The figure reached the alley entrance, stepping inside slowly. The gun was raised, sweeping left to right in a careful arc, the barrel catching faint glints from the distant streetlight.
But Liam wasn’t where the figure had expected.
He’d moved—quietly, carefully—the mont the footsteps had stopped at the entrance.
While the figure’s attention was locked forward, scanning the shadows near the back of the alley, Liam had slipped around the opposite side of the dumpster. His back pressed flat against the cold brick wall, his breathing shallow and controlled.
Now he was behind him.
The figure took another step forward, their boots scraping softly against the gri-slicked pavent.
He moved with the gun leading, both hands gripped tight on the weapon, their body tense and ready.
Liam’s heart hamred in his chest. His muscles coiled.
’One shot. That’s all I get.’
He didn’t think. He just moved.
Liam exploded forward, closing the distance in two quick strides. His fist ca around in a wide arc, all his weight behind it, and connected square with the side of the figure’s face.
The impact was brutal.
Bone t bone with a sickening crack.
Liam felt the shock reverberate up his arm, felt his knuckles smash into the hard ridge of the figure’s jaw. The man’s head snapped violently to the side, his entire body twisting from the force.
The gun flew from his hands, spinning through the air. It clattered across the pavent with a tallic clang, sliding several feet away before coming to rest near a pile of garbage bags.
The figure stumbled backward, his legs buckling. His hands shot up instinctively, clutching at his jaw, a strangled grunt escaping his throat.
And as he staggered, the black ski mask slipped—pulled loose by the impact. It slid down past his nose, bunching around his neck.
Liam froze.
He knew that face.
Bill.
The host from the swingers party. The guy who’d been so friendly, so welcoming when they’d first arrived. The one who’d introduced everyone, handed out drinks, made sure people were comfortable.
Bill looked up at Liam, his hand still pressed against his jaw. And in his eyes—pure hatred. Despise. The kind of look that said he wanted Liam dead.
For a second, neither of them moved.
Then they both looked at the gun on the ground.
They lunged for it at the sa ti.
Bill was closer. His fingers wrapped around the grip first, and he started to lift it—
Liam’s hand shot out, slamming into Bill’s wrist. The gun jerked to the side, the barrel pointing harmlessly at the brick wall.
Liam didn’t give him a chance to recover. He grabbed Bill by the collar and drove his fist into his face—once, twice, three tis. Blood exploded from Bill’s nose, spraying across Liam’s knuckles.
Bill tried to fight back, swinging wildly, but Liam was faster. He shoved Bill down onto the ground, pinning him with his weight, and kept punching.
Bills head bounced off the pavent with each hit. His lip split open. His left eye swelled shut almost imdiately.
Finally, Liam stopped.
Bill wasn’t moving anymore. He was still conscious—barely—his chest heaving, blood running down his face. But he couldn’t get up. Couldn’t fight back.
Liam stayed on top of him, his fists still clenched, his breathing heavy.
"What the hell did I ever do to you?" Liam growled.
Bill coughed, spitting blood onto the pavent. "You slept with her."
"What?"
"Elena." Bill’s voice was strained, broken. "You slept with my lover."
Liam stared at him. "How the fuck is she your lover? She has a husband. And besides, she’s not anyone’s. She does what she wants."
Bill paused, his good eye narrowing. He knew Liam was right, but he didn’t care.
"She was always mine," Bill rasped. "Since the mont I started hosting those parties. I wanted her. I needed her. But she never wanted to do it with . Not with , not with any of the other guys there." His voice cracked slightly. "But you? For so reason, she wanted you."
’She did say she found all those guys boring.’
Bill coughed again, more blood dribbling from his mouth. "That’s why I host those stupid parties. Just in the hope that one day, I’d get an opportunity with her. And then you show up—so random college kid—and you get sothing I’ve been waiting years for."
He let out a bitter laugh. "It pissed the hell off. So I found so local guys. Riffraff. Told them to scare you. Threaten you. Make you back off."
"They did more than scare ," Liam said coldly. "They punched in the face."
Bill shook his head weakly. "I never said they should hurt you. Just wanted to scare you."
"Then why the hell are you trying to kill now?"
Bill’s expression twisted into sothing darker. "Because you didn’t listen. After they warned you, you went on a date with her the next day.
So I told them to do their worst. And then I got a ssage that you beat both those guys so bad that one of them—his face was so ssed up they couldn’t tell where his nose ended and his mouth started."
’Did I really go that hard on him?’
"So you decided to co deal with yourself?" Liam asked.
"Yeah." Bill smiled through the
Bill didn’t answer. Just kept smiling.
Liam leaned in closer, his voice dropping low. "Well, I’m beating your ass in an alley right now. I’ll worry about Mr. L when I’m done with you."
Then he drove his fist into Bill’s face one more ti.
Bill’s head lolled to the side, and his body went limp.
Liam stood up slowly, his knuckles throbbing. He looked down at Bill’s unconscious body, then around the alley.
The gun was still on the ground a few feet away.
He walked over and picked it up carefully, wrapping it in an old plastic bag he found near one of the dumpsters. He wasn’t about to leave it lying around.
Then he grabbed so rope from a pile of junk near the fence and dragged Bill’s body over to a tal pole sticking out of the wall. He tied Bill’s wrists together tightly, looping the rope around the pole twice for good asure.
Bill groaned slightly but didn’t wake up.
Liam pulled out his phone and opened his ssages. He scrolled to Elena’s contact and typed quickly.
Liam: Call the police. Bill’s been stalking you. He tried to kill tonight. I left him tied up in the alley behind Starlight Inn. You’ll want to handle this.
He hit send and shoved the phone back into his pocket.
’She’ll see it when she wakes up.’
Liam looked down at his hands. His knuckles were split open in a few places, blood sared across them—so his, most of it Bills.
’It’s not fun punching people in the face without activating Point Bound Might.’
He flexed his fingers, wincing slightly at the ache in his joints.
Then he turned and walked out of the alley.
---
Thirty minutes later, Liam was standing in front of his apartnt door, fumbling with his keys. His hands were still shaking slightly—from the adrenaline, the fight, everything.
He finally got the door open and stepped inside, locking it behind him. The apartnt was dark, quiet. Exactly how he’d left it.
Liam collapsed onto the bed, not even bothering to take off his shoes.
’What a fucking day.’
He pulled out his phone and scrolled to Kelvin’s contact, hitting the call button. It rang twice before Kelvin picked up.
"Yo," Kelvin’s voice ca through, a little rough but steady.
"You good?" Liam asked.
"Yeah, man. I’m good. Compared to those guys, I got off easy." There was a pause. "But are you okay? Dude. You went all out on that guy. You almost killed him."
Liam’s jaw tightened. "I hated that they hurt you."
"Awww," Kelvin said, his voice going high and teasing. "I’m touched."
"Shut up, stupid."
Kelvin laughed, then groaned slightly like the movent hurt. "So what happened after? You good?"
"Yeah. At least I had sex with Elena tonight." Liam shifted on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "And I found out her husband wasn’t the one threatening . It was Bill. The host from the party."
"Wait, wait, wait." Kelvin’s voice pitched up slightly. "First off, that’s aweso. Secondly—what? Really? How the hell did you figure that out?"
"I dealt with him myself."
There was a beat of silence on the other end. Then Kelvin let out a low whistle. "Damn. You’re pretty cool, dude."
"Yeah, well. I’m tired as hell now."
"Get so sleep, man. We’ll talk tomorrow."
"Alright. Later."
Liam ended the call and tossed the phone onto the bed beside him.
It buzzed almost imdiately.
’Must be Elena.’
He picked it up and squinted at the screen.
But it wasn’t Elena.
It was Tasha.
Tasha: Hi, Can we see tomorrow?
Liam stared at the ssage for a long mont, his brain too tired to process it properly.
’Of course. Because why not.’
He let the phone drop onto the bed beside him and closed his eyes.
’Tomorrow. I’ll deal with everything tomorrow.’
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