The mighty Quinns: Liam - By Kate Hoffmann Page 0,29

route along the Boston waterfront.

It wasn’t until he got to the Charlestown Bridge that Liam realized where he was headed. The bridge led right into the tangle of one-way streets in Charlestown. He made the circle on Main Street, determined to head over to Cambridge. But, in the end, Liam headed in the direction of Ellie’s apartment.

He pulled up across the street from her apartment building and parked the car. Leaning against the back of the seat, he stared up at the dark windows of her apartment, trying to imagine her inside, curled up in her bed, her dark hair spread across the pillow.

His hands clenched instinctively as he remembered the silken feel of her hair between his fingers. With a low curse, he shoved open the car door and stepped out. Liam paced the length of his car a few times, unwilling to climb the stairs to the attic simply to look through his lens at a dark apartment.

“Jeez, and I thought Brian was screwed up,” he muttered. He got back inside the car and started it, dragging in a deep breath as he put it into gear. Maybe Brian had the right idea. Quinn’s Pub would be open for at least another hour. Liam could do a lot of damage in that amount of time.

If a few pints of Guinness didn’t get rid of this preoccupation with Ellie Thorpe, then he’d have a few more.

4

LIAM STARED out the front windshield of his car, the view of the Charlestown neighborhood blurred by the drizzling rain. “I want out,” he murmured. “I don’t care about the money. Consider the work I’ve put in so far my gift to you.”

“You can’t,” Sean replied. “We’re too close. Sooner or later Pettibone has got to show up.”

“How do you know he hasn’t got the money?” Liam asked. “How do you know that he didn’t pull this off on his own?”

“You said it yourself. They were lovers. She admitted that much to you. Pettibone took that money and she has to be in on it. They’re playing it cool. Staying away from each other so they don’t arouse suspicion.”

“I don’t like this,” Liam said. “She seems like a nice person.”

“Some criminals are nice,” Sean said. “Embezzlers win over your trust, then they rob you blind. It’s part of the M.O.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier just to confront her? I could just ask her if she stole the money and watch her reaction. I read people pretty well and I’ll know if she’s lying.”

“And then what? She’s going to hand it over?” Sean laughed. “That’s a plan.”

“Maybe. Maybe she could make a deal and give the money back in exchange for them dropping all charges.”

“Li, what is your problem with this woman?”

“I don’t have a problem.”

“Then just do the damn job,” Sean said. “It’s your watch, I’m going home.” He opened the car door and stepped out into the rain. At the last moment Sean braced his arms on the edge of the roof and leaned back inside. “Don’t screw this up. We’re close. Let’s just finish it.”

Sean slammed the door and Liam watched him jog to his car. He tipped his head back and sighed. This whole thing had gotten way out of hand. Though he was used to charming women, his main goal had always been a passionate night in bed followed by breakfast the next morning. Both parties were left well satisfied and nobody got hurt.

But this was different. His goal here was to put Ellie Thorpe in jail. And the more time he spent with her, the more he began to feel that no matter what she’d done, she didn’t deserve twenty years behind bars.

With a low curse, he raked his hand through his damp hair. After the kiss they’d shared, Liam felt as if he was the one in prison. Thoughts of her filled his head, the way she tasted, the soft warmth of her body in his arms, and his instant and very intense reaction. Kissing women had always been one of the true pleasures in life for him. But with Ellie, it had been different. Kissing her had been exciting and disturbing and confusing all at once.

It hadn’t been just one kiss, either. Over the past few days they’d spent a fair amount of time repeating that first encounter. Every moment they spent together seemed to be filled with tension that only a long and very deep kiss could relieve.

“To hell with this,” Liam muttered, shoving open the door.