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Juliet.
“I used to look up to you,” Liam went on. “I don’t know who the fuck you are anymore.”
The man’s temper and accusation sparked his own. “You’re not perfect yourself. You didn’t have my permission to touch Raine, but you took her anyway. You knew I was in love with her. Some friend you are, forcing me to watch you fuck the only woman I’ve cared about since Juliet. You don’t know who I am? Fuck you. That street runs both ways.”
“Oh, quit your bellyaching about how I stole Raine from you when you were too daft to make her yours in the first place.” Liam’s face tightened, his fists clenching. “I won’t apologize for falling in love with her. At least I’ve tried to put her first. For years, Raine begged you for attention, but you were too busy dancing the mattress tango with every other sub. Think what you want of me, but the way you’ve treated the so-called ‘first woman I’ve cared about since Juliet’ is despicable. If you truly care for Raine, you’ll let her go. If not, you’re going to destroy her. And there’ll be no mending this rift between us.”
“I share a decade with you—a roof, a bed, my goddamn wife—and you’re ready to toss our friendship out for a woman you’ve been fucking for three weeks?”
“Are you a relationship guru now who knows exactly how long it takes to fall for someone? I love Raine. That eats you up. Admit it.”
“Damn straight it does, just like the fact that I love her too crawls up your ass and festers. You know the difference? I shared. I opened my fucking marriage to you because I thought Juliet needed you. Raine needs me. And you tell me that I can only talk to her about work with the door open? Nice reciprocation, asshole.”
“I invited you back to New York after I married Gwyneth.”
“What was I supposed to do in the middle of your newly wedded bliss besides be your third wheel?”
“I asked you to live with us so we could share her. I didn’t think I had to spell out the obvious.”
“I wanted no part of that bitch. Liam, she didn’t give a shit about anyone but herself.”
“It has nothing to do with her. You were too bloody busy with your club and your endless parade of fuck bunnies.”
“Every one of those subs kept me from returning to New York so you didn’t have to go through the hell with Gwyneth that I did with Juliet.”
Liam gaped at him. “You dipping your wick in every hole was somehow for my benefit? I’ve got to hear this.”
“I didn’t share Gwyneth with you because I worried it would ultimately drive her to something reckless.”
“Like Juliet? That’s ridiculous. Your wife was quiet and meek—nothing like Gwyneth. Juliet was a bit screwed up, too. Lousy excuse, Hammer.”
“Yeah?” Hammer whirled around, panting between clenched teeth as he searched for something to throw, to hit, to fucking break. “When you called to tell me that you were filing for divorce, what was the first question I asked you?”
“You asked why.” Liam shrugged. “So? What are you blathering on about? You know why Gwyneth and I split up. She liked my money. Oh, and she liked fucking her personal trainer and his boyfriend. What does any of that have to do with Juliet?”
“I asked you why you left Gwyneth because I gave a shit. Because I cared about you.”
Hammer kicked the wall, then grabbed a plate from the counter and hurled it across the room. Hearing the crash and seeing the white china shatter wasn’t nearly as satisfying as he’d hoped.
“Why the devil are you breaking the dishes?” Liam stared at him as if he’d lost his mind.
“You never asked me why,” Hammer whirled back on Liam, his chest heaving. “Didn’t you care why Juliet swallowed a whole fucking bottle of pills in the middle of a Sunday afternoon? You called. You said all the right things.” He choked. “But you never asked why. You weren’t fucking there when I needed you most.”
Rage poured out from him like hot bacon grease, sizzling his skin, burning away all his self-control. He wanted to hurt something, destroy it, preferably Liam. The dumb prick stood gawking at him like he was still trying to figure out the puzzle. Goddamn if that didn’t infuriate him, too.
Hammer reached for the next plate on the stack and zinged it across the room, the splintering of the delicate china firing up the beast inside him.
Liam stared, blinking, barely breathing. “Hammer, I didn’t… Can you stop destroying the place long enough for me to say something? Christ, man. You’ll wake the fucking dead! Or worse, Raine.”
Liam grabbed the next plate away, and Hammer felt a fresh wave of fury crash through his head as he lurched to snatch it back. “Give that to me!”
