by M. Skye
Feeling silly for crying like a child, Draya cleared her face just in time to feel the vibration from her cell. Snatching it up to her face, she deflated a little, realizing it was only Rico but then thought about what she asked him to do. Answering the phone quickly, she said hello and was met with his disturbed tone.
“Dray, where are you?”
“I’m on my way. What’s going on? Did you find Liam?”
“Not exactly.” Hearing his tone, her heart almost stopped, fearing the worst. “There is something you need to see. Can you get over to his place? I need you to... uh, just get here quick.”
Turning to Brenda, Draya dropped her phone, feeling the tears reemerging. Cursing her feeble emotions, she tried to gather herself enough to speak. “What’s wrong? Where is Liam?”
“I don’t know. Rico’s at his place and he isn’t there. He’s not answering my calls or texts and I don’t know where he is.”
Tilting her head to the side, Brenda looked like she might know something and just kept looking straight ahead. Watching her grip the steering wheel tighter, Draya exhaled and tried to remain calm. “What’s going on?”
“I know where he is. There is a place he goes when he doesn’t want to be disturbed. It’s his father’s and it’s secluded. If he’s not answering your calls, it’s because he doesn’t have a signal. The service is a little shoddy there. I’ll run you by his place and once I’ve collected him, I’ll bring him home.”
“I’m going with you. I want to be the one to talk to him first.”
“Your friend is waiting for you, and it sounds important. I won’t get into anything with him, I promise. I will let you two sort this out.”
Not really believing her story, but not having much of an option, Draya just nodded and looked out of the window until they pulled up to Liam’s building. Getting out of the car, she walked to the entrance and only turned back upon hearing Brenda call out to her. “Be safe, dear. Here.” She held out an object and Draya reached for it, pulling it from under the black cover. When Draya’s eyes bucked looking at a shiny silver pistol, Brenda nodded towards the entrance. “Take it, get inside. I’ll call you when I make it back. Stay with your friend, don’t leave his side.”
Speeding away, Brenda whipped out of the parking lot, and Draya stuffed the gun into her purse. She wasn’t sure what it was for, but she knew now that Brenda’s story was bullshit. Liam was in some kind of trouble and she knew Brenda was more aware than what she had let on.
Running into the building, she raced to the elevator and hit the button to get to his floor. Walking down the hallway briskly, she found the door already open and Rico at the front door. The inside of the house was a mess, and walking further inside, she felt her temper rise to the point of exploding. Watching Alea sit on Liam’s couch was more than what she had expected to find.
“You stupid bitch,” she screamed, throwing a punch that landed right on the woman’s cheek. Feeling her body being pulled back by Rico, she screamed, still swinging. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Stop Draya,” Rico yelled, trying to restrain her. “Let her talk.”
“I came here for help. I need your… well, Liam’s help.”
“As you can see, he’s not here. Get out,” Draya pointed at the door.
“I can’t.” Alea sobbed. “You don’t understand, if I leave here, I’m as good as dead. I have no one to turn to besides Liam. He may hate me, but he is a good man. He would never turn his back on anyone in need.”
Regaining a fraction of her composure, Draya crossed her arms over her chest. “You lost that option, he doesn’t want you. You have a lot of nerve coming to his house after what you’ve done. You’ve made his life a living hell and almost came between us. He’s not going to help you. You’re going to deal with whatever mess you made on your own.”
“I know I messed up and he doesn’t want me. I used that night against him, and I was wrong, but you have to know, I would never have let Liam take to fall for his father’s death. It would never have come to that. I wasn’t going to keep his money from him. Liam isn’t broke, he owns it all and I was stupid to try and block him out. I just thought that if he needed me, he would come back. I never thought he would find someone that he loved enough to walk away from it all. I’m not desperate enough to keep making a fool of myself. I’m not here to get him back, I promise.”
“Then what is it?”
“I want to make amends, Draya. I’m in over my head. Liam Senior was one thing, a bastard, but everything else, I didn’t sign up for. I had no idea—”
“No idea about what?”
“That you would be next. Draya, you are a target, and so am I.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re in the way. I know too much and you are the one person Liam would do anything for. This thing between us was never going to end well, I know that now. I never wanted this.”
“I don’t believe you. Why should I trust a bitch like you? Just days ago you were throwing yourself at him.”
“I was, but you can trust him. You might not like or trust me, but you have to have some faith in Liam. He is one of the best guys I’ve ever known and I was a fool to let him go. I know I’m not who he wants anymore, but as it stands, I have nowhere else to go. There is no way in hell I would be here talking to you if I didn’t need to be. We need each other.”
“How do you figure?”
“Because I’ve been here for two days and he hasn’t been home. I think something is wrong.”
Chapter Nine: Finding The Answers
Slinking out of the back, Liam watched as Will swiped a finger over his cell. He had seen his phone light up and had made Will promise to guard it just in case Draya called. He had been looking for her for days when Will suggested that they come to their father’s old loft. Even though he hated the man, when he was there, he felt a little more at peace. He and Will had shared mostly all of their fond moments with their father there.
“Who was that?” Liam asked, hoping he would hear Draya’s name. There was so much he wanted to tell her, so much he wanted to do. Knowing how scared she must be, he just wanted to hold her and let her know it was going to be okay. He wasn’t ready for a kid, but he would do whatever it took to make things okay for her; he had to.
Money was tight for him and he had no clue how he would afford it, but he was going to make sure his child had the best. He wasn’t going to crawl back to his mother, and he damn sure wasn’t going to beg Alea. If he had to, he would work every hour of every day to make sure they were taken care of.
“Just an email, baby bro,” Will laughed. “You really have to calm down. If she’s going to call, you will reach her.”
“She should have called by now,” Liam sighed. “I think I might have really messed this up. I don’t want to think about a life without her in it. I’m going to find her.” Watching Will’s face contort, Liam sat up and crossed his arms. “What? Do you have something to say?” Shaking his head, Will looked at Liam and he knew there was something to be said. “Don’t hold back now. You never have in the past.”
“I just think that maybe you dodged a bullet there. She has some crazy shit happening in her life and I just don’t want to see you hurt. Man, her father just got killed in place of her. It could have been you that got beaten to death with that bat.”
“You can’t be serious,” Liam hissed. “You pushed me to be with her. You were two steps from trying yourself.”
“I pushed you to have fun, to get a little action, not to fall in love. I don’t want to have to worry about if I’m going to find you dead somewhere because someone wants to hurt her. I mean come on, you have to admit, the affair with the deacon was pretty bad.”
Walking away, trying to remain calm, Liam turned his back to Will. “She made a mistake. We all have things in our pasts that we’re ashamed of. I’m not perfect, hell, I slept with our father’s wife. It’s how I got into this mess in the first place.”
Alea
had been his girlfriend before she married his father, but he had slept with her after they got married and it had ended a few months before his father died. He knew it was wrong, but the fact was, he was nowhere near remorseful about it. As far as he was concerned, sleeping with his father’s wife was the ultimate revenge for him sleeping with her when she was his. The only thing that made him happy about all this was the fact that every time he made her scream, he thought about his father attempting to get the same emotions from her that he knew were only meant for him. It was definitely a sick, cold comfort.
A few months before moving back home and the accident, Liam had finally decided that he was going to sit Alea down and end things for good. For him, the love was gone. He had been sleeping with her out of spite and he knew he needed to move on. The hatred he had held for his father over the years was wearing him down and he wanted to be free of it all.
Surprisingly for Liam, ending things with Alea was easier than he had expected. He knew his feelings for her had changed over the years, but he wasn’t expecting to feel nothing after breaking it off. Yeah, she had betrayed him and made him look like the biggest fool, but, for a while, he still thought he loved her. She had convinced him that her marriage to his father was a big mistake and after seeing the way he abused her, Liam felt bad for her.
Back when they were messing around, Alea would come to him in Europe with bruises all over her body. He had told her to let him handle it, but she objected. She told him she could handle his father, but the night he came home with the intention of making amends and ending the bad blood, he had seen them fighting and witnessed Liam Senior slapping her in the face. After prying them apart, he remembered having a drink, but the rest was a blur. Because of the previous interaction, Liam just assumed that he had pushed his father, he had damn sure wanted to.
“I get that you’re crazy about the girl, Liam, but I hardly think she’s the one to take you to the top. She’s fun and sexy, but not wife material. Your wife should be someone without all the extras.”
With his back still turned, Liam gripped the counter top and held his hands in place to keep from swinging. He had never wanted to fight his brother before, but this thing with Draya was anything but casual. She was having his child and even if she wasn’t, he was crazy in love with her. She was everything to him.
“You don’t know her. If you did that stupid ass comment would never have come out of your mouth. Draya is not going anywhere and when I find her, I’m going to tell her that she is the most important person in my life.”
“What about me? What about everything I’ve given up for you?”
Knowing what Will was referring to, Liam turned to face him. “Look, I’m sorry. I know you’ve put everything on the line for me, but I can’t do it anymore. I can’t play up to Alea if it’s going to cost me Draya. I should never have let her blackmail me into sleeping with her. There is more to lose than just money for me. I’d be broke any day if it meant I could have Draya.”
“What is it about this girl? Why are you so hung up? I told you when you met her not to let feelings get involved. You remember what feelings did to you last time? I’m looking out for you.”
“I don’t need you to look out for me. I need you to be my brother and support my decision. I need you to accept that I love this woman and be the best uncle you can be to our child.”
Sitting up in his seat, Will’s face began to take on a red tint. “Excuse me, come again?”
“She’s having my baby. So you see, I’m going to find her and I’m going to be there for her no matter what it takes. I am in no way ready for any of this, but if you want to help me, you can be there for the woman I love and my child.”
Standing, Will tipped over the end table and Liam’s phone went flying, landing at his feet. Looking down, Liam saw that it was lit up with several texts. Stooping to pick it up, Liam saw that Draya had been trying to contact him for the better half of an hour and so had his mother. Holding the phone in his hand, Liam looked up and waved it in Will’s face.
“What the hell? She’s at the house, you knew this. Why didn’t you speak up? You heard me going on about her.”
“You’re not going back there. You’re leaving that bitch where you found her. I didn’t do all of this to have you get her pregnant.”
“All of this?”
“God dammit. You get everything! I was the one who played the good son. I followed the rules. You rebuffed at every turn and here you are again, getting everything while I’m left in the cold.”
“What are you talking about?” Liam questioned. “Mom and Dad love you. Dad liked you way more than me. If it were up to him, he would have given you everything and left me in the cold. You were his favorite son.”
“You were his only son.”
While Liam tried to make sense of what Will was saying to him, he heard the door open and looked over to see his mother entering. He was confused as to what was going on and looking back to Will, he became terrified.
“What are you doing, man? Put that thing away,” Liam pleaded, looking at the cocked gun in Will’s hand.
“No. I’m sorry, but I can’t let you walk out of here, Liam. I’ve put in too much work to let you throw everything away over that girl and her baby.”
“Will, stop this. It isn’t funny. Mom has money if it’s what you need. You still have your trust fund.”
“Will doesn’t have anything to lose. He was never a part of the inheritance,” Brenda supplied. “Liam Senior was not his real father and Will knows this. He wasn’t left anything but the trust from me and he blew through it years ago. He blew through one point two million dollars in less than two years and I refuse to give him more.”
“Is this true?” Liam looked to Will apologetically. “He didn’t leave you anything? How did you make the same deal I made with Alea if you had nothing? What is it that she has on you?”
“She knows he killed your father.” Brenda nodded, “Tell him what you did, Will.”
“I didn’t mean to; I wanted to talk to him. After you told me that I wasn’t his son and that I wasn’t getting anything, I tried to play the good son. I only went there to reason with him, and do you know what he said to me?” He looked at Brenda with tears in his eyes. “He said I was your bastard and not worthy of his family fortune. He said even though Liam was an asshole, he would be the one to take the company where it needed to go. If only he could see him now, in love with that black bitch, having a bastard child, the very thing he despised most.”
“I was there, I... I fought with him. You let me think I did it.”
“I saw you fight with him and I waited until you went off drinking to talk to him. I thought it would be my best chance to get back in, but even after you cursed him out, he was on your side. I did everything he ever asked and he still chose you.”
“I don’t want it, Will. You can have everything he left, I don’t need it. You don’t have to do this; no one will blame you for pushing him.”
“Maybe not, but they will blame me for killing Andrew. I didn’t want him, I wanted her. She was supposed to die. I needed her out of the way. She was just as bad as Dad, Liam.”
Feeling like a train had hit him, Liam stepped back and held his head. As he thought back on the night his father died things began to flash in his mind and like a bolt of lightning, everything struck him. “You drug me there. You laid me on the floor after I passed out… I know you did because you kept saying you were sorry. Why would you do this to me? I’m your brother.”
“Like I said, you get everything. When Alea found him she knew that you didn’t do it, she believed in you so much, but she wanted you back so bad, she went along with my plan just to keep you close. She got a lot of great nights with you out of the deal and I got the money that should have been mine. I needed you to keep banging her until I could find a way to get her out. I was always going to bring you back in once I got rid of her. It would have worked. It still can if you leave Draya alone. She has been n
othing but trouble for us since you met her. We can find you a new girl, Liam.”
Shaking his head, Liam shrugged. “You are the trouble. I can’t believe you did this. I’m not giving her up, I love her. I won’t walk away and I won’t ever forgive you for what you’ve done. It was you all along, huh? Messing with her, trying to kill her, and leaving the flowers, was you? You wanted to make us think it was Damien to scare me away from her. You tried to make me lose the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“If I messed with her it was because she had it coming. Someone else wanted her out of the picture long before me. The fire wasn’t my idea, but I applaud whoever set it; they helped my plan come alive.”
While Liam was still in shock, he saw flashing lights behind Will and looked away. Will hadn’t noticed them yet and still held the gun pointed at him. Liam had run out of words to say to his brother and all he could do is stare with tears in his eyes. He had never felt so betrayed in his life. He was standing silently when his mother began to speak.
“Will… all of this… I should have seen that you were sick. I had no idea you were off your medication. The world is a much better place because Liam Senior is dead, trust me, but you carried on more of his traits than Liam ever could. If I didn’t know better, I would swear you were sprung from the same satanic stock as he was and I should have stopped it. I should have stepped in and guided you away from him. I should have loved you more.”
“I was his son, dammit. He raised me and then tossed me aside like garbage. What kind of father does that?”
“A horrible one. He was horrible.” She walked closer to him, holding her hands up. “He was a user and he manipulated people. He didn’t give a damn about anyone but himself. But you don’t have to be that. You can be better; you can still have a chance.” Getting close enough to convince him to lower the gun, she pulled him into her arms. “I Love you son and I’m sorry.”