ATONEMENT | MAFIA ROMANCE | SMUT

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

Vincent's shoulder lent on the window frame. "It's for your protection."

"I know." If nothing else, it placated Liam. "Still, it would be nice to roam the earth without bodyguards every now and then."

His blue eyes brightened in the moon's glow.

More often than not, I could see so much of Liam in this man. If not for their resemblances, then their unparalleled mannerisms.

My gaze cast to the floor. "You look so much like your brother."

"Yes." His eyes were hard. "It bothers you."

"No." I mean, it never used to bother me, but lately, upholding eye contact with somebody who reminded me so much of the man I love was painful. "I just miss him, Vincent." My voice was a mere whisper. "I miss him so much."

Life was no life at all without Liam. The bed was empty. The Manor was cold. I felt him everywhere yet saw him nowhere. And I hated it. I'd give anything to bring him home. If given the opportunity, I would never let him leave my sight ever again.

"I want Seychelles." I drew a heart through the drips of condensation on the window. "It was the first and only time we lived freely."

Vincent was a good listener. "The life of crime is all he knows, Angel."

"I know." Not once in our relationship, Liam's and mine, did I demand a new way of life. I fell in love with a career criminal. And I am okay with that. "But right now, I want to go back to a time where life was good, and my husband was happy." My brows knotted. "Hindsight really is a fucking bitch."

He raised a dark eyebrow. "Have you quite finished?"

"Yes." My breath stuttered. "Enough of my pity party."

"Do not underestimate Carl." He dropped the blunt out of the window. "He is unrivalled."

"Irrespective of Carl's jurisdictional competence, Liam pleaded guilty to Kreshnik Bektashi's murder. He will do time behind prison walls for my sins." My cheeks sank. "However, there is something I wish to discuss with Carl prior to Liam's hearing. How can the Colt casings match the bullets in Krasnik's chest when I shot him with a different gun?"

Vincent's spine straightened. "Tell me that I am not deceived, Angel?"

"I remember the night like it happened yesterday. Granted, I did not know Kreshnik by name when he attacked me from behind, but if I close my eyes, I can still hear his voice and feel his hands on my skin." A shiver washed over me. "He outmanoeuvred me, Vincent. He whacked the Colt out of my hand and pinned me to the ground."

His jaw flexed. "Did he hurt you?"

"I refused to be his victim. Unarmed or not, I knew I had to outsmart him. I seized the gun from his ankle holster and pulled the trigger. Now, I am no gunsmith. I am unknowledgeable about the differentiation of firearms." I smiled at him. "That's your niche. However, the gun resembled a Glock. It was not a Colt, so how can there be a match?"

Vincent went to the two-seater sofa to unzip a large holdall. "Closer."

I sat on the sheet-covered coffee table.

He arranged several guns onto the sofa. "Show me."

Tucking hair behind my ears, I inched in and gave each pistol investigative consideration. "No." I weighed a stainless-steel gun in my hand. "These are too light. It was heavier."

Selecting three more pistols, he alternately handed them to me. When I gripped the third gun, I curled my fingers around the handle. "I'd hate to be wrong."