Catalyst (18 page)

I look in her eyes, and all I see is the girl I’ve loved for the past few years, without any pain or suffering behind them. She’s making progress, and I’ve slumped back into a crater.

“Hon? Everything all right? You look sick.” Her worried expression makes me want to break and tell her everything. Looking at Shannon, she smiles and shifts her head toward the hallway, giving me the go-ahead.

“Come on. We have a few things to talk about.” With her hand, I lead her into the bedroom and shut the door. Keeping this a secret is going to consume me.

She takes a seat with her legs crisscrossed on the bed. “Liam, what’s going on? Is it Maguire?”

I take a seat next to her and hate that I have to say the next words. “My dad is like Maguire. More specifically, my dad is also Maguire’s dad. We’re half-brothers.”

Tinsley’s face is expressionless at first, but then the tears slowly roll down her cheeks. Her arms come around me and embrace me with love. I take all of her in, kissing her neck as she holds onto me.

When we separate, both of us are crying. “Rick’s sick and twisted too, maybe even more so than Maguire. I had no idea.” Bowing my head, I have no clue how she’s going to react to this news. Hell, I’m not even fully reacting yet. I’m so disgusted with my father. I lived with him for eighteen years and never saw anything more than a jackass workaholic.

“Their actions don’t affect the person you became. You’re a good man, Liam. I know you’re beating yourself up over being related to both of them, but you are not them. Are they taking him into custody?” She moves to settle on my lap, and I gravitate toward her strength.

“How did I not know? About having a brother or how malicious my father is. They’re going to see if they have enough to charge him. Right now, it’s just Maguire’s word.” I lean back and take both of us to a lying position, her weight on top of me. Her sweet scent assaults my senses, and I’m brought back to a simpler thought of just her and me without the chaos around us.

“We should move to a quiet beach. One that doesn’t have any crazies.”

I chuckle, causing her body to move up and down. “There are crazies everywhere.”

She props her head up to look at me. “At least they won’t be related to you. And I swear if Rick passes that gene on to our future kids, I’m going to punch him in the nuts.”

“If we’re her parents, then we’ll make sure she’s the sweetest little princess ever.” I rub her back softly and wish more than anything that I could escape this week and just lock myself in our bedroom and make sweet love to Tinsley. Away from destruction and sadness.

“Wait, what did Maguire say about what Rick did?” she asks the part of the story that I was hoping she’d shy away from.

“He killed Maguire’s mom for her infidelity. Rick saw everyone else’s flaw but failed to see his own. It seems like he’s passed on his hobby and perspective to Maguire, therefore, in lies why we’ve had women go missing long before Maguire came along.” I let out a deep sigh and press my palm to my forming headache.

“Shit.”

“Yep. Super mega shit. So not only did I find out I had a half-brother, but I found out he’s a serial killer with an obsession with my girlfriend, and to top things off, my dad was the one who created the monster. See why I came home for the day?” Looking up at the ceiling, the weight on my chest feels like it’s going to crush me.

I have to be stronger.

“Well, how about I send Shannon home, we order in, and lock ourselves away for the night. Let your guys do some of the legwork, and hopefully, by tomorrow, the burden won’t weigh as heavily on you.” She wiggles on top of me. Looking at her, it sounds like we have more on the agenda than she’s letting on. Nodding my head, I give her a kiss and push her away.

“Get them out of here and then we have a date.” I laugh as she squeals. Climbing off the bed, she hops onto the floor and has a skip in her step as she heads into the living room. I hear Shannon laugh and then the distinct sounds of Shannon and Tinsley picking up the sleeping girls, telling them to go back to sleep when they start to stir. Both women head out to Shannon’s car and I wait impatiently.

A few minutes later, the front door shuts and Tinsley comes bouncing back into the bedroom, taking off her top and shorts as she gets closer.

“I’ve missed you,” she says as she straddles me.

“You’ve been gone maybe two minutes,” I point out. “Did you miss me that much?”

Her seductive grin is enough of an answer for me as she slowly inches her way down my legs and settles between my thighs. After undoing my pants and sliding them down, she pulls my length out of my boxer briefs and uses her hand to rub me up and down. Her tongue brushes over my tip, and she takes me into her warm mouth.

“Fuck that feels good.” I run my hand through her hair as she pays special attention to both my cock and balls. Her strokes are deep and even. Trying to delay my release, I pull her up to me and turn her around so I have access to her wet core and she can continue sucking me.

Her moans send me over the edge. The vibrations of her voice while I’m in her mouth causes me to pulse, coming down the back of her throat. Her moans continue after she’s licked me clean and I can feel her thighs starting to quiver.

She’s close too.

I continue spearing my tongue inside of her while rubbing her throbbing clit. Over and over until she falls apart. Once her moans begin to subside, she collapses beside me, her face still near my crotch.

“Part one of the mission is complete. Now a nap before we go for part two.” She sighs and turns so she’s cuddling with me now.

“Can’t wait, babe,” I tell her as I start to drift off.

I’m going to marry this girl one day. She’s mine, and I never plan to let her go.

Tinsley

VISITING LIAM’S DAD
in jail is surreal.

A businessman who from afar looked like he had everything going for him. It’s when you look under the microscope that you find the infection.

Liam’s taking the new information as well as anyone could. Today, though, is the first day he’s seen his dad since he was charged with the murder of Maguire’s mom and three other women. Dressed in our warmest jackets and boots, we walk hand in hand together up to the gate.

Austin only gets really cold a month or two out of the year. The rest of winter is chilly but bearable. Today is just under freezing, and it’s supposed to start icing tonight and into the weekend.

“You gonna be okay?” I ask, seeing my breath as I speak.

“I make no promises,” Liam responds as we go through security.

“Hey, babe?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you ever tell Rick about your career and all it entails?” I’m suddenly curious.

“I tried to tell him I was a detective, but he called me a pussy and said I was probably holding a desk job while the real men were out risking their lives. After that, I never told him anything else, not even that my death was faked.”

“Huh.” It’s sad how callous of a man Rick is, even to his own family. At least Liam wasn’t like his dad.

I just can’t seem to shake off this feeling of impending doom, so I remain quiet and observe our surroundings.

Thick cinder blocks are painted a dull gray and the walls and flooring are a dusty white. It’s sterile and unwelcoming. We take a seat as requested, and I can’t help my leg from bouncing up and down from nerves.

“It’ll be fine, babe. In and out. Okay?” Liam reassures me and holds my hand on his lap. I know he’s nervous too, but he’s also got anger mixed in with it.

Once we’re sitting across from Rick, my stomach drops. The businessman I knew is gone, replaced by a man in a khaki jumpsuit and a scruffy face. Gone is the man who used to own his surroundings. Now, it owns him.

“Son,” Rick says with disgust as he sees Liam and turns his lip up when he looks at me. Rick found out Liam was still alive when they brought him in for questioning Maguire’s confession. Liam was informed of Rick’s nonchalance when he heard the news. I know it affected Liam.

“Don’t.” Liam’s words are a threat to his father. “You don’t have the power anymore. You don’t get to judge,” he spits out.

This might be a short visit.

Rick laughs and leans back in the chair. “So Maguire spilled the beans about me. But how much did he tell you?” His sly smile makes me nauseous.

“Enough to know what kind of man you really are. You really thought you’d never get caught? I’m a cop, for fuck’s sake. I would have found out eventually.” Liam’s fists are balled tight, showing areas of pure white.

“You didn’t know a thing, and it was right under your nose. For a detective, you sure are shitty at realizing what’s goin’ on around ya. Remember that cute little girlfriend who moved away before college?” He leans forward as if to tell a secret.

“Yeah, so?” Liam’s brows furrow together. His dad’s getting to him.

“She was paid to leave you. Your stupid ass knocked her up. Couldn’t keep it wrapped up and had to stick it in some whore pussy. I’ve been paying for that boy for damn near nine years now! You never had a clue.” He laughs at his son. “You’re pathetic.”

It’s like hearing a train rushing toward you and all that can be done is stand and wait for the crushing impact. Before I can move a muscle, Liam has already reacted.

“You son of a bitch! How could you?!” Liam roars. Standing up, he turns away from his dad for a moment before pointing his finger at his dad, his breathing heavy. “I hope you rot in hell. Looks like that’ll be fifty to life for you. Don’t drop the soap, fucker.” He waves him off and storms out of the room. I follow without looking back at Rick.

Once we’re outside and in the fresh air, Liam collapses to his knees and breaks down, tears rolling freely.

I sit down next to the love of my life and wrap my arms around him. Brick after brick is being laid over his back, and it’s destroying him minute by minute. A person can only handle so much before they aren’t the person they used to be. We’ve gone through so much that I can’t lose him now.

He deserves happiness.

Placing a kiss on his head, I try to soothe him by humming one of our favorite songs,
All or Nothing
by Theory of a Deadman. By the chorus, his cries lessen, and I can feel him coming back to me.

“It’s you and me with our backs against the ocean. We won’t let them defeat us. There’s so much good to live for to pay any attention to the bad, babe. Let’s head down to Jamaica Beach and spend a few days there. Clear our heads and disconnect,” I offer. Even though going to the beach in December isn’t our norm, it’d be a much-needed getaway.

“Rentals are probably easy to get this time of year. I could use a week off from life. Fuck, Tinsley, what am I going to do about having a son I’ve never met. Who knows what he’s been told about me. Probably that I’m a deadbeat dad or just a sperm donor. I swear if I had known, I would have helped her out.” Looking out into the distance, he adds, “I was off partying while she was a single mom, changing diapers and never getting any sleep.”

I know we’re going to have to talk with his baby mama, but at this point, waiting another few days until things settled was not going to be the end of the world. It had been nine years, and I knew they weren’t expecting Liam to pop up ready to play dad.

“Babe, can we continue this in the car? My ass is freezing from the cold concrete.” I try not to sound needy, but the look on his face tells me that I completely am being needy, but I also get a smile out of him.

“So you’re saying we should go for a coffee run before we head out of town?” He stands up and fixes his jacket before grabbing both of my arms and pulling me up in front of him. I feel both of his hands on my butt as he rubs it to get some warmth there. Within seconds, we’re both chuckling at our ridiculousness.

“We need to pack before we head out.”

“Says who? I plan to keep you locked in a rental home for the next five days. Clothing is optional.” His hand finds mine as we head to the car.

Nodding my head at the idea, I have no objections.

“Promise me we’re going to get through this? Through everything and come out on the other side stronger than ever before?”

He takes no time to respond. “I wouldn’t allow it any other way. Purge anything negative and we’ll have our happily ever after. Despite all odds.”

The confidence he has in us is comforting.

“Five days locked up on a beachfront property with you? There’s no other way I’d like to spend my time.”

“I love you.” He holds onto my left hand as we head toward the highway.

“I love you too, Liam. Forever and always.”