Taken With Trouble (CAUGHT IN CHAOS #2)

48. Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Serena

“Henry?” I call, walking aimlessly through the house. I’ve been staying at another one of Liam’s many places for the last couple of days. Liam is still in the hospital, and I can’t bring myself to leave just yet. Not that I have to. I’ve been granted as much vacation time as I need to recover from this ‘ordeal’.

“In here, darling,” Liam’s grandfather calls from the living room.

This room is my favorite. The whole house is my favorite. There are turrets and a pond, and a courtyard with a hedge maze outside. It’s like the princess castle I dreamed of as a child. But I like this place the most because it has life. This is where Liam spent his time living, not just thieving. I can tell by the row of paintings on the hearth—not forgeries, but paintings he actually wanted to create. There’s even the one he painted of me when I was fourteen. I thought I had ruined it when I dropped it, and seeing it again, seeing how much I’d changed from that little girl, made me cry. How did I ever doubt how much Liam cared for me back then? I even found some of his paints and tried to paint him in return, and he laughed so hard he almost pulled stitches when I showed him his Mr. Potato Head representation .

But in this room, Liam has painted a mural of that willow tree that sat directly between our two houses, and I often find Henry here. I wonder if it reminds him of his home.

“How are you?” I press a kiss to his cheek before settling onto the sofa beside him. “Did you take your medicine?”

“I’m fine. You two kids are such worriers.” He pats the top of my hand. “Can’t an old man just sit in peace?”

I grin at his grumpiness. He doesn’t like being looked after, but I promised the doctor I would do just that, and I have been. It’s the least I can do after all I put him through. He got a broken arm and three cracked ribs. I put this sweet, kind man in danger.

“Stop.” He squeezes my hand. “I know what you’re thinking, and I won’t let you continue down that path. I don’t want to hear any more apologies. You did nothing wrong. I only wish I’d known my son was behind all this back then. Boy, I would have taught him a lesson,” he says, making a fist and pretending to punch the air.

I lean against him, resting my head on his good shoulder and gazing at the willow tree. A tear skates down my cheek. “I was going to say thank you. For saving my life. Back then and now.”

“I’d do it a hundred times over. But I don’t think I did as much to help you this time as Liam did. That boy loves you. You always brought out the best in him, and the man I’ve seen this week”—his voice cracks—“is the man he always wanted to be.”

Another tear slides down my cheek. Lately, the emotions won’t stop coming. I kept them locked up and dormant for years, but now that they’re unchained, they have free rein over me.

“He’s a good man. Like you.”

“I did teach him everything he knows,” Henry says with a smile. "I told you, everything would be okay."

He did .

My phone rings, breaking the moment. I pick it up and glance at the number. The hospital again. Liam has been bugging the nurses nonstop to let him leave. I stand and walk toward the small sofa near the entryway.

“No, you can’t leave yet,” I say as I answer.

“Miss Cruz?” a nurse says instead.

Not Liam.

“Oh, sorry, yes?”

“Um, so… Liam kind of escaped.”

I jump to my feet. “What do you mean he kind of escaped?”

“Not kind of… I mean, he really escaped. I went to check on him, and he and all his things were gone. No one saw him leave. We’ve been checking the cameras and can’t see where he went.”

“Did he steal someone’s phone?”

“I don’t think so… Actually, come to think of it, a patient mentioned losing their phone for a while yesterday.”

“Don’t bother looking for him. He’s gone,” I say, more to myself before hanging up and dropping to the sofa. I rest my head on my hands. I knew this would happen. I knew he’d leave.

Yet, for some reason, I stayed.

Now what? Do I sit here and wait fifteen years for him to return? I can’t do that. I shake my head. I would try not to, but in my heart I always would. That means I have to find him first. And when I do…

“I’m going to kill him,” I mutter.

“Some things never change.”

My head whips toward the entryway, and there is Liam, shirt unbuttoned to expose the bandages around his body, eye still swollen.

“Liam.” I race over to him. “What are you doing here?”

He raises a brow. “I thought it was obvious.”

“You escaped from the hospital. You aren’t supposed to be discharged for two more days . Why would you do that?”

He rolls his eyes. “Because I had to get out of there. ”

“No, you had to stay there. What if your wound opens, and you start bleeding again?”

He steps toward me and slips an arm around my waist, pulling me gently into him. “I have faith my beautiful bride will take care of me.”

I rear back. “ Bride ?” I choke on the words.

His eyes scrunch. “That didn’t happen?”

My cheeks pinch as I shake my head.

“Then it was an excellent dream. Perhaps we can make it a reality someday.”

“I think you’re delirious.” I try to ease out of his arms, but he holds me tight.

“No, for the first time in my life, I feel like I’m thinking straight. Minus the bride part.” He kisses just below the corner of my lips.

“If that were true, you wouldn’t have left the hospital.” I shiver as he drags his lips to my ear.

“It was the weirdest thing… my girlfriend wouldn’t kiss me until I was out of the hospital.”

I shake my head. I’ve been both upgraded and demoted in relationship status in the span of a minute. I’m happy to stick with girlfriend . “You poor man.”

“So, you see why I had to do it.”

“Possibly.”

He spins me around, settling me against the wall.

“Be careful! You’re recovering from two gunshot wounds and a broken rib an—”

“And all I need is a kiss to feel better. Trust me, there’s nothing more the doctors could do for me. I need these.” He brushes his lips over mine. “Or rather… you.”

My stomach swoops, and my skin tingles with anticipation. I’ve waited long enough. I gently grab the back of his head and meet his kiss. This is nothing like the first kiss, or even our last. This kiss whispers secrets shared and promises long spoken. This kiss is the beginning of the end for me. There’s no one else I want to kiss. There’s no one else for me. I don’t know how we can make it work. But whatever it takes, I’ll do it. This is what I want—what I’ve wanted since I was a fourteen-year-old girl. For so long I was hiding, but now I’m found .

His hands get tangled in my hair as he tilts my head, deepening the kiss. I gently run my fingers over the bandage, then up to the tattoos on his side. He pulls back, lifting his arm to show me more.

He grabs my fingers, dragging them to the willow tree that’s barely visible above the bandages. Only now that I look closer can I see the legs of two small figures beneath the sagging branches. “That’s you and me,” he whispers. “The memory I keep closest to my heart. I promised myself that as long as this was on my skin, I’d never stop searching for you.”

I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. “It took you a really long time.”

“I think we are just in time.” He brings his hands up to cup my cheeks. “And I plan to keep you forever.”

I can’t help myself; I slip the cuffs from my back pocket and lock them around his wrists.

“That will be hard to do from jail.”

His head pops up. “Seriously, we’re still doing this?”

“You insisted.”

“I did.” His eyes glimmer with humor. “Perhaps we can wait for a bit?”

I bite my lip like I have to think about it. “I suppose that can be arranged.”

“We can run away; you can come with me.” He kisses down my neck.

“I’m tired of running.” I sigh into him. “Don’t worry, I have a feeling you won’t face any actual jail time, Mr. I-know-the-director-of-the-FBI.”

His head pops up. “Did I forget to tell you that?”

“Now’s your chance.”

He lets out a breath. “When I first ran, they found me. Instead of arresting me though, they recruited me. Only two people know of my involvement with the FBI.”

I purse my lips. “I didn’t make the shortlist, apparently.”

He shakes his head. “I was still cutting deals with bad men. I needed to keep it a secret. After Amelia found that box, the FBI came across a couple of emails from someone called “The Boss” to someone in the department who mentioned me. They wouldn’t let me into their system to figure out who, for some reason.” He rolls his eyes. “But they used me as bait to draw the traitor out. The day you came for me was the day they figured out which bureau computer the email was sent from.”

“Ford’s,” I say.

Liam shakes his head. “ Yours .”

“Mine?” My heart drops to my stomach. “Ford set me up?”

He nods. “They were coming for you, Cruz, but I knew you were innocent. I had to intervene. I didn’t even know who Ford was, but that must have been his plan—to take us both. When he attacked you, I figured he was just a hitman.”

I shake my head. “I can’t believe that.”

His lips twitch. “You can’t believe I saved you by putting you in a coffin?”

“If you ever put me in a coffin alive again, I will shave your head.”

“Your threats are getting less psychotic.” He drops a kiss on my forehead. “I’m so proud of you, love.”

I take a deep breath. It’s going to take me a while to come to terms with all that happened. But for right now, I know everything I need to. Liam is a good guy.

“So…” Liam whispers. “The cuffs aren’t necessary?”

I pick up his arms and drape them over my shoulders. “Oh, they definitely are.”

He grins as he moves in. “Finally,” he whispers against my lips. “I’ve been waiting forever for this.”

“You’re so dramatic.”

“It’s one of my charms.”

“One, huh? You think quite highly of yourself.”

“Just wait till we find that treasure, love.”

“This again.” I try to pull back, but his arms are still around me. “I told you it doesn’t exist.”

“Care to place a wager on it?”

“You’re on.” I press a kiss to his lips, relishing the feel of him, the taste of him.

“You two have been over there a long time,” Henry calls from the couch and Liam and I break apart with a laugh. “Is she my official granddaughter yet? ”

I undo the cuffs, and Liam laughs as he pulls me into the room, swinging my hand lazily. “I tried. She said no.”

“I did not! You never asked, you just assumed. Also, you just got shot.” I sit on the couch between my two favorite men. “You can’t make life-changing decisions after something like that.”

“Actually, I think that’s the best time to do it,” Henry says, patting my leg. “What do you say?”

“Hey, stop stealing my moves, old man,” Liam chuckles, patting my other leg and glancing up at me. “I have a feeling Serena will tell me when she’s ready to marry me. Or maybe she’ll propose to me.” His eyes dance, and I shake my head.

“What was this about a treasure?” Henry asks Liam. “Besides the one sitting next to us?”

“You two are intolerable.” I laugh. But I’ve never been so happy.

“Oh, just wait, Grandpa. This is going to be good…”