He turned around to find an extremely pale Liam leaning against the wall, looking as if it was the only thing holding him upright. “Are you all right?” Seth asked. “Liam. Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he breathed and shook his head as if to clear his brain of whatever was clogging things up. “Yes. Holy shit! You’re amazing. Was that-was that Brazilian jiu-jitsu with the stick?”
Seth snorted as he dropped the broom handle. “No. Not even close.” He tried to flash Liam a crooked grin, then winced with the movement, reminding him of the throbbing in his jaw now that the adrenaline was leaving his system. He lifted his hand to his cheek, and it came away with a smear of blood. Either the fucker had been wearing a ring he didn’t notice or the rub of skin on skin had caused a tear.
“Oh God, are you okay?”
“Yeah, it’s nothing big.”
“You’re hurt!” Liam hurried around the counter and carefully touched Seth’s chin, tilting his head up to the light so he could more clearly see the injury. “I’ve got a first aid kit in the back.”
“Go get the kit. I need to call Rowe and send those pics I took of our new friends to Gidget.”
“Are you sure?”
Seth finally let himself touch Liam’s arm. The man was completely shaken by what happened, and Seth needed to ground him. “I’m sure. I’ll return in a minute. I promise.”
Liam nodded a couple of times and hurried to the storeroom. Seth took a second to glance around the shop in disgust. He should have been more careful. Moved the fight outside so Liam didn’t lose more merchandise. This was his fucking fault, and he was going to make sure Liam didn’t pay for it.
Stepping around the counter, he snatched up his phone and dialed Rowe. Apparently his boss had been anticipating his call, because he answered on the second ring.
“Whaddya got for me?” Rowe said by way of greeting.
“We just had two visitors. I got pics. I’ll shoot them over to Gidget.”
“You okay?”
Seth grunted. “Yeah, but Liam’s shop took some damage again. I know this is off the books, but can we cover it? I messed up. Should have taken the fight outside. If not, I can—”
“Whoa. Slow down, cowboy,” Rowe said with a little chuckle. “We got this. Get a full accounting, and Ward will cut him a check. Liam okay?”
Seth breathed a heavy sigh of relief. “Yeah, he’s fine.”
Ward Security didn’t make a habit of paying for property damage when the bodyguards were protecting their client. It was all covered in the waiver clients signed. But then the clients generally had shit insured and could afford a few broken items on occasion. That was not the case for Liam, and after everything he’d been through, Seth did not want this man to pay for his fuckup.
“Learn anything else?”
“Gerald is in for at least one hundred and fifty thousand to the loan shark.”
Rowe whistled low and long. “Shit. Well, that will at least narrow Gidget’s possible suspects.”
“I told them we wanted a meeting with their boss if he wanted his money. Liam’s also planning to tell Sven this Saturday at dinner, but I suspect this visit might move up that timeline.”
“Thanks for the intel. I’m going to get a rotation of guys together to keep an eye on Liam’s shop during the off hours, just to make sure there’s no additional retaliation.”
“Thanks.”
“Good work, Seth,” Rowe said before hanging up, and there was no denying the swell of warmth in his chest. Rowe was an amazing man who’d spent his life doing some crazy-ass shit, but Seth respected the hell out of him. And there was nothing like getting praise from him. Rowe wasn’t stingy about it either, but for Seth, it was a high point of the job.
He quickly shot off the photos he took to Gidget with a brief note and then walked to find Liam fidgeting with a first aid kit. He’d pulled the high stool over and cleared off the table so he could work. The man’s color was better, but there was a tremor in his fingers.
“Liam, I’m so sorry about that display table. Rowe has already said that the company will cover the damages. It was totally my fault. I should have—”
“Will you please quit worrying about the stupid plants!” Liam shouted, shaking his empty hands at Seth. “I’m more worried about you.”
“I’m fine. I promise.”
“Plant your ass.” Liam pointed to the stool, giving a very good “Don’t fuck with me” look.
Seth gave him a half grin, being careful to use the side of his face that wasn’t aching. But he still dropped onto the stool, his knees pointed at Liam. Very carefully, as if he were handling a priceless piece of art, Liam touched Seth’s chin, turning his face so he could clearly see the wound. He winced but said nothing about it as he carefully cleaned Seth’s face.
“You said that wasn’t Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I thought that’s what your father taught,” Liam murmured.
Seth nearly smiled again. He didn’t know if the conversation was to help distract Seth or Liam, but he went with it. “It is, but I learned a number of fighting styles while in college along with how to use a wide variety of weapons. I’ve learned even more since joining Ward Security.”
“Sven mentioned that Andrei is a former fighter. He’s the COO, right?”
Seth grunted. “Yeah, and trust me, getting married and having a kid has not slowed that man down one bit. He’s a scary motherfucker, and I’ve learned more from him in the past few years than I thought possible.”
Liam grabbed a bandage, pulled off the protective backing, and pressed it to Seth’s jaw. “Okay. It’s not bad. You were just dripping blood everywhere.”
Seth nearly apologized, but he lost the ability to speak when he looked up into Liam’s eyes. Liam’s thumb brushed across Seth’s chin and along the line of his lower lip. The heat there stole his breath away, but there was something else lurking in those beautiful green depths.
“Once I got past being terrified for you, I…I couldn’t look away. You were stunning. So amazing to watch.”
“Thank you,” Seth whispered. He was so damn lost to the spell Liam was weaving with his soft voice and gentle touch.
“Thank you for protecting me,” Liam murmured. He leaned in, his breath caressing Seth’s parted lips. It was like he was giving Seth the chance to pull away, to stop him, but nothing could have made Seth do anything that would rob him of this moment.
His eyes fluttered closed at the first faint touch of Liam’s perfect lips. The kiss was absolutely disarming. He’d expected the heat and mind-blowing hunger that consumed them both. But this kiss was sweet and so amazingly tender, sweeping all Seth’s defenses aside as if they were made of papier-mâché. Liam kissed him again and again, each one as gentle as the last. There was only the slight hint of tongue, a scrape of teeth to remind him of the powerful man he’d slept with already, but this gentleness was something new. Seth had never been touched quite like this before.
He was suddenly sure that he desperately needed more moments just like this with Liam. And only with Liam.
Chapter Eight