I tensed up. “But you said you didn’t tell him–”
“I didn’t. I told him I reached a dead end.”
I shook my head. “I don’t understand. You know my dad better than you know me. Why would you keep my secret?”
“Because it’s not my secret to share,” Liam said. “Whatever problems you have with him are between the two of you. I’m not going to get involved.”
I frowned. “But you found me anyway.”
“Yeah. I wanted you to have his address in case you wanted to talk to him.” An icy wind blasted us and Liam shivered.
I unzipped the leather jacket. “You should take this back,” I said. “You’ll freeze to death.”
“Better me than you,” he said. “Keep it on. Besides, we’re almost there.”
Sure enough, the motel was starting to come into view.
We quickly went into the lobby and both of us sighed with relief to be in a heated room instead of out in the cold. Liam went to the front desk where a man was reading a newspaper. “Hey,” he said. “I need a room for the night.”
The man didn’t even look up. “No reservations until 8 in the morning,” he said. “It’s policy.”
“Look, we need a room now. There’s nowhere else to go and your sign says there are vacancies–”
“Oh, there are vacancies,” the man said. “But I can’t give you a room until morning.”
“We need a room now.” There was a slight edge to Liam’s voice and I could tell he was getting angry.
The man looked up, looking exasperated. “Look, you’ll have to take your whore elsewhere–”
Liam grabbed him by the collar before he could finish. “Listen here, you little shit,” he growled. “You won’t ever speak about her like that again unless you want me to break your jaw. Do you understand?”
“Liam, it’s fine,” I whispered.
He didn’t seem to hear me. He was too focused on the man who was suddenly really pale and stammering out apologies.
I laid a hand on his arm. His skin was cold. He was still freezing from the night air. “Please,” I said. “Let him go.” I took a deep breath and steeled myself. “I’ll do anything you want, sir.”
Liam jerked in surprise and dropped the man. He stared at me with a mix of horror and regret. I felt a pang of guilt. When I was with the Demons, I had been required to call all of the men sir and I had to beg them for food and water all the time. Liam had gone up against the Demons enough times to know that. I figured if anything was going to break him out of the rage it was being compared to a Demon.
The man behind the desk was still sputtering apologies. He was quick to give us a room key and refused payment from Liam. He was still a shaking mess when we left the lobby.