A Dom is Forever (Masters and Mercenaries #3)(46)

Lee Donnelly was there to catch her. Liam didn’t give a shit.

Yeah, not even he was buying that lie anymore. “Avery is fine. Now what’s the problem?”

Adam looked like he wanted to argue, but luckily Jake took over.

“I just got a call from Ian, and he’s a little worried about Avery’s apartment. It looks like we’re not the only ones tracking her phone,” Jake said.

Fuck. Someone was watching her. “Molina?”

Adam shrugged. “Probably, but we’re not sure. I’m working on it. You understand that if she’s involved in this it would make sense that her phone is bugged. Every one of Eli Nelson’s contacts probably has an eye on them.”

“Or someone’s watching her because he’s a paranoid freak and he’s using her.” She wasn’t involved. He knew it deep down. He also knew it was stupid. He shouldn’t make judgments like that this early in the game. Hell, he shouldn’t make judgments at all. Her guilt or innocence didn’t really matter. Except it mattered to him. “I want to know who’s watching her.”

The idea that someone had eyes on her brought a slow roll of anger into his gut.

Adam grinned at his partner. “I told you he wasn’t as dumb as you.”

Jake’s eyes rolled. “Let’s not bring that up again. And dear god, don’t mention it to Serena. Every time an innocent woman gets wrongly accused I have to sleep on the sofa for a night or two.” Jake turned to Liam. “Seriously, Li, if you have a thing for this girl, don’t ever let her know if you had a single doubt in your head. Let her think you were always just here to protect her. It goes very wrong if you very gently ask her if she might be involved in something criminal.”

Adam gaped, his mouth dropping open. “Are you insane? You gently asked her? I was there, *.”

And Liam didn’t have time for their damage. “I’m not going to let Avery tether my balls to her handbag the way you two let Serena boss you around. She’s just a nice girl, and I don’t want her to come to harm because she got caught up in a bad situation.”

Adam and Jake exchanged a long look. They had a silent conversation. Liam often envied them their weird connection. He’d never had that. Not even with his brother. His relationship with his brother had been strained at times. He’d always had to try to rein in Rory’s anger and his more violent tendencies.

“Okay, you know what you want,” Jake said evenly. “So now we have to assume that her whole place might be bugged. You have to be careful when you’re in there. The apartment itself belongs to Thomas Molina. His brother bought it ten years ago. If he’s the one tracking her phone, he’s likely got the apartment bugged.”

He needed to move her to his place. It was the only way to make her safe. “I’ll get a place, and we’ll stay there.”

“Or you can stay where you are and use the fact that we know they’re watching. Look, Adam is going to make a copy of her keys, and we’re going to risk going in. You looked for cameras, right?” Jake held out a hand, silently requesting the keys Liam had in his. He had several small squares of easily pressed clay laid out on the table. The minute Liam handed him Avery’s keys, he started to work them into the clay, making impressions so they could duplicate them. To her apartment. Her office. Her boss’s office and his files.

While she’d been in the bedroom, he’d made a very thorough study of the flat, looking for cameras. Nothing. Avery kept the place immaculate. There weren’t knickknacks or anything in which to hide a camera, but the place could be wired for sound. Luckily, he hadn’t said a damn thing he shouldn’t. All the bastards could get was some dirty talk and a whole lot of moaning. “No cameras, but you should sweep for bugs so we know for sure. Did you pull up the maintenance records on the flat?”

He’d checked out the building himself, even before he’d approached Avery. It had good security. She had to swipe her key card to get in and out of the building. It was why it was so important to actually have Jake and Adam in the building. There was a concierge who watched everyone. He forced visitors to sign in and out. But would he think of Molina as a visitor since Molina actually owned the flat now that Brian was dead?

“There was an electrician by the name of Howard Pullman,” Adam explained. “He spent five hours in the place about a week before she moved in, so we should assume it’s bugged. The place came furnished. She just brought her clothes and laptop. She’s had two visitors. You and Simon Weston.”

Liam felt his gut go cold. Simon Weston. He’d been sniffing around her. Liam wasn’t dumb. He’d watched Simon follow her around. The man was interested, but Avery wasn’t. What had he been doing in her flat, the f*cking blue blood? “Something about Weston doesn’t sit right. Has Ian’s guy come up with anything?”

“Damon Knight says he’s clean. Nothing on his records to make him look bad, but again, he’s practically royalty, so that can all be covered up. Being titled means something here,” Adam said.

He’d grown up around that shit. “You don’t have to tell me that. I know.”

Adam laughed a little. “Sorry. I so rarely hear your Irish come out I forget sometimes.”

But it had come out tonight. It had come out when he’d been balls deep in Avery because he hadn’t been able to think of anything but her.