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Breath was cut from my lungs once those words finally sunk into understanding.
I didn’t know.
I didn’t even have the chance to find out.
To feel the happiness it would have brought me, knowing that my love for this man blossomed into a perfect being growing inside me. We weren’t together, and it had never crossed my mind before, but I would have happily accepted this gift and loved that baby with all my heart.
The urge to scream was crippling, a foreign pain growing wild inside me.
First I lost Liam, the love of my life, the better half of my soul. Then my dignity was wrecked at the hands of that monster, and now I’ve lost something I never even knew I truly wanted. Our baby.
I broke down again, holding onto Liam as he mourned with me. Time froze as we held each other, seeking solace when everything else around us only meant heartbreak and pain.
He laid on my bed, bringing me close and holding me for what seemed like eternity. I placed my head on his heart, listening to the lullaby it sang into my ears.
We didn’t need words. We needed each other.
But soon I’d have to let go, stand on my own. Liam was engaged now, and his beautiful fiancé was waiting for him to get back to her.
I had to do my best to guard my heart, I couldn’t let him take hold of it again. I couldn’t depend on him to heal this time.
“Liam,” I called, looking up at him after gathering all the courage I possibly could to push him away. That courage came with a fresh flow of tears, something else being ripped away from me. But I couldn’t pretend he was mine. I couldn’t expect him to be here every time I crumbled. “You should go. I can’t–”
Liam cut me off, capturing my lips in his, a tender, loving kiss that set butterflies flying wild in my stomach, and I couldn’t break free. This… this was my safe haven.
“I’m right here. I won’t be going anywhere where you’re not.” He promised against my lips, sealing it with another kiss before his green eyes set on mine, prying into the depths of my soul.
“I…I don’t understand.”
“Let me make it clear to you then. There’s only one person on this Earth I’ll ever agree to marry, and that’s you, Miss Harden.”
Chapter 36
Jamie
They kept me under observation for three days, all of which Liam had spent beside me. I shivered each time I saw the bruises on my skin. Blue patches of shame that brought back the memories of that night.
His fingers were imprinted on my neck and wrists, his wild eyes flashing in my brain each time I closed mine.
But I was ready to move on. Liam had breathed a new reason to live into me. Even though he was adamant about not disclosing the details of what exactly had changed, I believed every word he said.
I wanted to be with him. I unquestionably knew who my heart belonged to. But there was this nagging feeling in me that wanted to know why that was now possible. I had let it go while we were in the hospital, it wasn’t the time or place to press for answers. But I couldn’t just sweep it under the rug and forget it ever happened.
Liam insisted on taking me back to his apartment, saying that his men were more comfortable guarding it than my place. There was also the fact that Tremont was further away from Dea Tacita. If any alarm sounded, bulky, heavily armed, angry-looking men would be at our doorstep before I could snap my fingers.
He kept checking on me. Asking if I was okay, and I knew he didn’t mean physically.
The years I’d endured of verbal and psychological abuse made physical abuse much easier to overcome.
The first broke me from within. Like a small, explosive device, implanted in my brain, where every angry and harsh word shortened the fuse, making it much harder to pick up the shattered pieces once it finally went off. It killed who I was in a slow torture, taking away small portions of myself and my true essence, never to be recovered.
My bruises would heal in time. They required more patience than endurance, and from what I had gone through, I had both.
So I assured him, every single time, that with his wind under my wings, all I needed was time and his healing kisses.
As we finally arrived at Liam’s apartment, I noticed most of my stuff was here. He had his men bring it over so I had everything I needed. It was a good, welcoming gift, making me feel at home in his space. I took my time breathing in the good memories I had of this place. I needed them for what I was going to push for. The truth.
I slowly took a seat on the couch, patting the place beside me and waiting for him to join me. We were finally home, and now was the time to set everything out in the open. I couldn’t wait any longer for him to explain this whole mess.
