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“I do,” I replied.
He studied me, or perhaps he was waiting on me to elaborate. I didn’t. I had nothing else to say. Yes, I understood. He had quite literally crushed my soul, but I did understand. I understood everything I hadn’t before Madeline showed up. I got it loud and clear now.
“That’s it. You don’t have anything else to say?”
I shook my head. “No. That’s all.”
“You’re hurt,” he said gently.
I wasn’t hurt. Not this time. That was a very inadequate description of what I was going through. “I promise you I’m not.”
“Yes, you are!” he demanded, raising his voice. “I stood right there”—he pointed to where we had been when he arrived—“and I ignored you. I acted like you were merely … merely …”
He looked at me as if I was supposed to fill in the blanks for him. I didn’t. This game was done. I’d say he won.
“FUCK!” he shouted, running his hands over his head and staring at me with a panicked gleam in his eyes.
“Just yell at me! Hit me! Do something, Liberty. You are killing me here.”
Nope. He didn’t get to shatter me, then have me do his bidding. That was over.
I wasn’t someone he could be proud of. The mother of his child was completely dependent on him. I had nothing to give back. I couldn’t share the load. I was a burden.
He might not love me, but he was damn well gonna have a reason to respect me. I would prove to him that I was worthy of being this child’s mom. That I would make our baby proud even if I had failed to give him a reason to feel that way about me.
“Say something! Please,” he begged.
Ozzy barked at him, as if to tell him to shut up. At least I’d won the love of one soul in this house. I wasn’t completely unlovable.
“Are you ready for me to make dinner?” I asked. “I have steaks marinating.”
He stood there as if he could read my mind if he looked hard enough.
“That’s it? I’m trying to talk to you about something, and you want to know if I’m ready for dinner?” he asked incredulously.
“You wanted me to talk. I was done discussing the other.”
“DAMMIT, LIBERTY!”
Ozzy stepped between us, and a low growl came from him as he bared his teeth.
Liam looked at his dog for a moment, then turned and stalked away. He didn’t head for the house. Instead, he threw his leg over his Harley and started it up. The engine revved to life, and he spun out of the driveway while Ozzy and I stayed there in the setting sun and stared after him long after the gate closed behind him.
36
Liam
Too much sunlight. I threw my arm over my eyes and groaned.
“What the fuck?” I grunted. My head felt like an entire marching band was using it as their drum.
“Wake up, sunshine.” Tex’s voice reminded me of nails on a chalkboard.
I winced. “Shh.”
“Sorry,” he replied. “I left you alone, thinking you’d wake up and pull it together, but that’s not happening, and now, I’ve got your baby momma’s sister downstairs, who wants to see you and won’t leave. I don’t have time for that because we have a club opening in ten minutes, so I need you to deal with your ex–doctor girlfriend or whatever she was. Then go home to Liberty. Whatever sent you over here last night, making you determined to drink every ounce of whiskey in the place, fix it.”
The door closing behind him as he left was a relief. No more talking. I needed some water and a bottle of aspirin. The entire thing. Damn, how much had I drunk? I’d not had a hangover this bad in over twenty years.
