Page 20 of Death Kiss

‘Then we figure this out together. The kills. The well. All of it.’

‘Even if you have to sell your Nana’s jewellery?’

‘She’d approve of it to save my hot boyfriend and me. Nana was partial to a bad-boy type. My Grandad was a menace, from what I remember.’ Threading my fingers through his, I sigh.

‘I don’t think it’s doable in six weeks,’ he says, tracing his thumb over the back of my hand.

‘It’s going to have to be.’

The sun is low among the trees, throwing dappled light through the woods. My favourite time of day here now, as it has always been.

‘I could fight again,’ Liam says, his words soft.

Narrowing my eyes, I look at him. ‘What do you mean, fight?’

He chews his lip for a few seconds before responding. ‘That’s how I’ve made money since I turned eighteen.’

‘By… fighting people?’

‘Yeah. I could do one more. A big one. The purses for those are high. There are multipliers for the battle royale-style fights.’

Letting go of his hand, I face him properly, scanning his face for some sign of a joke. There’s none. ‘Who in their right mind is paying people to beat each other up?’

‘Not great people, to be fair. But the wins can add up. It’s why I haven’t needed to work since we met.’ Liam runs a hand through his dark, messy hair as my gaze catches on his scars. Some are much fresher than others. I’d put them all down to abuse. Clearly, I’ve been an idiot.

‘So you get paid for kicking some guy’s ass? Like potentially house-buying money?’

‘It’s a bit more than beating up. It’s a last man standing situation.’ Liam suddenly seems awfully interested in the ground, avoiding my stare.

‘Are you saying you fight until someone dies?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Are you fucking insane? No. Absolutely not. You’re saying you’ve KILLED people?’ There’s a buzzing in my head that hurts at the idea.

‘You do realise we’re sitting next to a well containing four people I’ve also killed, right?’

That’s different. That’s for justice. Not a way for rich fucks to exploit others. ‘It’s not the same.’

‘We all knew what we were signing up for. If you win big enough, you can get a whole new start.’ Liam finally looks at me.

‘Or die. I can’t let you die for a fucking house. I’d rather spend forever in jail than see you dead.’ I mean it. Even if it means not being together.

Liam stands, pulling me to him, but I can’t melt into him the way I usually do, with fury running through my veins. ‘And I’d rather die than see you spend one minute paying for my revenge.’

‘If you die, the result will be the same either way. Stop being such an asshat. This isn’t a solution, end of story.’ Turning, I make my way through the trees, anger propelling me forward.

‘Kat!’ Liam comes after me, grabbing my arm. I swing round to face him, my face pulsing with heat.

‘You never even told me about this. In all our nights together, we spoke about everything. But you hid this from me. Why?’

Liam swallows and looks to the sky. ‘You know enough horrific parts of my story; I didn’t want to add another. I want to be good enough for you.’

‘You are good enough for me already.’

‘Let me do this. For us?’

‘You want my blessing to go and get yourself killed? Never. You can’t go back on it once you’re lying on some cold slab and I’m having to identify you. Promise me you won’t.’