Falling For Liam (Falling Book 9)

by Tracy Lorraine

  “You see? Fucking pussy. He enjoyed it last time.”

  He must see the confusion on my face, because he leans forwards and whispers in my ear. “He’s told you about Cheryl, I know he has.”

  My blood turns cold. Cheryl was David’s ex. But not long after her seventeenth birthday she was…she was attacked.

  “Help me,” I scream at the top of my voice. The sudden realisation of why this monster staring down on me went to prison has me panicking even more. No one told me in so many words, so I assumed it was a drug charge. “Help!” His hand muffles my screams once again as he pushes the fabric of my skirt up my thighs. “No, please no,” I plead—not that it will stop him.

  His evil eyes burn into me as he runs them over my exposed skin. When they come back up to my eyes, I’ve no doubt he’d kill me, given the chance.

  Restraining both my hands above my head, his other goes back to removing what’s left of my clothing.

  He’s so focused on what he’s doing, he doesn’t feel one of my wrists slip through his fingers. I stretch as much as I can. The glass teases my fingertips and I feel it roll away. Bucking my hips as his fingers go for my waistband, I manage to move just enough to wrap my fingers around the neck of the bottle.

  Just as he parts the fabric, I use every bit of energy I have to swing it towards his head.

  Glass shatters. Blood sprays from his face, but more importantly, Griff falls to my side, a dead weight.

  I don’t hang around. The second he’s off me, I scramble to my feet and run for the door.

  Shoving my hand in my pocket, I find my car key and almost laugh with relief. My hands tremble as I try to get it in the lock, and I will myself to calm down. I need to get out of here before he finds me. Taking a deep breath, I manage to calm myself enough to unlock the car and start the engine.

  I slam my foot down on the accelerator. It feels alien with no shoes on, but my only focus is on escape.

  Everything around me is blurred with the tears continually filling my eyes, but it’s only minutes before I’m on the motorway and heading south. There’s only one place I can go. One place I know I’m going to be safe.

  Clutching my bloodstained shirt closed, I bang on Nicole’s front door, hoping and praying that she’s here. The last thing I need is one of her neighbours coming out and finding me like this. My lips tremble as the memory of what I escaped plays on repeat in my mind.

  “Please,” I beg quietly as I knock again. If she’s not here, I’m not sure what I’m going to do; it’s not like I can go marching into the shack to find her, looking like this.

  The click of the lock has relief flooding me. My sobs bubble back up my throat, knowing that I’m about to be with someone who cares about me.

  “Liv? What the fuck?” Her eyes are wide as saucers as they run over me. I didn’t risk a look in the mirror so I can only imagine the state I’m in. “Oh my god.” Her voice trembles with uncertainty as she stands to the side to allow me in.

  Once I hear the door shut behind me, I feel like I can breathe once again. But I only get a very short reprieve, because it’s seconds before Nicole’s questions start.

  “Liv, what the hell happened? Are you okay? Are you hurt? Where’s all the blood from?”

  My head spins and I’ve no idea which question to focus on first.

  “I’m…I’m…” My voice comes out as a rough whisper, but I don’t get to say more because the sound of footsteps pounding down the stairs has me looking up.

  Time slows down, and it’s like I’m watching the inevitable happen in slow motion. Liam’s legs appear, then his waist, shoulders… My breath catches because before his eyes find mine, I can sense the anger radiating from him. It oozes from his every pore.

  “What the fuck did he do?” he roars, making me cower from him. “Fuck, Liv…I don’t…fuck.”

  His shouting pulls Dec and BJ from Nic’s living room, and they also stand staring at me with their mouths dropped open. Pure hatred for the person who did this to me vibrates from them.

  “I’m going to fucking kill him,” Liam says before moving towards me. I’m not scared; I know he won’t hurt me, but something from the last few hours sticks with me because I back away from him. Nic comes to stand in front of me, to protect me. I fight my need to wrap my arms around her shoulders in relief.

  When I look up, Liam’s face is twisted in pain. I know all he wants to do is help, but he can’t right now.

  “I think it’s best you guys go out for a bit.”

  “Fuck that, Nic. Look at the fucking state of her.” He tries moving towards me again but is stopped when Nic puffs her chest out and places her palms against his chest. If the situation were different, I might laugh at her attempt to keep him away.

  “Go. Out. Now,” she snaps, and after flicking a look to Dec, he helps get the guys out of the house.

  “Let’s go,” Dec encourages, but when I look up, it seems BJ is just as reluctant to leave as Liam is. Just being here and seeing that look in their eyes makes me relax. I know I’m safe here. I know they’ll protect me if need be. It’s not until Dec grabs their shoulders and forces them through the front door that they finally leave.

  The second they’re gone, my knees buckle and I start sliding down the wall. Nicole catches me and helps to gently lower me. Wrapping her arms around me tightly, she sits with me for what feels like forever as I sob loudly on her shoulder.

  Liam

  “You’ve got to be fucking joking,” I scream at Dec. The image of her broken and bloody is burned into my mind. The second I heard Nic’s words when she opened the door, I was running. I didn’t want to believe it. I thought I was hearing things, but the second my eyes landed on her, I wanted to kill. Kill the motherfucker who put his hands on her. I’ve no doubt it’s her wanker of a boyfriend, who she’s always trying to fucking protect. “We’re going back in to find where the fuck he is.”

  “Fucking right,” BJ agrees, and when I look up at him, I see my own anger reflected back at me. He’s seeing red right now, just like I am. “Unlock this,” he says, thrusting a phone under Dec’s nose.

  “What the fuck’s that?”

  Dec’s eyebrows draw together for a second before understanding dawns. “No,” he snaps, forcefully pushing BJ’s arm away from him.

  “Unlock it,” he shouts. I stand and watch them stare each other down until one caves. “You know as well as I do that her address is in there. We’re going for that motherfucker. Right. Fucking. Now.”

  Dec looks between the two of us. He’s torn, I can see it in his eyes. If he opens that phone, he’s violating both Nic and Liv’s privacy, but I don’t think he can deny what BJ’s pushing for.

  “You just want to let him get away with this. What if it was Nicole, Dec? What then? Would your answer be different if it was her who was looking like Liv right now?”

  The mention of his girlfriend’s safety has Dec jumping into action. He keys in the code to unlock Nicole’s phone and, in seconds, he announces he has it. The three of us march towards Dec’s van, which is parked just a little up the street, before jumping in and getting ready to go.

  Looking back at the house, I start questioning our decision. As much as I want to cause pain to the person who did this to her, a huge part of me is aching at being away from her. I should be inside that house right now. I should be comforting her, kissing away her pain.

  My fists clench, but the move doesn’t go unnoticed.

  “We’ll get the motherfucker, and then you can get back to your girl,” BJ says, much to my surprise. I know he’s my best friend, but he’s never given me any clue that he understands my desire for one woman, for Liv. He’s a player of epic proportions who loves nothing more than sowing his wild oats.

  The image of Liv tonight merges with the one from only a few weeks ago as she stared up at me from her seat on the beach after she ran. She’s what I want.

  The drive might be long, but no more words are said between the three of us. We
’re all too lost to what’s happened tonight to sustain any meaningless chitchat.

  BJ’s anger is palpable, and it reminds me that I don’t know all that much about him. He’s always been the joker of the group, the fun loving one, but I can’t help thinking there’s stuff he’s kept hidden as I look at him practically vibrating with the need to go and hurt this guy.

  I’m buzzing when Dec pulls the van to a stop outside a dingy looking building. The three of us exchange glances before climbing out. No words need to be said. We know what we’re here to do. We’ve lived in each other’s pockets for years; we’re on the same wavelength, and we’ve got each other’s backs.

  As we climb the stairs, I focus on Liv’s face, on the fear that was radiating from her. Anger licks at my stomach and the need for revenge has my fists clenching in anticipation.

  Being the biggest out of the three of us, BJ takes the lead, and when he gets to the front door, he wastes no time in bringing his boot up and giving it one almighty kick. The hinges splinter and the door swings wide open. He’s straight in and Dec and I follow.

  I can sense that Dec’s still a little apprehensive about this. He’s trying to be the sensible one, but I can also feel his need for revenge almost as strong as BJ’s.

  As we round the corner, we find a scene I wasn’t expecting. In my head, I had an image of Liv’s waste of space boyfriend looking smug about the fact he’d just beaten her to a pulp, but instead, we find two men. One’s currently trying to scramble away from the other who, moments ago, had him by the throat.

  “Griff,” the guy who’s trying to get away shouts seconds before I hear the sound of bone crunching as BJ’s fist connects with his nose.

  Confusion clouds me for a few seconds, but the moment I see scratch marks across his cheek and dried blood stemming from his nose, I know he’s the one who attacked Liv.

  “Go for it. Finish what your girl started,” BJ encourages, standing aside.

  I get a solid couple of punches in, and fuck if it doesn’t feel good after seeing what he did to her, before he lands a couple of his own.

  Spitting some blood on the floor, I fly at him. I see red. I’ve no clue what’s going on around me, but my only thought is to make this fucker pay. He has no right touching any woman, let alone my woman.

  I hear a roar, and it takes me a few moments to register that it came from my throat as I prepare to kick the fucker where it’s going to hurt now he’s hit the ground.

  Something wraps around my waist. I’m moving, but my feet aren’t touching the floor.

  “All right, Liam. You got him,” BJ says in my ear, pulling me from the red haze.

  Dragging my eyes from the slumped body at my feet, I look around the room. The other guy is still cowering in the corner.

  “Who the fuck are you?” I spit.

  “D…D…David,” he stutters, petrified. “Is she…is she…okay?”

  “FUCK YOU,” I roar. The situation we walked into suddenly slams into me. He may not have been the one to hit her, but he knew. He knew, and he didn’t stop it. “It was your job to protect her,” I seethe.

  Dec walking into the room distracts me from the piece of shit on the floor. “Let’s go.”

  Looking over, I see he’s got his hands full of black bags. “What’s that?”

  “Her stuff. Now, let’s get out of here.”

  BJ pushes me forward and, without so much as looking back, we make our way to the van, towards the woman we did this for.

  Chapter Six

  Olivia

  I wrap my sore body in the giant fluffy towel Nic left for me and risk my first look in the mirror. My left eye is almost swollen shut, the blue and purple bruise angrily staring back at me, and my cut lip has just about stopped bleeding. Running my eyes down the rest of my exposed body, I see his fingerprints on my upper arms and marks wrapped around my wrists. My stomach turns over at the thought of him having his disgusting hands on me. I hoped having a hot bath would not only soothe my muscles but also help rid myself of his putrid smell clinging to the inside of my nose, but it’s still there.

  “Liv?” Nic calls softly.

  “I’m okay,” I whisper, so quietly there’s no way she’ll have heard it.

  “I’ll be downstairs when you’re ready. I’ve made you some pasta and I have wine, if you want it.”

  Tears sting my eyes at the thought of someone looking after me. I’ve spent months trying to be the strong one, looking after everyone else, being the crutch they needed to make it through the day. Giving up that stress is a bigger relief than I expected.

  After pulling on a pair of pyjamas Nic left for me, I open the door and peer through the opening. My mind is still back there, in the flat, with him. It’s going to take me a while to stop looking over my shoulder.

  I slowly make my way downstairs. The sounds of mellow music come from the living room, along with the soft flicker of candles, and I continue making my way towards my friend. The one person I should have come clean to months ago. I’d allowed her to see tiny parts of what my life’s been like. That was enough for her to demand I leave and move down here with her. If she only knew the truth…

  “Hey,” she says softly as I enter the room. “Come and sit down.”

  Once I pulled myself together after she made the guys leave, I was expecting her to start with the questions, but to my surprise, all she did was lead me up to the bathroom and help me get rid of the visible evidence of today. But the look in her eyes right now tells me that my time’s up. The questions are about to come.

  “If it’s too much, then just say, but please, Liv. Tell me what’s been going on?”

  Letting out a long breath, I nod at her. When I don’t start talking right away, she leans forwards and grabs both glasses of wine off the coffee table. Shaking my head, I ask for a glass of water instead. After everything I’ve been through I’m not sure I can face it.

  After being handed a fresh glass, I take a deep breath and let the whole story spill from my lips. She already knew about David’s alcohol problem and Griff’s drug addiction, but she didn’t know what a threat he was and how he basically controlled our lives through fear.

  “Holy shit, Liv. Why the fuck did you stay there? I told you so many times there was a place for you here. What were you thinking?”

  I shrug, because all the reasons I stayed there suddenly seem so stupid. My misplaced loyalty to a relationship that has long been over. His family who had no one else to turn to. It’s only now I’m beginning to see it was never my job to try to hold them all upright when they were dead set on falling, on falling into depression or addiction, anything to dull the pain they were causing each other. They were toxic. How did I manage to stay there so long? I wonder as I stare into the kind eyes of my best friend.

  “I don’t know what I would have done it if wasn’t for you,” I admit.

  “Me?” she asks pointing at herself. “I haven’t done anything. You didn’t give me the chance.”

  “You were there when I needed you. You’re here now,” I say, my chin trembling as tears fill my eyes.

  We’re deep in conversation when the sound of the front door and footsteps heading our way stops us in our tracks.

  Nic’s eyes snap to mine, I guess she wants to see what my reaction will be to seeing the guys. Before I can respond to her silent question, Dec’s stood in the doorway looking between the two of us. His eyes full of concern, he stands as if he’s about to be sent away.

  “It’s okay. It’s your house.”

  “Uh…the others are outside. We’ve got something for you.”

  “Okay?” I ask, my eyes narrowed at him in confusion.

  Watching as he turns and gestures for the other guys to enter, my heart starts to pick up its pace as Liam’s angry face fills my mind.

  The first thing I see when Liam and BJ enter the room is the black bin bags in their hands. “What the fuck?” I mutter, trying to figure out what the hell’s going on. It’s not until I look up
to Liam’s face that reality starts to dawn on me. His face doesn’t look all that different to mine, and fury fills my veins.

  How fucking dare they?

  Everyone’s silent as we all stare at each other. Dragging my eyes from Liam, I look BJ over, but he seems fine—other than a bloody fist.

  “What have you done?” Nic asks, but I don’t need an answer. I already know.

  “We went to sort that motherfucker out for good,” BJ pipes up, sounding proud as punch, clearly missing the horrified expression on my face.

  “You did what? Why would you do that? I didn’t ask you to go and fight my battles for me. How dare you just get involved like that?” I know I should probably be appreciative, but the only thing I feel is rage that they’ve put themselves in the middle of all this shit.

  “But…we just…” BJ stutters while Liam and Dec stand there mutely. A quick slap to the arm from Dec stops BJ’s stuttering.

  I pin Liam with a look I hope would make some cower, but he puffs his chest out, standing by their actions. Raising an eyebrow, I wait for his response.

  “You’ve got to be fucking joking if you thought we were going to stand by and allow this to happen, Liv. Just fucking look at you. We went to teach your piece of shit boyfriend a less—”

  “Please tell me you didn’t.” The thought that they’ve taken this out on David suddenly slams into me. He may not be innocent in all this—he did leave me alone with that monster—but he doesn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of their fists as well as his brother’s.

  “No, we didn’t. Your pathetic excuse for a boyfriend was cowering in the corner while the cunt that did this to you beat on him. What the fuck, Liv? We all offered to help you. Why did you allow it to come to this?”

  “None of this is any of your business.” I’m up off the sofa and in his face in seconds. “I didn’t ask you to steamroll in and rescue me. I didn’t ask for any of this,” I sob, my emotions and exhaustion getting the better of me. “You had no right to go storming in there. How did you even know where to go?”