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He strides determinedly out of the bedroom before I can say anything else. I grab my robe and follow quickly. Behind me I hear Gabriel and Hayden scrambling for their own clothes, clearly sensing trouble.

Ford moves too fast for me to properly catch up, heading downstairs and straight into the dining area where his family is eating breakfast. “Liam.”

Liam stands up from the table automatically, clearly confused by Ford’s tone. “Hey, what’s⁠—”

Before he can finish, Ford’s fist connects with his jaw with a satisfying crack. Liam’s head snaps back as Elaine shrieks in shock.

“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Charles yells, half-rising from his chair.

I reach the doorway just in time to see the aftermath. “Ford! Stop!”

Gabriel and Hayden enter behind me, but instead of trying to stop what’s going on, Hayden just growls, “Let me know if you want a break, Ford. I’d be happy to take a turn.”

“What has gotten into all of you?” Lydia yells, looking between her two brothers in shock.

“Ask him,” Ford snaps, gesturing at Liam, who’s holding his jaw. “His whole life, Mom and Dad spoiled him and let him get away with everything. Nobody questioned it when a woman broke off her engagement to him. Just sympathetic noises, no questions, nothing. Nobody ever questioned why she’d leave such a supposed catch. Did you all think she was just stupid or crazy?”

None of his family seems to know what to say to that. Liam’s eyes blaze with fury. “I’d be very careful, Ford,” he snaps. “Very careful.”

“You should’ve been careful,” Ford snaps right back. “And not cheated on her left, right, and center.”

Elaine looks sharply at her younger son, her face pale. “Is this true, Liam?”

“I had no idea,” Ford continues, his voice hard. “Or I would’ve kicked your ass ages ago.”

“Like you even could,” Liam says, but it’s clearly all bluster. I can see the fear flickering in his eyes. Between himself and Ford, it’s no contest who would win in an actual fight. “And you don’t get to be so high and mighty. You don’t treat her any better than I did. You whore her out.”

Lydia’s jaw drops and Charles says sharply, “Could we please watch our language?”

Liam points directly at me, and my stomach twists violently. I feel like I might actually throw up. “She’s been getting passed around between Ford, Hayden, and Gabriel this entire time. Just letting them use her however they want. I bet that’s why she’s been working for them so long. She’s the office slut, just taking their cocks whenever they need to blow off steam.”

Elaine looks like she might faint. I can’t tell if it’s because she believes Liam or just from the awful, shocking way he’s describing everything. I want to burst into tears or disappear into the floor.

Ford’s phone starts ringing and he glances down at it. His jaw clenches even tighter. “It’s George.”

“Oh, good old George,” Liam says with gleeful malice. “He was very interested in what I had to tell him about what you three are really like. Traditional family values?” He scoffs and rolls his eyes. “Yeah, right. You three couldn’t manage a serious relationship if it hit you in the face. You just want to have a regular fuck toy to share.”

I might actually be sick. It must show on my face because Lydia jumps up immediately and grabs a glass, filling it with water from the fridge dispenser and pressing it into my hands.

“Sip slowly,” she says gently.

I grip the glass like it’s a lifeline, but I can’t bring myself to actually take a sip.

“You obviously couldn’t handle a serious relationship,” Hayden points out coldly as Ford’s phone rings again. “You’re the one who cheated on your only girlfriend who was able to stand you for longer than a few weeks.”

“God knows why she put up with you at all,” Gabriel adds with cutting precision. “I certainly couldn’t tolerate dating you for more than a day, tops.”

The ringing of Ford’s phone cuts through the air, each trill grating against my raw nerves. He glances at it again, then back at me, his jaw clenched, and I somehow find my voice for long enough to say, “You should answer it.”

“But you⁠—”

“I’ll be okay.”

Something passes across Ford’s face, his grip tightening on his phone. But then he swipes to answer, glancing at Hayden and Gabriel. “Mr. Watterson, hello.”

I can hear George’s voice through the phone immediately, and although I can’t quite make out what he’s saying, his tone is unmistakably furious. I’m too nauseous to bother shooting Liam a glare, but his ugly triumph is so obnoxious that I do wonder if I should also punch him in his smug face.

Ford strides toward the doorway as he speaks into the phone in a low voice, and Hayden and Gabriel each shoot looks my way before reluctantly following after him. “That is not true,” I hear Ford saying as they leave the room.