missing his nose. He stalls for a moment before flipping on the light and facing me.
Blue eyes narrow and the nose I almost cut off flares while I smirk at his pissed off expression.
“Are you fucking insane?” Liam barrels toward me, taking up more space than he has a right to.
“Oopsie,” I tease. “I thought there was an intruder, turns out I was right. Looking for this?” I hold up his phone and he goes to grab it before I hide it behind my back and hop off the dresser.
“Give me my fucking phone, Malia.” Liam follows close behind while I cross the room and dig my knife from the wood. His body closes around mine as he tries to reach around, and I drive the knife through his screen.
Liam’s body stills and I click my tongue behind my teeth, raising the phone skewered at the end of my blade.
“Maybe a mobile tracking device isn’t the brightest of ideas when we’re meant to be hiding.” I smirk to myself before Liam spins my body to face him. His face mere inches from mine and harsh breaths ghosting my skin.
“You’re not the only one who knows how to use a dupe,” he says through clenched teeth, snatching my dagger from my hand and removing his phone to inspect the damage. “I have a fucking sister I can’t just abandon.”
I grab my knife as he drops it before it hits the ground, placing it safely on the table behind me.
“A sister or your little detective?” I mutter, biting my lip regretting the words as soon as they leave my mouth. My impulse control has always been subpar.
Liam straightens his back and lets his phone drop to the floor. He watches me, searching for something and I can’t quite meet his gaze. Grabbing my chin, he forces my eyes on his, a malicious smirk playing on his full lips.
Malice has never looked so beautiful before.
“Tell me a little louder about how you’re jealous,” Liam whispers, leaning into my ear and gripping me harder. “What is it you’re remembering, Cupcake? Mona’s hands on me? The simple fact that I’ve fucked her. Perhaps you know about how I almost did it again the night I found out about who you really are. Were you stalking me?”
My skin burns and my limbs shake involuntarily as he paints a picture of the two of them, anger erupting into an inferno deep inside.
“Did you go through my phone?” Liam trails his nose along my check and nips my earlobe. “See the naked pictures she sent me and all the things she wished I would do to her.”
My hand snaps up and I grab his wrist. He chuckles lightly in my ear before I shove him away from me. The big bastard barely moves but he removes his mouth from my ear and brings his face back to mine.
“Fuck you,” I spit.