Marked Heart (Marked Heart #3)

by M. Sembera

  In an effort to turn the worst first impression he had ever made around, Braden held out his hand as he stated, "Mr. Vera."

  Romeo turned his head in Braden's direction, raising an eyebrow as he looked him over.

  His tone was gruff as he informed, "You're not what I expected."

  "Sir?" Braden questioned, still holding his hand out even though it was clear her dad wasn't going to shake it.

  "You drink?"

  Lowering his hand, Braden replied, "Yes sir."

  Nodding, Romeo suggested, "Sit down and have a drink then."

  ~

  When Penny dropped Liv off at the farmhouse, she offered to stay with her for a while. After Liv declined, Penny headed home.

  Liv sat on the porch. Her car started up right away, which was good. She knew they hadn't just let it sit for six months. She thought about going inside the house, then decided against it. Sitting there between an empty house and her car running in the driveway, she thought about Braden.

  She was a liar. Liv had been so busy hiding behind his lie and what he had done wrong that she almost forgot about her own. She was in such a habit of lying to everyone around her she managed to start lying to herself along the way. The truth was, she never stopped having feelings for him from when she was a teenager. No matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't. Even falling in love with someone else didn't stop her from wanting him around. Although the feelings she held for Braden had changed many times over the years, they were always there.

  Looking back on everything now, she took the opportunity to be honest with herself, about herself. She never would have cheated on Kieran physically, but then again where do you draw the line? If he had known she slept with Braden in high school, would Kieran have allowed him over? Would he have continued to let Braden be as big of a part of her life as he was at the time? Granted all things before Kieran were none of his business but this wasn't an estranged ex-boyfriend. It was his family. The answer was no. She never lied to Kieran it was more an omission of the truth. Liv wondered if Kieran was still alive and found out, would it hurt him to know she never told him? Would he be wounded to know that the man he so carelessly gave away her mark to, had once been the center of her world? She genuinely hoped so. That would make them even.

  Standing up, Liv slowly stepped off of her porch and walked to her car. The possibility of starting over was there, it just wasn't possible here. Sliding into the driver's side of her car she scrolled through her playlist on her phone until 'Helena' by My Chemical Romance was blaring through her speakers.

  On her way to the Inn, she knew there was no way to make any of this right. It was all built upon a lie anyway. Braden had come clean and was doing well without her there. Without her, he finally grew up and found his way. What had she done for the last six months, aside from moping around her dad's house? Nothing. It was possible at this point, she was even bad for herself. She would never be complete without him, but she loved him enough to keep up her front. The only truth that was important now wasn't that they were bad for each other, it was that she wasn't good for him.

  M34H

  It was a nice day of shopping with Charlotte. Liv didn't notice while she was staying at her dad's, she was in desperate need for some girl time. Charlotte already had her dress for the anniversary party so the shopping part of their day didn't take long. It wasn't necessarily a formal occasion, more like dressy casual so when Liv found a pair of white wide leg trousers and a light grey silk v-neck ruffle wrap cami with spaghetti straps, she was satisfied with her selection. Not to mention the grey booties she picked up even though Charlotte frowned at her for choosing them over the strappy silver stiletto's she picked out.

  All in all it was a relaxing day, until Charlotte decided to pry into her personal life on the way home.

  "Are you going to hook up with Braden while you're down?"

  Charlotte's question caught Liv so off guard that she had to slam on her brakes to keep from hitting the car in front of her.

  "What?"

  Curling the corner of her mouth into a smile, she asked, "What, as in you didn't hear me? Or you can't believe I asked you?"

  With a laugh, Liv replied, "Oh, I believe you asked me."

  "So..."

  "Not a good idea."

  "To ask you?"

  "To sleep with him."

  Charlotte was quiet for a minute or two before asking, "Are you seeing anyone?"

  "No."

  "Then why aren't you asking if Braden is seeing anyone?"

  Ignoring her question, Liv continued to drive. Whether he was seeing someone or not wasn't going to change things.

  "You're not going to answer me?"

  Exhaling loudly, Liv griped, "Look, I know what you're doing. Don't."

  "Whatever, Liv."

  Glancing at Charlotte, she looked furious.

  It was obvious she was mad. However, Liv didn't think she needed to explain herself to anyone.

  "You're pissed off because I won't answer a question?"

  Liv glanced over just in time to see the dirty look Charlotte was giving her.

  "You didn't just leave Braden, ya know."

  "What?"

  Her voice was harsh as she fussed, "Don't what me. You know exactly what I'm saying to you. We're supposed to be friends and you didn't even say goodbye."

  "Sorry." Liv snapped, irritated because Charlotte was making her feel bad.

  "No you're not. What you are is blind. You don't see that you have friends here that care about you. No one cares if you get with Braden or not."

  "They care so much that they hid the fact that Kieran was cheating?"

  "Yes. As a matter of fact, that's exactly right. Augustus felt terrible when you left. And Seth doesn't have a mean bone in his body so why else would they?"

  Shaking her head as she pulled up in Charlotte's driveway, Liv knew she was telling the truth. The night Liv found out, she was hurt and angry, but it didn't take long for her to move past it because she understood their motive.

  Regardless, she didn't need Charlotte, who by the way, almost moved to another country when she and Auggie broke up, throwing it in her face.

  "You must be spending too much time with Sophia lately, since suddenly you're all high and mighty."

  Charlotte's eyes flew open wide and she looked as if Liv had slapped her. Grabbing her purse, she flung the passenger door open, jumped out and slammed the door.

  Liv instantly opened her door and got out shouting, "Don't slam my door!"

  Charlotte turned and made her way back to the car yelling, "You're lucky that's all I did!"

  Shocked, Liv closed her door and walked to the front of her car.

  "You wanna hit me?"

  Tossing her purse on the ground, Charlotte hollered, "What if I do?"

  ~

  Braden looked over at his brother and noticed he had stopped stirring his sauce.

  "Do you hear that?"

  Nodding, Auggie turned the burner off and headed towards his front door.

  Following Auggie into the front yard, Braden could hear Liv and Charlotte before he saw them.

  Neither were sure what to do as Charlotte pointed her finger in Liv's face shouting, "Do you want me to kick your ass," then Liv mocked, "Please, you can try."

  "Are they fixing to fight?" Braden asked, looking at Auggie who shrugged shaking his head.

  "And get your finger out of my face!" Liv snapped.

  Charlotte moved her finger out from in front of Liv's face before poking her in the shoulder with it. Liv narrowed her eyes at Charlotte, then poked her back.

  It was hard at the moment to keep from laughing as he watched Liv and Charlotte take turns poking each other in the shoulder. When the poking accelerated into shoving, both Auggie and Braden stepped in.

  Pulling Charlotte away from Liv, Auggie informed, "Alright, that's enough."

  Liv started to take a step forward when Braden caught her and held her back.

  Charlotte
immediately snapped at Auggie, "Don't tell me what to do."

  Pushing away from him, she gave the bottom of her shirt a little tug before turning back to Liv.

  "You hurt my feelings."

  Braden felt Liv relax in his arms as she replied, "I never meant to."

  "I'm sorry I slammed your car door."

  Liv gave her a soft smile, saying, "I'm sorry."

  Charlotte smiled back at her and nodded before picking up her purse.

  As Auggie and Charlotte stepped out of sight, it occurred to Braden that he was still holding onto Liv. She must have noticed at the same time because as soon as he looked at her, she started pulling away.

  Adjusting his hands to get a better grip on her, he questioned, "Where are you going?"

  In the time it took for her to stop moving and look at him, he was able to pull her all the way against him.

  "Do you know how much I miss you?"

  Her breathing picked up as she stared at him without answering.

  "You miss me too."

  Liv started to reply but he didn't give her the chance. Pressing his lips against hers, he wasn't letting her get away like he did last night.

  There was no hesitation on her part. She instantly kissed him back. Holding onto him, she felt better than he remembered. He missed her. Time had somewhat dulled the ache he had for her, but now that she was back in his arms and he could taste her, a kiss was nowhere near enough.

  Braden tried to slow their kiss but she was unrelenting. Liv was practically panting in between kisses and groping him in a way that was far from appropriate to be standing in his brother's front yard. He didn't want to stop, but at the same time, she wasn't giving him much of a choice unless he was planning on adding public lewdness to his criminal record.

  "Liv..." he forced himself to say.

  Freezing in place, it took a minute for her to move.

  When she finally did, Liv appeared furious as she jerked away from him and blurted, "Shit!"

  He tried to catch her but it was too late. She was out of his grasp and in her car before he could stop her.

  Watching her car roll down the driveway before it burned off down the road, Braden leaned his back against the house. It would be easy to be mad at her for leaving him in the state he was now in because of her. However, the proof that she still wanted him was enough to outweigh the injustice. Smiling to himself, her body just gave away every lie she had ever told him.

  M35H

  Heading to the Inn, Liv needed time to process what had just taken place. Hell, she needed several shots of the strongest liquor known to man and five years of intense meditation to make sense of it. The second Braden's lips touched hers, she couldn't catch her breath. She needed him. It was insane. It had only been six months. She remembered how wild and amazing it felt to be with him, and it didn't feel like that. All he did was kiss her.

  When Liv arrived back at the Inn, her dad was stepping out of his room as she was going into hers.

  "You're back."

  Avoiding eye contact with him, she quickly uttered, "Not now dad," and closed herself in the room.

  "Do you remember Joe from Almer Street?" he questioned through the door.

  After thinking for a minute, she replied, "Yeah."

  "I'm meeting him for dinner."

  "Okay."

  "Want me to bring you back somethin'?"

  "No thanks."

  Liv waited to see if her dad was going to say anything else before she walked away from the door and sat down on the bed.

  She needed to think clearly but it was impossible. Feeling as if she was being pulled apart, her head, body and heart were all moving in three completely different directions. The only real problem with her indecision was the one thing they all had in common. Braden.

  Pulling out her cell phone, Liv leaned back against the bed.

  L: I can't...

  B: Can't what?

  L: I need to say goodbye.

  B: I know.

  L: Can you come over?"

  B: Where are you?

  L: Room 39.

  Dropping her phone next to her on the bed, she thought maybe all she needed was to get him out of her system.

  It seemed like a good idea, possibly one that would benefit them both. Of course there would be sex, but in the mix, one final goodbye. Unlike before, there was no chance of her being caught off guard or swept off of her feet by the moment. Even when she saw her words permanently marked on his skin, there weren't enough love poems to undo what had already been done. Time was an issue, however, they had until tomorrow afternoon to be out of each other's systems. She would do things right this time. Attend Ren and Jack's anniversary party, tell her friends goodbye and leave town the next morning. Then she and Braden could go on with their own separate lives.

  The knock on her door startled her, even though she knew it was coming. Liv's body seemed to vibrate with anticipation as she slowly made her way over to open it.

  When she let Braden into her room, he walked past her and sat down on a chair in the corner instead of on the bed.

  As Liv sat on the edge of the bed and faced him, Braden shared, "I'm not who I was when you left."

  Silently, she nodded at him.

  "And I'm still not the man I should be."

  Liv's breathing grew shallow as she hung on his every word.

  "I'm not as empty as I once was, but I doubt I'll ever be completely whole."

  She started to speak then stopped as he held up his hand.

  "There's always going to be something missing inside of me without you," he swore before he stood up. "But if you don't feel the same, then let's finish this."

  There was a moment of hesitation as Liv agreed. It was the last lie she would tell him, but she couldn't bring herself to say it out loud.

  Standing up, she tilted her head down as she closed her eyes. Everything fell away with the sensation of his touch. He was right. Neither one of them would ever be compete without the other, but there was no need to let the void control their lives. There was no meant to be, no fate to control what happened next, the destiny that lay ahead of them was a choice, and she made it for both of them.

  M36H

  Saying goodbye to Liv was the hardest moment of Braden life. Harder than seeing her broken and suffering, even harder than the anguish he felt finding out she left. If it weren't for knowing their goodbye was the only way to truly end things in order for them both to have a new beginning, leaving her while she slept in the middle of the night may have done him in completely.

  ~

  Waking up alone after falling asleep in Braden's arms hurt Liv's heart. However, since the pain was self-inflicted, it was enough to secure her guard back in place where it belonged. She could now leave without sorrow. There was no loss here. Only surrender to what was good for both of them. That kind of pain, she could deal with.

  ~

  The night was lit by a mixture of stars in the summer sky and tiny white lights hanging from the trees. Music played loudly from the DJ booth set up on Ren and Jacks' back porch, making it a pleasant volume as it filtered out into the yard among the guests and their conversations.

  Family and friends roamed the property, visiting with each other and congratulating the couple that was legendary in their family for proving real love could endure everything. Braden stood with his brother Ailin waiting for their mom Sarah to show up.

  "Do you miss it?"

  Ailin shook his head questioning, "Miss what?"

  With a shrug Braden replied, "The way things used to be."

  "I miss y'all and Will of course. It's kinda strange though, knowing Keylee won't grow up here."

  Braden smiled, teasing, "Don't worry, we can still corrupt her from a distance."

  Laughing, Ailin agreed, "And how the hell is Auggie her favorite? I'm going to have to lock her up when she's a teenager if that's a hint of what's to come."

  "Nah, she's one of us. It's the other kids parents that'll need t
o worry."

  As they laughed together, Penny and Seth walked up.

  "Mom's still not here?" she questioned, appearing a bit put out.

  Seth stated, "I'm sure she's on her way."

  Whipping her head around, she snapped at him. "How do you know?"

  "I don't. I'm sorry. I love you."

  Shaking her head she started to cry, "Why am I so hot?"

  Braden stared at his sister, trying to figure out why that was worth crying over.

  "Would you like me to get you some ice?" Seth offer, in a compassionately smooth tone.

  Just as quickly as Penny started crying, she stopped.

  Pushing up on the toes of her sandals, she gave him a cheery smile saying, "I love you." Wrapping her arms around his neck she pulled him close for a short kiss before informing, "I'll just go get some."

  As she walked away, Braden couldn't help blurting, "That was frightening."

  "You have no idea." Seth assured before Ailin sympathized by patting Seth on the shoulder, saying, "I remember those days."

  Seth instantly looked up as Penny shouted, "Are you coming or what?"

  "Yes, baby, I love you," he answered, taking off after her.

  Shaking his head, Braden started laughing again.

  Not long after Penny and Seth stepped away, Auggie and Charlotte showed up.

  "Lookin' pretty sharp there, brother." Braden said, complimenting Auggie's tan suit that matched nicely to his wife's dress.

  Holding his hand, Charlotte leaned into Auggie from the side as she blurted, "Doesn't he look sexy."

  "No," both Braden and Ailin replied before another voice came from behind saying, "I kinda think he does."

  Charlotte laughed, noting, "See," as Liv nudged Auggie with her shoulder and winked at him.

  Romeo was right beside her assuring, "That's fine for boys. Men are debonair."

  Braden, Ailin, and Auggie gave Romeo a nod as another voice interrupted them.

  Braden was slightly shocked to see his mom. Not because she was finally there but because of the way she looked. Her auburn hair that was normally pinned up in a bun or kept back in a long braid was down, making her look younger. And she was wearing makeup.

  "Where is your sister?" Sarah griped at them.