Lust Meter System: Conquering Beauties-Chapter 155: Lines We Cross

Liam yawned.

Wide. Long. The kind that made his jaw crack and his eyes water.

He dragged his hand down his face, blinking hard against the sunlight coming through his window.

Because he hadn’t slept. Not really.

Maybe two hours total. And even those two hours had been restless. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her. Auburn hair catching the light. White crop top. High-waisted jeans. That smile. The way she’d looked at him without saying a word.

And the number that should have been there but wasn’t.

He’d tried to find her after the game ended. Walked through Drew’s entire house. Checked the living room. The kitchen. Upstairs.

Asked a few people if they’d seen a girl with auburn hair and a white top. No one had. She was just gone. And so was the guy she’d been with. Like they’d never been there at all.

It didn’t make sense.

He’d spent the whole night turning it over in his head. Trying to make sense of it. Trying to figure out what it meant. Was it a glitch? Was she different somehow? Was the system broken?

Nothing clicked.

And then there was the other thing. The thing Zara had told him.

He’d gone through a full day of lectures running on two hours of sleep.

He sat in the back of three different classes and didn’t hear a single word any of the professors said. He just stared at the board and thought about the girl with no number and about what Zara had said.

Kelvin had noticed. Asked him if he was good. Liam told him he’d stayed up too late. Kelvin didn’t push.

Now he was here.

The training ground was quiet. Empty except for the sound of wind moving through the chain-link fence and the distant hum of traffic from the main road.

And Shay.

He was standing near the far side of the lot, hands in the pockets of his black jacket, leaning back against the fence like he had all the time in the world.

His posture was relaxed, but his eyes were sharp. Watching Liam walk toward him across the cracked pavement.

Liam stopped a few feet away.

---

Shay straightened up, pulling his hands out of his pockets. His expression was calm. Unreadable. "Glad to see you’re doing well."

"Thanks, but that’s not why I’m here." Liam’s voice was flat.

Shay’s mouth pulled into a small smile. "I figured."

"Zara told me."

The smile faded. Shay nodded slowly. "Oh. That."

Liam stared at him. "Why didn’t you just tell me?"

Shay was quiet for a moment. The wind picked up slightly, moving through the empty lot, rattling the fence behind him. Then he spoke. "Because you trusted me to take over while you were gone, and I was controlling things myself before you came along, so I didn’t see the need to call you for every minor thing that happened."

Liam’s jaw tightened. "You got shot, Shay. That’s not a minor thing and you know it. That’s more than enough reason to call me."

Shay shook his head. "It’s not that bad."

"Show me."

Shay hesitated. Just for a second. Then he reached down and lifted the hem of his shirt.

There was a bandage there. White gauze wrapped tight across his abdomen, just below his ribs. A faint dark spot had bled through the center of it. Not fresh. But not old either. Still healing.

Liam stared at it. "Who are they?"

Shay let go of his shirt and it fell back into place. "Some other gang. We haven’t dealt with them before, and we don’t even know their name yet."

"Okay, so what happened?"

Shay crossed his arms and leaned back against the fence again. "You know how gangs have been keeping their heads down because of the killer, right?"

Liam nodded. "Yeah, that’s what we knew at least."

"Exactly, but it isn’t like that anymore." Shay’s voice was even. "It all started a day or two after you told me you fought him yourself. He hasn’t attacked any other gang since then, not that I’ve heard of anyway."

’It must be because of Elena,’ Liam thought. ’Seems i was wrong, she was actually involved with the killer’

Shay kept going. "So these guys decided to crawl out of hiding and started moving in on Hawks’ old territory. Trying to take over his base and set up shop there." He paused. "I wasn’t going to let that happen."

’So the news about Hawks did hit him,’ Liam thought. ’And it makes sense that other gangs would want to move on the territory.’

"So you went after them?" Liam asked.

"Yeah."

"Did they outnumber our group, or what?"

Shay shook his head. "No. I went alone because it was my fight, not theirs. I wasn’t going to pull my family into something like that just because I decided to handle it."

Liam’s eyes widened. "You went alone?"

’No wonder you got shot’

Shay’s mouth curved into a small smile. "Well, not completely alone. Damien came with me."

Liam raised an eyebrow.

"I told him to stay behind and that it wasn’t his fight either, but you know how he is. Stubborn as hell. Followed me anyway."

Liam shook his head. "Of course he did. So how did you get shot?"

Shay’s smile disappeared. His expression settled into something harder. "I went straight for their boss. One-on-one. Figured that was the cleanest way to end it, because I couldn’t just fight everyone, so I called for a fight between him and me. Just the two of us." He paused. "He was pretty weak for someone who was controlling a huge amount of people, I was winning. I totally had him flat on the ground and i told him to give up."

He stopped.

Liam waited.

Shay’s jaw tightened. "Then someone shot me. Didn’t see who, and didn’t even hear it coming. Just felt something tear through my side and went down. But right before I blacked out, I caught Damien already moving. He beat the hell out of some guy, broke his nose, and put him out cold. Then three more came rushing at him, trying to get to me while I was down." Shay’s smile came back. Small. Genuine. "He held all three of them off on his own, but that’s the last thing I remember."

Liam’s voice came out quiet. "And then?"

"Woke up in the hospital a few hours later, and Damien was in the chair next to my bed. Looked like he’d been dragged through something ugly. Stitches on his face, bruises all over, blood still on his shirt. But he was grinning." Shay shook his head. "I asked him later how he got me out of there, but he wouldn’t say."

Liam didn’t say anything for a long moment. Just stood there, looking at Shay. At the faint outline of the bandage visible beneath his shirt.

Then he spoke. His voice came out cold. "So there’s absolutely no need for me to worry, right? You’re just going to handle it yourself?"

Shay nodded. "Yeah. I am."

Liam’s expression hardened. "Bullshit. Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?"

Shay’s eyebrows lifted slightly. "What?"

Liam stepped closer. "You heard me. Who do you think you’re talking to right now?"

Shay’s expression didn’t shift. His voice stayed level. "A kid who’s trying to stick his nose into something that isn’t his business."

Liam laughed. Short. Sharp. Nothing warm in it. "I’m actually offended, Shay. A moment ago you called everyone family, but just now, when I asked who you thought you were talking to, you said a kid. Not family."

Shay didn’t answer.

Liam kept going. His voice didn’t waver. "Even if I haven’t gotten to the point where you fully accept me yet, and even if you don’t see me that way, I’m still one thing. The leader. The one who made a promise to protect everyone. The one who said he’d tear apart anyone who put a hand on the people he cares about."

The words landed. Liam could see it. The shift in Shay’s expression. The way his arms dropped. The way he just stood there and took it.

Liam didn’t let up. "This isn’t just your fight anymore, Shay. It’s mine too, and I don’t care what you say, I’m not walking away from it. So stop trying to carry everything by yourself."

Silence.

The wind swept through the lot again. Rattling the fence. Lifting dust off the cracked pavement.

Then a voice came from behind Liam.

"Well said."

Liam turned.

Damien was standing a few feet back, arms folded across his chest, grinning like he’d just watched something he thoroughly enjoyed.

Three stitches ran along his left cheekbone. Clean. Still fresh. Another jagged line of stitches sat above his right eyebrow, cutting through the skin at an ugly angle. His knuckles were bruised deep purple and yellow, wrapped in white medical tape that had already started unraveling at the edges.

"Out of the mountain of garbage that’s been coming out of your mouth since the day I met you," Damien said, the grin not moving an inch, "that right there is honestly one of the least awful things you’ve ever said."

Liam’s expression flipped instantly. His eyes narrowed. "What the hell are you even doing here, you weakling?"

Damien’s grin vanished. His arms dropped. "What did you just call me? Like you could’ve handled that many people on your own."

They moved toward each other. Fast. Instinctive. Faces inches apart. Foreheads nearly colliding.

Liam grinned. Razor sharp. "You’re just making excuses because you’re weak."

"You want to run that back right now?" Damien’s voice came out tight and clipped, his hands already balling into fists.

Liam tilted his head slightly. Still grinning. "That would just be unfair. Looks like those stitches are the only thing holding your face together right now."

Shay started laughing.

Both of them turned to look at him.

He was shaking his head, shoulders heaving. "You two are genuinely the most stupid people I’ve ever been around."

Liam stepped back, his grin stretching wider. "That’s no way to talk to your boss, Shay."

Shay swallowed the laughter and straightened up. "Right. My bad." He looked at Liam, something more serious settling into his face. "So what now, leader?"

Liam’s grin sharpened into something with more edge to it. More intent. "So we all agree to go beat their asses."

Damien raised an eyebrow. "Without a plan?"

Liam and Shay both turned to look at him.

Damien nodded slowly. "Yeah, we need a plan. We can’t just walk in there and start swinging."

Shay shrugged. "I was thinking we go in the same way I did before. Challenge the boss again, one-on-one. Just this time without getting shot."

Liam crossed his arms. "I think I have something, but it means pulling everyone in."

Shay’s head shook immediately. "No. I don’t want that. This isn’t their fight."

Liam looked at him. "It’s everyone’s fight, Shay, and if you actually asked them, you already know what they’d say. They love you, and they trust this family. The same family you love."

Shay’s grin crept back. Slow. Settled. "Their numbers are roughly double ours, so let’s just take the smart road and we challenge them, cut a deal, win, and they walk."

"And if they don’t?" Liam said. "They already proved they don’t fight clean."

Damien stared at Shay. "We’re just going to end up getting shot again."

Shay’s expression shifted. A pause stretched between them. Then he exhaled through his nose. "Alright, you’re both right." He looked at Liam. "What do you have in mind?"

They both looked at him.

Liam’s face was steady. Certain. "It’s actually pretty simple."