The Mobster's Daughter

The Mobster's Daughter: Chapter 22

"Damn it!" I screeched as the gun clattered to the ground noisily. I reached out and smacked whatever I could reach in the darkness.
"What the hell, Liam?" Lexi shrieked over my shoulder. I cringed away as her voice left a slight ringing in my left ear.
Then, before I could even blink, the poor girl burst into tears. I was completely confused, shouldn't she have been happy? We totally just hunted down her brother so he couldn't do anything stupid.

A flashlight clicked on, filling the small space as all our faces were illuminated in the eerie light.
Once I could see Liam's face, anger washed over me. My nostrils flared and my lips pulled back from my teeth as my heavy breathing hissed in and out through my clenched teeth. In the back of my mind, some random thought told me I should have taken anger management classes.
Then Liam had the. Nerve. To. Laugh. At. Me.

All self-preservation I'd been clinging to snapped and I lunged, clawing and hitting any part of him I could reach.
"Belle stop!" Lexi pleaded, catching me around the waist so she could drag me out of even spitting distance. I struggled against her, accidentally getting glimpse of the damage I inflicted and looked away quickly. I stood completely still, and when Lex was sure I wasn't going to attack anybody she let go patting my arm. She turned to face Liam, and I did the same, all of us staring at each other in a stony silence. I was the first to speak up.
"How could you do this to us?" My voice didn't come across as strong as I'd hope, and it cracked near the end, but the fact that Lexi was nodding vigorously along helped put my words through. Although the silent tears running down her pale cheeks kind of ruined it.
I finally got up the nerve to look at Liam and was relieved to find that not only was he looking away from us but none of the cuts I'd made would need stitches. Even then, I felt a pang of guilt in my gut. I rolled my eyes at the guilt I felt for something he'd caused and held my hand out.
"Sorry." I mumbled, and his head shot up, eyes blazing. They calmed considerably when he saw that I wasn't holding my hand out to hit him.
"I have to clean up your face. It's upstairs and you can't see in the dark." I pointed out.
Without a word he took my hand, squeezing my fingers gently. Lexi had found a box of emergency candles and was prancing about the room lighting them. Assured that she wouldn't be stumbling around in the dark where she could possibly hit her head and pass out, I led Liam up the stairs and into my room.

I stifled a giggle when he hit his shin off the bedpost, but I guess I didn't do a good job because he froze, jerking me to a halt in the process.
"Something funny?" He whispered, running his fingers up and down my back. I ignored the tingles and cleared my throat.
"The uh, bathroom's this way." I pulled him into the room and pushed the door closed behind him. Fumbling around in the drawers I came upon my lighter and leaned over the tub to light one of my red bath candles.

The whole time I was cleaning the small cuts on Liam's face, he was cursing under his breath. Eventually though, he spoke up still refusing to look at me.
"I had to do it Belle. So no one would hurt you anymore." He still wasn't looking at me and I rolled my eyes. Could I ever really be mad at Liam O'Conner? My heart told me no, and I was slightly more willing to go along with it.
With a huge internal sigh, I decided I couldn't be mad because he was only trying to help me. I reached out, and when Liam shied away I chuckled slightly and grabbed his chin. I pulled it up, effectively forcing him to looking me in the eyes. "I'm not mad, I just wish you would've have waited for Lexi or me to go with you."
He smiled a breathtakingly beautiful smile, even in the dim light. I leaned down and pressed my lips to his quickly, before blowing out the candle and sauntering out of the room.