Takedown Teague (Caged #1) (23 page)

“Well, currently it’s pissing you off, and that’s good enough for me!”

“You don’t make any sense at all!” She slammed her palms down on the desk.

I couldn’t really argue that with her, either, because I knew I wasn’t making sense.  I didn’t want to make sense; I just didn’t want to talk about this shit at all.

Apparently, she wasn’t ready to give up.

“I wasn’t even around then!” she shouted.  “So how could it possibly have been to piss me off?”

“I’m psychic.”

“You’re an idiot!” she screamed back at me.

Her eyes blazed at me now, and the heat from the pointless argument flowed around in my veins and warmed my skin.  I could see the slight outline of her breasts through her T-shirt as she breathed heavily.

“You’re fucking hot when you’re pissed,” I told her.

Tria’s eyes widened, and her toes pushed against the plush carpet at her feet.  The chair moved back slightly, but I was faster.  With three steps I was across the room with my hands on her, lifting her up and out of the chair.  I shoved the PC off the desk and onto the floor before I dropped her ass down where the computer sat moments before.  My hands moved up her body and grasped the sides of her head.

I didn’t know what she was trying to say as I covered her mouth with mine.  At that point, I didn’t care.  I just knew I wanted to touch her—to be close to her—and I was too far away.  I wanted to be closer.

I
needed
to be closer.

Inside of her.

“You drive me crazy,” I mumbled into her ear.  I moved down her neck, snarling at her as my mouth moved across her skin.  “I want you so fucking bad.  Fucking undefined ground rules.”

I slid my hands down her back and grabbed her ass as I captured her lips again.  I pulled her right to the edge of the desk and lodged myself between her legs, making it very obvious how much of an effect she had on me.  She tensed under my touch, and I suddenly felt like an asshole, but I didn’t move away.  I just started kissing her jaw and then her neck instead, so her mouth was free to tell me to fuck off if she wanted to.

She didn’t.

She wrapped her arms around my head and shoulders, and her fingers brushed backwards over my hair.  I didn’t grind my hips into her like I wanted to, but instead, I kept still between her legs.  I could feel the warmth of her body against my crotch, and that was enough for right now.  I still wanted a bit more, though, so I moved my hands up her sides, pushing her shirt up a little as I went.

“Liam.” Tria chastised me as she reached her limit.

“You didn’t give me any rules yet,” I reminded her.  I didn’t move my hands up any farther, but I kept them on the bare skin of her sides as I kissed down her neck.  The backs of my fingers tickled her sides.  “Besides, you’ve seen me without a shirt.  It’s only fair.”

“I didn’t even think you owned a shirt for the longest time.”  She giggled as she tilted her head back so I could kiss up the front of her throat.

“You liked me that way, too, didn’t you?” My words were a challenge.

“I don’t have to say,” she replied with a shrug.

“You wanted to run your hands all over this, didn’t you?” I said as I grabbed her wrists and placed her hands on my stomach.  I moved them up slowly until I reached the top of my chest, where I let her go.  I angled my body forward so more of it was touching her, and her hands pressed on my shoulders as she laughed again.

“I’m sure I just wanted to feel your hair!”

“It wasn’t this short then.”

“Oh yeah.”  More giggles.

“You are a terrible liar,” I said.  “Besides, I know what you really want.  You want your hand on my cock.”

I pressed against her a little more.

“You can, you know,” I whispered.  “Any time you want—it’s just waiting for you.”

Before she had a chance to shove me away or just tell me to shut up, a knock at the door made her jump.  I growled under my breath.

“Did you order breakfast?” I asked.

“No,” Tria said.  “I wasn’t sure if I should.”

“Fucking housekeeping.” I grumbled as I released Tria and stomped toward the door.

The latches were far more complicated than they needed to be, and I was already pissed off before I got them unlocked.  I flung the door open, prepared to tell some bitch in an apron to go fuck off.  Instead, I was met with Michael standing on the other side.

“What the fuck?”

“Well, I figured something interesting must be happening,” Michael said with a shrug.  “For all these years, you’ve never accepted any kind of handout.  I had to come see for myself.”

Michael stepped around me and entered the suite just as Tria was straightening her shirt.  She was still sitting on the desk, and her cheeks flushed bright red as he took in the sight.

“Seriously, Liam?” he said as he turned back to me.  “All this just for a hooker?  I thought something horrible must have—”

Without any consideration at all, I hauled back my right hand and slammed my fist into his jaw.  Michael spun to one side before he dropped to the floor beside me, half in and half out of the room.  He glanced up at me and rubbed his chin.

“Liam, no!” Tria cried from across the room.  She jumped off the desk and headed toward us.

“Don’t you
ever
fucking talk about her like that!” I screamed at him.

“Holy shit,” Michael muttered.  “I wasn’t expecting that.”

He looked up at me as he got himself back to a sitting position and then used the doorjamb to help right himself.  He stood and dusted off his Dockers.

“Say another fucking word about her, and you’ll get more,” I promised.

“Is that so?”  He looked from me to Tria and then back to me again.  “Well, I guess this is more interesting than I originally assumed.  Do I get an introduction?”

“No,” I said flatly.

“Liam…” Tria reached my side and took hold of my arm before she turned to Michael.  “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, dear,” he responded with a crooked half smile, “though it is the first time I’ve ever been on the receiving end of one of those.  You are pretty impressive with the fists, Liam.  I have to admit, I didn’t completely understand that by just watching you hit other people.”

Tria gripped my hand and looked at me pointedly.

I rolled my eyes at them both.

“Tria, this is my uncle, Michael.  He’s the one who thinks one night in a hotel at his expense warrants a plane trip, apparently.  Michael, this is Tria…my, um…”

I stopped and glanced down at her for a second.

“My girlfriend,” I finally added.

Michael’s eyes went wide as he reached out and shook Tria’s hand briefly.

“A pleasure,” he said.  “Unexpected, to be sure, but definitely a pleasure.”

“Fuck off.  What are you doing here?”

“I came to see what was wrong,” he replied.  “I figured you were in some kind of trouble, not on a date.”

“It’s not a fucking date.”

“Well, whatever it is,” he said, “I’m starving.  Have you had breakfast?  I understand the crepes are excellent here, and I’m sure the chef would do you a veggie version.”

I was never one to give into Michael’s schemes, but I was hungry.

Room service arrived with a variety of breakfast dishes, which they set out on the table with linen napkins, mimosas, and polished flair.  Tria sat next to me with Michael on the other side.  He couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off of her, which was pissing me off.  I was inclined to hit him again, but I didn’t.

“I must say”—he turned to Tria—“you are most surprising.”

“How so?” she asked.

“Just your being here with my nephew,” he answered.  “Apparently, any sort of insult toward you warrants quite a nasty right hook.  I didn’t realize Liam had someone else in his life.  This is fairly recent, I take it?”

“Cut the shit,” I said.  “Do you want something, or did you just come all the way out here to annoy me?”

Michael stopped talking and smiling.  He glanced down at the table for a second before pushing his chair back and standing up.

“I thought you might be in trouble,” he said.  “I just wanted to make sure you were all right.”

“I’m fine.” Once again, I found myself snapping at him.

“Liam!” Tria clenched her teeth as she said my name.  She grabbed onto my arm again, like that was going to change what I was doing or saying.

“I’ll just go then.”  Michael grabbed his jacket, tossed it over his arm, and headed toward the door.

Tria stood up as well, but when she tried to haul me up with her, I shook my arm free of her grasp.  She glared at me as she followed Michael to the door.  “I’m sorry.  I don’t know why…”

Michael chuckled, but there was no happiness in the sound.

“It’s not the first time,” he told her.  “This has certainly been an enlightening little encounter though.  Full of other firsts.”

Michael reached up and rubbed his chin.

“He’s not usually like this,” Tria said quietly.

“Do you think I can’t hear you?” I asked.  I reached forward and grabbed my glass of plain orange juice, wishing it was the one from last night with the vodka additive.  I hated mimosas.

“Well,” Michael said, “I’m glad to hear that since this is all I ever see.”

“Fuck off,” I muttered under my breath.

“Liam!  What is wrong with you?”

Michael huffed another laugh through his nose.

“I’d invite you over for Christmas,” Michael said as he opened the door to the suite and headed out into the hallway, “but I already know your answer.”

“Bye!” I called with fake enthusiasm.  I wriggled my fingers sarcastically.

Yeah—sarcastic fingers.

“What is wrong with you?” Tria said as she came back and sat down across from me.

“Nothing,” I said.  I stood and grabbed the last muffin off the tray.  I shoved the whole thing into my mouth at once and then answered all her questions with incomprehensible mumbles for the next three minutes while I threw all our shit back into the bag.

“Liam,” Tria continued as she carefully placed the last of her toiletries in the Dragon’s Duffle, “he came all the way out here just to make sure you were—”

“You got everything?” I interrupted her to prevent her from making the comment that was surely coming.  “We need to get going.”

With the last of our personal belongings accounted for and a couple of bagels stashed in Tria’s purse for later, I announced that we were leaving.  I stood at the door waiting for her, ignoring her protests about how we still needed to talk.

What the fuck was it with women always wanting to talk about shit that no one else thought was important?

“What’s this?” Tria said, and the tone of her voice caught my attention.

I looked over to where she stood by the table where we had eaten breakfast and watched her raise her hand.  Gripped in her fist was a handful of cash.

“Fucker,” I muttered.  “How much did he leave?”

“Three hundred,” Tria said in a hushed whisper as she thumbed through it.

“Leave it,” I said.

“What?”  Tria’s head snapped back to meet my gaze.

“I don’t fucking want it.”

“Liam, we don’t even have enough money for gas on the way home.”

I closed my eyes and rubbed the back of my neck.

“Fine,” I growled.  “You keep it.  Let’s go.”

I didn’t even bother to stop at the front desk to tell them we were checking out.  I figured they would notice soon enough.  Tria said nothing else as she stashed Thor’s Tote and lifted her leg to straddle the motorcycle.  I climbed on behind her, extremely conscious of how close my ass was to the purse that could potentially suck me inside of it, never to be seen again.  I shuddered as I wrapped my arms around Tria’s waist.

We took off north of the city, and before too long, I felt like we were right in the middle of the fucking jungle.  Even as a kid, I had always lived in the city, and the only vegetation around was what you planted yourself.  This was completely different.

I had never seen so many trees in my life, and they were all huge.  Even though there was snow on the ground, the trees were still green.  As we flew past them, I decided I didn’t like trees—not one bit.  Part of it was just because there were too damn many of them, but mostly because I couldn’t see anything around them.  Unlike buildings in the middle of a city block, no one could sneak out from behind one except if there were a corner or a door—places easily defended.

The forest made me feel exposed and vulnerable.

I tightened my grip around Tria’s waist and leaned the front of my helmet against the back of hers.  I didn’t know what she must have thought about the gesture, but she released one of the handlebars and reached behind her head to touch the edge of my jaw just below the rim of the helmet.

The remainder of the trip to Tria’s hometown was pretty uneventful.  We only stopped a couple of times and didn’t talk much when we did.  There was definitely still tension between us, and I felt it the most when Tria brought out the cash left by my uncle and used it to fill up the gas tank of the motorcycle.

I was still pissed at that asshole for showing up there.

We drew close to the edge of a small town, and I noticed the little sign near the edge of the road pointing the way to the island town of Beals.  We crossed a long bridge from Jonesport, which was cleverly named Bridge Street, over the water, and to the island.  We cruised around the island, staying near the water at the edge of town.  At one point, we passed the local high school and a place called Barney’s Cove Lobster, but Tria didn’t stop until we got farther out.

She pulled off the road near a small house with a big tree in the back.  The place looked like it had been abandoned for a long time.  I didn’t see any cars or anything parked outside.  There was a shed near the back of the property but no signs of life.

Tria reached up and pulled off her helmet, so I followed suit.  She stared up at the house for a few minutes before she glanced over her shoulder to look at me.

“This is the house where I lived with my dad,” she told me.

Now it made sense.  With a tug, I pulled her back against me a little, and she didn’t resist.  I kept both my feet on the road to balance the bike as she leaned back and continued to stare at the house.  There was a good-sized back yard that butted up against the beach.  The sound of the waves crashing against the rocky shore was constant and made me want to take a nap.

“You were, um…really young when he died, right?”  I asked when I couldn’t stand any more silence.

“Six,” she confirmed.

“He was in the army?”

“He was a mechanic in the army, yes,” she said.  “He was considered a hero here because no one else in the area had ever served overseas before.  Everyone looked up to him, not just me.  He always said that he never wanted to live in a big city and that anyone with any sense would choose a small town.”

I snickered.

“Well, maybe college will teach you some sense,” I said.  “Maybe you’ll come back here when you graduate.”

I definitely didn’t like the idea, but I really didn’t know what else to say.  Living in a Podunk town like this would drive me up the wall.  I doubted this place even had a decent bar.

“I don’t know,” she replied with a shrug that sent her hair up my nose.  “I think I kind of like living in the city.”

Thank God.

“I’d suggest trying to live in another area of the city.  Where we are is pretty crappy.”

“Well, yes,” she agreed.  “I don’t think I want to live right where we are forever, but there are some nice places around Hoffman College campus.”

She looked over her shoulder again and narrowed her eyes.

“I’m sure you know all about that, though.”

I sighed dramatically, and Tria went back to watching the house.  I could feel the tension again, and I didn’t like it.

A breeze came by and brought with it the scent of brine and fallen leaves.  I blinked, and in my mind I saw the lush green lawns and tall red brick buildings of the college that had been in my mother’s family for three generations.  I remembered holding her hand as we walked down the long sidewalk from the dormitories to the student center where I would be able to watch the swim meets and wrestling matches.

I shook my head slightly, forcing the thoughts away.  I leaned forward on the bike and pulled Tria closer to me.

“I was supposed to go to Hoffman College,” I said quietly into Tria’s ear.  “I was supposed to study business there so I could become a big shot executive and take over Dad’s companies when he retired.  Mom always said I had choices. I could become the president of the college instead, but I knew that was bullshit even as a kid.  I’m pretty sure I was supposed to be the CFO of Teague Silver by now.”

Tria tried to turn her head to look at me, but I held her a little tighter to my chest and kept her still.

“When I left home, I realized that dream was gone.  I didn’t know what I was going to do, and I knew the one place I was guaranteed acceptance into a college program was Hoffman, but there was no way I could set foot in there again.”

My chest rose and fell with a deep breath.

“I was driving past the campus when all of that hit me,” I told her.  “Everything about my life was going to be completely different, and you know what?”

“What?” Tria asked softly.

“I was happy about it.”

Tria wriggled enough to turn in the seat and reach her hands up to my face.  She looked into my eyes as she moved closer and eventually brought her lips to mine.

“We should get going,” Tria said as we broke apart.  “Nikki’s probably wondering where I am by now, and explaining you isn’t going to be easy.”

“Sure it is,” I said.  “I’m the boyfriend, remember?”

To get to the home of Tria’s friend, we had to drive a little farther down the coast and around one of the jutting peninsulas of the island.  Considering what Tria was apparently used to living around, I suddenly realized why the condition of the buildings in our neighborhood hadn’t really fazed her.

The first few structures we passed were nothing more than shacks made out of plywood and a few nails.  There was an old guy sitting out front of one of them, cooking fish on a charcoal grill.  There were broken bicycles, part of a car, and a ton of other junk all over the yard around the shack.  Weeds growing about waist height surrounded the whole place.  It was a stark contrast to the area Tria’s father’s house had been on the other side of the island.

As we traveled farther down the road, Tria slowed to take a sharp turn.  There was a line of RVs stacked up next to each other, overlooking the water.  They were actually more run-down than the shabby shelters we had just passed.  Farther from the water, there were half a dozen small houses, which weren’t in too bad a shape, though there was a still a decent amount of junk lying around them.  Most of them needed a good paint job and new gutters, too.

We stopped at the last RV site in the row.  The structure itself was about the strangest I had ever seen.  It was actually two RVs set up right next to each other and apparently fused together.  A wooden porch had been attached to the front of it.  There were a few pots, which looked like they probably had some flowers in them in the warmer months, on the slanted stairs.

Tria and I got off the bike, and Tria pushed it a little closer to the porch as the front door flew open, and a tall, lanky woman with short, stringy black hair rushed out.

“Demmy!” she cried as she jumped over the two steps of the porch and ran over to Tria.  They hugged immediately as I stood there awkwardly.  “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“I’m glad I’m here, too,” Tria said with a pinched smile.  “It feels like it has been forever.  Please call me Tria, though.”

“Sorry.  I forgot.”  Tria’s friend looked over at me.  “Who’s this?”

Tria looked quickly between us before making introductions.

“Liam, this is Nikki,” she said.  “She’s my best friend ever.  Nikki, this is Liam.  My…um…my boyfriend.”

Nikki’s eyes widened as she looked up at me and slowly reached out her hand.  I returned the gesture and shook her hand quickly.

“You didn’t mention him on the phone,” Nikki said.

“Well, Keith was there with you,” Tria said with a shrug.  I glared over at her because she hadn’t mentioned him being on the phone at all.  “He and Liam don’t exactly get along.”