Eternal (Shadow Falls: After Dark #2)(98)

Natasha frowned, and Della knew why. She didn’t think they were getting out. But she was willing to placate him. She looked back at his chest, shifted her hand up to just below his right shoulder and traced the emblem that appeared to be part tattoo and part scar.

“What do you say we go get our tattoos removed?” She ran her fingers over his tattoo again.

Della studied the cross-like symbol. Could that mean something?

Liam chuckled. “I like that idea. How about we go listen to a band play? Do you like to dance?”

“Love to. Sometimes my friends Amy and Jennifer and I go.”

That loud noise came again. The sound of heavy machinery.

Liam put his arm on her back, as if he knew the noise bothered her. “Then we’ll go dancing first thing.”

What’s the noise? Della screamed in Natasha’s mind, hoping she would hear her, but her question went unanswered.

“Maybe we should take a shower first,” Natasha teased. She rested her head back down and looked around the dark room.

Della took it all in. The walls were like blocks, but the floor was dirt, and there was what looked like an open passageway into another area that appeared just as dark.

What was this place?

“Together?” Liam asked, his hand running across her na**d back. “Let’s take a shower together.”

“Yeah, together.” She giggled and spread her hand flat on his chest and glanced at it. Natasha was a shade or two lighter than Liam.

“Is your mom or dad black?” Natasha asked.

“My dad was half black.”

“Was? Is he dead?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Did you ever know him?”

“Yeah, he came around some when I was younger. Mom didn’t like it.” He got quiet for a minute. “They would always fight. The last time he was there, I was like thirteen. They got into a real big fight. He accused my mom of trying to raise me to be white. Mom told him all she wanted to do was raise me to be a good man, and that had nothing to do with color, and everything to do with character, and that if he was going to see me, he’d have to get himself sober and set an example.”

“What did he say?” Natasha asked.

“He hit her.” Liam’s body under Natasha tightened. “It wasn’t the first time, but it was the first time I decided to stop him,” he said.

Natasha pushed herself up and looked at Liam’s face. “Oh, my God. What happened?”

“I came out with a baseball bat. I hit him in the arm. I don’t think I broke it or anything, but I could tell I hurt him. I told him to leave and never come back.”

“Did he ever come back?”

“I don’t think so. Mom got married to Hank a few years later. He was a good guy. Black, too. But Hank was twenty years older than my mom. He died of a heart attack less than a year after they got married.” Liam ran his hand over her back. “Didn’t you tell me your dad died?”

Natasha paused. “Yeah, my adoptive dad died when I was eleven and when I went to look for my real parents I discovered my real dad was dead, too.”

“How old were you when you found out you were adopted?”

“Almost eighteen.” She inhaled. “Mom said they were going to tell me when I was thirteen but when my adoptive dad died, she just thought it’d make me feel worse.” Natasha grew silent and just breathed for several seconds. “I think part of me always knew. My adoptive dad was half Chinese. Even as child I would stare at his face and wonder why I didn’t look more like him.”

“Didn’t you say your real mom was dead, too?”

“Yeah,” Natasha said. “Someone killed her. But they never found out who did it.”

He ran his hand alongside her hip. Not sexily, just tenderly, but there was something totally intimate about being na**d against another person. “That must have been tough, looking for your real parents and then finding out they were both dead.”

“It was for a while. But I did find an aunt. She was nice. And she had a son about my age.”

They lapsed into silence and then Liam asked, “How did your adoptive dad die?”

“A work accident. One day he was there, and the next he was gone. But Mom remarried a few years ago.”

“Do you get along with your stepdad?”

“Yeah, he’s all right. Well, a lot better than all right … compared to your real father. He loves my mom, but I always got the feeling he was just waiting for me leave so he could have her all to himself.”

“Well, that’s okay,” Liam said. “Because when we get out of here, we’ll get our own place. I’ve only got two more years before I graduate. We’ll find a cheap apartment. Both of us will go to school and work part-time. We’ll make it. Since we don’t need food that much anymore, we won’t have to worry about who’s going to cook. We’ll share the housework. I’ll take out the garbage. And I promise not to leave my dirty underwear around.”

She laughed. “I’m not the best housekeeper.”

“Good, we can live kind of messy, then.”

She lifted her chin and rested it on his chest. “Will you put the toilet seat down?”

“I’ll try.” He laughed.

Della felt Natasha’s sinuses sting. “I want that,” she said, her voice cracking. “I want that apartment. I want to give you a hard time about leaving your dirty underwear out and leaving the toilet seat up. But I’m so scared it’s not going to happen. I’m so afraid this is all we’ll have.”