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“How long have you known?” My chest is tight, and at the same time, filling with emotion I don’t know or understand.
She sighs in that way that tells me she’s resigned. “I found out a month or so after you abandoned me.”
“I didn’t abandon?—”
“What would you call it, Liam? I asked you to stay. You slept with me and then vanished. Now leave me alone.”
I hate that she sees it like that, even though I can’t blame her for it.
I sink to the edge of the bed. All the decisions I’ve made are being re-debated as I consider that they’ve all been the wrong choices.
“Are you sure?—”
“Don’t you dare ask me if I’m sure it’s yours. Just leave me alone. I hate you. Why did you have to come back?”
Her words gut me. “I had to protect?—”
“No. You don’t. Every time I’m around you, I’m in more danger. I was fine on my own. James never hurt me. More than likely, he used me to lure you out, so keeping me with you is dangerous. Just send me home. The baby and I don’t need you.” Her tears flow even though I can tell she hates that I’m seeing them.
I put my arm around her. “I never wanted to leave you, Kate. Everything I’ve done… everything I do, whether I’m with you or not, is all to keep you safe.”
She pushes me away. “Get out. Just go. Dump me wherever you’re going to dump me and leave again. This time, forever.”
I don’t want to hurt her, so I stand. My legs are unsteady as I move to exit her room. My mind is reeling, searching for something to say to fix this. But there is nothing. She hates me. She never wants to see me again. And she’s right, I’m more a danger to her being around her and the baby.
As I shut the door behind me, a part of me dies inside.
21
LIAM
For a moment, I stand outside her bedroom. A part of me wants to barge back in and demand that she appreciate all I’ve had to give up to give her a life she wants. Or maybe to beg her to love me, which is fucking pathetic. My pride and annoyance have me stalking away to the kitchen hoping the owner has stocked a bottle of scotch or whiskey. No luck.
I pace the small cabin. I’m suffocating in my conflicting emotions. Letting anger lead, I call Niko.
“Liam, how?—”
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me about Kate being pregnant?”
“Pregnant? What?”
I can hear murmuring on Niko’s side of the line.
“Don’t act like you don’t know. The bump is too obvious not to notice.”
“Did you know anything about Kate being pregnant?” Niko asks someone, presumably Donovan.
“No. Why didn’t she tell me?”
Not Donovan. Elena. I sink down into a chair wondering why Kate wouldn’t have told her best friend about the baby. Why was she hiding it? Because it was mine and she didn’t want to be in my violent world or theirs?
“What about Lucy?” Niko asks.
“She can’t possibly know. She’d have said something,” Elena replies.
“What is going on, Liam?” Niko demands in the phone.
“I thought you were looking out for her?—”
