Liam: An Eidolon Black Ops Novel Read online

  Gunner angled his head to look up at Jack. “Is there any point? You’ve already decided how you feel.” Gunner shrugged, but it wasn’t without feeling, it was resigned. “I don’t blame you for hating me, fuck, I hate myself.”

  “I hope you don’t expect us to feel sorry for you,” Alex growled from where he leaned against the wall, his arms crossed.

  Gunner twisted to him and shook his head. “No. But I’m praying with everything in me that you’re better men than I am. That you’re the men I know you to be.”

  Liam let out a bark of humourless laughter. “You don’t know fuck about me.”

  Gunner focused on him. “Don’t I? I know you still mourn Ambrose. That you always resented me for taking his spot on the team.”

  Liam dove for Gunner, his hand clamping around his throat as fury almost blinded him. “Don’t speak his fucking name. You’re not fit to lick his shoes. He was ten times the man you are, that I am.”

  Jack watched, not interfering for a moment, letting Liam have his say. Gunner didn’t fight him or pull away, allowing the attack. Liam realised at that moment Gunner was taunting him, so Liam would punish him. He hated himself as much as anyone else in that room did, probably more so. Liam relaxed and let go, allowing Gunner to take a deep rasping breath.

  “You’re right, I’m not worthy of any of you, but I need your help.”

  The room went silent at his request, and the men glanced to one another in question. Jack took the lead. “Why would we help you?”

  “Because you’re good men.”

  “No, we aren’t. We kill, we maim, and all in the name of our Queen.”

  “Yes, you are because you don’t hurt innocents and you have a code.”

  “A code you seem to have thrown away.”

  Gunner hung his head before he tipped it up to Jack. “I had my reasons.”

  Jack paced slowly. “Oh, we know. Milla. We know all about your sister.” Gunner’s eyes widened in surprise, and Jack continued. “Yes, we know all about Milla. What I can’t understand is why you didn’t come to us?”

  It was hard not to react to the betrayal in Jack’s voice.

  “I couldn’t. They already had her, and if I’d told you they would’ve known. I couldn’t take that risk.”

  “How would they have known?” Decker asked, speaking for the first time.

  Gunner twisted to him. “I had to carry a chip with a mic and camera. If they thought for one second I’d signalled you, she would be dead.”

  Decker nodded but didn’t say any more, just lifted his chin at Jack.

  “What is this favour?”

  “I need you to find my sister and rescue her. I thought I could do as they asked but I can’t. I can’t lose her either.” His anguish and pain were on display for all to see, and Liam noted the dark circles under Gunner’s eyes. The man was exhausted, hanging on by a fraying rope. Liam thought of the women in his life, those he thought of as sisters and wondered what he would have done. He liked to think he would’ve done things differently, but would he? He didn’t know, and much as he hated it, his ire at Gunner faded just a fraction.

  “Who are they?”

  “A man who calls himself the Count. He has his headquarters at a strip club in London. Always has a team of highly trained muscle around, not Spec Ops but I’m guessing ex-military. He also has an Irish guy that just came on the scene. He seems high level, but I don’t know a lot about him, just that the Count trusts him.”

  “Is the Count the top man?” Liam asked.

  Gunner shook his head. “I don’t think so. He talks about his boss but never mentions any details. He is meticulous about it. I’m not convinced he even knows who it is.”

  As Jack took all the information in, Liam knew Lopez would be working night and day with Will to uncover who the Count was, as well as trying to trace Bás.

  “What did they ask you to do that you can’t?” Alex stood straight from the wall as he asked the question.

  “They wanted me to kill Reid and Callie Lundholm.”

  “And?”

  “They want me to weaken Eidolon by taking out your partners. I’m sure you figured out I sabotaged missions.”

  “We did. What we couldn’t figure out was why you failed. You had plenty of opportunities to do us all real harm, and you failed. Why?”

  Gunner looked at Jack with a pained expression. “You were my brothers, the closest I had to family here. I didn’t want to succeed and hurt anyone. I was trying so hard to walk a thin line, but they must have figured out what I was doing. They sent me a video of a man standing over Milla’s bed.” Gunner swallowed, and Liam knew this was painful for him. “They asked if she was a virgin.”

  Liam’s lip curled in anger at the thought of the vulnerable woman being terrified by such a threat.

  “I had to go all in after that.”

  “And if we do this favour, what will you do for us? Favours are for friends, family, or team members, not traitors.”

  Jack was being a hard ass, and Liam understood his stance and why he was forcing Gunner to work for this.

  “Whatever you want. Name it, and I’ll do it.”

  “I need you to stay undercover, go about your business and get me all the information I need to take these motherfuckers down.”

  “What about Milla?” Gunner looked scared but was holding his own with Jack.

  “We’ll make sure Milla is safe.”

  “You need to hurry. I can’t hold off doing something and keep her safe.”

  Jack tipped his head to Decker, who moved forward with the laptop and hit play. They all looked on as Gunner watched the video of Fortis rescuing Milla.

  He looked at Jack with hope in his eyes. “She’s safe?”

  “Yes.”

  Gunner sagged as if he was a balloon with all the air sucked from him, his head hanging as he sucked in vast pulls of air. “Thank you.”

  Liam could see his old teammate was sincere as the tension left his shoulders in a visible sigh. Liam was pleased they could do that for him even though he’d betrayed them. He could see now Gunner wasn’t evil, misguided maybe, but he’d lost his way. If he were honest, there had been many a time when he’d been close to losing his own way.

  “They won’t believe I had nothing to do with this. How will I repay you?”

  “Because this is the video the men who are blackmailing you will see.” Decker hit play and Gunner watched, before he looked away, his face ashen.

  “You’ll go to them, tell them you received this through the post, and you want to see us all burn for what we did.”

  “They may not believe me.”

  “They will because you’re not our only inside man.”

  “Oh?” Gunner angled his head to Jack in a query, but Jack shook his head.

  “That’s privileged information. But you’ll leave any information for us in a chat room for this game.” Jack showed Gunner an app that had been added to his phone by Will, Jack’s tech genius brother who worked for Fortis.

  “I understand. So, what now?”

  “Now you get thirty minutes to visit with your sister to settle in your mind she’s safe, and then you go back undercover.”

  Gunner nodded as Alex moved to release the restraints at his wrists and legs. Gunner stretched and offered a grateful smile. “Thank you.” He looked at the four of them individually before he spoke again. “For what it’s worth, my decision was the wrong one. I’ll regret losing what I had with you all for the rest of my life.”

  Liam nodded but didn’t speak. What could he say to the man that he didn’t already know? They had to move forward now.

  “I’ll have Waggs and Alex escort you to see Milla.” With that, Jack and Alex left the room, as he and Decker followed.

  Liam knew there’d be much discussion on this now, but he needed a minute of fresh air first. He walked to the exit at the back and opened the door, feeling the camera follow him as he did.

  His feelings towards Gunner
had changed wildly during that interrogation, although to call it an interrogation was false. Gunner had given up the information readily. Taking some cleansing breaths to rid him of the emotions clogging his head, he turned to go back in and saw Jack striding down the hall towards him, a pissed off expression on his face.

  “What?”

  “I just had a call from Princess Taamira.”

  Liam groaned at her name. The woman drove him crazy with her demands and her stuck up behaviour. Yet, when he was with her, he couldn’t help but wonder what she would feel like soft and pliant beneath him, if she’d only put all that fire to good use and let go of her prissy ways.

  “What now?”

  “She just fired her security team and is demanding you fly out to her.”

  “For fuck’s sake.” Liam hung his head as he massaged his neck.

  “You need to find out what happened.”

  “Fine, I’ll be on the first flight out. But if I wring her pretty neck, you have to post bail.”

  Jack chuckled. “Deal.”

  Chapter Two

  Taamira paced the length of her private suite, rubbing her hands together in agitation as she did, before spinning and returning to the open laptop on her desk. A picture of her working out in the private gym, a room only she used, was splashed across the sensationalist magazine that had been dogging her for months.

  Taamira sighed as she looked at the picture. What upset her was not that the photo showed her in tight-fitting clothes that were banned in public by her religion, it was the fact the only people who had access to that room were her private security guards. She shuddered as a feeling of vulnerability invaded her body.

  Taamira glanced sharply at the door of her bedroom suite, where she had closed herself from the main room as the knock came.

  Her head of security’s voice came through the door. “Princess, it’s Derek. I’m here with the team. We need to speak with you.”

  Taamira took a cleansing breath as she weighed up what she should do. The only people who could have leaked that photo was her security team, but she had no idea which one of them it had been. She’d not been so vulnerable and exposed since the attack that had changed her life. Changed her entire outlook on her family, on the privileged position she was in, and how she could use it for good.

  Indeed, the men of Eidolon were the only people who allowed her vulnerability to disappear and gave her confidence. Her safety when she was with them wasn’t a consideration it was so natural. The men and women from Fortis gave her the same vibe. But most especially Liam, with his surly attitude, loud vulgar vernacular, and gentle eyes. He irritated her and sparred with her, not caring for her position as a Princess. No, Liam treated her as a woman, and for some reason, she knew she could be herself with him.

  Taamira even enjoyed the arguments they had and often found herself doing or saying things to initiate them. As the knock came again, she found herself having to make a decision regarding her security team. She had only one choice, and as she made it, she straightened her spine and walked to the mirror. Studying herself, she made sure not a second of doubt was evident on her face, nor a hair out of place. He royal demeanour securely in place, she strode confidently to the door and pulled it open.

  Derek took a step back as she moved past him, her head high, neck long as her mother had taught her, sure she looked every inch the regal Princess of the Isle of Eyan.

  “Ask your team to assemble in the lounge area immediately.” Her voice was haughty and demanding, but it got her the deference she needed in this situation. She may not show it, but on the inside, she shook with nerves. There was a snake in her garden, and she needed to be careful.

  “Your highness?” Derek cocked his head in question as he tried to assess her mood, but she hid even the slightest sliver of emotion from him. Derek was not a small man, but she had never sensed danger from him, and she didn’t now, but she couldn’t take the risk.

  “Gather your team, now.” Her voice was ice as she spoke, and she saw the surprise in the man’s eyes as he correctly read her mood and the flinty tone as she gave her order.

  Derek dipped his head and walked to the door, poking his head around it, ordering his team to do as she had bid.

  Taamira resisted the urge to straighten her clothing in a show of nerves as she watched the other four men walk towards her and stand a few feet away. They varied in size, all were large, with compact muscles and a similar vibe to the Fortis men, although she didn’t get that calm confidence from these men that she did with Fortis and Eidolon—something was missing.

  Taamira faced the men knowing one of them had betrayed her and still had no idea who it was. All of them had been pleasant with her and seemed good at their jobs. That they would do this shouldn’t shock her, and in some ways, it didn’t, but it did sadden her.

  “I am sure you have all seen the picture which was leaked to the press of me in the gym yesterday.” She eyed each man individually, wishing she were better at reading people.

  “Princess,” Derek began, but she held up her hand to silence him.

  “Given the fact that the only people who have access to that room are the five of you, I have no option but to terminate your employment with immediate effect.”

  Five shocked faces looked back at her, and the men began to speak.

  “Your highness, I assure you a full investigation is underway,” Derek began.

  Taamira turned her gaze on the man who was in charge of this team tasked with keeping her safe from people who would do her harm. Instead, they had invaded her privacy and made her feel weak. “I am glad for that, but it does not change the fact that I can no longer trust any of you with my privacy or my safety. Therefore, you are relieved of your duties. Effective immediately.”

  Derek locked eyes with her, and she held her ground even as her hand began to tremble. Then he nodded, and she almost sagged with relief.

  “As you wish, Princess. But I will remain in the vicinity until a replacement is appointed. To leave you without any protection is not in my nature as a guard or as a man.” Derek then tipped his head and ushered his stunned men from the room.

  Taamira called to him as he got to the door. “I will have your key passes.”

  She held out her hand to him, and he slid his hand into his pocket and handed her the pass, then took the ones his men held out. Once she had gathered them together, she nodded, and Derek and his team left the suite, closing the door silently behind them.

  As he did, Taamira gripped the back of the cream leather couch and let her body sag with the weight of what she had done. Firing her entire protection was probably a very foolish move and would play right into the hands of anyone who wished her harm. But she could not be around people she didn’t trust. She had lived that life, where every word uttered, or action had to be twisted inside out and examined to see if damage was the outcome they intended.

  Walking on slightly wobbly legs, but with her head held high, she moved to the door and secured the chain. Then she walked to the bedroom and closed the door, pushing a chair underneath the handle.

  Sitting at her desk, she looked at her image again as she moved the trackpad and woke the laptop from sleep. Her hair was wet and plastered to her neck, sweat running down her chest between her breasts. The tight workout clothes would be considered scandalous among her family and her people, and she worried what they would think. But as she looked at her reflection, she was reminded again of the oppression her sisters faced; this seemed like one more example of that.

  The men of her realm were permitted to wear whatever they chose, even going shirtless on the beaches. The women had to cover themselves for fear the men would not be able to control their sexual urges and they would get the blame.

  While she would not have gone this far in public given a choice, she did hope to elicit change and conversation among the people of standing who created the rules in her world. Being that they were predominantly male, she knew it was an uphill battle, bu
t ever since her sexuality was used as a weapon against her, she had known that change was needed in her country.

  Men of all religions, of all lands, needed to see that women were equals. That to use the threat of rape against a woman was a charge equal to murder in her eyes and should be tried and judged as such in every country.

  For now, though, she had to figure out what she would do regarding her safety and only one person came to mind.

  Liam.

  Picking up her phone, she knew if she called him, he might refuse, the thought of being rejected by him scared her more than the threat. She called Jack instead, knowing he would enforce his cooperation if she demanded it.

  Once again pulling her mental shield into place and putting on the mantle of a Princess, she made the call.

  “Yes?” Jack was curt and to the point, but he had also offered his own life to protect his sister-in-law, and she knew for a fact she would never have survived that attack without him.

  “It’s Taamira.” She’d asked him to drop the Princess a long time ago, even as she forced Liam use it.

  “What can I do for you, Taamira?” Jack asked in a gentle tone that she had come to expect from him. It was almost brotherly, and she wished with all her heart her own brother had been more like Jack.

  “I’m in a bit of bother.”

  “Oh?”

  She heard him stop moving and knew she had his full attention. “I fired my security team ten minutes ago.”

  “You what?”

  Taamira heard the controlled anger in his voice. “I had too, at least one of them has betrayed me and took a picture of me in the gym. It is plastered all over the media.”

  “I’ll have someone on a plane in the next hour.”

  “I want Liam.”

  She waited for Jack to reply to her demand. She always asked for Liam, and she knew it drove both Jack and Liam crazy that she was so demanding. But the truth was, he was the one out of them all who gave her the security that she was safe. He was the man who’d seen to her safety; had stayed beside her as she dealt with the betrayal of her family. His loud, brash, annoying presence had soothed her soul, allowing her to come to terms with what had happened.