Page 37 of Under His Control

He didn’t turn or acknowledge me, striding faster to his room despite his wounded leg.

Once he pushed open the door to his guest suite, I hurried in after him before he could shut the door in my face.

“Let me?—”

“No.” He growled it, rubbing Olivia’s back as he tried to calm her. “I don’t have time for this, Eva. Time for you.”

I frowned at his harsh words, damning him for not hearing me out. I wasn’t here for me. For anythingIwanted. I only wished to helphim.

“I don’t have time to scratch a fucking itch, all right?” He shook his head and paced with Olivia. “I’ve got a kid to take care of and calm down. I need to clean myself up after that all that bullshit with the bikers. I don’t have time for anything for you.”

I stepped back, hurt more than I should’ve allowed. He was speaking out of anger. I knew that, deep down. I was aware of the situation and what could be dictating how he behaved. But being mad was no excuse to lash out at me.

I’d taken worse insults before and not cared one bit. Yet, the way he’d worded his rejection stung.

According to him, in the heat of the moment as he reacted to my following here, I was nothing more than a body to fuck, not a person who could offer him comfort and assistance. I wasn’t an expert with Olivia, but I cared, dammit. I cared about him and his daughter, enough that I’d try and do my best to support them in this tough moment of running high on emotions.

Liam didn’t see me as a friend or even a close acquaintance who could offer help.

I was just someone he fucked. Only something physical.

Although I was starting to care—a lot—it seemed that he wouldn’t ever be on the same page as me. I was someone to fuck. An itch to scratch.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you. It’s all right, Liv,” he crooned, trying to calm his baby as he gave me his back.

I wasn’t sure that I could convince myself of the same. Without a word, I turned and left him as he'd ordered.

It wasn’t okay that he’d been hurt. All he truly had was Olivia, no one else. And I was certain that would never be all right inthis world we’d come to share. It couldn’t beall rightwhen I was this hurt and maligned and being told to get lost when I was slowly opening my heart up to both of them.

I wanted to be here for him, however he needed me to make this night less of a nightmare.

But this time, it was impossible for me to fight his harsh rejection. This time, he could have the last damn word.

I knew my worth. I was aware of my value. And I’d be damned if I begged him to see me as something more than a convenient piece of ass to enjoy when he wanted company.

13

LIAM

Olivia eventually calmed down.

I couldn’t say the same for myself. After I laid her in her crib, I sat in the silence of the guest room and regretted how I’d lashed out at Eva. She’d tracked me back here, wanting to see me, but I couldn’t handle any sympathy or concern after what I’d gone through tonight.

I showered and cleaned up my cuts and scrapes from fighting back those bikers, but being in the shower stall and under the massaging water pressure reminded me ofourshower we’d shared. How she came apart with me so beautifully like we were made for each other.

I was a mess, inside and out, but mostly in my head. I was livid that anyone would target me just because I’d been spending time here with the Constellas. Tessa was the only reason I’d come—to check on her and catch up—but that was no excuse for hanging around.

No reason to explain why I’d been shopping with Eva and so eager to protect her from that sniper.

If pushing her to safety marked me as one of them, if that action declared me an ally of the Constellas…

Then fuck you, Reaper. Fuck you all.

I would never hesitate to defend another, especially in something so impersonal as a distant shot from a sniper. That was cold-blooded murder. An assassination.

As I lay in my bed and tried to relax to rest, my mind ran a mile a moment with the fear that Eva could ever be killed. Or hurt. With or without me in her life.

She’d come to matter that much, regardless of how constantly I’d coach myself to push her away and keep my distance.

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