“Yes, but most of us fight to ensure they never see daylight. Others welcome it, feeding it with whatever it craves. My sister is one who feeds hers.” Alcide’s attractive features took on a haggard tinge.
“I believe she has done far more than my family is aware of. She can’t be tamed, Mr. Tesano. Walk away while you can.”
“I asked her to marry me.”
“You should think on that, lest she make a fool of you.”
“She knows I’d never tolerate that kind of disrespect.”
Alcide grinned and then burst into full laughter. “Then you needn’t worry about marriage, paesano! A man she can disrespect is the only kind she’ll tolerate.”
“We’ll see.”
Alcide’s vivid eyes narrowed in discovery. “Good God...are you in love with her?”
Liam remained silent, though his mouth curved into a faint smile when the other man began to laugh.
~16~
Athena returned later that afternoon with the truck stocked to replenish the pantry and garden. She had already taken four bags into the house. When she returned to collect the rest, she saw Liam at the porch bringing them in. Silence held between them until he put the bags on the counter.
“Liam-”
He lifted a hand. “Let me talk first, alright? I was wrong to make you feel pressured into marriage.”
“But you didn’t-”
“Let me finish. I think you’ve had enough of men dictating your life path. I won’t be one of them.”
Athena gave him an admiring look. “You’re a man ahead of your time, Liam Tesano. You should really have a talk with the men in my family.”
“I have.”
She stilled, her face going ashen. She watched Liam leave the kitchen and return to the porch. She followed.
“I talked to your brother Alcide. He left two hours ago.”
Athena trudged to the edge of the porch, barely managing to move her feet. She stopped at the top step and sat.
“What did he say?” She asked.
“He said what he knew. I believe he still held back.”
Athena shook visibly, flinching when Liam joined her on the top step.
“Now you’ve changed your mind,” she guessed, “about me.”
“I’ve changed my mind about pressuring you into a marriage. I meant what I said about you not owing me anything for what I’ve done, Athena. That includes marriage.”
She offered a miserable smile. “You said you wouldn’t...be with me until we were married.”
Liam nodded. “That’s me being true to who I am. Same as you being true to who you are, I guess.”
She laughed harshly. “You should be more clear when you call a woman a slut, Liam.”
“You enjoy women and men-more than one at a time, I’m told.”
“And that sickens you.”
“It makes me curious. I’ve never met a woman like you.”
Again, she laughed. “I bet!” she fiddled with the frayed edge of her braid. “It sickened my father. Hmph...I wonder how he would’ve reacted to seeing me with a woman.”
“Your family knows about Mariana.”
Again, Athena flinched then turned on the porch to face him.
“Alcide says that wasn’t nearly as shameful as the rest.”
She stiffened noticeably. “What else did my brother say?”
“He and your brothers talked your father out of tracking you down to be punished.”
“Kind of them,” she said.
“I asked them to have your things sent here.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Why? Why would you do this?”
