Page 158 of Waiting For A Girl Like You
Stretching over to reach the nightstand, Liam yanked the drawer open to rummage through it until he found the pills. His mouth opened and closed as he scanned the label in stunned horror. “Fuck.”
She had never seen Liam scared. Not once. Upset? Sure. She had seen him upset. She had seen him heartbreakingly devastated, cracked open by grief so profound it left nothing but rage. But this?
This was absolute panic. And that wasn’t Liam. He never panicked.
But she could physically feel it. His fear was alive, and it slammed into her without warning. She started crying the moment he collapsed backward, hurling the bottle against the wall to cause an explosion of pills in the air.
“Jamison, look at me. If given the chance, I want you to escape. Don’t try to save anyone.” Liam’s voice shook, his dark, bottomless brown eyes staring directly into her soul. “Not your cousins. Not Madison. Not me. Just go and don’t look back.”
Leave him? Leave Madison to these people? Leave her cousins? As if she could do that. As if she would ever do that. “Tell me.”
Liam exhaled hard, jaw flexing as he wrestled to stay calm. “If he really is working Zanmi from the inside out, and if he really hates your family as much as he says, it’s over. Sinclair has nothing to lose, and any promises he’s made about allowing you and the others to leave are worthless.”
“Why are you saying this?”
“Because Michael Sinclair is dying.”
Chapter 37
“You didn’t have to throw them.” Michael sat forward, forearms braced on his thighs as he and Liam stared each other down. The pills lay scattered across the floor or crunched under Michael’s boots. “I might lose my nerve and need them tonight.”
“You and I both know you won’t lose your nerve.” Liam’s nostrils flared as he leaned back against the bedpost. “Tell me your plan. What exactly are you going to do?”
“What I do best,” Michael replied, his voice soft and packed with arrogance. “I need one go, and it’ll be over. No more pain. No more suffering.”
“And take down innocent people with you.”
“You think those people downstairs are innocent? No, of course, you don’t. You don’t give a shit about what happens to them.”
Liam didn’t deny it. “Taylor can get them to stop you.”
“Taylor is a certifiable idiot, but she knows how dangerous her people are. No weapons except mine are permitted on the property, especially since that batch of medical fetish enthusiasts arrived,” Michael countered. “Etienne ran the show in the beginning, and after I killed him—”
Jamison raised a hand. “Etienne died of a...oh. A heart attack. Just like Richard Henderson.”
“Bruce’s specialty.” Michael grinned with pride. “He’s on his way to Tulsa now.”
“Taylor?” Jamison thought she should be outraged. She wasn’t. Let the bitch die. “He’s going to kill Taylor?”
“No. Taylor will die how and when I want her to die,” Michael said, with cold malice lacing his words. “But as you know, Bryan Carroll is in town.”
“You’re killing Bryan because you’re concerned about retaliation?” Liam’s head tilted as he studied Michael. “Oh, I get it. You’re a walking corpse with nothing to lose, but the folks back home are a different story.”
Annoyed by Liam’s statement, Michael’s jaw flexed as if he were clenching it too tight. “My family doesn’t deserve to pay for my sins.”
“Bit late to worry about that. You’ve already condemned your sister and her son by involving them.”
“If Bryan is dead, it won’t matter. He doesn’t belong to a larger syndicate, and his successor won’t come knocking. No honor among thieves and all that. Hell, the new guy will probably send a thank you note for getting rid of Bryan.” An evil sneer tugged at Michael’s lips. “And who are you to judge me for condemning people I care about to gain retribution? What the hell do you think you and Samuel are doing? You’re damning your women, Samuel’s kids, and screwing Killian McIntyre over while you’re at it.”
“That’s our business.”
“No, fucker. Tobias Miller’s death is my business and my kill,” Michael snapped. “Have you told Jamison your plan? Or were you just going to drag her into exile when the authorities catch on?”
Jamison listened quietly as they talked about killing Toby, the two men fighting over who would get to play a role in his death. The idea of Liam orchestrating some murder plot had come to her a million times, but deep in her heart, she knew he would never follow through. Liam and her brother were good men who would never—
“It’s already in motion,” Liam said evenly. “Tobias Miller will be dead within the week. Our women—our families—might hate us for it, but Samuel and I have made peace with it. We’re willing to be hated if it means protecting them.”
Jamison stared at the man she thought she knew better than anyone, not understanding how she could have been so wrong about this. “Liam?”
