Liam (The Bodyguard And The Heir Book 2)

Book summary

Former Special Forces Marine Liam Mason is on the run from cartel bounty hunters and finds refuge in his mother's old cabin. There, he meets Christian Madison, who is grieving the loss of his boyfriend and confused by Liam's striking resemblance to his twin brother, Nathan. As Christian uncovers the truth, he must confront his fears about love and loss.

Excerpt from Liam (The Bodyguard And The Heir Book 2)

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes I blinked around the room. The nightmares of those days in the military were still very fresh in my mind. I felt the cold sheets of the bed, and the soft mattress on my back. Looking up at the single fan above spinning in the bedroom I exhaled. The temperature was comfortable, all the accommodations of a Holiday Inn and more.

Having depleted the last of my inheritance, I was on my last dime and trying to figure out what to do with myself. I surely couldn’t call my brother after the way we had parted ways. I was the arrogant one. Deep inside, I knew he would never turn his back on me. Nathan would always be there, even when he claimed he would never talk to me again.

My cell phone began to ring on the side table. I grabbed for it. I was seriously considering going back into the military. It was all I knew.

When I looked at the screen of my phone, just like on cue, he was on the line, Nathan. I hadn’t talked to him since he had slammed the door on me after missing Mom’s final words at the hospital. I’d been in a bar fight the night before for trying to convince another guy’s boyfriend to come home with me after he let me buy him two drinks.

I had no clue he was already in a committed relationship. The fucker gladly let me buy him drinks. When the time came to collect, he threw out that shit about being with someone else. After feeling me up at the bar, acting like he didn’t know where his hand had been most of the night. He’d been making out with me. When I wanted to take it further and go to my place, suddenly he had a boyfriend. He looked rather guilty about it. His boyfriend had gotten all up in my face; I turned him sideways with his face against the table. His buddies came to his aid, a bunch of heavy bodyweights. Outnumbered, I got out of there immediately, but not before getting in a few blows. I escaped out the back of the bar.

“Hey, little bro. What’s up?” I answered.

He was quiet for a second. “How have you been doing?” he asked.

“Hey, listen… I’m sorry about what happened,” I said.

He was quiet for another moment. “Yeah, we were both going through a rough patch,” he said.

I guess there was some truth to that. I just had some guy’s hand on my shaft the night before.

“I miss her,” I admitted.

It got quiet again before he asked, “Are you doing ok?”

“Yeah,” I answered before the memories and all the emotions they entailed could suck us in. “How about you?”

“Good. Where are you? What have you been doing with yourself?”

I didn’t want him to worry about me. Mom was always worrying about me; I didn’t want my brother to start doing the same. He’d always been the more responsible one. He acted like the older twin.

“Oh, you know. Here and there,” I said. “Around.”

It wasn’t much of an answer. His silence indicated he knew I was being vague about certain details so he wouldn’t worry.

“You know, if you need a place—” he began to say, and I knew he was keen to my ways. He was my brother; he knew me.

“Nah, I got a place,” I tried to reassure him.

“Mom did leave us both the house, Liam,” he said.

“Yeah, we still have the cabin, too,” I responded.

“You there now?” he asked.

I lied and said, “Yeah.”

I had a feeling he knew I was lying. The cabin was boarded up for the winter. I could have gone there, and I had thought about it. It had a generator and a storage of supplies. The lake was just a stroll away. Shit, why the hell wasn’t I out there?

The recruiter said he’d call me when something suited to me came up, but my field was carrying a gun and heading out to battle. I just didn’t see any hope of that being one of his jobs. I was either joining the police academy, or heading back to the military. The truth was, I didn’t see myself as a police officer, either. I was more into breaking the rules rather than abiding by them.

“So, how are you, little bro?” I said, breaking the silence.

He laughed. I knew he hated when I called him that. He also missed hearing it.

“I’m good, just started a new job.”

“Working? Really? Shit, as what?” This could be promising. I couldn’t find anything I wanted to do. What’s a soldier meant to do in the real world if he isn’t holding a gun?

“Yeah, been hired as a bodyguard.”

He waited for my response. Bodyguard? I wrinkled my nose. Shit.

“Bodyguard,” I echoed the word. “Fuck, by who? Some rich business guy? Or wait, don’t tell me, you’re babysitting his rich, spoiled kid?” I joked.

He was quiet. Oh, shit had I hit the target.

“Wait, you’re serious? You’re a bodyguard?”

“Yeah, something like that. It’s a job, Liam. Who else is gonna hire a retired army soldier? I’m not much of a desk person, you know. I’d rather be armed to the teeth.”

Yeah, I knew that feeling.

“I miss the field and the guys, but it was that or take on police work.” He laughed.

“Then, why not go back?” I asked. It would give me more of a reason to go back myself, with my brother at my side.

He took a breath.

“We could both enlist together. You know they miss the good old Mason twins.”

“I doubt our staff sergeant would agree about that.”

I laughed. Shit, talking to him brought back good memories. I missed him.

He was quiet again. He was most likely thinking the same. We were twins after all.

“So, when do you start?”

“Already started. Been training for a few months. Planning to bring in some of the old guys that did time with us in Iraq. Thought you might want to come join us. If you don’t have anything promising going on, that is. I would be your boss; just in case you say yes, you know what you’re getting yourself into.” He laughed.

My little brother was always looking out for me. I wanted to take him up on his offer, but again he was the one taking care of me. What the fuck was I doing, waiting for something to drop on my lap? I was supposed to be the big brother; no wonder mom was always worried about me.

“They’re looking for ex-military.”

So, who was this rich fuck that needed all this protection? I wondered.

“Think about it, Liam,” he said.

“Yeah. Well, I’ve been looking at something promising, so I’ll let you know, little bro,” I replied. My voice got a little emotional at the end of my statement. Fuck.

“Alright, let me know if it doesn’t work out. It was nice talking to you, brother. Don’t forget I’m still here, call me once in a while.”

I rubbed at my eyes.

“Even if it’s just to talk shit, like we used to do.”

I took a breath.

“Yeah, I miss that,” I admitted.

“Me too. Keep in touch.”

The call dropped. I put the phone on the side table. I sat up, dropped my feet on the side of the bed, and looked around the room. Nathan’s job offer sounded promising; I could work alongside my brother again. But he would be my boss… That shouldn’t matter, though; he was always the one in charge anyhow.

It was still dark outside. The twinkle of moonlight penetrated my motel room. I tried to push the memories out of my mind. I wanted to ignore my brother’s call and the idea that we could once again work together.

I grabbed the first thought that consumed my mind. What the fuck was I gonna do with myself? Well, I sure as hell couldn’t afford another week here. I guess it was off to Mom’s old cabin in the woods. I’d figure it out.

Nathan, of course, would tell me to get myself together. I never thought things out; I just went with the flow. He’d point out the obvious flaws in my plan. Eventually, supplies would run out; then, what would I do? I would have to have money. Even the generator would require gas to keep running.

I grabbed my wallet and counted the remaining dollars inside. I had enough left to get one last drink before I headed into the isolation of the mountains.

The bartender knew me. I was a regular. That wasn’t the best thing to be in a dump like this, but it was the last bar close by that I hadn’t been thrown out of.

I’d just taken a seat at the bar. The bartender set a mug of beer and a shot of whiskey in front of me. I threw the shot back, swallowed, and grabbed at the mug of fresh, cold beer. I’d have to leave early tomorrow before they charged me for the day. Still, here I was, getting drunk, not knowing if I would even wake up the next day. I laughed and drank. Ignorance was bliss.

“Liam!” a voice called to me.

I looked up from the beer mug and reluctantly turned in the direction of whoever it was that had thought they were important enough to interrupt my drinking.

It was my friend, Joe. Well, ‘friend’ was probably too strong a word. We had known each other in high school, and I’d passed some time in gym class talking to him.

Joe was a large man, with dark hair and dark eyes. Guys called him ‘Big Joe’ back in high school. Although he was big enough to play football, he never liked it much. He wanted to be an artist. I liked him because he never gave me shit about being gay. People saw him as muscle with not much of a brain, but he was incredibly street smart.

“Joe,” I answered in greeting as he walked up to me. “How’s it going, man?” Why the fuck was I still sober? I wanted to be slurring and shit, but there I was, still with a clear mind and a fucking annoying headache.

Joe looked at me. He had the decency not to state the obvious. I looked like shit.

“Things are great. I didn’t know you were back from Iraq,” Joe said.

I forced a laugh. “Yep. Back home.” I raised my mug and took a quick drink.

He ordered when the bartender came over to our side of the bar. The place wasn’t busy. It had its regulars, those stains that hung at the side of the bar with their heads over a glass. A country song was playing through the speakers at the back of the bar. The patrons were a mixture of older folks and thirty-something people.