Page 3 of Taming Liberty

Jasper puts up his hands and chuckles again. “Hold on a second before you lose your shit. You’re claiming to have just murdered a manor whore... I lost my borrowing privileges because I smacked one around, but you think you can take a girl home with you the same night you kill one? How does that make sense?”

When I take a step toward Jasper, Sawyer cuts in front of me and puts a hand on my chest. “Don’t,” he says to me, his eyes serious but also imploring. He turns to Jasper. “You’re not helping.”

“What is it you want me to do, mate?” Jasper asks Sawyer. “You asked me to help you get the girl back to the manor. Do you think it would help if we askednicely?”

“What?” I grab Sawyer by the collar and jerk him toward me. “What the fuck did you ask him to do?”

“Calm down,” Sawyer huffs out, grabbing my hand and pulling it away from his shirt. He backs up a step and raises his hands. “Please, just let me talk for a minute, all right?”

I don’t respond with anything but a glare.

“Look, I’m not here to hurt anyone. Not Ivy and not you. But someonediedtonight, Angel. Someone who was my responsibility. So I need to know what happened.”

“Why is he here?” I gesture to Jasper.

Sawyer lowers his hands and aims a scowl at Jasper. “For the record, I didn’t ask him to come, hevolunteered.”

He turns back to me. “You’ve been so damn stubborn lately, I thought it would help to have someone back me up for once. So please, let’s just talk. What happened?”

“It can wait until tomorrow.”

Sawyer frowns. “No, it can’t.”

I look between the two men, wondering how the hell we didn’t kill each other when we rented that shitty three-bedroom back in college. It feels like a lifetime ago.

“Ivy?” Sawyer calls, looking around me.

No response.

I glance over my shoulder at the couch, the back of it shielding Lib from view. I turn back to Sawyer. “She’s in shock. If you want to hear from her, you won’t be able to tonight.”

I take a deep breath, willing my anger away, and when I let it out, I gesture to my kitchen. “Okay. Let’s talk.”

Sawyer leads the way to the kitchen table, and I wait for Jasper to follow before I bring up the rear. We sit down, my chair closest to the living room.

“What happened?” Sawyer asks, his face frozen with dismay. Jasper’s face is stone too. I can’t tell if he’s pissed or hiding his pleasure.

I rap my fingers on my thigh as I take a moment to think.

This is Sawyer, my friend. Mybrother. Why am I questioning telling him the truth? My eyes drift to Jasper.

“Do you really need to be here?” I ask.

His lips twitch like my anger amuses him. “Am I not welcome?”

“No, you’re not.”

“Ouch.” He puts a hand over his chest. “All this time, I thought we were friends.”

I don’t respond. I’m not sure how to. My initial reaction is to snarl at him, treat him like the enemy I currently view him as.

But a month ago? Wewerefriends. At the very least, we respected each other. Now I could kill him, and honestly … why? For wanting the same woman?

Yeah. That’s enough for me.

“You should wait outside,” Sawyer says, turning to Jasper.

Jasper smiles at me sinisterly, taking his time staring me down before he rises from the table and exits through the back door.

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