me as glass shattered over tiles, the shards slipping into the gas range. My vision fogged over with the image of Killian all over Liana. It’d been so much worse than James, because the biker had the means to steal her from me.
Over my rotting corpse.
Liana bumped into my back. Her hands slid across my midsection and anchored over my arms.
My pulse skittered from the unexpected touch. I didn’t do well with being restrained, even if it was by a pint-sized girl I could toss a hundred yards. I tugged her wrists.
She cinched harder.
“Li, I don’t like being held.”
“That’s because you’re not used to it.” Liana stroked my abdomen, and discomfort swooped into my gut. “Get over it. If you’re this uncomfortable about a hug, we’re screwed. You’ll never convince anyone we’re a real couple.”
She had a point.
I clutched her forearm as my heartbeat galloped ahead. “I’m not in the mood for whatever this is.”
“You need a hug, Vinn.”
I need to kill everyone.
Annoyance stabbed at me as she inhaled deeply, tightening like a belt. The last thing I wanted to be was violent, especially to her, but a dangerous impulse stirred in my body. I ached to throw her on the bed and fuck away some of this frustration.
“I can’t be nice to you right now.”
“You don’t have to be.”
“Liana.” I gritted my teeth, fighting to keep my rage under control. “Leave me the hell alone.”
I seized the vodka, breaking from her hold.
“No.” She latched onto me like a barnacle. “Vinny, don’t do this to yourself.”
That soft tone beckoned too many bad memories.
A knot sank in my throat as she shoved herself between me and the counter. Something in her voice had stolen all desire for drinking, and I let her take the bottle. She tipped the booze, emptying it into the sink. As the purple liquid circled the drain, she leaned into me.
“It’ll be okay,” she murmured. “We don’t have to jump into anything.”
She was dead wrong.
If you’re not pregnant in a few weeks, he’ll know I lied.
I couldn’t pile that on top of everything else.
I tensed as she rubbed my back, the warmth a shock to my system. Pink stained her cheeks as she stepped away, transferring her grip as she led me from the kitchen.
Watery sunlight filtered through the clouds, filling my living room with washed-out tones. We sat on my couch, facing the Boston skyline. She untied the green apron and slipped it from her neck, shaking out her hair that’d glided through my hands like goose down. A black tank was all she wore underneath, and the seashell necklace dipped in her cleavage.
The sight of it encased my chest in ice.
I wished the man who gave it to her a slow, painful death.
“Let’s figure this out,” she said mildly, as though we faced a tricky problem on an exam. “What can we do to change Nico’s mind?”
“Nothing.”
“I can’t accept that, Vinn.”
I clenched my jaw so hard, pain shot into my teeth. “Well, too bad. It is what it is.”
“He can’t do this to us,” she burst. “There are rules.”
“They don’t apply to him.”
“Of course they do. Nico’s the boss of the Family.”
“He cares more about his son. Our baby is the only thing in the way of getting Anthony back.” I rubbed my forehead. “Nico will come after me.”
“Not if you kill him first.”
Apparently, we were on the same page.
Disturbing.
My back stiffened. “Don’t talk like that.”
“Why not?”
Her brows flickered as she met my gaze, her beautiful face shining with a naive optimism that clashed with her words. She was supposed to be all sweetness and light.
“I’d hate it if you lost the part of you I like the most.”
Liana rolled her eyes, but her blush spread to her chest. “Says the guy who threatened to fuck my mouth.”
Maybe she was right.
I was a goddamned hypocrite, and Liana had changed from the mousy girl who’d doted on me. She talked a lot more. Most of what she said, I resented, but she had a steel spine like her brother. She didn’t seem to give a damn about my approval.
I respected that.
But it was inconvenient as hell.
Giving up on placating her, I shook my head. “I’ll handle Nico, but it’ll take a while. I can’t just snap my fingers and—”
Kill him.
I couldn’t say it.
“How, then?”
“Don’t worry about it.” I breathed deeply, sinking into the cushions. “Real question is, how will we make it until then?”
Liana crossed her legs. “No idea.”
“We’ll have to fake ultrasounds, doctor appointments, blood