Before Sunrise (30 page)

“
Liam?”

Liam counted down his anxiety and willed his
mind to control it. He forced a patient smile to his face and calm
to his voice. “I’m sorry, mom. I’ve missed my life, I’ve missed
everything. Most of all I missed my baby-girl. She’s so big now.
I’m trying to know her. It’s been hard.”

“
I understand. I love you,
Liam. When they told me you were dead, that was it for me. After
losing little Mackenzie, then you, I had nothing. Your sweet baby
girl is all I had. When Kennedy wanted Phil to adopt her, take his
last name, I was right here to stop her—”

“
Wait? What did you
say?”

“
Phil Freeman wanted to
adopt her as a gift for Kennedy. She was going to let him. I had to
protect you even if you were dead. I flew down here and told her
there would be no way in hell she would make that little girl a
Freeman instead of a Flanagan. She is so in love with that jerk she
was willing to do it.”

Liam felt his restraint crumble. His gaze
flashed to the stairs. Kennedy couldn’t possibly want to rob him of
fatherhood even if she thought he was dead. Sally had to be lying.
It had to be a lie. And Sally was good at twisting things to fit
her needs.

Sally touched his face. “Your return is a
miracle. I love you. So much. You can come home with me. I can take
care of you.” She moved in and hugged him. He hugged her back. But
he continued to glare at the staircase. “Mom, do you have some
place to stay?”

“
I’ll find a hotel in
town.”

He let her go. “Stay here,” he said, his
mind calculating.

“
What? But—”

“
You want to do something
for me? Help me get my family back. Kay needs someone here when I
can’t be. Stay here with her until I can convince her to leave. Do
you understand?”

Sally read into what he wasn’t saying and
quickly nodded to be his spy, his co-conspirator. Liam felt a
little more at ease. His meddlesome mother was just like Kennedy’s,
except she’d work on his team. If he had to tolerate her, it was
best he find a use for her. What was he thinking? He didn’t know
what he was doing anymore. He’d never been so desperate. Had
Kennedy really wanted to give Mackenzie Phil’s name? He wouldn’t
allow himself to believe it.

“
Don’t you worry, son. I
will make sure your girls are okay. They have a guestroom I stay in
when I visit. I will keep my eyes on Phil, too.”

“
Good. I’m going to see
Kay.” He reached for his cane and tried to rise. But Sally grabbed
his arm.

“
Liam?”

“
What is it?”

“
Harvey is dead. He had a
stroke three years ago. You can always leave here and come home
with me. I’m so alone. You can barely walk. I can take care of
you.”

He snatched his arm away and glared at her.
The only condition he’d laid out for her was that Harvey never be
part of his life. Their reconciliation had been contingent on the
fact she never mentioned his name. Even in her attempts to mother
him and get to know Kennedy, she refused to leave the abusive
bastard. Now she needed a replacement. “I changed my mind. You
don’t need to stay here. Go back home.”

“
Liam?”

“
Go!”

She shot to her feet and cut him off. “I’m
sorry, I’m sorry for what I said. Don’t be angry. Please. I missed
you so much. I’ve changed. Kennedy will tell you. I’ve stayed here
many times with her. I can help you. Trust me. Who do you have,
Liam, that will fight for you? Who? This is his house. He’s been a
father to your little girl. Who will help you get them back but
me?”

“
Excuse me.” He stepped
around her and limped over to the stairs.

Liam looked back to see Sally staring off
deep in thought. The part of him that needed her love, her comfort,
died the day his kid sister did. Still, he had to agree. If Kennedy
decided to stay with Phil, then she would be all the family he had
left in the world. He’d be a visiting dad to his little girl. He’d
have nothing.

Liam climbed the stairs steadily. He first
walked into Mackenzie’s room. He saw her curled up in her yellow
comforter with a purple bear. She was so much hair. He smiled. He
walked over to her and resisted the urge to kiss her soft cheek.
How he loved her. No one in the world made him feel as much love as
she did by just existing.

When he drew up her blanket his gaze swept
her dresser and stopped on her fish bowl. The goldfish floated at
the top. “Damn. It’s dead,” he said. Liam shook his head. He would
need to do something before his baby girl discovered her pet. He
limped over to the bowl and picked it up. The water lapped inside
and the fish began to sink down to the blue crystals at the bottom.
He carried it carefully out of the room. He’d take it to Kay’s
bedroom and ask her what they should do. Maybe Mackenzie has lost a
fish before and they could have a ceremony. Or maybe he could go to
the pet store and get one before she woke and discovered it was
gone.

Kennedy’s door was half closed. He hated
that room. Knew that bastard had his woman in that bed, doing
whatever he pleased to her. The thought of it made him physically
ill. He pushed open the door with the end of his cane and limped
inside. That’s when he heard the shower. Liam set the fishbowl on
the dresser. He stared at the partially closed bathroom door.
Swirls of misty steam blew behind it. He could hear her humming as
she normally did when she showered. His groin grew tight. He’d had
several erections since he first laid eyes on her again. But mind
over dick usually meant he could ease out of it within seconds.
This one couldn’t be rubbed out or dismissed with a thought. The
shower had once been one of his favorite places with Kennedy.

Liam limped over to the door. He shouldn’t
invade her privacy. He should wait for an invitation. But when
would that be? She kept talking therapy, and he could barely get to
first base without some interruption. Besides, she belonged to him.
She could debate it. Phil could debate it, hell the government
could as well, but Liam knew better. Every inch of her belonged to
him.

He eased the door open, just enough to see
her. Not enough for her to suspect him. The sweaty steamed-over
shower glass just gave him her brown silhouette. But Liam had a
good imagination. He should. He survived off of it for years.

Kennedy turned off the water. Liam wanted to
pull back, but something in him couldn’t. The door to the glass
shower opened and her delicate foot stepped out on the white
bathroom rug. His gaze slowly climbed her slick, slender leg to her
curvy thighs and hips. She reached for a towel. Before she did so,
he got a full look at her. From the trimmed hairs over her pussy,
to the full, pert roundness of her breasts. She had additional
weight in some areas but it was measured perfectly. She dried
herself, then wrapped the towel around her. Liam quietly stepped
back.

He went to the chair in the room and sat to
wait. He rehearsed what he would say to her. He had to get the
lustful thoughts out of his head. All he needed was for her to come
out and find him with an erection in her bedroom. Damn, this would
be impossible.

The door opened and she walked out. She
jumped, startled to find him there. Sitting down made it easier to
cover his erection. He leaned forward with his cane between his
legs. “Hi.”

Kennedy smiled. She put a hand to her
forehead. “Liam. Gracious, you scared me.”

“
I didn’t mean to,” he said,
noticing the split in the towel reached to her pelvis when she
raised her arm. She quickly adjusted it. He smirked. So she wanted
to play shy. He remembered her shy days as well. He couldn’t wait
to get her in his bed and claim her again.

“
Is Sally gone?” She hurried
to get a robe to cover herself. She turned around, confused not to
see it. Liam suspected it was in the bathroom. When she looked at
him again, he realized he was sitting on it. He eased up and
brought it from under him. He didn’t bother to hand it to her. He
just studied her.

“
She needs somewhere to
stay. I can’t take her to the Marriott. I’d feel better if all my
girls were together.” He smirked.

Kennedy fixed her towel for the fourth time
and nodded, barely getting the meaning of having Sally stay with
her. “That’s fine. We have a guest room. She’s stayed with us
before.”

“
Good.”

“
Um, can you pass me my
robe?” she asked softly.

The towel did little to cover her. He
admired the tops of her breasts slicked with moisture. In fact her
neck, shoulders, arms, and curvy thighs had that damp sheen to
them. No. He wanted her to remain this way.

“
Kay, you are so
beautiful.”

“
Liam. The robe,
please.”

“
We got a problem,” he said,
dismissing her request. Hoping he would force her to approach him.
“Look behind you.”

Kennedy turned to look. Liam got an
unintentional view of what the towel barely covered. He admired the
backs of her thighs and the full, curvy preview of her ass. There
was a heaven and it was between Kay’s thighs.

She stared at the fishbowl with sadness he
could see reflected in the dresser mirror. “She will be so upset.
You found him like this?”

He rose on his cane. He tossed her robe back
to the chair and walked over to her. Stepping right behind her. He
pressed his groin into her backside. Her eyes lifted to his in the
mirror, a spark of interest there she couldn’t hide. “I found him
like that. What should we do?”

“
I guess we have to talk to
her. But it’s just the timing. Damn. I really wanted to keep things
less stressed for her.”

“
Yeah, me too.” He eased his
hand to her uncovered left buttock and felt the soft, round
perfection in his palm. She didn’t move.

“
I, um, we can talk to her
in the morning or…maybe we can get another fish?” She breathed
slowly, in and out, no longer meeting his eyes in the
mirror.

“
Yeah, another fishie.” He
eased his hand around her hip to her sex. He was only an inch away
before she covered his hand with hers, stopping him.

“
No, Liam.
Don’t.”

He grimaced. He walked off. She quickly made
her way over to the chair and snatched up her robe. He watched her
cover up and grew even angrier. It’s as if she were hiding from
him. It pissed him off.

“
I have a question for
you.”

“
Okay.”

“
Did you agree to let Phil
adopt Mackenzie?”

“
Huh?”

“
Did you?” he
seethed.

“
Who told you that? Sally?
No.”

“
Then how the hell did she
come up with it? Are you saying it’s a lie?”

“
Liam, calm down. It’s not
what you think.”

Calm
down
. There were those words again. As if
he wasn’t capable of a single thought that didn’t need to be
managed by everyone but him. That condescension was like nails
going over a chalkboard. He spoke again through clenched teeth.
“Even if you thought I was fucking dead, why would you consider
having my child take another man’s name? Did you want to erase all
of me from her life? What kind of cold, heartless bitch are
you?”

Kennedy froze, those brown doe eyes looking
at him innocently. It wasn’t enough. None of it was. He was a
fucking visitor in his own life now. Nothing belonged to him, not
even his wife. He couldn’t touch her without making her skin
crawl.

“
Don’t speak to me that way,
Liam. I won’t put up with it. Do you understand?”

“
Why? It’s what you are.
Only a cold, heartless
bitch
would do what you’ve done!”

“
I think you should leave
now.”

“
So he can come back. So you
can wait on your
real
man to return. Someone less of a burden, less of a
cripple?”

“
Get out, Liam. I don’t want
you scaring Mackenzie.”

“
Cut the fucking act. I
think you like it this way. Teasing me with the promise that we
could be a family, then pushing me off when I get close. I think
you’re doing the same to him. Want to keep us both chasing our
tails for you.”

“
Take that back!” she
shouted at him. “Take it back before you cross a line you don’t
want to.”

“
Hell, no. It’s the truth. A
fucking tease! You let me in then push me off. You get off on it!
You haven’t taken off his fucking wedding ring!”

Kennedy looked down at her hand as if she
hadn’t known. But when she looked up at him again, it wasn’t with
an apology, it was with rage. “I’m teasing you? Is that what you
think this is? Really? Because I won’t screw you on the same bed
where I fucked him? Is that what this is for you? Just me fucking
you to prove you’re still a whole man. Fine.” She disrobed in front
of him. He looked her over with anger. “Should we change the sheets
first, or do you want to get it on the same bedspread he does? Mark
your territory, beat your chest, like some Neanderthal? Because I
can tell you that those sheets, well Phil and I…”

He heard nothing. Everything went black.
Liam swung his cane like a sword and smashed it against the dresser
mirror. He beat at everything wildly, sending sharp shards of glass
everywhere. Then he began smashing everything on her dresser,
including the fishbowl, sending water and the goldfish to the
floor. “You said you would wait for me forever. You lied! You got
over your guilt and then handed that motherfucker my kid!”