Page 93 of The Red-Hot Stakes

I’d only meant to disarm him, to take him down, and I gasped when he went over. I leapt for him. My tied hands closed on Brad’s wrist as he dangled from the edge of the cliff. He was more than twice my weight though, and I started sliding, too.

His gaze darted down to the still-churning water. “Help me.”

“I’m trying.” My sweaty palms had no purchase. Part of the cliff gave way beneath me, and two strong arms circled my waist. I lost my grip on the madman, crying out as he slipped through my fingers.

Then Brad was gone, his scream lost in the wind.

Liam pulled me close as I stared at the space Brad had just occupied. “Gina! Gina, are you all right?”

A purple streak of lightning split the sky followed by a boom of thunder. The clouds broke loose, sheets of rain pouring down. We were instantly soaked.

Liam picked me up, carrying me to the cave. His comforting scent grounded me as I slid down every slick inch of him. We stared at each other for a long moment, safe from the rain. I tried to move, but my hands were still tied together. He made quick work of the knots.

“I…” I had just killed a man. He’d been there one second, and the next, gone. My breathing became ragged as the weight of what I’d done hit me. I stared at Liam, silently begging him for help.

“It’s okay, Gina. You’re safe.” He grabbed my free hands with his. “He wasn’t in his right mind. You not only saved me, but you saved yourself. Again. No damsels in distress here.”

But I hadn’t saved Brad. His face flashed through my mind once more, and I shuddered, panic hovering on the fringes of my mind. “The curse,” I muttered.

“You did what you had to do. You’re not cursed, Gina. He made his choices, he ruined his life, he kidnapped you to get to me. You saved us.”

The words washed over me like the cleansing rain outside, easing some of my guilt. A choice. I’d had a choice to make, now I needed to live with it. I chose Liam, just like I always would, just like I had before.

Resolve flowed into me, and I straightened, raising my chin to meet Liam’s gaze.

“Thatta girl.” His large hand cradled my damp cheek, and he shook his head. “I heard everything. I know what you did, that you saved me. That Brad was behind all of it.” Amazement coated his words and he brushed his lips to mine.

Hope flared as the realization that Liam could be mine again crashed into me. I gasped, clinging to him, laying my head on his bare chest. But then I remembered how all my friends had hated me, had turned on me so easily, and anger simmered. All those lonely days tumbled over in my mind.

“Gina.” Liam tried to pull me closer, but I shoved him away. He blinked, shocked. “Hey, it’s okay. Didn’t you hear what I said? I know why you did it.”

Fury made me tremble, all the pent-up emotions needing an outlet. And I could finally speak without consequence. “Great, good for you. Now that someone’s spelled it out for you, now you see it.”

The furrow in his forehead made an appearance.

“Do you know what it was like, being forced into a choice like that?” I jabbed his big bare chest with my finger, forcing myself not to wince when it hurt me more than him. “You just believed me, that I was capable of being that heartless and walking away. After everything we’d been through, all our plans, everything I’d said and shared with you.”

Tears of hurt and frustration coursed down my cheeks as I moved away. He took a step toward me, but I held up my hand. “And everyone sided with you, including my best friend.”

All the loneliness and betrayal I’d pushed down day after day crashed over me in a tidal wave, bringing me to my knees as I broke. Sobs tore through me, my chest heaving with all the buried hurt I’d stuffed aside.

Liam knelt by my side, pulling me tight to him. “I couldn’t see past my own pain to even consider that something wasn’t right with you. Even after Sally called, I couldn’t see.”

He sucked in a ragged breath, his pain mirroring what I felt. “It was like someone took out my heart and ran it through a meat grinder, then stuffed it back inside me. I could hardly function.” He shifted me onto his lap.

“But I ran after you to tell you I love you.” I let out a loud sniff. “I don’t do shit like that.”

“I know, Red. I know.” He hesitated. “I guess…I always thought you were too good to be true. And part of me was just waiting for the day you’d leave. So when that day came…” He paused, lifting a shoulder. “I just accepted it.”

“Dumb-ass.”

But he just smirked and touched his forehead to mine. We sat like that for a long moment before he pulled back. “You’re not off the hook either, you know.” His jaw worked side to side as he studied me. “You said you trusted me, but you kept this massive secret, making this huge decision all on your own. Why?”

Brad’s words replayed in my head, and I shivered, burrowing against Liam’s chest. “He played his game well. Brad called the first time, at The High Five, a few nights after the food poisoning, asking if I’d like to make a bet.”

I went through what had happened with each of his calls, telling how he’d raised the stakes every time. And his threats against Avery if I told. “I’d seen what he was capable of, how many people he’d hurt already, and I had no reason not to believe him. He even killed Wendy.”

Liam’s jaw clenched and fury burned in his eyes. “I can’t believe he did that.”

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