Chapter 33
“Shane is a fucking bastard.” Tristan pushed his empty plate away and leaned back in his seat. “I can’t believe he didn’t even spend one night behind bars.”
As much as I wanted to share my friend’s disbelief, I wasn’t surprised. My grandfather had a lot of people in his pocket, and I knew from personal experience that half of the damn police force jumped whenever he snapped his fingers.
But if he thought this was the end of it, he was sorely mistaken. I wasn’t about to let go of this one indiscretion.
“How’s Evie holding up?” Rafe asked before he took a long, slow sip of his espresso.
There were a lot of words that sprang to mind when I thought about Snow. Stunning. Kind. Smart. Fucking sexy. And now I could add resilient to the list. She’d been shaken up for a few days after the attack, but it didn’t stop her from going to the office with me to work on the year-end function.
Even when I’d insisted she take the files home and work from there, she’d refused.
“I can’t allow my fears to keep controlling me,” she’d said on the third morning. “So even though I’m terrified to run into him, I refuse to stay here and hide. I don’t want to be a coward, Liam.”
I admired her bravery. I respected it. But if she thought for one second I’d let her walk into my building while Shane was still there, she was dead wrong. I could never put her in harm’s way like that.
So I did the only thing I could. I said fuck the contract and fired Shane. I didn’t give two shits about my grandfather and whatever hell he wanted to bring to my life. None of it was more important than Snow’s safety.
“She’s great,” I finally answered. “Working hard on the year-end function.”
“Yeah, she did seem overly excited about that when we stopped by the other night,” Tristan drawled. “And you two did seem awfully cozy, too.”
Because I’d never been with anyone, I had no idea how to tell my friends I had very real feelings for my wife. Life-altering kind of feelings. So when they’d stopped by—unannounced, I might add—I figured the best way to let the cat out of the bag was by kissing the shit out of Snow.
In front of them.
The expression on both their faces would forever be burned into my brain.
“On a more serious note,” Tristan went on. “Don’t you think it’s all a bit fast? I mean, how long before you get bored?”
“Oh, for shit’s sake,” Rafe growled.
“What?” Tristan shrugged. “Have you seen him with the same woman twice?”
It might have been time to confess the truth. Time to finally let go of this secret I’d been carrying with me for so damn long.
Ready to let it all out, I opened my mouth. No words came. At least not the ones I wanted. Why the hell was it so difficult to shine light on the darkest parts of me in front of the people I trusted the most?
“I won’t get bored,” I said instead. “Besides, when did our weekly lunch turn into a dissection of my relationship with my wife?”
Tristan and Rafe shared a look.
“Well, I’m happy you actually listened to someone other than yourself for once,” Rafe said. “It’s a good look on you.”
I thought so, too.
Snow was good for me. Or maybe her goodness just rubbed off on me. My nightmares were gone. I hadn’t had a single one since she’d started sharing my bed. My smiles came more freely, even if they were only aimed at her.
And my chest felt ten fucking times lighter.
“So, did you ever figure out that job thing?” Tristan interrupted my thoughts.
I blinked back to the present, my attention shifting to him. “What job thing?”
“I’d like to know, too,” Rafe chimed in.
Tristan chuckled. “Of course you would, you nosy bastard.” To me he said, “You told me Evie blamed you for losing her job.”
“Ah, yes,” Rafe answered before I could. Undeterred by the glare I pinned him with, he just shrugged. “She told me that first day you met. She was about to walk out as soon as she saw who she was meant to marry.”
My glare intensified. “And you didn’t think to tell her the truth?”
“Nope.” With a laugh, Rafe shook his head. “Figured it would be more fun if she kept believing you’re an asshole.”
“Okay, I’m officially lost.”
“Bastard.”
Tristan and I spoke at the same time.
Leaning forward, I placed my folded arms on the table and gave Tristan the quick and dirty of why Snow had blamed me for losing her job. By the end he was laughing so hard even the waiter who cleared our table couldn’t keep the smile off his face.
Hell, even I couldn’t.
“Well, this has been great and all, but I have to get back to the office and kiss some ass if I want to make partner.”
Tristan got to his feet, which prompted Rafe and I to do the same.
“This one’s on me,” I said, pulling on my suit jacket and fastening the buttons.
Tristan smacked his palm against mine. “This one and the next four. It’s your punishment for breaking bro code.”
Rafe did the same, only his shake ended in a hug. “You deserve to be happy,” he said low enough that only I could hear. So please, for the love of all things holy, don’t fuck it up.”
“I won’t.”
With that, we said our goodbyes.
As I walked across the parking lot, I noticed it was still early. Maybe if I asked her nice enough, Snow would play hooky with me and we could go do something fun.
I retrieved my phone from my pocket and scrolled to her number. Thumb poised over the call button; my heart dipped right before it slammed against my ribs two times too fast. Funny how the mere thought of hearing her voice could evoke such a reaction in my body.
“Well, this is a surprise.”
And just like that, the euphoria coursing through my veins turned to fucking ice. Releasing a deep breath through my nose, I pocketed my phone and slowly spun around.
The moment I laid eyes on my grandfather, I wanted to punch the smug smile off his face.
“Where’s your lovely wife?” He made a show of scanning the area. “Or did you come here to meet someone she doesn’t know about?”
“I’m not you,” I ground out. “Faithful and loyalty aren’t meaningless words to me.”
The bastard threw his head back and laughed. “Says the boy who has to pay women to suck him off. How fucking precious.” Grin spreading wider, he closed the distance between us. We were almost the same height, had the same color eyes, and mostly the same facial features.
But for the first time, looking at him didn’t feel like looking into a mirror. It didn’t feel like seeing my future and what I’d become.
I wasn’t him or my father. And I sure as shit wasn’t destined to be the same assholes they were. Just like I had their blood running through my veins, I had my mother’s, too. And she had enough goodness in her to counteract ten of them.
“I wonder what your wife will think of your extracurricular activities?” With a hum, my grandfather cocked his head to the side. “Maybe she and I should have a little chat.”
The words weren’t even fully out of his mouth when I grabbed him. Fingers curled into his jacket; I yanked him forward.
“Go near her, and I will fucking end you.”
A laugh blew over his lips. The sound so bitter and cold, icy tendrils of fear wrapped around my spine.
“See.” He beamed. “You are your father’s son after all.”
“Fuck you,” I spat.
“It’s high time you accept who you are and do the right thing.” When I just glared at him, he went on. “That company should be mine. You know it should. And while we’re on the subject, you might want to advise your wife to drop the charges against Shane. He didn’t do anything she didn’t want him to do.”
My vision blurred, fingers curling tighter into his jacket. “You don’t speak about my wife. You don’t even fucking think about her.”
“My, my, my. So much anger. How long before you unleash it on her?”
I let go of him so fast he stumbled backward. He wasn’t deterred. That fucking laugh only grew louder, and his smug grin only spread wider.
There were so many words I wanted to throw at him. Not just words. I wanted to ram my fists into his face over and over again. Wanted to feel the bones crush beneath my knuckles and hear him beg for mercy.
Mercy I’d never give.
I wanted it all so damn bad my entire body shook.
But I knew giving in would give him way more satisfaction than it would give me. That was exactly why I didn’t wait for him to walk away before I climbed into my car and slowly drove off.
Not that the calmness lasted very long.
The moment I walked into my apartment, I shrugged off my jacket, roughly rolled up my sleeves, and headed for the gym. I didn’t even bother with gloves. Punch after punch, I allowed the anger to bubble through my veins. Welcomed the onslaught of memories and thoughts.
I fucking fed it.
Every time I saw my dad with his hands wrapped around my mother’s throat, I punched harder. When I heard his voice so clearly warning me that if I ever told anyone, he’d kill me too, I punched harder.
When I relived the relief and happiness I’d felt when the police officer informed us that he hadn’t survived the car crash, I punched harder.
Then just as I thought it couldn’t get worse, couldn’t hurt more, the images suddenly flipped.
It wasn’t my dad’s hands around my mother’s throat anymore, it was my fingers cutting off Snow’s air supply. Her pleading eyes staring at me, begging me to stop.
“Fuck!”
My legs gave out, ass hitting the floor not even a second later. Breathing heavy, I pulled my thighs to my chest and draped my arms over my knees.
“Fuck,” I cursed again.
This time, when the angry word flew out of my mouth, someone hugged me from behind. Strawberries and flowers flooded my senses, and just like that, a calmness I had no right to descended over me.
“Snow.” Breathing her name, I dropped my head in shame. I never wanted her to see me like this.
“I’m here,” she whispered against my back. “I’m here.”
Yes, she was. She was there, and she was the damn calm to my storm.
I needed to see her. I twisted around and maneuvered her onto my lap. I banded my arms around her waist, holding her close while she threaded her fingers through my damp hair.
“Wanna talk about it?”
Where the hell did I even begin? I had no damn clue. That was why I lowered my head and buried my nose in her neck.
She smelled so nice; I couldn’t help but breathe her in.
Fingers digging into her back, I took her scent straight to my lungs. Once, twice, and then one more time.
And when that wasn’t enough, I touched my mouth to her skin. Brushing my lips up along her throat, I slowly smoothed my palms up her spine.
Her body shivered, and a soft moan blew over her lips.
“Snow,” I rasped next to her ear. “Talking is the last thing I want to do right now.”