Page 60 of The Mood Board

Chapter 22

Liam

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I HAD THE DRIVER DROPme back off at my neighbor’s backyard and snuck back in. But soon, the silence and Bailey’s absence became too much. The reporters had thinned by the time I backed my car out of the garage, those still milling on my lawn the last, stubborn holdouts, who I ignored entirely.

I didn’t have a destination in mind. Instead, I drove nowhere in a daze, feeling like I was having an out-of-body experience.

What the hell was happening? I couldn’t get the image of Bailey’s ex, Russ, grinning maliciously over her shoulder at me. Like he had won.

Won what? Won Bailey back? Won her heart over me? More than that, I didn’t understand why Bailey had returned to Russ.

That was the most bewildering thing of all.

I understood the past weeks had been tough—if anyone could understand, it was me. But had they been so horrible for Bailey that she was running back to her terrible ex? The man who had been emotionally and physically abusive?

Had something happened she hadn’t told me about? Something so horrible she had left me for Russ? I couldn’t imagine what that would be, why she wouldn’t tell me, and how she could possibly choose him over me. For one, they had been broken up for years, and she had broken up with him for a reason. Why was he suddenly back in her life? Had she reached out to him, desperate for some kind of support?

What kind of support would she need so badly that she would run back into Russ’s arms? One that would keep her there even though I was out of jail now? I knew for a fact I was a much better partner than Russ Morgan in every conceivable way.

No matter what I did or how I looked at the situation, I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that Bailey had run back to Russ. It didn’t make any sense.

And yet, she was with him. She had broken up with me, and then he had been in her apartment. The apartment she had asked me to leave before shutting the door in my face.

Bailey was gone.

The thought hit me like a ton of bricks, like someone had punched me in the gut, knocking the air from my lungs until I was gasping for breath. I had to pull over, ignoring the car horn blaring angrily as I cut a driver off.

I sat there, trying to pull air into my starved lungs, my hands gripping the steering wheel until the leather creaked.

Bailey had left me and had already moved on to someone else. She was the love of my life, and she was gone. What was I going to do?

How was I going to live without her? She had become an indelible part of my life. Even if life was so busy that we barely saw each other during the day, if nothing else, I was grateful just to sleep beside her at night and wake up next to her in the morning.

Already, a gigantic hole was opening in my life, wide, gaping, and painful, and I was not sure it would ever close. I raised my head, dragging my hands over my face, took a ragged breath, and looked around at a world that suddenly felt entirely too empty. I could think about only one thing to do in the moment.

The phone rang only a handful of times before my father picked up.

“Liam?” he sounded surprised. “How are you calling me?”

“Dad. I’m out. Of prison.

“You are? How?” Dad’s tone echoed the same shock I had felt.

“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “My lawyer said they dropped the charges.”

“Does that happen?” he asked. I could almost see bushy eyebrows touching quizzically, and despite myself, I smiled.

“Not usually, no. But it did. Even my lawyer doesn’t know how.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re out. Bailey must be, too.” It was Dad’s typical calm understatement, but my next words caught in my throat as my eyes started to burn.

“Liam?” Dad asked when I hadn’t replied.

“Dad, I just—”

My voice broke, and unable to hold it back any longer, I covered my face as a sob bubbled up in my throat. I spent a long minute gulping deep breaths, trying to force the emotion back down. I didn’t want to feel it, didn’t want to admit why I felt this way.