Renegade: The Alliance Chronicles, Book Six

Chapter 16

Mark

"You were there when I needed you most. I fell for you hard and I can't change it."

—from "It Happens: When Friendship Turns to Love," by Dr. E. Rich

Kapernecki is the first to break off the kiss. "We better go back inside. See what Fletch has to say."

"Kaper—"

She smacks my chest. "I hate it when you call me that. You know my first name. Try using it."

A little voice warns me to be careful with this woman. Keep this up, and she'll start thinking we're a couple or something.

I smile and utter, "Okay, Leslie."

§

The rest of the team stares at us when we enter Catia's apartment. Were they waiting for us to come back?

One person not happy to see me with Kapernecki is Liam. The hatred wafting off the man is visible.

I don't know why, but I want to find a way to make things right with him. Why? Maybe I just don't like having people pissed at me. Whatever the reason doesn't really matter. No way in hell am I getting mixed up with Silva's family. It doesn't matter how tempting his son might be.

Keep telling yourself that.

"Martinez," I stop in front of him. "Can we talk for a minute?"

He glares at me. "About?"

"In private," I mutter.

Liam exhales loudly before pushing off the sofa and walking down the hall. He enters the tiny room we were in earlier. I close the door and lock it behind me.

"What the hell do you want, Carter?" he snaps.

I deserve his nasty attitude. "Listen, man, I'm sorry. If I had known—"

"We've already gone over this. I don't want to talk about it anymore." He turns his back to me.

"Understood, but—"

Liam whirls around, clenching his fists. "Why the fuck would you do that?"

I rake a hand through my hair. "Wait, a goddamned minute! How the hell was I supposed to know mentioning Oliveira would ring a bell for Fletch? If no one was supposed to know, you should have said so in the beginning."

"In the beginning, I thought there might be something between us." His voice softens. "Someone who cares wouldn't just shoot their mouth off."

I lean against the wall. "Why are you making this personal?"

"You're right," he huffs. "You're just doing your damn job, nothing more."

I turn away from Liam and stare at the floor. His behavior baffles me. We shared a kiss, nothing else. Right? "Liam, what's going on?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The night we went out drinking... Anything besides the kiss happen?"

"I told you nothing happened." His voice cracks.

He's lying.

I don't remember having sex with him, but I was pretty wasted. I drop to the lone chair in the room and try to recall everything from that night. But I'm a blank slate.

There's one thing that would wipe my memory. I shake my head. That didn't happen, not to me. It couldn't. I've only had consensual sex with women and men. I'm not the type to take advantage of a person, and I thought I'd be given the same respect.

As far as I'm concerned, Liam's still a stranger to me. If I had consented to anything, it would have been a blow job or maybe a quick jerk-off. Never has a man been balls deep inside me. I shudder.

"Liam, tell me what you did." I lift my head and look at him. "Start talking, or when I'm done with you..."

His lips lift in a crooked smile. "Just a little mutual satisfaction." He waggled his eyebrows. "You give good head."

Not possible while I was drunk. Sloppy maybe, but not good. But the quality doesn't matter. I remember telling him no.

I. Said. No.

"We actually had a pleasurable time once you stopped puking your guts out." He leaned against the wall. "You have a great ass."

I flinch and force back the bile rushing up my throat. "You slipped me something."

"That's one way of putting it," he smirked.

Wrong answer.

I push out of the chair and cross the room in two steps. My hands go around his collar. Lifting him off the floor, I shove him into the wall.

"Asshole! I told you no!" I shout.

"I'm warning you. You only get one punch. After that, I will fight back, and you may not survive."

Think, man. He's not worth it.

I drop my hands and step away. He wants me to hit him. Only a trained martial artist would give such a warning. I have no intention of ending up in a Brazilian hospital or morgue.

"Why, Liam?"

"Oh, stop whining like a little bitch," he snarls. "You wanted it and enjoyed it. You're welcome, by the way."

I forget his previous warning and charge him. My hands go around his neck. Liam wedges his hands beneath mine and breaks the grip.

He drops back into his fighting stance. "I warned you."

"And I told you no. I guess warnings mean nothing to you." I pull out my gun.

Someone's pounding on the door.

Fear finally edges upon Liam's face. He puts his hands up and stands straighter. "You don't want to do that."

"Don't tell me what the fuck I want to do," I scream.

Wood splinters and then a hand lands on my arm. "I'm telling you not to do it."

I freeze at the masculine voice and say, "You don't know what he's done, Fletch."

"Doesn't matter, Carter. He's not worth your spending time in prison." I let him take the gun from me.

Fletch is right. To think I was attracted to Liam. If he was that desperate to get fucked, he should have asked. My bisexuality doesn't give him, or anyone else, the right to take anything from me.

Liam stands in the middle of the room, not saying a word.

Niang enters and breaks the silence. "Sir, I've made arrangements for the woman and child. What's next?"

I find my voice and jerk my head toward the traitor. "Hang his ass on a goddamn flagpole for Oliveira or Silva to find. I don't give a shit."

Kapernecki's voice trails behind me as I storm out of the apartment. Again.