Chapter 5 - The Estate in the Hills
The private helicopter flight was loud, but inside the pressurized cabin, the noise was reduced to a steady, rhythmic hum. I watched the glittering lights of Boston fade behind us, replaced by the dark, rolling expanse of the Massachusetts hills.
Beside me, my mother was resting comfortably in a specialized medical transport chair, a portable oxygen concentrator humming softly at her side. Liam had arranged for a private medical transport team to move her directly from St. Catherine’s to his private estate in the Berkshires.
"Where are we going, Liam?" I asked, looking at him as he stared out the window.
"My estate in Lenox," Liam replied without turning his head. "It’s a five-hundred-acre property. It has its own private security force, a fully equipped medical suite, and three doctors on permanent standby. You and your mother will be safe there. The Sterling family cannot reach you."
"Who are the Sterlings?" I asked, demanding answers. "Walter said they killed your father."
Liam finally turned to look at me, sighing heavily. "The Sterling Group is a massive, multi-billion dollar conglomerate based in New York. On the surface, they deal in real estate and shipping. In reality, they are the most powerful organized crime syndicate on the East Coast. My father, Marcus O'Connor, refused to let them use our shipping ports in Boston for their smuggling operations. Twenty-five years ago, the head of the Sterling family, Richard Sterling, ordered my father’s assassination. I was nineteen. I survived the hit because of your mother. Since then, I have been systematically dismantling the Sterling empire, piece by piece."
He reached out, his hand gently covering mine.
"Last week, I acquired the final block of shares needed to initiate a hostile takeover of their primary shipping subsidiary," Liam explained. "They are desperate, Maya. They know they are losing the war. If they find out Clara Lin is alive—the woman who saved the heir to the O'Connor empire—they will use her as leverage to force me to sign over my assets. I cannot let that happen."
"Are you protecting us because you feel guilty, or because we are a liability to you?" I asked quietly, looking down at our joined hands.
Liam’s grip tightened slightly. He leaned closer, his dark gray eyes searching mine with a raw, intense sincerity.
"When I first saw you standing in the rain, refusing to cry while that bastard crushed your family's picture... I didn't see a liability, Maya. I saw the strongest woman I have ever met. I am protecting you because I want to. Because for the first time in twenty-five years, I have something in my life that I care about more than revenge."
My heart did a slow, dangerous flutter in my chest. I wanted to pull away, to tell myself that this man was too dangerous, too wrapped up in a world of blood and shadows. But as I looked at his face, I realized that I was already falling.
The helicopter began its descent, landing on a large, illuminated pad on the manicured lawns of a breathtaking, stone-and-timber mansion tucked into the mountains.
The estate looked like a modern fortress. High security fences lined the perimeter, and guard dogs patrolled the grounds alongside men in tactical gear.
Within minutes, my mother was settled into a gorgeous, sunlit medical suite on the ground floor of the mansion, surrounded by state-of-the-art equipment and friendly, highly professional medical staff.
"Welcome to your new home, Maya," Liam said, standing beside me in the grand entryway of the mansion, the warm light of a massive stone fireplace washing over us.
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"It’s beautiful, Liam," I said, looking up at the high timber ceilings. "But it feels like a prison of gold."
"Only until I finish this," Liam promised, his eyes darkening with a cold, protective fire. "Once the Sterlings are gone, the gates will open. I swear it."
