Chapter 31 #3
No. My heart feels like it’s been ripped straight out of my chest, leaving behind a gaping hole, because there is no going back from this moment now.
Connor has announced the truth, in front of everyone, and my eyes instantly sting with a thousand pent-up tears as everyone’s stunned expressions land on me.
Hailey’s mouth hangs open, Evie blinks through wide eyes, Theo steps forward.
There is no saving this wedding now. The people I love will never let me.
Good thing I’d already decided it wasn’t worth saving, anyway.
“What did you just say, Connor?” Theo asks, an unrecognizable look of fear on his face.
“I said,” Connor says, determined eyes never once shifting from Liam’s, “that this piece of shit has been—”
The words are punched straight out of his mouth. Liam’s fist barrels through the air before Connor has any chance at all of defending himself, and he stumbles backward against the glass wall as my horrified scream fills the cabin.
“Yeah? Go ahead, Liam,” Connor growls, wiping a hand over his mouth as he straightens up. “Show everyone what you do to Addy behind closed doors.”
The look in Liam’s eyes is terrifying. A blazing fire of rage burns through him, every muscle in his face hard and taut. He balls his hand back into another fist and throws a second punch straight into Connor’s jaw—Connor, who takes it, without lifting a finger in return.
“You son of a bitch,” Theo mutters, and he throws himself in the firing line, only so he can land a punch of his own in there—straight into Liam’s eye.
“Theo!” Hailey screams.
Everything unravels so fast. Connor’s on the floor, rubbing a hand over his jaw.
Liam and Theo are scrapping, hands swinging as they pummel one another.
Trina hides behind the bar cart in panicked fear as she radios down to her co-workers on the ground.
Evie throws herself forward, kicking Liam in his shins with her high heels, before Jameson wraps his arms around her body and drags her out of the brawl.
Hailey is by my side, in tears, as we cling to one another.
Tyler mutters profanities under his breath as he broadens his shoulders for protection and steps into the chaos, attempting to secure his arms around Liam’s thrashing body.
When Liam hits him, he quits trying to restrain him and hits him straight back instead.
The whole time, Taylor fucking Swift plays from the speaker.
Suddenly, static crackles over the intercom and a voice orders, “Stop! Stop immediately! Security is on the way!”
The surprise of hearing a new voice halts the fight.
Connor’s on his hands and knees on the ground, and he lifts his head, spotting the security camera in the corner of the ceiling.
Theo slowly lowers his fist, and both Hailey and I reach out together to grab hold of him, pulling him all the way to the opposite side of the cabin.
There is only so much we can do to separate everyone—we are literally confined in a glass capsule in the air.
Liam sits on the floor, leaning back against the wall, his knees pulled up to his chest and his head hung low.
“Everyone stay exactly where you are. Don’t move. We’ll see you on the ground,” the intercom voice tells us.
It’s a somber descent. The five minutes that pass feel like an eternity in such a tense, silent atmosphere.
The music is off now. The only noise is my choked cries and all of the heavy, labored breathing from the guys.
I scan the cabin, noticing the spilled drinks on the floor and some drops of blood from I don’t even know who.
I study everyone one by one, and it’s Liam who is bleeding from his nose.
Connor’s lip is burst open. Theo’s cheek looks swollen. Tyler . . . Tyler’s okay. Just pissed.
“I am so sorry,” I tell Trina, who looks rather shell-shocked behind the safety of the bar cart. I dig through my purse and stuff a wad of twenty-dollar bills into her tip jar.
“Adelaide,” Evie says, her voice hoarse. We all look at her. She’s standing in front of Jameson and his arms are around her shoulders, locking her body against his. Her hands rest atop his and she squeezes his fingers. Her blue eyes, a reflection of my own, are pained. “Is it true?”
Before I can answer, Liam, with his head still hung in shame between his legs, mumbles, “It’s true.”
Theo lurches forward again, but Hailey has too firm a grip on him.
Evie slips out of Jameson’s protective embrace, a wobble in her lower lip as she throws her arms around me and pulls me into the tightest hug I have ever felt from her.
I’m so overcome with the relief of having such a burden off my shoulders that I let my weight collapse against her, sobs building in my throat as I bury my face into her hair.
Another pair of arms wraps around us both, and it’s Hailey.
Then another pair, and it’s Theo. The three of them hold me up as my world shatters.
“Ah, shit,” John says with a weary sigh. “You guys are in trouble.”
As our rotation on the High Roller finally draws to an end, police officers lining the loading platform await our arrival.