Page 76 of Forbidden Mistress

The door cracks open regardless, and I squint at the bright light backlighting the person standing there holding a grocery bag in hand. It’s a tall figure—much taller than any of my roommates. And much bigger, too.

A man. I recognize him immediately and respond by throwing my covers over my head. “Get out,” I bark.

The door closes but I know he’s not gone. Footsteps approach my bed and I hear the rustle of the bag.

“Is something wrong with your hearing? I said get the fuck out.”

“Your roommates are worried about you.” Liam’s quiet but firm baritone seeps through the layers of my blankets and sheets. “I am, too.”

“You lost the right to worry about me,” I snap. “Go away.”

Of course, being Liam, he completely ignores me. He sinks down on Avery’s bed, rustling in the bag. “I’ve stayed away for two weeks hoping this would get to the point where we could talk, but those two weeks have been torture. Because you asked, I’ve stayed away as long as I possibly could.”

I huff and flip the blanket off me long enough to glower at him in the dark. “Wrong. You were gone an entire year, remember? Two weeks should be a cakewalk.”

He ignores my saltiness and reaches into the bag, pulling out a plastic container. “Have one of these. They’re dried ginger slices. It will help your stomach. There’s also some ginger ale and dry crackers in the bag. When you’re feeling up to it, I put some of Mom’s meatballs and rice in your fridge.”

I immediately tense. “Does she know?”

He hesitates and then slowly shakes his head. “She’s worried about you. Wondering why you haven’t come to see her.”

I’m silent at his gentle reproach. If he thinks he’s going to use Lori to get to me, then he has another thing coming.

“She’s going to find out eventually, Cass. You’re her stepdaughter and this is her grandchild.”

I blow out a breath. “Reminding me of how fucked up this situation is isn’t going to get you anywhere.”

He sucks in a deep breath and lets it go. “Do you want me to tell her? Is that what you want? Because it would probably be best coming from both of us.”

“I want you to tell her. I want you to admit to her how you purposely kept me in poverty, then offered me a job in a moment of desperation so you could take advantage of me and take everything you possibly could away from me, including my dignity.”

He’s silent for a long moment, and I stare into the shadows, making out just the outline of his beautiful face in the darkness. God, why does he have to be so perfect on the outside and so rotten on the inside?

“It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I tried to tell you on the beach. But you wouldn’t listen. All I’m asking for is that you hear me out now. Hear everything but also listen to me. Don’t try to put a twisted spin on it because I know it’s easy to do. It’s easy to do because I’ve kept myself hidden from you all these years.”

I frown. “All these years? What are you talking about?”

He reaches up and rubs his jaw, then blows out a breath as if coming to a decision. “I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember, Cass. Since the night I first met you when our parents were dating.”

I shake my head. “We were kids.”

He shrugs his broad shoulders. “I didn’t do it consciously, Cass. Deep down, I always knew it was wrong. We may not be blood-related, but our entire family still considers me your big brother, and because of that, I always kept my feelings for you secret. But sometime around when I left for university, I realized it was getting harder to hold back. God, Cass, if you only knew the torment I felt then. Living with you, loving you, wanting you…I vowed to get away. So I decided to go back to the UK for university, as far away as I could get. And tried to forget.”

I blink, remembering how stiff and distant he was that first Christmas back from college. That was the beginning of everything changing between us. It was the deterioration of our friendship. A pang of sorrow pierces my heart when I remember the sadness and confusion I felt back then.

If I’m being honest with myself, it was more than friendship for me, too. But damned if I’m going to admit that to him now. Not after every horrible thing he’s done since.

“You weren’t pining away for me, Liam. You were dating all kinds of women in college and afterward. And in the last year, you’ve had your regular round of models and Willow, so don’t try to—”

“Try to what?” he says, his tone growing a little defensive, a little impatient. “What on earth could I possibly be trying to gain by confessing all of this to you?”

My mind races to find an answer to that question, but I come up blank.

He holds out the container of ginger. “Please at least chew on one of these, and I can tell you the rest. If you want nothing to do with me after you’ve heard me out, I promise you I won’t bother you again.”

I blink, thinking. Well, this could answer some questions I’ve had. “Only if you also answer every question I have—honestly.”

“Deal.” He shakes the container of dried crystallized ginger, and I take one.

---