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He frowns, looking down at me in confusion, just as a cheer goes up across the room.

“What is all this anyway?”

“We have another chapter visiting,” he answers distractedly. I follow his gaze across the room, my eyes landing on a very familiar face.

“Why don’t we go for a walk? See if—” Hammer’s words fade away as I walk towards Lick in shock. He’s sitting in his chair, throwing back shots of whisky like it’s water. A half-dressed club girl is sitting in his lap, kissing a path up the column of his throat, leaving a trail of red lipstick in her wake.

I’m going to be sick. This cannot be happening. He wouldn’t do this to me, not after what Dan did. I stand frozen in place as his hand slides up her bare thigh and disappears underneath her tiny denim skirt. She reaches up and cups his jaw before kissing him. He jolts for a second, and I wait for him to push her away. Instead, his eyes land on mine, and he kisses her back harder, his hand grabbing a fistful of her hair, anchoring her in place as my heart shatters at my feet.

I close the distance between us, and I swear I can feel the broken shards of my heart as I trample across them. I keep my eyes locked on his, letting him see the pain he caused. The betrayal. And then I shut it all down because fuck him. I slam the envelope containing the baby photos on the table and lean forward as people turn to stare at me. “Congratulations, Lick. You win. You made a fool out of me, which I guess is what you wanted all along.”

I look him up and down and shake my head, letting my disappointment show. I open my mouth to spew venom at him, but snap it shut instead. He’s not worth it. I turn on my heel and leave, head held high, ignoring anyone who says my name because there is no way they didn’t know what was going on. He’s not exactly hiding it. Fuck him. Fuck them all.

Looks like I found my backbone after all. Too bad it came months too late.

30

Lick

The second she’s gone, I shove Natalia off my lap and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand.

When the prospect texted to say Emma was on her way, I made sure we were ready to go. But fuck Natalia for pulling that bullshit. She screams from the floor, but I snarl at her. “What the fuck was that?”

But it’s Dot’s voice that has me lifting my head. “Yeah, that’s what I’d like to know too.” His voice is quiet, but lethal, laced with violence for the woman I love, whom I just obliterated because it was the only way I knew to get her to leave and stay gone.

I don’t answer him. I can’t, not with vomit rushing up the back of my throat. I start to wheel myself away, but my shaking hands hinder me. I lean over the side of the wheelchair and throw up. The noise in the room seems to have turned up, and all the sound makes it feel like my head’s going to explode. I have to get out of here.

Someone’s hand lands on my shoulder, and I flinch away before I can stop myself. “Come on, I’ve got you,” Fester says as he pushes me outside.

I suck in a lungful of air, my eyes flashing to the gate where I picture Emma running away with tears dripping down her face. A band tightens around my chest, making it hard to breathe.

“You need to calm down before you pass out, man.”

I look up at Fester, like he’s an idiot. What the fuck does he think I’ve been doing?

“Right, hold on.” He wheels me around the corner, where it is quiet, and jogs back inside before emerging a few minutes later with a bottle of water. “Drink this.”

I take it from him with a scowl. “What, no whisky?”

“I think you’ve had enough whisky to last you a lifetime, don’t you?”

“What are you, my father now, Fester?”

“You’d know it if I were because I’d beat you upside the head for the shit you’ve been pulling.”

I look away and twist the lid off the bottle before drinking it down.

“Thing is, Lick, I know you. I’ve known you a long fucking time, and I know exactly what kind of man you are.”

“Well, I’m only half that man now, so maybe you don’t know me so well anymore, Fester.”

“I call bullshit. The man I knew wouldn’t have just obliterated the woman he loved. And if you’d truly meant it, you wouldn’t have thrown up after like you were repulsed by yourself. Don’t try to bullshit a bullshitter, Lick. I’m better at it than you.”

I squash the now-empty bottle in my lap, my head dropping so he can’t read the truth in my eyes. I don’t know why I bother when he can read me better than most.

“I need her to hate me. Every day she came around, trying to help, and I was just such a prick to her, waiting for her to reach her breaking point before telling me to fuck off. But I forgot how loyal she was. She put up with so much shit from her ex, always staying in the shadows so he could do his thing in the spotlight. Behind the scenes, she was making sure everything ran smoothly without getting any of the credit. It took her catching him cheating for her to leave.”

He curses, understanding the play I just made. “You broke her, Lick.”