“I don’t know what you’re thinking.”
His haggard face softened. “You always know what I’m thinking.” He looked down at his long fingers as he rubbed his knees. Back and forth. Back and forth. When he raised his gaze back to mine, he said, “If you were dumb as shit, I wouldn’t have accepted you as my Second . . . however enthralling you might be.” A heavy breath puffed out of him. “I know I suggested killing your father, Ness, but I’m the first person to admit how wrong it was. I sincerely hope that, someday, I’ll be half the man he was.”
Liam hadn’t moved off the armchair, yet it felt as though he were kneeling beside me, repeatedly flicking my heart.
“If you think I’m worth fighting for, then fuck, I’ll fight. Alongside you, I’ll fight. I’ll become a worthy Alpha. One that you will never”-his eyes bore into mine-“want to run from again. One who would never let you run again.”
Silence settled between us.
“I want your admiration, Ness. I might never get anything else from you, but I hope I’ll earn that much back.”
Tears slickened my eyes.
Because he’d brought up my father, I told myself. That was the reason for my tears. The only reason for them.
Big fat lie. If that had been the only reason, I would’ve been able to keep my gaze on his, and I couldn’t.
I studied the cowhide rug, discreetly running a knuckle along my cheeks, then took a fortifying breath and lifted my gaze. “How much are you going to pay me?”
His piercing stare swept over my face. For a moment, he neither answered nor moved. Then he leaned back in the chair, crossed one foot over the other, and bounced his legs as though annoyed I’d brought up payment. “How much do you want?”
“Five grand.”
“Per week?”
I blinked, whipping my gaze to his. “No. In total.”
He stilled his legs. “I’ll give you five grand today and the sum of my choice when we win the duel.”
“Liam, I don’t need-”
“Without wanting to sound cocky, I have more money than I could ever spend already. If I win, well those zeroes are going to add up.”
“Good for you and for the pack, but that’s not why I’m doing this.”
The steadiness of his gaze was unnerving. “Why are you doing this?”
“I already told you why.”
“Tell me again.”
I raked my hand through my hair. “Because I don’t want you to die.”
“Why don’t you want me to die? Don’t I deserve it?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve tortured you plenty in my thoughts for calling me a traitor.”
He snorted, and crazy as it sounded, I smiled.
How far we’d come, him and me.
How far we still had to go, though.
I took my plate of food and balanced it on my knees. “Can we be clear about one thing? This isn’t a game to me. I want to save your life, and the reason I want to save it is because you don’t seem to care what happens to it.”
That sobered him up.
I bit into a chunk of cheese. “I have some leftover Sillin from LA. I haven’t refrigerated it, but it’s still in the packaging. You think it’s still effective?”
He picked up his plate and cut into his steak. “If it’s from the same batch you slipped my father, then yes, it’s still effective.”
Guilt spread through me. Heath hadn’t deserved to live, yet I regretted having a hand in his death. “You think Morgan will release Julian’s body to his family?”
“Not if she poisoned him.” He uncapped his water bottle and took a swig. “Unless she was certain the Sillin was no longer in his blood.”
“How long would that take?”
“Depends on the dose.”
“I guess it doesn’t actually matter,” I ended up saying. “Once we test the Sillin out ourselves, we’ll know whether she used it or not.”
After discussing other ways Cassandra Morgan might’ve won the duel-Sillin-free ways-Liam dropped me off in front of the apartment I shared with Jeb on the top floor of a two-story house.
Before I could shut the car door, Liam said, “Matt will be over in the morning. Probably around 6:30.”
I frowned.
“I want you to start building muscle and stamina.”
“Why do I need Matt for that?”
Liam draped his hand over the back of the seat I’d just vacated. “He’s going to take you running.”
“I can take myself running.”
He smirked. “I’m sure you can. But in case you’ve forgotten, we have a lot more wolves in town.”
“You think they might attack me?”
His eyes blackened. “No. I don’t think they’d risk such a tactless move, but you’re not running around in the woods alone. Come to think of it, Lucas should move back in with you, or you could”-he ran his hand through his hair-“stay at my place.”
However much Lucas had grown on me, he was not moving into my two-bedroom apartment. “I have Jeb. Besides, what sort of message would me needing a babysitter send out?” I didn’t even bother bringing up Liam’s other suggestion. “They already don’t take me very seriously. Don’t add to it.”
“Who’s they?”
“Pretty much everyone.” When he opened his mouth, I tossed in, “I’ll be going to Pine HQ around seven.”
He scrutinized my face a long moment before saying, “Okay. I’ll pick you up at six.”