Page 4 of Taming Liberty

“There, happy?”

I shake my head. “Not in the slightest.”

“You’re pissing off our contract killer. You realize how stupid that is, right?”

“We can question my intelligence later. What is it that you want to know? I met Liberty on the balcony, Desiree came out. She started her typical whining. She pushed me, I pushed back. Here we are. Anything else?”

Sawyer eyes me carefully. “Are you telling the truth?”

I put both my hands on the table and lean toward him. “What reason would I have to lie?”

“If you think you’re protecting Ivy by lying, you shouldn’t. You should be more concerned about yourself.”

I angle away from him. “And why’s that?”

Sawyer runs his hands through his hair. I squint and notice bags under his eyes, hinting at days’ worth of stress. I haven’t spoken to him since he left for Shanghai, and now I’m questioning what happened there.

Later. We’ll deal with that later.

Sawyer sighs. “You need to let this girl go, Angel. She doesn’t want you.” He peers down at the table instead of meeting my eyes. “I’m sorry, but it’s true. I’m not going to kill her, regardless of whether tonight was an accident or not. You can try to convince me that you’re the one who did it, but I know you wouldn’t…” He clears his throat. “After everything that happened with Beth, I know you wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.”

My breath hitches at the sound of her name, but I focus on the present.

Finally, he looks at me. “In any case, I’m not going to hurt her. I actually think I might like her. But obviously, I can’t keep her at the manor. I mean that this time, so please don’t try to change my mind. It’s already done.”

“What are you saying?” My eyes narrow to slits, but I’m more confused than angry. What does he expect her to do … stayhere?

This time, I do understand his adamancy about her being out of the manor. I know I can’t fight that anymore. She’s been too much drama for him.

But she can’t stay here.

Right?

Fuck.

He takes an impossibly long time to answer, his eyes drifting to the back door.

“Spit it out, Sawyer.”

“I sold her,” he says, his voice low.

My chest tightens. “What?”

He scrubs his face with his hands and hangs his head. “I’m sorry. I know you’re pissed, but I just … can’t.” He sits up straight and forces eye contact. “I spoke to her tonight, and she doesn’t want you. She made that perfectly clear to me, so please believe me when I say I’m doing you a favor. This obsession isn’t getting you anywhere. It’s not healthy, and frankly, I’m fucking worried about you.”

Inside, panic blooms, slow at first, in my stomach, but when it spreads it’s like an explosion. And still, my hands are steady.

“You sold her…” I point toward my patio door. “To that?”

Sawyer rears back like he’s insulted. “God,no. He doesn’t even know about it. Trust me, he’ll be equally as pissed as you are. No, it’s just a regular at the manor. He’s asked me about buying her several times. I’ve already looked into it, and he doesn’t have a history of cruelty. She’ll be fine. Probably happier…”

The panic subsides. If it were Jasper, it’d be a fight, but this is an easy fix. But something else creeps in to replace the panic … pain.

He thinks he’s saving her from me, doesn’t he? From meandJasper. It’s so pitiful, I’d laugh if it didn’t sting.

“How much?” I ask, trying to forget half of what he just said... She doesn’t want me. Not now, not in this life.

Why am I surprised? What did I honestly believe? That we could pick back up where we left off? That she’d see me as I truly am with the same admiration she’d felt for the man I was behind a screen?

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