Chapter 30
Britain
I sniffle and wipe my eyes as Gina escorts me back to the front door. We’re steps from the exit when she turns around.
“Did you think they actually liked you, let alone loved you?” She laughs in my face harshly. My mind gets whiplash over the comment.
“I’m sorry, wh–”
Gina cuts me off.
“Did you actually think Liam and Matt would be interested in you? You’re just a barely B-cup, average white girl who’s lucky enough to afford Botox and veneers. You are nothing special, and everyone can see it, even Liam and Matt.” What the fuck is her problem?
I move to walk around her towards the front door, but she slides in my way. “They only want your share of the business, sweetie.” Oh. “Yeah, lightbulb. You’re a real genius, huh?”
My stomach roils and I get hot, and suddenly it feels like the walls are closing in. I practically run back to Constantine’s office. I need to know.
I can see he’s surprised when I ask, “How long have I been in your will?”
“Since you turned 18, why?” I don’t respond, I just walk back down the hall, around Gina, and out the front door.
I drive aimlessly for the next two hours. Mostly around town, past my old schools, down Aubrey’s street and eventually I find myself parked in front of Georgia’s, well, Alex’s now. My phone rings again, but I just hit decline like I have the last 15 times. I’ve passed the point of any hysterical crying, and now I’m just feeling flat-out exhausted. It’s like I’m in a dream where nothing is actually happening. I’m just going through the motions.
With the girls at Sandy’s until sometime after dinner, I’m still left with a couple hours before I have to figure out what I’ll do. I just know, right now, that doesn’t include going home to him. Home. Ugh.
I grab my purse out of the car and walk to the front door. I still have my key from when I stayed here last, so I don’t bother to knock. I just let myself right in. Alex is sitting at the kitchen table when I do, slamming his laptop shut when he sees me.
“Brit, is everything okay?”
I shake my head. “I just need sleep.”
I don’t say anything else. I just walk down to Georgia’s room, pull on her old robe, curl up on top of her grandmother’s quilt, and I sleep. I hate being awake sometimes.
Liam
Where the fuck is she? It doesn’t take 4 hours to eat lunch. I knew I should have gone with her, I fucking knew it.
I’m pacing in my office when my phone pings with a new text. My hands tremble as I look down, but disappointment floods me when I see who it’s from.
Gina: Finally figured it out. I knew you didn’t actually love her. Let me know if you ever want to be with someone who’s a little more your league, xoxo.
What the fuck? I have no idea what she’s talking about. Maybe she sent it to the wrong number. I don’t bother with a response, just hitting Britain’s name in my call log instead, and waiting. This time it doesn’t go straight to voicemail and my chest hitches in anticipation that she’ll pick up, but she doesn’t. It rings, then eventually hits voicemail.
Did Matt show up? Did she get in a car accident? My brain goes into overdrive thinking of all the bad things that could’ve happened. I walk out to the kitchen to find Jess and Carly chatting.
“Have either of you heard from Britain?” I ask, not caring that I just interrupted them.
“No, I haven’t,” Carly says.
Jess pulls out her phone and pulls up their text thread. An hour or so ago, Jess asked how the lunch was, and all Britain responded with was: “Lunch was good and bad and Gina’s a bitch. I’m going to Alex’s for a bit.”
“You didn’t think this was something worth telling me about?” I ask Jess, my frustration misdirected at her.
“She’s at Alex’s, she’ll be fine.”
I run my hands through my hair, but make the decision quickly to grab my keys and head to Alex’s house. Except for one problem. “I don’t know where Alex lives.”
Jess looks at me like I’m stupid and says, “He lives in Georgia’s old house.” That doesn’t help.
“I don’t know where that is.”
“She never took you to Georgia’s house?” No, and I never asked to go. Fuck me.
“No, she didn’t.”
Jess rolls her eyes at me. “I’m sure I have an address in my email or something. Give me a minute.”
I can’t wait, though. “Text it to me, please?” I don’t wait for a response, just heading straight out the door and into my car. I call Alex as soon as the bluetooth connects.
“What did you do?” Alex answers the phone in a biting tone.
“I don’t know! Is she there?”
“Yeah, she is. She’s sleeping right now.”
“Is she okay?”
“No, she’s not okay. She walked in here looking fucking catatonic like someone just blew up her world. What. Did. You. DO?”
“Nothing! She was supposed to have lunch with Constantine today, and then she wouldn’t respond to my messages, and then my calls, and I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but I’m coming to see her.”
“Whoa, whoa. Pump the brakes. Let her sleep. Maybe she’s just upset about Georgia. She sure as fuck shouldn’t be out driving, though.” My stomach rolls with anxiety, and fear.
“I guess just let me know when she wakes up and if there’s anything I can do.” My tone is completely defeated.
“If she wakes up and I find out you fucked her, you’re gonna want to to run for the hills.”
“I didn’t do anything. I don’t fucking get it!”
“I’ll let you know,” Alex says, then hangs up the phone. Jess texts me a minute later with the address. I won’t go there, yet, but I’m not going back to Spearhead either.
When I get out of my SUV at Max’s house, I slam the car door shut and a rooster crows at me when I do, walking past me in a hurry. Fucking excuse me. Max is sitting on his front porch waiting for me and he laughs at my reaction to the poultry.
“Trouble in paradise so soon?” Max asks.
“Fuck you, man,” I reply.
“So that’s a yes.” Yeah, it is. “What’d you do?”
“Seriously, nothing. She went to have lunch with your dad, and then I don’t know, but she won’t answer my calls or texts.” I shrug.
“Come on, man.” Max ushers me inside where his housekeeper, Anna, greets me.
“Liam! Are you hungry? Come, come, let’s get you boys some dinner!”
I don’t have the heart to tell her no, so we follow her to the kitchen where she starts pulling trays out of the fridge to reheat. Max gestures to the wet bar, motioning towards the bottles lined up, with a question.
“Small glass, really small, I want to be able to go pick her up,” I say as he pours himself a healthy glass of Eagle Rare and drops a splash in one for me. I think he does it as a joke, but it’s fine. I want to stay sober so I can go get my girl if needed.
In an attempt to keep the conversation off me, I ask Max, “So have you told your family yet?”
He shakes his head no. “Nah, I’m going to let Matt sweat for a bit. Let him wonder.”
“Can’t say I blame you,” I laugh.
“I can’t believe you really did it, man. We’re going to miss you.”
“I mean this in the nicest possible way, but I’m not going to miss any of you.” We both laugh. “But hey, thanks for buying me out.” I hold up my glass to his, in a toast.
“Thanks for thinking of me first,” he says, then slams back his full bourbon.
Anna pushes plates in front of us, and we both reluctantly eat. I’m pretty sure Max inherited Anna when his father died and left him this ranch. She only knows how to cook for ranch hands, so while it’s hearty food, it’s doused in gravy with extra butter and extra lard in everything. Perfect for a hangover. Not so perfect when you’re sick with worry and can barely hold it down.
Max and I talk a little bit about the next steps and paperwork for him buying me out. Then Anna asks me about my new girlfriend. And damn, I hate hearing Britain referred to as my girlfriend. I want people calling her my wife.
She cries happy tears when I tell her I’m going to be a dad, then eventually excuses herself to her cottage for the night. Max is sitting there looking at me like I’m foreign, though.
“What?” I ask.
“I just never thought it’d be you, man. To settle down, wife up, three and a half kids. It’s like that movie Instant Family or some shit. And you’re giving up the business for it, too?” He shakes his head in disbelief. “Fucking wild, man.”
“Just wait till it’s you,” I tell him.
“Ha!” he laughs, but doesn’t say anymore, which is good because no matter what he would’ve said, my response would have been, ‘That’s what they always say.’
It’s 9:00 PM, when I look down at my phone for the thousandth time. Still nothing from Alex, and nothing from Britain. That’s when I decide I’m done waiting. I throw Alex’s address into Google Maps and get up to leave. When I go to say bye to Max, his phone rings. He answers, so I wait till he’s done. He gets a weird look on his face, though, and drops the phone away from his ear to put it on speaker.
I can tell it’s Gina. “And can you believe Constantine would do that?” My heart rate picks up. If Constantine did something to Britain…
“And now it all makes sense. Matt and Liam were just fighting over who would have more shares of the business. They didn’t actually like her.” The fuck? I look over at Max who looks just as confused as me.
“You said he’s leaving Britain with half of his part of the business?” Max asks for clarification.
“Yeah, 50% to Matt, 50% to Britain. She didn’t even understand until I laid it out for her that they were only interested in her because they want her portion of the business.”
Damnit, Gina is a bitch. I don’t say anything, though. I just nod at Max and take off, feeling the smallest pang of relief that I actually did the right thing this time. Now I just have to convince Britain of it.
Britain
“Baby,” he says, gently rocking my shoulder to wake me. “Let’s go home.”
I keep my eyes closed and try to push away the pain that’s coursing through me, but it hurts so fucking bad, all over again. If what Gina said is true, I don’t think I can bear to look him in the eyes ever again.
“Go away, Liam,” I say, turning, trying to burrow my way deeper into the pillow, and away from the world.
“I’m not going away, Britain. Never,” he says calm and cool, with all the confidence of a man who knows he’s dating someone well below his league. Like I should just be so grateful he’s given me the time of day.
“You can have it. I don’t even want it. Just leave me alone, okay?”
“I don’t want it either, Britain.” His words give me pause, but I keep my eyes shut, my body can’t stop leaning into the pain all over again.
“You don’t have to keep up the charade anymore. I don’t care about it, have it. You can stop pretending, okay?” He laughs at me and I crack an eye open. He looks so handsome, and I hate him. I hate him even more for making me look like an idiot.
“Why would I want 25% ownership in a company I just sold 51% of yesterday?”
My other eye pops open and I slowly turn to look at him.
He nods his head. “I don’t care what you do with your 25%, if and when you ever get it. Well, I sort of hope you don’t give it to Matt, but otherwise, I don’t care.”
I pull myself up to sit. “You sold your part of the business?” I ask in disbelief. That business was his life. His family’s legacy. The MS Group was his life’s work.
“I did. Max and I agreed on a purchase price yesterday. I wanted to surprise you with the news once I knew it was a sure thing.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
He can barely finish getting the word out before I throw my arms around his neck and hug him tight. He just wraps his arms around me and nuzzles into my neck, pulling me onto his lap. “I’ve spent enough of my life devoted to work, and now I want to devote the next half to you, and the girls, and this baby, and any others…and the dog.”
I stop him from continuing.“We’re not getting a dog.”
“We’re definitely getting a dog,” he says and I laugh because I know, we’re getting a dog. “Baby, I’m a little hurt you thought that’s what this was about.” He brings my hand to his heart, then places his hand over mine. “What do I need to do to prove to you that it only beats for you?” He nuzzles deeper into my neck until he can kiss me.
“I don’t know, Liam. I just—it all just sort of made sense. I’ve never felt like I’m good enough for you, and it was like duh, because I’m not.” He pulls back, grabbing my chin in his hand.
“I don’t ever want to hear those words come out of your mouth again. You’re too good for me, Britain. Everybody knows it, alright?”
“Try telling Gina that…” I whisper out.
“Screw, Gina,” he says.
“Please don’t,” I whisper, and he gives me a look. “I know, I’m being insecure, okay? It just really hurt, and I felt like I couldn’t go through all of this again.”
“You never will, baby. I’ll never let you go through that again. Listen, I’ve loved you since before I even knew who you were. You were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen in that little black dress, nursing me, smiling for me. I loved you then.” I nod and he drops his forehead to mine, then kisses me gently.
“Why didn’t you just come home, Bambi? I could have saved you a couple hours of doom crying.” He says it lightheartedly, and he’s right.
I shrug. “Just my trauma response, I guess. To be here.” I look around. “As close to her as possible.” He gives me a sad look, but it comes with understanding.
“Alright. Let’s try and retrain ourselves to come to me, okay?” I nod. “Okay, can we go home now? Please?” I nod again, and he lifts me straight off the bed and heads for the door.
“Wait!” I try to stop him. “I’m wearing Georgia’s robe. I need to take it off.” He sets me down, and I slip the robe off, hanging it back over the closet door just like she left it. “Okay, I’m ready,” I grab my purse off the dresser and Liam lifts me off my feet.
“I can walk!” I yell at him.
“Yeah, but I don’t want to take the risk of you walking away from me.” I smile and shake my head. Slim chance of that happening.
Alex watches us from the living room. And I call out to him. “Thanks for letting me nap here. Come to dinner on Sunday, okay? Love you!” I say as Liam walks us through the front door, putting me straight into the passenger seat of his car.
“Wait, I can drive home. What are we going to do about my car?” He closes the door on me, then hops into the driver's side before answering.
“Again, can’t take any chances of you escaping. And I’ve been meaning to ask, did Matt help you pick out that car?” Yes.
“Yeah,” I say quietly.
“Thought so. We’ll get you a new car tomorrow. Tonight, I just want you in our bed, at home, everyone under the same roof.” My cheeks turn pink. “And you better believe, we are going to have words over you not answering my calls or texts today. I was losing my mind, baby, sick to my stomach with worry that something bad happened.”
“Well, now you know how it feels,” I rib him.
“I think somebody needs a spanking,” he deadpans back.
“Oh no, anything but that!” I joke, and he turns, giving me a devilish look. Fuck. “I’m not going to be able to sit down, am I?” He shakes his head.
“Nope, your ass is gonna be as pink as your cheeks, Bambi.” Can’t wait.
Liam is in bed waiting for me when I come out of the ensuite. I untuck, then throw my towel over the tub, and he watches me walk to the bed, stalking me with his eyes like I’m a tasty snack. I crawl over, straddling him, and he reaches around, grabbing my ass cheeks. He releases them, pulling both hands back, then brings them down in a hard slap.
“Ahh!” I cry out, then look down at his sick smile.
“That’s not even a glimpse, Bambi.”
“I know,” I say, then drop my mouth to his. I slide my tongue along his lips, and he opens for me. As we kiss, I grow damp and wet for this man, and without even thinking, he’s inside me. It’s so natural to be with him like this.
“I was planning to go straight to sleep tonight, I swear!” I say.
“Same. I thought you needed the rest, but here we are, baby. We can’t fucking help it.” Nope, we can’t. We’re like magnets, inexplicably drawn to one another.
“I love you, Liam Millar,” I say, then drop another kiss to his mouth.
“And I love you, Britain Millar.” Fuck me.