The Lies That Shatter by A.V. Asher

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Adam stepped out of the store onto the filth-covered sidewalk. Sirens called out in the night air, a constant reminder of how shitty this area was. A shout from the alleyway filtered to him and he kept his peripherals on the arguing men. Most of these degenerates took one look at him and left him alone, but every once in a while, there was some asshole who thought he could take a chance on him.

Marcus had requested another meeting, and Adam had no choice but to comply. Tyler, that little fuck, was whining about his tennis club friends giving him the cold shoulder. The trial had interfered with baby boy’s party time.

Adam couldn’t give less fucks if he tried.

But like the dutiful soldier he was, Adam took the dressing down with an exterior calm. Even Marcus had seemed less enthusiastic with Adam’s work.

A chill had gone down Adam’s spine when Marcus leaned forward in his chair. “I don’t need to remind you what you owe me, Adam. Things can change rather rapidly if I don’t start seeing results.”

He didn’t have to be told twice.

Adam stepped over the legs of an unconscious man on the stoop. He punched in the code for the door, a paltry attempt to secure the building, and entered the dark foyer. The thick, reusable grocery bag crinkled as he climbed the stairs to the third floor. He was pulling out his keys when a shuffling stopped him.

Shit.

The darkness of the hall was hiding someone in the corner. Any number of threats could have found him, Alec McKinley was the first to come to his mind.

Taking a step back from the door, Adam dropped the bag and brought his gun up, aiming at the corner.

“Who are you and what the fuck do you want?”

A soft voice with a British accent came from the shadow, tentative and shaken. “It’s me.”

Jesus fucking Christ. He dropped his gun and stared at the dark corner. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Mara Donovan stepped into the light, and Adam sucked in his breath. Soft blue-gray eyes searched his as if studying his soul. “I’m sorry, I got so scared and didn’t know where to go.”

He ripped the key from his pocket and jammed it into the door. Swinging it open, he grabbed her arm and the groceries and yanked them both inside. Once the door was locked, he let himself really take her in.

Damn, she was as beautiful as ever.

Adam crossed the distance and drew her into his arms. The years apart had changed nothing. Her slender body still fit against him like a glove. “Goddamn it, Mara, why the fuck would you risk coming here?”

Mara clung to him, trembling. “Declan McKinley found me.” The tearful words hit him hard.

No, no, no.

“When?”

“About a week ago. I think I lost him. I drove around for as long as I could before I used the identification and emergency kit you gave me and got a ticket out of Dublin. I didn’t know where else to go.”

Adam pulled her to arm’s length. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

She shook her head. “No, he just wanted to talk.”

Panic welled in Adam’s chest. “You didn’t meet with him, did you?”

“I had to.” Mara’s voice quivered.

Adam stepped away from her. “Fuck! Why did you do that?”

“I didn’t have a choice. He followed me everywhere. I couldn’t get away from him. What was I supposed to do?”

“Not fucking meet with him. I don’t know if you remember, but you and I aren’t exactly on the best of terms with the McKinleys.”

Mara’s eyes flashed. “Then maybe I shouldn’t have been alone for the last two years. The only time I’ve seen you was when I was jumping into that bloody, freezing river. If you would have come with me, none of this would have happened.”

Adam’s teeth gritted. “I didn’t have a choice, Mara. Marcus can destroy my family.”

Mara looked away. “I know.”

“What did he want?” Adam ground out. When her gaze shot to his, he added, “Declan McKinley. What did he want?”

“He said he and his cousin wanted to offer me protection in order to testify against Marcus. And that Jason Hollis is too unreliable.”

They weren’t wrong about that. “Did you tell him about us?”

“No. He didn’t mention you at all. They were focused on taking Marcus down. He asked a lot of questions about Mercedes.” She shifted her gaze away. Adam knew she was racked with guilt over the attorney. “I was relieved when I heard she was alive. Did you help her?”

Regret swirled in his gut, like it always did when he thought of Mercedes. “I’ve helped her when I could. But that last time, my guy worked too quickly and confirmed where she was. I had to order the hit, or Cooper would have known. I’m glad she managed to survive it.”

Mara’s brow creased. “Maybe we should take the deal. Declan said they would help with my legal team and set me up in a safe house. Now that it turns out she’s alive, his cousin might do anything to free her of this.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Declan said? How well do you know him?”

Mara huffed out her breath. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

Adam reigned in his jealousy. “If you side with the McKinleys, you and I can’t ever happen again. I’ve done far too much to ever be in their good graces.”

She touched his arm. “If we tell them what Marcus has done to you, or that you helped Mercedes, more than once, maybe they’ll understand. Declan seemed a reasonable bloke.”

Her expression held just enough hope that Adam might believe it himself. Even after the horrors she’d been put through, she was an optimist. She always wanted to believe the best in people.

But even if the McKinleys could let what he’d done slide, which they wouldn’t, he was in too deep with Marcus to ever come up.

“Nothing has changed for me, Mara. If I disappear, Marcus will go after Shannon. It’s not like I can hide her and the kids.”

Mara nodded, her eyes filling with tears. “I would never do anything to put your family at risk. But maybe I need to be the one to make the call here. If Declan can protect me, I might be able to testify against Marcus and end this all.”

Anger slammed into his chest. Mara didn’t need Declan McKinley to protect her. Adam had been doing that for two fucking years. And this whole fucking nightmare began when they tried to put Marcus Cooper down. Now that he’d done his most recent job, the trial would soon be derailed. Had he opened the door for Mara to star in the second run of this shitstorm? If she turned to Alec and Declan McKinley for security, she’d be lost to him.

Adam stepped to Mara and slid his fingers into her honey-blonde hair. He jerked it back, tilting her chin up at him. Her eyes widened and then settled into that submissiveness he knew she craved. Not the traumatic shit Marcus had done to her for years. But the kind where she was really the one in control.

“Do you still want me, Mara?” he growled.

“I do,” she rasped. “I want you, Adam.”

It was all fucking wrong. Adam was an evil ghost. She deserved better than that.

He tugged her hair and slid his thumb across her soft lips. “No. What’s my name, baby.”

Those lips parted, licking the pad of his thumb. “Timothy,” she breathed. Lust went straight to his already hard cock. “I need you, Tim. I’ve waited for you forever.” Her hands were working at his buckle. Once he was free, she stroked his cock in her small fist.

He groaned. “Fuck, Mara.”

She was all he needed. Even after years of trying to keep her away, she’d come back to him. It didn’t matter what the world wanted. He was going to lose himself in this woman tonight.