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He rubbed at the knot at the back of his neck, staring at Macen. “If you care about her at all, put her needs first for once. Tell me what has her rattled.”
“I didn’t take any liberties, so stop busting my balls.”
“I don’t care about your balls. I’m here to protect Raine.”
“Yeah?” Hammer gave him a hard glare. “You don’t seem too worried. Do you know how many days late her period is? I sure as hell do.”
There was the proverbial punch in the gut. Raine’s monthly was late…just as he’d suspected. Liam closed his eyes, damn near crippled where he stood.
Hammer knew the answer to the question Liam had asked Raine many times. No matter how Liam had tried to wrest it from her, she’d danced around the truth, as though possibly being pregnant by another man was none of his goddamned business.
What else was she keeping from him? Time to pry Raine open and find out.
Liam turned away and opened the door.
“Wait,” Hammer called him back. “I want you to know that night with Raine was the only time I haven’t gloved up since Juliet. I’m clean. She really is just scared and lashing out. It’s how she copes. Don’t take my mistake out on her.”
Liam didn’t turn back, just curled his hands into fists. “Fuck you.”
Raine paced, wringing her hands, her head a tangle of a thousand thoughts. Damn it, she always let Hammer push her buttons. Why hadn’t she gotten him out of her system? She bit her lip. In three days, he was going to force the truth on her, and it terrified her.
What if she was pregnant? God, did she even know how to feel about that? On the one hand, blessed. She loved kids. She loved Hammer. She loved the idea that her six years of unrequited love for him might bear fruit. On the other hand, if she was carrying the child of Liam’s former friend, she didn’t expect the man to stay. Despite his assurances, why would he?
As she fingered her collar, Raine felt her expression crumble. Crying wouldn’t change the fact that she loved two very different men for very different reasons. If Liam left her... Well, she had no one to blame for her stupidity but herself.
Suddenly, the door opened, and she spun to face him, bracing herself for the confrontation she’d desperately tried to avoid. He looked somewhere between somber and furious. Her heart sank. She had no doubt what he and Hammer had discussed. Today she’d gotten the message loud and clear that Macen wanted to separate her from Liam. One topic could do that very quickly.
Raine ran to him and threw her arms around his neck, all too aware that if things turned out as she feared, this might be one of the last times she held him. She clung and inhaled his musky scent. He was all man. Her rock. Her greatest comfort. Her most tender lover. And he was slipping through her fingers because she was an eternal fuckup.
“Liam...” She pressed her lips to his, willing him to kiss her back, lower her to the bed, and forget about everything else.
He cupped her face and studied her. The dark eyes that usually caressed her with such caring now dissected her with a razor-sharp stare. “We need to talk.”
Panic seized her heart as Liam led her toward their bed. Though Raine knew she owed it to him to discuss her problems, that only made them more real.
As she sank to the mattress beside him, she looked into his beloved face. His stormy eyes wrenched her heart. She’d done this to him, taken this strong, gorgeous man and turned him inside out. Guilt crushed her.
“Can’t we talk later?” She caressed a hand down his chest, letting it drift lower and lower... “I’ve missed you.” Her eyes teared up. “I’m begging.”
“There’s nothing I’d enjoy more than to bury myself between your thighs, love, but you can’t distract me from this. Stop trying.”
If they had this conversation now, it would only end in disaster. “There’s nothing to talk about. Hammer and I got into an argument. We were discussing the menu for Thanksgiving and—”
“Thanksgiving?” He scowled. “Did you make plans of your own, then?”
She blinked in confusion. “Not plans of my own. I just assumed... I always cook for Hammer.” Immediately, she saw that Liam had taken her words the wrong way. “What I mean is, I always cook so that he can host a Thanksgiving dinner for the ‘orphans’ of Shadows. You know, the people with no other family and nowhere else to go. They’ll spend it alone if I don’t fix this dinner, and it’s too late to hire a caterer now.”
Liam cursed. “And when were you thinking of telling me? Am I even invited?”
“Of course!” Dismay spread through her. He looked angry. But worse, he looked hurt. “I assumed you knew about the group dinner. We have it every year, but…” Oh no. A fresh wave of worry overcame her. “But you haven’t been here long enough to know. I’m so sorry.”
