La Cosa Nostra, This Thing of Ours (15 page)

I walk away with a used 2010
red Ford Focus. Not fancy, but low miles and reliable. I also have a check for thirty thousand dollars. Ted told me that with the work he could get forty thousand out of it, easy. Because it was so unique, he would probably take it to a specialty auction. 

After I take the money to the bank, I g
et a cashier's check for twenty-five thousand dollars, because that is what Ted estimated all that work would have cost. I know my mouth hit the floor when he told me that. I make out the check to Liam Tarseta and drop it in the mail with no explanation, no note, nothing. I should have put fuck you in the memo line but decide against it.  I'm keeping what's left of my dignity. 

Chapter 16

The next few days are uneventful, thank God. I go to my classes, come home, and study. Jax avoided me like the plague on Monday, which I was okay with at the moment. I will make up with him later.  Right now I want to focus on graduating and getting the hell out. I talked with my advisor and she told me that I could graduate a week early. I want to skip the ceremony, just not in the mood.  I'm ready to be done. I have two weeks till finals and then I can go home. My parents didn't understand why I didn't want to graduate with the rest of my class and have the huge ceremony. They were kind of disappointed. I was their only child to graduate from college, with honors no less. I told them I needed to get back and get busy getting into ISU. They seemed to accept that for now, but I'm sure I hadn't heard the end of it. 

That Wednesday night, exactly two
weeks since the most amazing night of my life, I was sitting on my couch in yoga pants and an oversized t-shirt with books laid out all over the place, studying, when there is a knock on the door. 

I unbury myself from the pile
of papers and go to the door. I look in the peephole to see Liam
. Shit, my mouth goes dry, my heart races. What is he doing here?
I open the door and stand there staring at a man who looks like he hasn't slept for days. He's wearing ripped jeans and an old tight t-shirt. My body and mind betray me, because goddamn he looks beautiful. 

"What is this?"
he grates, holding up the cashier's check that has been crumpled then torn to pieces. 

"It looks like a torn up check,
" I say back with no emotion. 

"Why did you send me this?" His v
oice is rough, but weak. 

"It's to pay you back for the car, do you need more?" I stand my ground at the door, even though my knees feel like they are going to give out at any moment. 

"When did I ever say I wanted to be paid back for the car, and where did you get this kind of money?" He has one hand on the door frame the other still holding the ripped check. 

"Never, you never said that and I sold the stupid car. T
hat is what I estimated you paid for it. Do you need more?" I repeat. I have to swallow hard just to get some moisture in my dry mouth.

"Why did you sell it?" Jeez the look of betrayal on his face is almost funny to me.

"It was a reminder of the worst decision I ever made," I blurt out without regret.

Liam's head
drops, he stares at the floor. "Is there anything else you needed?" I'm cold as ice to him. 

"Harper, I fucked up," h
e says his voice cracking, still staring at the ground. 

I don't say a word.
I just stand there and stare at a shell of a man. He pushed me away. He never called, he never did anything but make me feel like a cheap whore. 

"Can we talk?"
he asks, now looking up at me, his dark eyes showing pain. 

"There's nothing to talk about
, Liam. You won. You got the girl who turned you down.  Congratulations, you are the big shiny winner of my self-respect."

"Jesus
, Harper, it was a misunderstanding." He shakes his head in disbelief.

"What was a misunderstanding? Y
ou got what you wanted in your sick twisted game."

"My friend
s were telling me to watch out. That you were playing me, you were playing hard to get because you were probably after my money.  They even convinced me that you tricked me into fixing your car. Then that morning you told me you couldn't pay for college and that you would have to leave. My friends' words started to come back to me." He's staring at me while he talks. My mouth is hanging open in shock. "Then you quit The Guardian, and Monica was there saying what did I expect. You had me eating out of the palm of your hand."

"
You have got to be fucking kidding me!" is all I can say to the idiotic words coming out of his mouth. 

"But then you never called, you never came over.  I was ready to call you out on it, but it's li
ke you dropped off the planet. Then I got this check..." He stares at what's left of the pieces of the cashier's check. "I got it all wrong, it was never about the money." His eyes move to mine. 

"Yeah, you got it wrong all right
, Liam Tarseta.  The only thing I want from you right now is for you to go FUCK YOURSELF," I shout before slamming the door in his face. I'm mad, I'm burning mad. I lean up against the wall, sliding down until I hit the floor and start sobbing so hard I can't even breathe. 

T
he door opens and Liam walks in. He sits next to me on the floor as I cry harder than I can ever remember. The crying slowly turns to laughter, and before I know it I'm laughing so hard and crying at the same time. 

"Petal?" Liam says apprehensively
, as I'm sure I look like a mental patient right now.

"Oh my
God, my friends warned me about you, too, you know. He just wants sex then he will be done with you," I shout through the tears and laughter. "I was convinced that you ‘got me out of your system’, I was so hurt, I couldn't even admit to anyone that they were right." I sob, wiping my eyes with my palms. 

"Shit
, this whole time you were thinking that I just wanted sex." The fucking stupid ass, idiot says sitting next to me. This makes me laugh even harder.

"You broke my heart
, you son of bitch." I don't know why I'm laughing, but I can't seem to stop.  The whole thing is so ridiculous. I lean my head back against the wall and Liam takes my hand in his. 

"Do you know how many time
s I almost dialed your number? I really didn't care if my money was all you were after, I just wanted you," he mumbles, bringing my hand up to his lips. 

"That is really fucked up
, Liam." I turn my head to stare at the side of his face. 

"I know, tell me about it." He chuckles leaning his head back against the wall and turning to face me.  "I know now that is not what
you were after." His eyes are sad as he gazes at me.

"S
o everything is all better then?" I yank my hand from his grip. 

"It
was all just a misunderstanding," he pleads with his eyes. I get up off the floor and start to pace the room.

"Yeah
, that is all it was, a misunderstanding. You assumed the absolute worst about me, and I assumed the absolute worst about you. Great start to any relationship." I'm not shouting, but my voice is high. 

"This can be fixed, Petal.
Let's just start over." He gets up off the floor and tries to stop me from pacing. I avoid his reach. 

"I'm
leaving Chicago." I finally stop pacing and face the now shocked and horrified looking Liam.  "In two weeks when I am done with finals," I whisper when I see how sickened he looks.

"Oh
," is all he says, looking down at the floor, "For how long?"

"I'm not coming back. I can live at home and go to ISU, that's the only way I can afford to go to grad school withou
t getting even deeper in debt. I've already been accepted into their work study program. Please, for the love of God, don't think me telling you this is my way of asking for money," I snap. The sadness on Liam's face is too much, I want to run in his arms and make him feel better. Despite everything that has happened, I really do like him.
Hell, I think I'm in love with him, I'm pretty sure I've been in love with him since I met him.
I shake my head of my thoughts. 

"That's it, you're just leaving." I can't tell if he is mad or not
, but his voice raises. 

"There's nothing here for me." As soon as I say it I regret it, because the wince of pain on his
face is too much for me to bear and I have to turn away from him.

"There's me," h
e whispers.

"Up until a half hour ago there was no you."

"I will pay for your school," he says without a blink of an eye.

"Now what would your friends say about that?" I throw at him.

"I don't fucking care."

"You
seemed to care two weeks ago." I feel like a sadistic bitch. One minute I feel bad for saying things that hurt him, the next thing I am throwing it in his face. 

"
Touché," is all he says. We stand in silence for a moment, wondering what each other is going to say next. "Let me have you for the next two weeks, let me make it up to you. Just don't let this be over yet, I've already wasted two weeks of my life that I could have had you in my arms. Please, Petal, just give me that." He is walking toward me and I don't move away. Truth is, I want it too. I want him, all of him. Just the smell of him has got my senses in overdrive. 

He puts his hands up to my face, his thumbs care
ssing my jaw like he always did. "I've never wanted anything in my life more than I've wanted you," he breathes, his lips close to mine. "I've been so stupid. I have laid in bed every night thinking about you," his soft lips brush mine, "thinking about this amazing body."

"
Then quit thinking, and take it," I whisper. 

"Fuck
, baby," he moans, taking my mouth with his.  God, how I have missed this kiss. His lips press against mine, our tongues frenzied in each other's mouths. His hands go down to my ass and within seconds he has me lifted up. I wrap my legs around his waist and feel him hard against my center. He is walking down the hall toward the bedroom, our lips never leaving each other's. He turns to the first room, it's the bathroom. I start laughing. 

"Other way
, baby," I giggle into his mouth. He sits on the bed with me still straddling his lap. 

"I'm not ever letting you go," he groans into my throat,
lifting the hem of my shirt over my head.  He says it like a fact, not a question, not an offer, but a fact that is true. I don't care right now, all I want is him. He lifts me up laying me down gently on the bed. 

"
Petal, do you know how bad I want to taste you?" He kisses between my breasts then down my belly. I'm not able to talk. All I can do is moan as my body twitches from his light kisses, licks, and sucks. 

"Taste every inch of this
incredible body." He reaches my belly button, circling it with his tongue. He slides down my body, pulling off my pants and underwear in one slick motion then kisses my hip bone before moving to my upper thigh. 

"Please,
" I beg as he blows gently on my sex. 

"Please what?" He teases
with a small circle of his tongue around my clit and looks up at me. I am watching his every move. I arch my back and tangle my hands in his thick hair.

"Make me come, baby
," I order, pushing on his head. He gives me a wicked little smile. 

"My pleasure." His to
ngue is frantic on my clit as he inserts a finger inside me. "You are so fucking wet." His voice vibrates against me sending me into a frenzy. 

"Yes, Liam
, please," I groan, my body about to give in to an amazing orgasm when he stops, glancing up at my wide eyes pleading with him to continue.

"Do I own you
, Petal, is your body mine and only mine?" His eyes are darker than night, his finger still tortuously moving in and out of me so slowly it is agonizing. 

"Yes!"

"Yes what?" He kisses the inside of my thigh before he brings his eyes back to mine.

"You own me. All of me," I whimper.
He's satisfied because he goes back to my clit. It doesn't take long before I come, screaming his name in pleasure as I orgasm. With a very satisfied look on his face, he kisses his way back up to me.

I
taste my arousal on his lips when he takes my mouth. "Do you know how much you saying those words turn me on?" he groans into my mouth.  
Do you know how much you making me say those words turn ME on
? I don't dare say it out loud. He is rubbing his jean clad hard on against my center, driving me even more insane with lust for him. I push my hips up to meet his grinds. 

My f
ingernails run down his back and push on the waistband of his jeans. He leaves me to take them off and pulls a condom out of his wallet. He throws his wallet over his shoulder and I hear a thud as it hits the floor. Kneeling on the bed, he hands me the condom. Instead of putting it on him I kneel on the bed in front of him pushing him down on the bed.

It's my turn.
I kiss my way down his chiseled body.  I feel him shudder beneath my lips. Cupping his balls gently, I slowly run my tongue around the tip of his cock.

"Damn
, Petal baby," he growls low, deep in his throat. He leans up watching me, but drops down hard onto the bed when I take in his cock all the way to the base. I've never done this before, but I seem to know exactly what to do. I feel the tip hit the back of my throat as I move slowly up and down him. My tongue feels every rigid vein. I suck on the tip, making him jerk at the sensitivity. His body tenses up like he is about to come, so I stop.  Looking up at him through my lashes I see his head come up to see what I am doing. 

"Do I own you
, baby," I whisper, blowing gently on his throbbing hard on. 

"Fuck
, yes," he grates without hesitation. Damn if that just turned me the hell on even more. With all that I have, I suck him all the way into my mouth, moving up and down as fast as I can while still sucking. 

"Oh
God," he growls as I feel hot thick liquid shoot to the back of my throat, his cock pulsing in my mouth. "Oh my fucking God!" He sucks in his breath, jerking as I tease the very sensitive tip. I give him a sly smile then lay my head on his abdomen. His hands go in my hair and he wraps a few strands around his fingers, lightly pulling it through his fingers. We are silent, neither of us speaking about the words that we just made each other say.

He puts
his hands under my arms and pulls me up so I am lying flat on his body. His arms wrap around me tight, his face nuzzled in my hair. He lets out a deep sigh. 

I know
, baby.
I don't know if I can survive another broken heart from this man.

Chapter 17

The next thing I remember is waking up in my bed naked and alone. I turn over wondering if it was some wonderful dream. I get out of bed, wrapping a blanket around my body. Sadness takes over me thinking he is gone, but then I see his wallet still on the floor where he threw it last night. 

I walk out into the hall and
see Liam shirtless in just his jeans standing in the living room with a cup of coffee. I watch him for a minute as he looks at the pictures on my shelf. They are just family pictures, some of me and my brothers, one with the whole family, one with me on my horse Jasper holding my 4H medal from the state fair when I was seventeen. He is picking each one up, studying them with such intensity. 

"Hey
, you." I make him jump when I walk in the room. 

"Hey
, yourself." He glances at me with a wicked smile, putting down one of the pictures. "Who's this?" He asks holding up a picture of me and Kade last summer. He has his arm around me and is kissing the top of my head. There is a definite jealousy in his voice when he asks.

"My big brother
, Kade," I answer, walking to him. He noticeably relaxes before my eyes. "That's my other brother, Easton." I point to another framed picture. 

"You close with your family?"

"V
ery, they are my life," I say, admiring the picture of my parents with me and my brothers. 

"You weren't kidding whe
n you said you were a farm girl," he says, looking at the picture seeing all the farm land in the background.

"No, I wasn't kidding. W
e have it all, pigs, cows, chickens, the whole kit and caboodle." I take the picture from his hands and place it back on the shelf. I wrap the blanket around me tighter, suddenly getting the feeling that something is wrong. "Is that a problem?" I turn to walk away from him. He grabs my arm, pulling me back and wraps his arms around me tight, holding me against his amazingly hard chest. 

"No, that is not a problem. You hav
e to relax, I was just asking. I want to know everything about you, so you might as well get used to the questions, Petal." He tucks his hand under my chin to bring my face up so he can kiss me. It is just one gentle kiss at first, and then another, then the next one is more urgent. He slides his tongue in my mouth, but before I get sucked up in him again I pull away.

"So when do I get to ask you questions?" I take a step back leaving him with his lips still wet from ou
r kiss. He runs his hands through his hair in frustration. He moves aside a few of the books that are still on the couch, sitting down he pulls me onto his lap.

"What do you want to know?"
he gives in, and starts kissing my bare shoulder. I decide to start off easy.

"What do you do for a living?"

"I schmooze," he states with a half smile. 

"What does s
chmoozing entail, because I know it pays well."

"I know I have it good, I
was born into money. I've never had to want for anything in my life. That is up until you..." He stops for a second and gently runs his fingers through my hair before bringing my lips to his. His other hand finds its way under the blanket that is wrapped around me. Before he makes it to my upper thigh, I stop him. He is very good at getting me off topic.

"No, I'm not done asking you q
uestions," I pull away from him. He lets out a grunt throwing his head back into the sofa. "What is schmoozing?