Brian was slightly embarrassed and rightfully checked for imprinting his own fears onto Liam. There had been a small part of him that had his own reservations about interracial dating. “In the end, it didn’t really matter. I was much more in love with Lila than she was with me. It was never more obvious than when she cheated on me with Anthony Luccesse.”
The frown lines on Liam’s face deepened. “The Anthony Luccesse?”
“The one and only.”
Liam gave his head a gentle shake. The coincidence that the Luccesses knew about Brian trying to buy this team and Lila showing up in East Moline was too great to ignore. The cynic in Liam had been activated. “Is she still involved with him?”
Brian shrugged. “I have no idea. As I said, I haven’t talked to Lila in years. I’ve done my level best to bury the stupid years.”
What years would that be? Up to and including this one? Liam decided to keep his thoughts to himself. No need to kick his brother while he was down. Still, he had questions. “How does she know Colby?”
Brian had no idea. “They share the same last name, so it’s safe to assume they are probably related. Lila didn’t really talk too much about her family.”
“The dossier did say that Cyrus had two children. It didn’t go into detail about them.”
Liam and Brian let the quiet settle between them. Both were lost to their own thoughts as the driver pulled up in front of the hotel.
As if on autopilot, they got out of the car and silently walked inside of the building.
“I’m tired as shit,” Brian announced. He really just wanted some time to be by himself to process seeing Lila again. His emotions were all over the place. “What time is your flight tomorrow?” Brian asked.
Liam was lost in his own thoughts, too, as he ran all the possible scenarios about the purchase of Daughtry Racing inside his head.
“Liam?”
“Hmm. . . what? Oh . . . 9:00 a.m.”
“If I don’t see you before you take off, have a safe flight, and I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
The brother’s hugged. Liam could feel the weight of seeing Lila again all over Brian. He felt for him. “Look, I’ve never been good at all the emotional stuff, but,” he rubbed the back of his neck, “call me if you need anything.”
“I’m good. Nothing a good night’s sleep won’t fix.” With his head down and slouching shoulders, Brian walked off in the opposite direction to his room.
*****
Liam’s mind was buzzing with activity. The second he was alone, he called up Markos. “Hey. Any update regarding Colby James’ background check?”
“Yeah. I sent the preliminary report over to your e-mail. I’m still waiting for some information to come back.”
“Good . . . good. Look, I need you to do a few things, and they need to be top priority. First, we don’t have the proper security in place. I didn’t think we’d need it here. But that might be a mistake. I want eyes on Brian at all times, and I want a full security detail set up around that garage. Second, I need whatever information you can find about a woman named Lila James. When I say everything, that means down to the brand of diapers her parents used when she was an infant. Finally, find a suitable place for semi-permanent lodging and staff it. Staff it with people who you know are loyal.”
“Got it,” Markos said as he took notes.
“If you have to fly some of my people out here, then do it. Security needs to be extra tight. The guys I have at the hotel are not enough, not when we are dealing with the Luccesses. We need to take every precaution, and staying at this hotel leaves us vulnerable to anything.”
“True.” Markos agreed. “Sounds like we’re going to be here for a while.”
“As long as we need to be.”
“Is that it? Should I be doing anything else?” Markos asked.
“Actually, yes. One last thing. Cancel my flight for in the morning.”
“When should I reschedule it?”
Liam wasn’t exactly sure. “I’ll let you know.” After his conversation with Markos, he disconnected the call.
Liam felt a little less anxious but would feel much safer once his requests were in place. He should have planned better for this trip. Liam thought they would be in and out before anyone was the wiser. Now that the Luccesses knew their location and with Lila miraculously showing up, he had to be more strategic with his moves.
Still a bit antsy, Liam changed out of his clothes, dropped down onto the floor, and did about a hundred push-ups before taking a quick shower. When he came out of the bathroom, he got into bed and opened up his laptop.
He went straight to his e-mail and found the one from Markos.
Markos Bankston Subject: C. James_Preliminary
Liam clicked on it. From the very first line, he devoured every bit of information gathered and over the course of the next hour. His eyes remained glued to the screen.
Colby James was an enigma. She was also impressive as fuck. He couldn’t get the image of her at the restaurant out of his mind. He wondered how those lips tasted. Her breasts? They were just sitting there like two ripe melons, begging him to sample one of those erect nipples that poked through her dress. It was a miracle he had managed to keep his almost immediate physical attraction to her hidden.
There were no secrets in his hotel room. His body was free to react exactly the way it was supposed to when aroused. Still thinking of her, Liam wrapped his hand around the base of his hardening cock and began to stroke. Initially, his movements were slow, but when he tightened
