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“Wait a minute, Raine,” Seth interjected as he moved alongside Liam.
She shook her head. “There’s no point. I can do a lot of things, Seth. But I can’t continue to love two men who don’t love me enough to keep one promise.”
“That’s not fair, precious,” Hammer implored, his voice broken.
Liam turned to stare at the man. Macen looked pasty and shaken. He’d never seen Hammer so afraid.
“Don’t start, Macen.” She wagged a finger at him. “You don’t know the first thing about fair.”
“Raine…” Liam started, not sure what to say—what he could say—to make her listen.
She shook her head, looking right through him and Hammer as if they weren’t there, and held back a sob as she turned to Beck.
“Forgive me, love. I’m sorry for everything.” The inevitable loss threatened to crush Liam.
“Get me off this fucking mountain,” she choked. “Now.”
“No!” Hammer barked, leveling a frantic gaze at the tattooed Dom.
“Raine,” Beck soothed as he wedged between Hammer and Liam before closing in next to her. “Let’s talk about this for a minute.”
“I’m done.” He’d never seen more resolution on her face.
“You promised you wouldn’t run away again,” Hammer reminded her.
“You’re going to talk to me about broken promises?” she challenged. “Your turn to choke on disappointment. Can we go, Beck?”
Glancing over his shoulder, the tattooed Dom grimaced in apology to both Liam and Hammer before wrapping an arm around her waist. “Come on, princess.”
Helpless and wrought with contrition, Liam watched as Beck led her toward the door. Hammer took a step forward, then stopped.
“Fuck.” Macen scrubbed a hand down his face. “This can’t be happening. Precious…”
Liam strode toward her. “Stop, love. Let’s talk—”
She opened the door and didn’t turn back.
“Wait!” Hammer screamed at the top of his lungs. “Don’t leave. I love you!”
She froze, dead in her tracks.
The entire room stood still.
Slowly, Raine turned, focused solely on Macen as her chin trembled. A mournful sob escaped her lips. Beck seemed to support her dissolving frame.
Liam gaped at Hammer in stunned silence. And what he saw made his eyes burn. Macen’s face was etched in pain while he watched helplessly as the woman they both loved stood ready to walk out the door. She’d wrenched Hammer’s heart open. A trail of tears wet his harsh cheeks.
Raine’s face twisted as her brows drew together. “Goddamn you, Macen. You wait until I’m ready to leave to tell me? Or are you just saying anything to make me stay?” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I wish this had turned out differently.”
Raine stormed out, slamming the door with a thunderous boom.
“I’ll do what I can for you, dumb fucks, but I’m not making any promises.” Beck sighed in disgust before he opened the door and followed Raine out into the night.
Hammer closed his eyes and palmed the tears from his cheeks. The second Raine walked out, she’d shredded his heart. For years, he’d wanted to declare his love. He’d never imagined that she’d believe his admission had been a disingenuous ploy and reject him. He might not have been the best at showing her how he felt, but he knew what love meant because of her. For Raine, he’d always cared and been concerned in a way he hadn’t for anyone else.
But you haven’t always put her needs first.
“Fuuccckkk!” Liam roared. “She’s gone again. Bloody hell!”
“Calm down, you two. Let’s talk,” Seth ordered with a scowl.
“I think we’ve said more than enough, don’t you?” Liam mocked.
“What’s talking going to solve?” Hammer sounded at the end of his rope. “In case you missed it, she left us.”
Seth just shook his head. “So you’re going to stand there like whipped puppies and take it? Beck will reason with her, but if you want her back, we need to iron this out.”
Liam scoffed. “I don’t see how.”
“You two are friends, remember?” Seth arched a brow. “Friends fight, like you just did. Now it’s time to move on.”
Hammer narrowed his eyes. “Are you fucking blind?”
“No, but you two are. Raine needs time to cool down. Then Beck will bring her back, and you clowns need to be ready when she gets here. You have an hour, maybe two, to lick your wounds and practice groveling. With your egos, neither one of you have a minute to waste.”
“I doubt that’s enough time to patch everything up,” Liam muttered. “I’m not sure a decade would be.”
Hammer saw the accusation in Liam’s eyes, and it pissed him off all over again. “Probably not. If you’d just get over your jealousy—”
“You’re blaming me for Raine leaving? I was fine until you started baiting me. If you’d kept your bloody mouth shut, we wouldn’t be in this fucking mess.”
“Oh, you’ve got some big fucking balls. In case you didn’t notice, we both had to hear some goddamn hard truths today. Imagine my surprise to discover that you were sucking face with Raine when I told you to keep your hands off her. But then we both know the real reason you hooked up with her in the first place, don’t we?” Hammer could feel his blood pressure rising.
