Bad Romeo Christmas: A Starcrossed Anthology (Starcrossed #4)(54)

"Alright, alright," Scott says, holding up his hands defensively. "Just calm down, man, okay?"

God, does he have a death wish? Doesn't he know never to tell an enraged Liam to calm down?

Liam slams him into the wall again. "Talk!"

"Okay!" Scott's so scared by now, he's trembling. "My sister works at La Perla on Fifth Avenue. Elissa was in there last week, and she bragged about how she was going on vacation with you. My sister knew I was having a dry spell and needed to land some major pictures, so she passed the information along to me."

My stomach drops. With that information, I can see the similarities between him and Chastity.

I swallow my nausea. "How did you find me?"

"It wasn't hard. Everyone knows where Quinn's penthouse is. I staked it out until I saw you getting into a limo, followed you, watched you check in at the airport, and bought a ticket on the same flight." He looks between us. "Paps these days have more skills than most private investigators. Tracking people down is what we do."

"So," I say, trying to keep a lid on my anger, "you waited for me to come out of the first class club and then, what? Made sure I ran into you?"

He shrugged. "Basically. I hoped you had more information about your destination so I could do some planning, but Quinn was clever about keeping you in the dark."

Liam grabs Scott's shirt and talks through clenched teeth. "You stalked my fiancée? Are you f*cking serious right now?"

"How did you find the island?" I ask. "There's no way you tailed our helicopter."

Scott glances at Liam briefly before coming back to me. "I followed your car to the private airfield, and after you took off I paid the clerk to get me a copy of the flight plan. Then I hired a boat to take me to the island."

Liam pushes Scott away in disgust. "I bet you're patting yourself on the back about this whole thing, aren't you? Smug as hell you're making big bucks from invading our privacy." Liam pulls out his phone. "Well, have fun spending that money in jail."

Scott's face crumbles. "Now, hang on. Let's not be hasty. Surely we can work something out?" When Liam ignores him and jabs some numbers, Scott grabs his arms. "Come on, man. Please! Tell me what to do to make this go away."

Liam shoves him in the chest so hard, Scott almost falls over.

"All right, you son-of-a-bitch," Liam says, his voice huge in the confined space. "Here's my deal. If you can you recall every one of those photos so no one will see them again, you're free to leave. Can you do that?" Scott's eyes dart back and forth as he tries to come up with an answer. When he can't, Liam scowls at him. "Didn't think so."

As Liam goes back to his phone, Scott's expression turns hard. "Okay, fine. You wanna play hardball? Let's go. Call the cops, and I'll charge you with assault."

Liam lets out a short laugh. "You think what I've just done to you is assault? Wrong." Fast as lightning, he punches Scott square in the face. Scott's nose explodes with blood. "That's assault. Go ahead and file a complaint."

Scott grunts as he clutches his nose and tries to stop the bleeding. "Jesus Christ! You're a maniac!"

"No," Liam says, his voice dark and intense. "I'm a man who caught a criminal burgling his yacht. The same criminal who trespassed on private property, so he could stalk innocent people. The authorities will not only throw your assault charges out of court, they'll give me a medal for smacking you in the mouth. Now, sit down and shut the f*ck up, or I'll forget why I only hit you once."

Scott sits heavily on the bed and holds his T-shirt up to block his nose. When Liam turns away to talk on the phone, Scott look at me imploringly. "Elissa, please. Don't let him do this."

I walk over to him. "Don't you dare put this on him. You did this to yourself. You stalked us like animals and sold naked photos of us in our most intimate moments. You're scum. If you don't want to pay for your actions, then make better goddamn choices."

When I turn away, he stands and grabs my arm. "Elissa—"

I guess he didn't learn his lesson the first time. In a second, I simultaneously spin and drop to one knee as I punch him as hard I can in the crotch. He freezes, his face red with pain, before making a pained gurgling noise and crumbling to the floor.

Liam turns around and looks at me questioningly. I shrug. "Like you're the only one who gets to punch the bad guy?"

"I have no problem with you punching him. I'm just surprised you were actually listening in my self-defense classes. Good job."

Liam's praise makes me feel less sick about our situation, but I'm still furious that we've been put in this position.

At least Scott has the good sense to stay still and quiet until the police arrive.





ELEVEN


We Wish You a Merry Sexmas




By the time we get home after filling out the police report, it's nearly two in the morning. Liam's quiet as we walk up from the dock to the house, and when we get into the bedroom, he sits on the edge of the bed and stares at the floor, looking shattered.

When I stand in front of him, he wraps his arms around me and rests his forehead on my stomach.