26
SABRINA
One Week Later
It had been one week since Liam sprinted out of my life. One week since I’d returned home and reconciled with Abigail. And six days since Emery left for New York with Noah and Timothy after we’d instantly bonded over being single moms to boys.
I was determined now more than ever to move forward with my life. My time with Liam nothing but a distant memory.
“Sabrina!”
Abigail’s call had me yanking the bathroom door open and rushing out into the hallway. In my haste to see what the matter was, I’d burned my left pointer finger on my curling iron and was currently sucking the sting off my skin. Half of my hair was up while the other half was down and freshly curled.
“What?” I asked as I headed into the living room. It was the only logical place for her to be.
“Sabrina!” Abigail shouted again just as I rounded the corner.
She was holding a roll of packing tape in one hand and a flattened box in the other. She was staring at the TV with her eyes wide. Bash was standing next to her, bouncing a squealing Samuel. In our efforts to heal our sister relationship, she finally admitted that she’d refused to get a place with Bash so she could keep tabs on me. She offered, in the spirit of reconciliation, to move out so I could officially start my life as a single mom—if that was what I wanted.
I’d agreed, grateful for her offer. I needed to know that I could do this on my own.
“Sab—”
“I’m right here,” I mumbled around my throbbing finger. I glared at her, frustrated that I’d almost permanently disfigured myself because she was overly dramatic about something on the TV.
“Isn’t that…” She glanced over at me. “Liam?”
I frowned as I stepped up next to her and glanced at the screen. Sure enough, there was Liam and the rest of the Fading Atlas crew. They were standing behind a Miami police chief who was talking about how the band had been instrumental in putting some guy name Frankie Vane behind bars.
I could feel Abigail’s stare. She was no doubt waiting for my reaction more than she was paying attention to the press conference. Not wanting to talk about Liam or Fading Atlas, I shrugged and moved back. There was no way I was going to stand there and stare at Liam. My heart was already pounding from the adrenaline caused by Abigail’s scream. I wasn’t going to feed that fire with thoughts of the man who broke my heart.
Samuel started to squawk, and I moved to take him away from Bash and effectively remove myself from this situation, but Bash just held Samuel tighter as he moved past me.
“I’ll put him down for his nap,” he said over his shoulder as he disappeared into my room, leaving me alone with Abigail, whose gaze hadn’t relented.
So I took a breath and shifted my focus to her. “Why would I care what Liam’s up to?” I lied.
If that were true, if I really didn’t care about Liam, I would have turned on my heel and headed back to the bathroom. I wouldn’t have continued to stand there, pretending not to listen to the police chief recount what had happened. And I certainly wouldn’t hope that Liam would be invited to speak so I could hear his smooth voice once more.
“He was being extorted.” Abigail’s eyes were wide as she turned to look at me.
Apparently, my attempt at apathy was lost on her, and she was determined to involve me in the story. Which, I would never admit out loud, I was thankful for.
It had been seven days since Liam abandoned me, and I’d spent every second of those seven days wishing that I could see him again. Hoping that I’d turn the corner and he’d be there with his arms outstretched and an apologetic smile on his face. He’d tell me that he’d made a huge mistake and he wanted me back.
“Did you know about that?”
I blinked, forcing myself to the present. Daydreaming about a man I could never have was neither healthy nor wise. “What?” I asked, trying to remember what we’d been talking about before I started wishing that Liam would come back for me.
“That he was being extorted. Did you know about that?”
I shook my head. “I had no idea,” I breathed out. I’d spent every waking moment with that man, and yet, he’d never even hinted that something like this was going on. “I mean, he’d get random texts and would look worried while he read them, but…” The memory of his busted-up face flashed in my mind.
Had that been Frankie?
I shook my head and then startled when Abigail suddenly appeared in front of me.
“What?” she demanded. “What are you remembering?”
