Chapter 25 Liam
LIAM
“Are you okay?” Ellie asked as I stood on the front porch and watched the love of my life drive away.
Gritting my teeth, I stormed back inside, refusing to allow myself to feel a thing. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Liam—”
“You said you have to get home. I’ll get dressed.”
My breath scissored in and out of my lungs as I fought the waves of desperation to run after her and tell her everything. This was for the best. I made my bed. Now I had to lie in it.
I dressed as quickly as possible, nearly giving up on the idea of wearing a shirt at all when I couldn’t get my damn arm through the sleeve. But just as I was about to break down in tears over a fucking shirt, Ellie walked in and quietly helped me.
“There,” she whispered.
“Thanks.”
“Liam, maybe we should—”
“No. It doesn’t matter.”
“But—”
Scowling, my anger took over, but it wasn’t for her. No, I was pissed at myself. I made the decision to hurt her, and there was no turning back from that.
“It’s done,” I snapped, ending her attempt to somehow make this better.
“Alright.” Her soft voice eased the ache slightly, and as she slid her hand over mine, squeezing gently, I tried to take her comfort, but nothing would fix what I had just done.
“Let’s go.”
But before I could escape, my brother came flying through the front door, his eyes narrowing in accusation as he saw Ellie’s hand wrapped in mine.
“Son of a bitch,” he growled. “Tell me Bailey did not see this.”
When I said nothing, he cursed under his breath.
“I just saw her driving like a bat out of hell down the driveway. This is why?”
Again, I said nothing.
“It’s bad enough that you decided to break her heart, but this—”
“Is none of your goddamn business,” I snapped.
“You can’t be fucking serious! Liam, that woman—”
In my anger, I stormed forward, shoving Jeff against the wall with my one good arm. “It’s none of your fucking business,” I hissed. “I did what I had to, and it’s over now.”
“You fucking love her!” he shouted. “You took things too far!”
“She never would have let me go,” I hissed. “She would have kept coming back for more, and we both know that wouldn’t have helped a goddamn thing.”
“So, you purposely destroyed your life?” he argued.
“Better my life than hers.”
Slowly, I released him and stepped back. Things played out exactly as they should have. I couldn’t have planned it better myself, and while I hadn’t intended for Bailey to walk in on me with Ellie, it only made things easier in the long run.
The rumor mill would be working overtime to spread the word around town— in all likelihood, by Ellie.
It would get back to Austin in no time that Bailey was no longer mine. He would leave her alone, and she would finally be safe. That was the point of this, after all.
My life would go on, and I would regret every second of it, but knowing she could move on and live her life would make it all worth it.
“I have to go,” I whispered, holding out my hand for Ellie to take.
As she slipped her fingers around mine, it all felt wrong, but it was a necessary evil to make it all play out the way I needed it to. Sidestepping my brother, I walked out to my truck and helped Ellie inside.
The disappointed look on my brother’s face was almost too much to bear, but I shoved away any lingering feelings and drove away.
“Maybe this was a bad idea,” Ellie murmured.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because everyone around town will know what happened,” she said in exasperation.
“That was the point.”
“I can’t believe I agreed to this,” she sighed, rubbing her hand across her forehead. “She was devastated. She’s going to hate me.”
I didn’t care if Bailey hated Ellie or not. She served a purpose, and now that it was over, everyone in town would know what I had done. Maybe that was horrible. Yes, I had used Ellie, but she agreed to it. There was no way to turn back the clock.
I parked in front of the tiny one-bedroom house at the edge of town and got out to walk her to the door. I had to make this look good. Someone was always watching.
Snatching her hand in mine, I eyed the shirt of mine she still wore. It looked wrong on her, but served its purpose.
“One more kiss,” I said as we reached her door.
If I was a better man, I would feel horrible for the way I was treating Ellie. Obviously uncomfortable with the whole thing now, her enthusiasm had dwindled quite a bit since last night.
“Thank you, Ellie.” I squeezed her hand in mine. “Truly. I can never repay you for what you’ve done.”
“But it’ll never be more,” she hedged.
“No, it’ll never be more.”
As I leaned in and sealed my lips over hers, I hated every second of it, but I played it up for anyone watching, slipping my tongue in her mouth to really give the town something to talk about.
“You’re an ass, Liam Parker,” she hissed as she tore off my shirt in broad daylight and tossed it in my face.
She stormed inside and slammed the door, giving an even better show than I could have planned.
I was just about to my truck when I saw him, across the street in the parking lot for the rec center. Standing there leaning against his own truck, the smug smile on his face sent rage coursing through me. I was across the street and shoving him against the truck in a matter of seconds.
Hatred unlike anything I’d ever felt before coursed through my veins. I could murder this man with my bare hands and feel absolutely no regret about any of it. I would end up in jail, but to have him out of my life would make it all worth it.
Slamming my fist into his jaw, I wrapped my good hand around his throat and squeezed. But instead of seeing fear or anger, he laughed at me. Even as I slowly drained the life from his body, he was mocking me.
He had won, and he knew it.
“Does…Bailey…know?”
“I will fucking kill you if you go near her!”
He choked out a laugh as I cut off his oxygen. “You’re…alone and…miserable. Always…will be.”
His eyes slowly drifted shut as I cut off the last of his oxygen. Peace washed over me, but in the next instant, anger replaced it and I released him. He slumped to the ground, choking for air.
I couldn’t do it. If I killed him, then what the fuck had I broken Bailey’s heart for?
“You piece of shit,” I snarled, slamming my boot into his ribs.
Once wasn’t enough. I kicked him over and over again as he laid on the ground, not even bothering to fight back.
Blood dripped from his face, coating the ground beneath his mouth, but still, I kept going, not stopping until I landed one last kick to his face.
Breathing hard, I stepped back, feeling slightly better for the ass-kicking.
“Not sure how helpful that was,” Mav said from behind me. “Couldn’t you at least have chosen a dark alley? Fuck, you do like making my job difficult.”
My cheek twitched as the remnants of anger ebbed. I’d most likely just made things worse, but I couldn’t allow this fucker to ruin my life. He could come after me all he wanted, but Bailey was out of the picture now. I made damn sure of that.
“He doesn’t even give a shit about Bailey,” I snarled. “He as good as admitted this is all about me.”
“Well, yeah,” Mav snorted. “It’s not like he wants Bailey.”
“No, I mean, he just wants us all miserable. He doesn’t care if he does that by removing Bailey from my life or making me do it. Now that she’s gone, he’ll leave her alone.”
“Until you find something else that makes you happy,” he grunted. “What you need is to even the playing field.”
“Yeah? And how the fuck do I do that?”
“Easy,” Mav grinned. “Take away something that he loves.”
“The piece of shit doesn’t love anything,” I snapped, staring down at the unconscious prick at my feet. “There’s not a thing I could take from him that would make him give in.”
Mav clucked his tongue, getting my attention. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”