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Seth grabbed his own duffel and followed close behind. “Come on, little one. We’ve got your things. Let’s get them to your room.”
Liam held the door to the club open. She reached out to touch him, sending a hopeful gaze his way. “Are you coming to breakfast, too?”
“I’d love to join you, lass. But I’m afraid I need to tend to some matters.”
Disappointment weighed in the heavy fall of her shoulders. The anger Hammer had been shoving down at Gwyneth’s untimely return sparked to life again.
“I’ll square everything away as quickly as I can so I can spend time with you.” Liam smiled, as if his earlier burst of jealousy had never occurred. “I promise.”
“I hope it doesn’t take too long.” Raine stared at him, so raw and yearning.
God, Hammer wanted nothing more than to drag the two of them away, find a place where they could block out the rest of the world, and solidify their future.
He felt it slipping through his fingers.
“Me, too. I love you, Raine,” Liam murmured.
Hammer joined in, brushing a strand of windswept hair from her lips. “We both love you, precious.”
“I love you both, too.” She smiled tremulously.
“Go get ready,” Hammer instructed with a caress to her back. “I’ll come find you in a few.”
Beck nudged her toward the portal. Raine peered back over her shoulder, almost reluctant to leave.
“We’ve got her,” Seth assured before he swaggered by, and the wooden door closed behind him.
As soon as they disappeared inside, Hammer spun around to glower at Liam. “What the hell happened in the car?”
Liam threw his hands in the air. “I have a lot on my mind. Then you lied to her, which I can’t say I’m happy about. And when you started mauling her…I lost it.”
Mauling? “At the time, I thought I was saving our asses.”
“By almost fucking her in the car?” Liam sneered. “Please… I was all but invisible to you.”
“Invisible?” Hammer gaped. “We both asked you to get involved. Raine herself asked you three times, and you tuned her out. Did you want her to beg?”
Liam’s face closed up. “You two were doing fine on your own.”
The green-eyed monster still choked him, nice and tight.
“I thought we worked through this shit last night.” Wasn’t that why he and Liam had pounded the crap out of each other in the snow? If it hadn’t worked, he’d ruined a great pair of Vuitton loafers and sported several bruises for nothing. “Remember how right it felt to get Raine between us? In the car, I tried to remind you of that—and everything we’ve worked so hard for. You wouldn’t have a thing to do with us.”
“Sex wasn’t foremost on my mind.”
“You couldn’t have touched her? Kissed her? Let her know you cared a little?” he shot back. “You saw the complete rejection on her face.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt her. But there was a bit of a crowd in the car, mate.”
“Beck and Seth?” Hammer resisted the urge to remind the man that he’d fucked Raine’s ass with a watching crowd—including him—not terribly long ago, but that argument served no purpose except to prolong this fight. Instead, he clenched his teeth, reaching for the last thread of his patience.
In the span of a few hours, they’d eroded too much of Raine’s progress. Gwyneth now breathed down their necks. Liam might be a father. And Hammer realized that his friend’s jealousy ran far deeper than he’d imagined. Goddamn it, they were supposed to be working together. They couldn’t afford to let rancor fester between them.
“I’m not blaming you,” Hammer promised.
“Good. You’ve got some responsibility in this, too,” Liam said. “When she figures out you’ve lied, it will blow up in our faces. What do you plan to tell her then?”
“That I did it to protect her,” he shot back. “I’ll take full responsibility for my lie. But you have to own up to yours as well.”
“What the hell are you talking about? I’m not the one who told her I was stressed out because of my business,” Liam spat.
“It wasn’t that long ago you turned on that Irish charm and played Raine so you could trick me into claiming her. If she finds out, she’ll be heartbroken.”
“That’s ancient history. Besides, I just meant to help you.” Liam stabbed a finger in his chest. “She needed some confidence and affection. Where would all of us be if I hadn’t put my plan in motion? You’d still be fucking Marlie with your eyes closed, pretending she was Raine.”
Hammer shuddered. Liam was probably right. “Would it make you feel better if I said I was grateful?”
Liam sent him an exasperated glare. “I didn’t seduce Raine to hurt her. Besides, I wasn’t in love with her then.”
“That won’t make a damn bit of difference to her.”
Liam bristled. “I meant well.”
