Chapter 28
Adelaide
As I ease into consciousness, I become aware of Liam’s arms locked tightly around my body, holding me close. We always fall asleep like this, snuggled up together, before rolling over to our respective sides for the night. Somehow, we always find our way back to one another as the sun rises.
Liam nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck when he senses me stir. “You awake, babe?”
“Mmm.” I reach up to rub my eyes, slowly peeling them open to reveal the hotel room around me. I’m facing Connor’s bed, but it’s empty. “Where’s Connor?”
“He left a half hour ago to hit the gym downstairs.”
I stare at his bed, suddenly wide awake.
I think of the way, in the middle of the night as Liam slept soundly, both Connor and I were restless and struggling to sleep.
Through the darkness, we just looked at one another across the small space between the beds.
Not a single word was whispered, but the anguish in his brown eyes told me everything he wanted to say and more. It was a plea—Please, Adelaide.
I felt trapped, quite literally, between a life I know is so wrong for me and a life full of the unknown.
Things aren’t good with Liam right now. There’s a glass ceiling at Hartman the dread rising from my stomach.
“What show, Addy?” Liam presses, and I know any attempt to evade answering is futile.
With a breath, I say. “Magic Mike Live.”
Silence.
“Ha, yeah, tell Hailey thanks for the laugh. Great joke,” Liam mutters dryly. Then, firmly, he states, “You’re not going.”
“Liam,” I breathe, turning to face him with the tiniest bit of courage I’m capable of. I try my best to appear nonchalant, to make this seem like this show is no big deal—because it isn’t. “It’s just some harmless fun. We’ll blush and we’ll cheer and we’ll giggle and we’ll leave.”
“You are not fucking going, Addy,” Liam snaps, and I flinch at the abrupt change of tone, the venom in his voice something I recognize all too well. “My wife, my rules.”
I blink at him in astonishment. “I am not your wife,” I spit through enraged, clenched teeth. There’s ringing in my ears. My blood boils.
“Six weeks from now you will be, and I expect you—”
“You don’t get to expect anything from me,” I cut in, and I know I am walking a dangerously thin line. The worst possible thing I can do when Liam’s temper is heating up is antagonize him further, but I am done being submissive just to keep the peace.
I don’t think this relationship is worth fighting to save anymore.
Liam groans, pinching the bridge of his nose as he takes a moment to gather himself.
“You know what I mean,” he says, his voice softer now.
It’s a familiar pattern. Rubbing his face, sighing—because I’m the problem.
I’m always the problem. “I’m communicating with you about something that makes me uncomfortable.
Why aren’t you listening? If you respected me—”
“No, you’re trying to control me. Like you always do.”
Liam’s eyes visibly widen. A defiant Adelaide is an Adelaide he’s never met. An Adelaide I’m sure he’ll believe there’s only one way to silence.
I press my lips into a bold line and stare back at him. For once, my gaze is fiercer than his. It’s brazen of me, but it’s not through lack of fear—the terror fills me from head to toe. I may regret challenging him when he quits using his words in favor of his hands.
Surprisingly, he just asks, “Are you still drunk? What is going on?”
“I’m telling you it’s my bachelorette party, I’m going to a show with Hailey and Evie, and I’m going to enjoy it,” I say, fighting the tremor in my voice. Somehow, my words come out steady and final.
“Do what you want,” Liam grunts. As he takes a step forward, I squeeze my eyes shut, bracing for impact—but it never comes. He walks straight past me to the bathroom and slams the door shut behind him.
A shaky breath escapes me as I collapse onto the edge of the bed.
Suddenly, the realization of just how far I pushed things, how huge a risk I just took, hits me.
All of the fear within me releases and now I’m hyperventilating, clutching my clothes to my chest. Liam won’t be in the shower long, and I don’t want to be alone with him again when he gets out.
Scrambling for my phone, I scroll to Connor’s name in my contacts and immediately call him. I stare at the bathroom door, watchful, as I press my phone to my ear. The dial tone only rings twice.
“Addy,” Connor answers. There’s so much weight behind my name. So much meaning.
“Can you come back to the room, please?” I whisper.
“I’m on my way.”
I hug my arms around myself, Liam’s T-shirt clinging to my body, as I wait. I even count the seconds in an attempt to control my breathing and calm my nerves. That’s why I know it only takes Connor Lexington three minutes and forty-nine seconds to get to me.
I hear the small beep of his key card against the lock before the door opens.
He enters the room briskly, eyes rapidly scanning for Liam, then strides straight over to me.
Exactly like the very first night, he drops to his knees on the floor in front of me and takes my hand in his.
His face loses a touch of its color when he feels how intensely I’m trembling.
“What happened? Did he . . .?”
I shake my head, sucking in a breath. “No. He’s just . . . not in a good mood. I don’t want to be alone with him again when he gets out the shower.”
“It’s okay. I’m here,” he says, squeezing my hand. His hair is damp from working out, and he’s still in his gym shorts and T-shirt. The silver dog tags around his neck hang loosely on display, and when he notices me looking, he tucks them inside his T-shirt.
“Thanks for coming,” I whisper, and I squeeze his hand back in return.
We hear the shower shut off. Connor straightens up from the floor and crosses the room, moving as far away from me as he can possibly get within the confines of this hotel room.
He grabs a bottle of water from the mini fridge and chugs it as the bathroom door swings open and Liam steps out, towel around his waist.
“Oh. You’re back,” Liam says flatly in response to Connor’s arrival. “How was the gym?”
“Yeah, man, it wasn’t that great. Not much in the weights section,” Connor says with a shrug. “Am I good to shower now? Addy?” His gaze finds mine, and I feel like I’m under a spotlight. There’s so much pressure not to say or do the wrong thing.
I feel like I’m hiding a secret.
Is Connor a secret?
He shouldn’t be.
But fuck. He is.
“Yeah, I’ll . . . I’ll get ready back in my own room,” I say, quickly standing from the bed and gathering up my belongings. I don’t even care that I’m only wearing Liam’s damn T-shirt. I stick my feet into my heels from last night and head for the door looking like a complete and utter trainwreck.
“You’re going to walk through the hotel like that?” I hear Liam mutter over my shoulder.
“I’m only riding the elevator a couple floors,” I say, not bothering to look back at him.
“People seem to be wearing whatever they want in the hotel, so it’s probably no big deal,” Connor chimes in, and my chest heaves, because there he goes again—having my back no matter what.
“Whatever,” Liam says. “By the way, I saved us from having to get lame photos at the Vegas sign. I was thinking us guys could hit the casino instead, and then we’ll meet up with the girls later for drinks.”
I reach for the door and cast a look back into the room, but my gaze naturally finds Connor first. I quickly shift my eyes to Liam. “Yeah. See you guys later.”
And then I disappear out of the room, running as fast as possible from my fiancé.