This morning, however, was beyond uncomfortable.
I followed Rhys to the door and stood next to him while he opened it.
If I thought I was uncomfortable before, that couldn’t begin to explain how I felt when I saw an older version of Kennedy and Kira standing right in front of us, with a man at her side who looked like he had already thought of different ways to kill me. If only he knew what I’d just been doing to his daughter.
“Who the fuck are you?” the twins’ dad asked as he eyed me.
“Kash!” their mom scolded. “That’s Liam.” Her wide eyes found me, and she shook her head. “I’m so sorry, he—”
“Who the fuck is Liam?” Kash looked at Rhys and gestured to me. “Who the fuck is he?”
“That’s Kennedy’s boyfriend, Kash, now shut up. I’m sorry, I’m Rachel—”
“No, Rhys is her boyfriend.”
“Oh, Kash,” Rachel mumbled.
“Uh, not,” Rhys answered. “I’m actually with Kira.”
“No, you’re not,” Kash said confidently.
“Actually he is.” I extended a hand toward Kash and said, “Liam Taylor, nice to meet you. Eli Jenkins is my boss; he and Mason were the ones who talked to me when the girls first moved here. They work at my dad’s gym.”
“Isn’t that convenient for you,” he scoffed. “Why the hell are the two of you here at nine in the morning?”
“Anyway!” Rachel chimed in. “We came to surprise the girls for Christmas next week. Are they . . .” She trailed off and her eyes shot over to Kash. “Um . . . here. Are they here?”
“Yeah, of course.” Rhys and I stepped back, and I whispered to Rachel as she passed, “They’re decent too.”
“Thank God,” she whispered, and sent me a thankful smile.
“Mom!” Kira said excitedly at the same time as Kennedy rounded the corner and screeched, “Dad!”
Kash looked at Kennedy and pointed to me. “Who the fuck is he, and why is Rhys with Kira?”
“Oh Jesus,” Rachel mumbled. “Coffee anyone? I’ll show myself to the kitchen.”
I had the urge to join her. I could only imagine how this day was going to go. I just hoped their whole trip wasn’t a constant repeat of the first few minutes.
December 19
Kennedy
“DAD, STOP IT,” I hissed.
He hadn’t stopped glaring at Liam for the last hour and a half since he and Mom had shown up at our door. Kira and I should have known that they would come to California; we got together every year for a vacation around Christmas. But my parents hadn’t mentioned anything, and I would have thought with Juarez’s guys being able to find Kira and me, that would have prevented my parents from being anywhere near us now. Then again, I hadn’t forgiven my dad up until a couple weeks ago for his role in the whole Rhys situation, and we had only talked once more since then on the night Matthew had shown up. So there was a chance that he knew there was no longer a threat against us. Regardless, a little warning about their arrival would have been nice. It was awkward sitting across from my parents with the guy who had just finished satisfying me minutes before their arrival.
“I don’t like him,” he stated.
“Dad!” Kira and I snapped at the same time Mom said, “For Christ’s sake, Kash!”
“Mason didn’t like me either, if that helps at all,” Liam said with a shrug.
“Is it supposed to?” Dad asked. “If Mase didn’t like you, then I have to wonder what you did to make that happen. It’s weird that the only person who likes you is Eli.”
“And us,” I blurted out. “Kira and I like him, Dad. Even Rhys likes him.”
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t get me started again on the Rhys thing. I didn’t send him here so he could go from one daughter to another.”
We all groaned, and Mom just sat there shaking her head like she didn’t know what to do with Dad anymore. “How about we go get some lunch?” she suggested.
“It’s not even eleven,” Dad shot back.
“I swear to God, Kash, you are still such a child. Get up and take us all out for some damn lunch.”
I bit back a laugh when Dad immediately stood up from the love seat.
“I don’t know how I put up with you sometimes,” Mom mumbled, and then turned to look at Liam. “Do you see this? Take it all in because that daughter of mine is just like her daddy,” she said with a nod in my direction.
“Wow, thanks, Mom.”
She winked. “Love you, sweet girl. Okay! Everyone get ready, and let’s go eat. I am in need of some Mexican food from California.”
Dad sat right back down when he realized we all still needed to change, and Mom turned to glare at him. “What? They’re not ready to go!”
“Get. Up. I need to talk to you outside.”
Dad grinned at her, and I knew exactly what he was doing and what he was about to say. “Aw, come on, someone needs to be hard on him to get him initiated into the family. Don’t be mad, Sour Patch.”
And there it is, I thought to myself before making a gagging sound.
Liam burst out laughing at hearing Dad’s nickname for Mom, and both my parents turned to look at him.
“Can I help you?” Dad growled.
“No, sorry. I just—I finally understood something that Kira and Kennedy told me awhile back, and I see why it’s funny now.”
“I don’t like you,” Dad reiterated.
Liam nodded and bit back a smile. “Understood.”
BY THE TIME we got back from the restaurant, Dad was so in love with Liam he wouldn’t let him stop talking. In Dad’s defense, he had tried to continue hating him. He’d made sure to talk only to Rhys, and then it was only about stuff that was going on in the department and about undercover operations. I don’t know how, but Liam had somehow injected himself into their conversation with a comment I hadn’t been able to hear. All I knew was that my dad had looked shocked for about ten seconds before smiling and including Liam in on every conversation he’d had throughout the rest of lunch.
I’d asked Liam what he’d said to him when we were on our way back to the condo, and he had just looked at me with a serious expression and said, “I’d rather not be killed, so I can’t tell you.”
“Who would be killing you?” I’d asked in amusement. “Dad or me?”
“Guess we’ll never know,” he’d mumbled. That had been the end of that.
“Girls, we have something we’re excited to tell you about,” Dad announced suddenly after we’d been back at the condo for about half an hour.
Mom smiled widely and sat up on the love seat as she waited for Dad to tell us the news.
“I know originally we didn’t know how long you’d have to be here, and I know this wasn’t exactly something you wanted to do.” He cleared his throat and looked pointedly at Kira. “But after almost seven months, I can now say that it’s safe for you to come back to Florida.”
“Really?” Kira screamed excitedly. “Oh my God, finally!”
But only she and Rhys looked happy about the news. My stomach dropped, and even though I wasn’t looking at him, I could feel Liam’s eyes on me.