His Assignment: Chapter 40

I hate Liam.

“Go away,” I groan, shoving at what I’m pretty sure is his thigh.

Liam ignores me, naturally, before continuing to crawl into my bed. The cool air from the room seeps under the covers, and I shove at him again as he lifts and pulls them back. What the fuck is he doing?

I’m okay with him trying to sneak into my bed, but he could at least try to be subtle about it. Instead, he’s stomping around, making me cold, and basically just ruining what was a perfectly good sleep.

Liam finally fucking settles under the covers, but he’s smart enough not to try and cuddle up against me as he lies on my right. His leg and arm brush against mine, the only part of him I’m willing to endure right now.

He should know I don’t like being woken up.

“Go to sleep,” Liam whispers, rolling onto his side.

My eyes are shut, but I can practically feel him staring at me. Is he always this clingy after sex? He was sticking to my side all evening, and there’s no way his mom didn’t notice—especially when he took it upon himself to sneak up and hug me from behind while I was looking in the fridge for an after-dinner snack.

He’s lucky all he got was an elbow to the gut.

My arms are covered in goosebumps, and I hesitantly scoot closer to Liam. It’s only so I can steal his warmth, nothing else. Beth turns the heat down at night, and I usually spend most of the night cocooned under the covers trying to preserve my warmth.

It works when they aren’t being lifted and aired out at two in the morning.

Liam doesn’t say anything as I press the entirety of my body against his, nor does he when I roll onto my side and back up into him. All he does is throw an arm over my waist and pull me closer, wrapping himself around me.

I fall back asleep within minutes.

Liam’s gone by the time I wake up, the man much smoother in his retreat from my bed than was in his entrance. I frown as I recall how he so rudely woke me up, and I hate the way I accidentally smile when I remember how he cuddled up against me.

It was nicer than I care to admit.

I crawl out of bed and slip on some pants before sneaking out of my room. Liam’s bedroom door is cracked open, and I peer inside to see if Liam’s there. He isn’t, and his usually tidy bed is still messy from when he left it last night to find me.

He offered for me to sleep in bed with him, but I refused due to worry about Beth finding out. I don’t want her asking questions, especially when I don’t have answers.

Liam agreed to continue whatever this is once we return to New York, and he’s made it quite clear he wants exclusivity, but that doesn’t explain what we are. Are we dating? Or are we not there yet?

What’s before dating? The talking stage? I think talking officially becomes dating once the exclusivity conversation happens, but I’m not quite sure.

It’s all so confusing, and I’m somewhat nervous to bring it up. Liam isn’t the type of guy to play games, at least not purposefully, and he’ll give me an honest answer. Even if I don’t like it. I’ve dated many guys who agree to things they don’t mean or make promises they don’t intend to honor, but I know Liam wouldn’t do that.

He’s always been upfront about his thoughts regarding whatever this is between us, and I’m anxious to ask and receive an answer I don’t want.

Not that I even know what I want his answers to be.

Do I want to date Liam? Officially? What if we only feel this way for one another because of our forced proximity? I haven’t put enough thought into it.

Sighing, I make my way toward the kitchen. Beth said she was leaving early for work this morning, so I assume it’s Liam rattling around in there. I hope he’s up for making breakfast.

I’m starving, and he’s a good cook.

Liam’s good at a lot of things…cooking, sex, kidnapping…

I pause mid-step, a sudden thought rushing through my mind. Before I lose the opportunity, I spin around and hurry back to Liam’s room. I’m sure he keeps his duffel bag in here, and I fully intend to get rid of all those fucking sedatives.

My palms grow clammy as I sneak into his bedroom and shut the door. I lock it for good measure, not wanting to risk being spotted, before beginning to search every inch of his room. Liam keeps the space tidy, so it doesn’t take me long to find his duffel bag shoved in the back corner of his closet.

Perfect.

I drag it into the center of the room, a slight grunt slipping from my lips at the effort, before dropping to my knees beside it and ripping it open. It’s full of guns, but they hardly seem exciting to me right now.

I’m on a mission, and I hastily grab and set them aside as I search for the needles.

I empty the entire bag before digging through the side pockets and hidden compartments, my movements growing frantic when I don’t find what I’m looking for. Where the fuck are they?

There’s no way Liam would have only traveled with one. He’s too prepared.

I shove my hair out of my face and tie it up behind my head, a small part of me thinking that maybe it will help with my focus. It doesn’t, and my frustration grows as I search the bag again. I find nothing, and I let out a tiny huff before lifting and shaking the bag to see if I can hear any jingling or clanking.

There’s nothing but fabric rubbing against fabric.

I bet Liam suspected I’d do this. He probably moved and hid the sedatives our first night here. It’s what I’d have done, and I purse my lips as I stand and look around the room.

I doubt he’d have put them anywhere Beth could run into them, and given the nudie magazines he so confidently leaves in his drawers, I know he feels comfortable keeping things in his room.

My pulse races as I hurry to his dresser and rip open the top drawer. It’s full of underwear, and I dig through them before pulling open the next drawer and doing the same thing. I continue my way to the bottom, but there’s nothing to be found.

That’s fine. Liam has a lot of hiding places in his room.

I move onto his desk next and rifle through every drawer and crack. I don’t remember the size of the needle he used, but I think it was pretty small. He could have hidden them anywhere.

There’s nothing of interest in his desk, and I spin around his room before returning to the closet. I’m beginning to grow nervous, and it shows in my jerky, hurried movements. I can’t believe Liam would go to such lengths to hide the sedatives from me.

It only proves that he’s desperate to keep them, and all his promises to never use them again mean nothing. His loyalty to my father outweighs any emotions he may feel towards me and my comfort.

The door handle to his room jiggles, and I swear I feel my stomach drop.

“Katie?” Liam’s voice travels through the wood. “Are you okay?”

Fuck.

My search through his closet grows frantic, and I stop trying to keep everything in place as I rip item after item off the hangers. I drag my hands down every piece of clothing, hoping to find something shoved into a pocket.

All I find are a few coins and a pack full of gum.

“Katie?” Liam repeats.

The door handle continues to jiggle, and I swallow past the lump in my throat as I shove my fist into every shirt pocket I find.

Where the fuck are they?

I don’t stop even as I hear the unmistakable click of a door unlocking. Liam would have a spare key to his room on hand, and I strain my ears to hear over my loud panting. I sound like a rabid dog.

The door opens, and even though I can’t see Liam, I can just imagine his expression right now. He’s probably staring at the pile of clothes on the floor, and I’m sure his gaze is landing almost immediately on the weapons scattered about.

There’s a quiet clatter as Liam enters the room, and I spin around, not wanting to get caught with my back to Liam. For all I know, he’s going to try and drug me again.

“Where are they?” I ask.

Liam throws his arms out to the side. He doesn’t look as angry as I anticipated, but instead appears shocked and concerned. He’s probably afraid I found the needles.

“Where’s what?” he asks.

I gesture to the empty duffel bag peeking out from underneath the messy pile of clothing.

“The sedatives,” I explain. “Where are they?”

Liam steps toward me, but he freezes when I hurriedly move back. I’m not letting him within reaching distance until I’ve smashed and destroyed each and every one of those needles. Especially now that he knows I’m looking for them.

I should’ve waited until he left the house to do this.

I bet it would’ve been easy to get him to run to the store to pick something up for me. I just had my period, but I think I could’ve convinced him I have it again and need products.

It just never occurred to me that he would hide the needles.

“They’re gone,” Liam says. “I disposed of them in the sharps container at the grocery store our first day here.”

He sounds earnest, but I don’t know if I believe it. I didn’t see him with them, but I do have to admit I spent a significant amount of time in the makeup and beauty aisles.

“I don’t have them, Katie.” Liam’s voice grows soft, and I nervously shift my weight from foot to foot as he maneuvers over the piles of clothes and guns on the floor. “I threw them away, I promise. They’re not here, and I will never do that to you again.”

I clench my jaw. I would like to believe him, but I never thought he’d go to such extremes in the first place. I felt safe around Liam, and even when I was angry because I thought he was sleeping with the hotel receptionist, I still never imagined he’d hurt me.

Sedating me counts as hurting me.

Liam continues forward until we’re toe to toe. I have to crane my neck back to look at him, and I grind my teeth as I stare into his gray eyes. He looks genuinely apologetic.

“You have no idea how much I regret drugging you…” Liam’s voice trails off, and he breaks eye contact to stare at the ground between us.

The action reminds me of a young child being scolded.

His eyebrow furrows, and his lips twitch downward before he runs a hand through his hair and spins around.

“Fuck,” he grunts. I step back, practically hiding in his closet as he digs around the guns on the floor. What’s he doing?

Liam searches through them before finally grabbing one of the smaller ones. His body is tense, and he looks beyond uncomfortable as he fiddles with the gun and turns toward me once again.

His arm extends, and I stare in shock between him and the gun.

“Here,” Liam says.

His fist is curled around the barrel, pointing it downward as he holds the handle in my direction. I take about half a second to process what’s happening before darting forward and grabbing the weapon.

I’ve never held a gun before, but I’ve seen enough movies and read enough books to keep my finger off the trigger and the barrel pointed away from Liam and myself.

“The safety is on,” Liam says. He doesn’t sound happy, and he opens his other hand to reveal the clip. “And I took the bullets out.”

I snatch the clip out of his hand before shoving it up the handle. Liam winces as it clicks into place.

“I don’t have the sedatives,” he says. “But if this is what you need to even the playing field and feel safe, so be it.”

Despite knowing it’s inappropriate, my lips curl into a wide smile.

I’ve finally got a gun.

“Follow me,” Liam continues, going to the bedroom door.

I still don’t know if I believe him about having gotten rid of the sedatives, but the gun makes me feel powerful enough to follow him. Liam leads me into my room, and I clutch the gun tightly to my chest as he pulls out the bedside drawer.

“Keep it in here,” he orders.

Where he can easily find and take it away? I don’t think so.

Liam raises a brow, and I step forward and set the gun inside the drawer. I’ll remove and rehide it the second he’s out of the room. Liam still looks annoyed, but his body visibly relaxes once the gun is out of my hands.

He slams the bedside drawer shut, hiding the weapon from view.

“Aren’t you going to teach me how to shoot it?” I ask. That feels like the logical next step, and Liam’s all about safety. I can’t imagine him giving me a weapon without a six-hour lecture on how to use it.

Liam shakes his head. “You’re never going to use it, so no.”

Not unless he tries to drug me again.

Silence passes between us, and Liam clears his throat.

“I made us breakfast,” he explains.

He glances toward the bedside drawer before sighing quietly and stepping away. I remain still, waiting for him to leave so I can rehide the gun in a place I think is safe. Liam pauses in the doorway, and he shuts his eyes in a slow blink before rubbing his temples and leveling his stare with mine.

“Don’t fucking put it under your pillow or mattress,” he orders. “And keep it away from the shower or sink.”

I should’ve known he’d figure out my plans.

“I won’t,” I promise him.

I already know where I’m going to hide it, and it’s in none of those places. I need it to be within easy reach, and there’s a pile of extra towels in the chair next to the bathroom door. Nobody ever touches it, and I doubt Liam would look there.

“Bye,” I say, urging Liam to leave. “I’ll be out for breakfast in a minute.”

Liam purses his lips, looking far from pleased, before finally leaving the room.

____

she finally got her gun