Page 98 of Liam
“Don’t do it, Dad!” Liam’s voice rings out, hoarse and strained. The desperation, the fear—it’s all there, and my heart clenches so tight it feels like I can’t breathe.
A dull thud echoes through the line. Liam’s sharp intake of breath cuts off, replaced by a muffled groan. The sound of his suffering tears through me like a knife.
I can’t hold back anymore. A sob rips from my throat, raw and agonizing. I sink to the floor, wrapping my arms around myself as if I could somehow hold the pieces of my breaking heart together. The room spins, but all I can focus on is the sound of Liam’s suffering echoing in my mind, relentless and unforgiving.
And I’m powerless. So utterly powerless.
“You have twenty-four hours and counting,” Elias’s voice returns, cold as ice. “Actually, less than that now. Or Liam dies, and I move on to the next Valeur. And the next. Until there’s no one left.”
Peter struggles to his feet, his face pale. “Listen to me, Elias. Your father… He wasn’t a good person. There are things you don’t understand?—”
The line goes dead. Elias has hung up.
The silence presses in, suffocating me. My gaze drifts toPeter, and through the blur of my tears, I struggle to reconcile the man before me with the image I’ve always held of him—the powerful, untouchable patriarch admired by his sons, especially Liam. But now, he looks…shattered. His broad shoulders slump under the weight of years-long secrets, each one adding more cracks to his once-imposing figure.
His eyes, usually sharp and full of authority, are hollow as he lifts his head to meet our collective stares. In that moment, I see a man aged by guilt, by the mistakes that have led us here. The man I love is in danger—mortal danger—because of something buried in Peter’s past.
Logan’s fist slams onto the desk, the sharp crack reverberating through the tense room. I jump, a small gasp escaping my lips.
“Got something!” Logan’s voice is raw with excitement, wild, like someone dangling on the edge of desperation. We all surge toward him, huddling around his computer like it holds the key to saving Liam.
A map lights up on the screen, a pulsing red dot at its center. “The call,” Logan says, words spilling out in a rush. “Mercer’s people traced it to this area. It’s not exact, but?—”
“It’s a start,” I breathe, my heart hammering in my chest. For the first time since this nightmare began, a flicker of hope pierces the suffocating darkness.
But then Peter’s voice cuts through the moment. “I’ve made a decision.” His tone is flat, resigned. It’s the sound of a man who’s already given up, who’s preparing to do the unthinkable.
All heads turn to him, dread pooling in the pit of my stomach.
“I’m going to do what Elias wants.”
The room erupts. Cora’s scream is the first to cut through the noise, raw and guttural. “Dad, no!” She rushes to him, clutching his arm with a desperation I’ve never seen before. “We’ll find another way. We always do!”
“You can’t just give in,” Lucas says, his voice sharp with fury, but underneath, I hear the fear. “If you do what Elias wants, Liam’s as good as dead. It won’t save him—it’ll destroy all of us.”
But Peter’s expression doesn’t waver. His face is a mask of determination, etched with the lines of too many sleepless nights and too many regrets. “I’ve carried this guilt for too long,” he says, his voice firm despite the surrounding chaos. “If my death can save Liam, if it can save all of you, then it’s worth it.”
For a moment, the room falls into stunned silence. My chest tightens, air refusing to fill my lungs. I stand there, watching this family—the Valeurs—fall apart, and it hits me just how deep their love runs, how much pain they’re willing to bear for each other.
Liam loves his father, and admires him more than anyone. The man he looks up to will sacrifice himself for a crime long buried, but Liam would never want that. He’d never forgive it.
I can’t stay silent. I can’t let this happen.
“Mr. Valeur,” I start, my voice shaking but somehow steady enough to be heard, “I understand why you feel like this is the only way. But Liam loves you. He’d never want you to throw your life away like this. Not before you tried every other option. We still have just under twenty-four hours.”
Peter’s eyes land on me, softening, but the pain in them runs deep. “You really do love my son, don’t you?”
I nod, tears pricking at my eyes again. I think I’ve lovedhim since college. I never stopped loving him. “I do. And that’s why I can’t let you do this. It will destroy him. We’ll find another way. And besides, we have no assurance that Elias will let Liam go even if you comply with all his demands.”
Logan steps in, his voice ringing with resolve. “Aleria’s right. We’re Valeurs. We don’t quit. And we sure as hell don’t let scum like Elias win. We’re going to find Liam. Together.”
For the first time in hours, I feel something other than dread—a thread of hope, fragile but present. We may be up against impossible odds, but Logan’s right. We have something Elias will never understand. Family. Love.
I close my eyes, summoning Liam’s face to the forefront of my mind. His quick wit, his quiet strength, the way he makes me feel seen even in the middle of a storm. I can’t lose him. Not like this.
“Hold on, Liam,” I whisper, a prayer woven with every ounce of hope I have left. “We’re coming for you. Just hold on.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
