Fighting With Light (The Coldwell Brothers #2)

47. Aelia

47

Aelia

I smile at Liam as he bounces around the shore, shaking hands and taking pictures with fans. Flashes light up his face and I am so proud of him. They present the trophy and I stand off to the side as he smiles with his sponsors. He keeps glancing at me and I want to stay off to the side, out of the way. But then he gestures for me to come over to him and the flashes blind me for a moment as he slides his hand around my waist.

He leans into my ear as the cameras continue to go off and he whispers, “I don’t care who knows. You’re mine for real, and I want to tell the world, princess.”

I smile up at him. He palms my cheek and kisses me for a moment that feels like it will forever stretch in time.

***

Liam drives us back while his phone is going off with texts and phone calls and he just…ignores it.

“Are you going to answer any of that?” I ask him.

He glances at me and back on the road. “Yeah, I will, I just…I want to let it sink in first.”

“Why didn’t your family come down?” I ask him.

He shrugs. “I’m sure they wanted to be here, but…with everything going on, there’s no way Emerson would have been okay with Mom being in a crowd. They’re unpredictable, and the same with Cordelia and Theo, too many unknowns.”

“I’m sorry they couldn’t be here.”

He grabs my hand, kissing the inside of my palm. “I’m just glad you were here.”

Liam pulls into the long driveway and flips the truck off. I start to get out, and he sits there for a second.

“Are you okay?” I ask him.

He nods, giving me a sleepy smile. “Never better, princess.”

“Come on, don’t you want to collect your winnings?” I ask him.

He grins and hops out of the car, chasing me inside. I head for the kitchen, and he turns down the hall to the bedroom. “Hey, wait, you’re supposed to be in here,” he yells from our room.

“For the record, I said nothing about a bed, Tarzan,“ I yell and pull everything out of the fridge.

He grunts in response and walks into the kitchen in a fresh pair of board shorts and a long-sleeved shirt.

“I’m going to make you a celebratory dinner,” I tell him, smiling.

He stares at me for a moment. “You cook?”

I purse my lips and cross my arms. “Yeah…I mean, I read the instructions and stuff. I can figure it out, and I am Italian .”

He chuckles. “Just because you’re Italian, doesn’t mean you can cook.”

I purse my lips and glare at him.

“Alright, princess, let’s see what you’ve got.”

***

It’s dark and the doors are open in front of the dinner table to let the breeze in. I set the table and lit some candles. While the roast finishes baking, I shower and change, putting on the dress Liam bought me in Bali .

The timer beeps, and I hustle into the kitchen to pull it out. While the roast cools, I pour each of us a glass of wine. He’s been on the phone with his family since I started cooking. Then the sponsors started calling, already talking about next season. Being a professional athlete is not at all what I expected and involves a lot more than just playing a sport, or in Liam’s case, surfing.

“Liam!” I call, setting our plates on the table.

He brushes into the kitchen from the deck and inhales deeply.

I stand next to the dinner table and say, “Dinner is served.”

He looks between me and the table a few times and picks me up. Tucking his nose in my neck, I feel him take a deep breath. “I love you, princess. Thank you,” he says.

I lean forward and kiss his crooked nose. “You’re welcome, my love.”

He grins and slides me down his body, taking my hand to spin me around. The dress flares out, and he yanks me back into his chest.

“I’m so glad I bought you this dress, and I can’t wait to take it off of you,” he says, grinning and kissing my shoulder.

“Let’s eat first?” I offer, tossing him a wink.

He nods and sits in his seat.

The candlelight glows against Liam’s already tan skin and the flame flickers against his hazel eyes. I notice how at peace I feel when I’m with him. I figured that out when we were in El Salvador. He feels right , and I don’t care what my family thinks about it.

After we finish dinner and clean up the kitchen from my mess, we head off to bed. I have something in mind for Liam because I want to celebrate his major win in every way he can think of. After I change into some lingerie I haven’t worn in months and brush my teeth, I find him shirtless, still in his board shorts, passed out in the middle of the bed.

Careful not to wake him up, I slip on one of his t-shirts, flip the lights off, and pull a blanket over both of us. I close my eyes and feel him move, pulling me into his chest. “Thank you, baby. I love you. ”

“I love you, too.” I didn’t know I would enjoy saying those words so much. Having the opportunity to say them to someone and mean every word is so special and it blows me away that I’m saying them to Liam, of all people.

***

The next morning, Liam was up early and got right to work. He has all the evidence we’ve been able to acquire over the months of traveling and surfing. It’s time to write it up for the Feds.

“I think we have a solid case and it’s all evidential. Only it feels like we’re missing something. We need irrefutable proof of how my father connects to yours. It’s obvious with the Costas, but not my father,” he says.

I nod and sip my coffee.

“The arms trafficking is somewhat circumstantial because it’s the port and a congressman doesn’t exactly have control over that. However, I found evidence showing his work with the port authority regarding illegal drugs and cracking down on the distribution. So it’s not too far of a leap to provide a connection that he could be allowing illegal arms through.”

“The pictures show conclusively that unmarked arms were being sent to the port. Then we have what we found in Colombia, which is good, and I had hoped it would be the slam dunk we needed to be able to send this, but now I’m not sure it’s enough.”

“I don’t know how showing United States Embassy containers filled with cocaine in the middle of the Andes mountains and then having documentation of it being shipped to the border isn’t a slam dunk, Liam.”

He shrugs and types something on his computer.

“We should have taken pictures of the women and children we helped. I didn’t want to because they don’t deserve to be dragged into this even more, but it would have helped.”

“I know, but it was safer for them that way. ”

His jaw ticks. “Maybe we need some kind of correspondence between Marco and Fred.”

“That would be hard, like I said. Dad is old school. There may be some phone records, though.”

Liam frowns. “I mean, it could definitely raise some eyebrows, but I don’t think it would be enough to seal the deal, is what I’m saying.”

I nod. “Let me think about it. I might be able to talk to my brothers.”

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” he asks.

“I don’t know that we have any other choice, especially if you think that we need it.”

“Alright, maybe we should just sit on it and I’ll work on putting everything together and write the summary. We have to make it easy for the Feds.”

While he writes the report, I make us some scrambled eggs and then Liam says he’s going to surf for a bit. I shouldn’t be surprised, he doesn’t like taking breaks, but he loves surfing, for sport or not.

While I change, my phone goes off. I reach for it, assuming it’s Violet. She’s probably wondering why we haven’t scheduled another trip yet, and I haven’t figured out how to tell her I met someone and my partying days are over. If I go out to party, Liam will be at my side. I don’t want to go with anyone else.

I look at the text and it’s the one person I had been holding my breath about. My father. Why God? Why is my father like this? I sigh and squeeze the bridge of my nose before I open the text. This man needs to be stopped, and we’re almost there, but it looks like time has run out.

Marco: You need to come home. I will not accept no for an answer. If you choose not to, I will put a bullet in your mother’s head as your punishment.

Aelia: I’ll be home in a few days and she is my brothers’ mother, as well. Are they aware of your threats?

I stare at the text, reading it over and over again. Bullet in your mother’s head. Does he hate me that much? I know I’ve done nothing but irritate him for years, but he deserves it. No one deserves what my mother has been through . My jaw clenches as I type the text out. I’m sure it would piss my brothers off if I called my brothers and told them what he said.

You know what? Screw it.

Aelia: Your father is threatening to put a bullet in Mom’s head.

Romeo: Why?

Giorgio: Hell No

Alfie: WTF

Aelia: Why? Really Romeo?

Giorgio: Yeah, dude, why does it matter? You know he’s insane.

Romeo: Well, it would explain a few things. Something happened with the coke shipment, and he’s been on edge.

Giorgio: It doesn’t matter why, dumbass. We will take care of Mom, baby sis. All good.

Alfie: You should come home, though. It’s been a while. You know how he is, and he’s been working on your...future.

Aelia: I don’t HAVE to do anything, Alfie. Marrying me off to someone I don’t know for the sake of business is reprehensible. Regardless, I will come home when I’m ready. I told him I’d be home in a few days. Please just… don’t let him near her.

Romeo: We won’t

Giorgio: Alfie’s right, please come home.

Aelia: Soon

I stare at the conversation and torture myself a little longer. My stomach rolls and I take a deep breath, trying to push the nausea away. The only reason I haven’t told Liam about the fact that I’m promised to another man is simply because I won’t agree to it. I love Liam, and if he asked me to marry him today, I would go to bed as his wife. I wouldn’t wait for a big wedding. I’d tell him to take us to the courthouse and tie the knot today. Part of me wants to do it right now. But he may not be ready to ask me a question like that.

In all honesty, that’s fine. I don’t blame him. We’ve only said I love you about four days ago. What we have takes extra time, and normally, I would be fine with that. But now it just makes me nervous that my dad is going to try to outsmart me, and I’ll end up married to the wrong man.

My stomach lurches at the thought, and I run for the bathroom, flipping the seat up and losing my breakfast. I dry heave as tears fill my eyes because I wish the nausea was anything but nerves. Pregnant would be a thousand times better than this. I would be happy to be carrying Liam’s baby, our baby. It would also solve the problem of this other mobster wanting me.

I knew time was running out, and I would have to go home. My hope was that I could slip in, check on Mom, talk to my brothers, and slip out. But that’s not the case anymore. Liam said we needed one more form of evidence, and I think I can get it when I go home. Hopefully, he will go for it.

After my stomach stops rolling, I brush my teeth and grab my towel before heading out to the beach.

Liam is still surfing, lost in his own ocean world. I lay my towel out and sit down, watching him gracefully carve through the water as if the board is an extension of him. Watching him yesterday was thrilling. I don’t understand their scoring, so it was just as exciting to watch him surf and wait for his score as it is to watch the quarterback run down the field to make a touchdown with five seconds left on the clock. I held my breath half the time, praying he didn’t wipe out.

As I watch him, I form a plan in my mind. Get what we need, get Mom away from my father, and disappear. I know in this world no one actually disappears, but it’s worth the risk. I hope he would be okay with having my mom around, not that we’ve had that discussion. In fact, we haven’t talked about a lot of family issues. All I know is I love him and I want him. We can figure this out.

Standing from my towel, I cup my hands around my mouth and yell, “Liam!”

He’s floating on his board and turns his head. I wave my hands and he waves back, paddling back to shore. I watch him catch another smaller wave and ride it almost to the beach.

He takes a few steps towards me, tosses his board onto the dry sand, and wraps his arms around my ribs, spinning us a round. I squeal at the cold water against my skin, but I don’t care as he grins up at me. I wrap my legs around his waist and his hands slide to my butt, holding me up.

“What’s up, princess?” he asks.

I don’t know where to start and refuse to let my father ruin this moment, so I don’t. Leaning forward, I grab his lips with mine and it sends sparks down my spine every single time. I love the way it feels to be with Liam. Slipping my tongue past his, he groans into my mouth and I nip him .

He pulls back, frowning, and takes a few steps backward before he drops to his knees with me still in his arms. I squeak, and he chuckles, laying me back in the sand. Keeping my knees at his hips, he holds himself up on his arms and stares down at me.

“Do you know when I fell in love with you?” he asks.

My heart flips around in my chest and I feel a gentle brush from the ocean lapping at my butt. I shake my head and he kisses my cheeks before stopping on my nose.

“Portugal, the heat got canceled. It was raining, and I just knew. You are it for me, Aelia Costa.”

The back of my nose burns and I blink, trying to keep from crying, but a tear slips out, anyway. “I love you,” I rasp and pull him back down to my mouth. His hips drop and his mouth caresses. He makes me feel like everything is going to be okay.

We pull back to inhale and our quick, heated kiss turns slow and heady as he drops his lips down my neck, sucking at the pulse, dragging a moan from my mouth.

“I know I’m safe with you,” I whisper.

He draws back to look me in the eye. Before I can brace myself, he spins us so his back is on the sand and I’m straddling his hips. I look into his beautiful hazel eyes and get lost for a moment. It’s so easy with him. We may have started out… different, but I think it needed to happen. I needed to experience his lack of trust in me so I could find it in him.

“I will always protect you, princess, always, ” he says.

I try not to get choked up because what’s coming is not something he can protect me from. “I will do anything for you,” I whisper and lift my chin.

When we touch, when we kiss, it’s electric, confident, as he takes everything that I so freely give him. He sits up, groaning into my mouth, and his large hand holds the back of my neck as he flips us. I pull away laughing because it feels like we’re in a movie. We’re making out on the beach and sand is everywhere and I don’t even care.

“What?” he asks, lifting slightly.

I snort and he tilts his head.

“What’s so funny, princess? Because how I’m feeling right now isn’t funny,” he grumbles.

My lips burst open in a laugh and I run my hands through his hair, getting more sand in it.

“Look,” I say, lifting my chin in the direction we came from. Body prints are pressed into the sand and the water licks at it, threatening to get rid of the imprint.

He snorts. “Instead of footprints in the sand, it’s ass prints in the sand.”

I throw my head back laughing and he pulls a piece of sandy hair plastered to my forehead away.

“Stunning,” he murmurs .

The laughter catches in my breath as he stares down at me, as if he’s amazed that I’m here. I reach for him, placing my hand over his heart, and it feels like it’s beating out of his chest.

“You always do that to me, you know…I saw you walk down from the house to the sand, and I swear my heart almost gave up.”

“That can’t happen,” I whisper.

He grins and kisses me again. It’s rough mixed with a bit of sand, yet I don’t care.

“Don’t worry, princess, you’ll just jump start it when you touch me.”

I lift my eyebrow, not sure if he’s being cute or dirty. I’m okay with both.

He chuckles and sits up on his knees and reaches for me. “Come on, let’s go wash off.” He picks me up and stands in one smooth motion, turning to walk into the ocean, wading into the water until the water reaches his chest.

I lean my head back, getting my hair wet. His hands come to the back of my head and massage it before he does the same, and I run my hands through his hair. The sand loosens, and I don’t want to let him go. I want to stay like this. I don’t want to think about my father, or his threat, or my brothers. But if we are going to keep what we have built together, we will have to fight for it.

The water glitters as the sun covers us in its warm embrace and Liam kisses my chin. When our eyes meet, there’s so much sitting in them, longing, love, desire. Determination sets on his brow and I trace his face with my wet finger.

I don’t want to say this, but I have to. It’s a good plan and it will get us what we need for the case. And I’m tired of living my life as a pawn. I need to be honest with myself because I have for a long time. But life is too short to hold back all the things you want with someone you love, good, bad, ugly, beautiful. It’s simply too short and my time with Liam is even shorter.

“Do you remember what we told each other in Portugal?” I ask him.

His arms twitch around my body and he spins us in the water. “I said a lot of things, princess, you’ll have to be a little more specific.”

“We were in the Porsche.”

He looks at me slowly and his tongue rolls over his teeth. Liam dips his head once and waits for me to continue .

“We said we knew we would hurt each other, but we were okay with the pain if we could have this for the moment.”

“I meant that. But I don’t want to let you go,” he says, holding me tighter.

“I don’t want to let you go, either.”

“So what are you trying to say?” he asks. I can feel the nerves rolling off of him, like when we were on our way to the finals yesterday. He didn’t let it show, but I could sense it.

“I think I know of a way we can ensure that we won’t have to.”

“And what’s that?” he asks hesitantly.

“I go home…” I trail off.

“Hell no, absolutely not,” he snaps.

I lean forward, cupping his face in my hands, and press my lips to his over and over again. My heart hurts as a new needle slides into the flesh. Blood is everywhere, pooling around the walls of my lungs and he gives me the air I need to breathe through it.

Our love is bloody, and it’s violent by default. It requires a sacrifice from us, over and over again, and I’m okay with that.

I will sacrifice myself for him because that is love. If it means he will be free, then it is a price worth paying, over and over again.

“It’s the only way, Liam. We can get what we need and…I can check on my mom.” I pause. “This is not something you can hack into. I’ll have to look around to find something.”

He stares at me as if he’s seeing through my skin and walls I’ve built over the years, seeing the real reason why I have to go home.

“It also means you have to let go of Ben,” I say carefully.

Liam’s jaw twitches, and I lift my hand to smooth it out. “I don’t like this, Aelia. This will not end well. Can you trust Ben not to tell your father everything?”

“No, I can’t, but if I show up without him, then more questions will be asked, and Dad will call my bluff.”

“There has to be another way that doesn’t include sending the love of my life into the viper’s pit and expecting you not to be bit. ”

I kiss him again because there is nothing to say to that. He’s mine, too, but I don’t know any other way else around this. I have to face my father. I knew the day would come, and the time is now, only I’m not going in defenseless. Liam may not be there, but I know he’s with me.

“I wouldn’t change a thing, Liam,” I say as my eyes burn and a sob builds in my throat.

“Princess, please let me help you. We can figure this out. Please don’t leave me,” he says, choking on the words.

“I will come back to you, I promise. This is temporary. I’m yours, Liam.”

He curses in French and says, “You’re right, you are mine. If you don’t come back, I will rip this world apart with my bare hands to find you. Do you understand me? I will tear it all down, brick by brick. I know you, Aelia, I see you , and you’re going to do it whether I like it or not. But I love that about you, so I’m going to try and not be pissed off about it.”

“I love you, too, Tarzan,” I mutter, kissing his face.

He curses and kisses me back hard, fast, needy, and sad. I will come home to him. If it’s the last thing I do, I will come back to the one that holds my heart in his hand.

“I love you, too, and no matter what happens, I always will.”