Page 148 of Quinlan

Liam’s quiet. He’s skeptical, considering if this is too fast to let me in. I did curse him, Rome and Damien. I did fight them. I have to explain myself.

“Rex hurt Damien. He said very little, and the rest… I’m assuming the worst. I won’t be surprised if I’m right.” My hold on Liam’s cheek tightens. He doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t waver. “I’m sickened by it. I believe Damien. He won’t answer my questions and I. Believe. Him. Just like I believe you were hurt. I won’t use it against you. I should. It would be the smart thing to do, to think of ways to fuck with you, to want to have the upper hand. I promise you I won’t. Because I believe you. Because you stole my virginity—”

“Took.” Liam’s thumb on my skin burns. Punishes.

“Technically, you kidnapped me, so…”

The darkness does a lousy job at hiding Liam’s blazing eyes.

“What I’m trying to say is, only half of me hates you. The three of you. The other doesn’t. Don’t shut me out. Help me understand why I’m here.”

Liam’s eyebrow raises, and I swear I hear a noise. I lift my head to look behind him and he pushes me back down. My head collides with the soft pillow.

Nothing about Liam is soft. “Eyes on me, little flame.”

“Okay.”

“Nancy and Gerald. Jerry, really.” His parents. Liam picks up where he left off. “My mom was torn between staying at home with me and keeping her job. It was a calling for her, helping people. Until this day, that’s what she does. Both of them.”

Liam’s lips curl up. Cautiously, as if the movement is strange to him. He can’t help it, though. He’s proud of her.

“Judith was my babysitter for years. Made me lunch and dinner. Sometimes breakfast, depending on my parents’ shifts. We’d watch her shows after I was done with my homework, or we read together in the living room. She had the kindestgreen eyes.” The faraway look in his gaze disappears. Liam’s features harden. “The year I turned eight, Judith passed away. Pneumonia.” The memory hurts him, and he hides it so well. Almost too well. “Aria, our neighbor’s teenage kid, offered to take her place. She was sweet on the outside. My parents and I had no idea what she was like. A monster.”

My nightmare. Our histories. Our pain.

It’s all out in the open. All blending together in my head, in my heart.

I’m raw and sensitive, listening to Liam’s story. I want to inject myself into his past, pull him out of there. Save him from what’s already happened. Make it stop.

Catch Blake before he drowns.

I can’t. I can’t, and God, it hurts.

“What’s this?” I didn’t think it was possible, for his fingers to dig deeper into my skin. They do.

The anger in his voice is audible, reminding me of Damien.

Something about my reaction sets them off. But I’m not doing anything.

“I’m listening.” I stare him dead in the eye. “Or am I supposed to ignore you?”

“Pity me, little flame, and I’m binding you again. Gagging you with my belt.” His eyes burn hotter than the largest wildfire. “I’ll leave you here for days. Damien won’t fight me on it. Rome won’t either, as long as I feed you.”

This isn’t an idle threat. He means it.

Except he’s got it all wrong. This isn’t pity I’m feeling. It’s regret. It’s anger that I’m helpless against changing the past. That I can’t turn back time and slay his monster for him.

Then again, Liam doesn’t need me to fight his wars for him. He’s powerful and cold and wonderful.

He needs me to listen.

That I can do.

I slam my eyes shut. Consider his words. Remember the man who held me up straight while he fucked me on the floor. Who had no remorse. Who took me as his captive.

He hasn’t been that abused kid for a while. And I don’t pity him. I admire him.

“Good girl, Quinlan.” He lessens the pressure on my cheek. He likes what he sees when I open my eyes. He’s breathing me in.

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