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“Because I need to get out of here,” I say. “I have to get out of that bargain with your dad.”
“We all need that pass for our own reasons, Harper,” he says. “Surely you get that by now?”
“You don’t need it,” I say. “Why would you? You’re a prince of hell. You’re going to be just fine without it.”
“You don’t know the first thing about me,” he says, his tone suddenly angry.
I jump to my feet in response to the tension filling the room. “I need this. Please, Liam.”
“I need this, too,” he says.
I don’t want to say it. I don’t want to show my hand. “Liam, I think I’m in serious danger.”
“You can win the pass next semester,” he says. “Without me here, you’ve got no competition.”
“I can’t wait,” I say.
“Neither can I,” he says.
Fuck it.“Liam, I know.”
His brow furrows. “You knowwhatexactly?”
“Iknow,” I say.
He blinks a few times and his eyes study my face. It’s as if he’s trying to read me. “You don’t know anything.”
“I know about you. Your real mother. Your secret. I know,” I say.
“There’s no secret,” he says. He stands up. “And to think I’ve been standing up for you these last few weeks. To think I defended you. I should have let Tasha and Em kill you when I found out their plans.”
My stomach tightens and I take in a small breath. “They wanted to kill me?”
“Of course they did,” he says. “They can’t go after me. So they take out the next biggest threat. I put a stop to it.”
“Why?” It’s not the right question, but now I want to know why he would care. I’m his biggest competition too.
“It doesn’t matter, does it,” he says. “You’re not the person I thought you were.”
“Liam,” I say. “I swear, I don’t want to do this. But I have no choice.”
“If you win, you take it to your grave,” he says.
I nod.
He turns away from me and puts his hands on top of his head. I can’t see his expression but his body language tells me enough. His back muscles are taught and his shoulders lift and fall as he takes deep breaths. When he finally turns back to me, I see conflicting emotions in his eyes.
I can almost feel his anger. But even worse is the pain. I hurt him and I didn’t even know I had the power to do so much damage.
Of course I didn’t want to upset him. I didn’t want to win this way. But this pain he’s in feels personal. As if his heart was broken.
It makes no sense.
And it breaks me just the same.
“I’m sorry, Liam,” I say. “I have no choice.”
“We always have a choice,” he says.
