Page 41 of Ruthless Heart

“It was your fault, you know.” Her tone is curt, which hits me in all the wrong ways.

“How do you figure?” My tone matches hers.

“If you hadn’t tricked me into believing you were unattached, things would never have gone so wrong.”

“I didn’t trick you. I was unattached.”

She stares at me. “Don’t lie. There’s no point. She called you her fiancé. She told me to get out ofherhouse. She had keys. Your engagement picture was in a kitchen drawer, conveniently out of sight when you picked me up and brought me home. If not me, it would’ve been someone else, huh?”

“No. And I wasn’t engaged. I broke things off with Francesca six weeks earlier. If she claimed we were still engaged, she’s the one who tricked you.”

Her brows furrow. “The keys? The engagement ring she was wearing? Oneyougave her.”

“When I ended things, I didn’t ask for the ring back. And as for the keys, I guess she made a spare because I asked for my house key back, and she gave it to me.”

Olivia shifts her weight between her feet, and her eyes narrow suspiciously. “The news called her your fiancee.”

“Again, so what? Do you think either of us sent the media an update when we broke up?”

“You could’ve set the record straight. Corrected it in the news if they had it wrong.”

“I could have, but I didn't want to. The police assumed the suitcases in my bedroom were mine and hers. Which suited me. The more people who found out about you the more danger you’d have been in. The only person I wanted to know the truth about the broken engagement was you. My every move was being scrutinized, so I sent Aiden to your place to set the record straight. He tried to see you for me. Every day for four straight days.”

She stares at me with furrowed brows. “Is that the truth? I… I didn’t know what he wanted. I thought he might be coming to insist I give you an alibi or something.”

“An alibi? I never claimed I didn’t shoot her.”

“I didn’t know what you said. And maybe not an alibi, but to tell a story to confirm whatever you were telling them?”

“No.” I exhale a frustrated sigh. “I did everything possible to keep you out of it.” I grab Liv’s keys from under a chair cushion where I hid them the night before. “Say goodbye, so we can go.”

* * *

OLIVIA

For the firstpart of the drive, I’m lost in thought, wondering whether Liam is telling the truth about his broken engagement. Now that I’m considering the possibility, there were a few things that suggest he might be telling the truth. There were no signs of a woman in the master bedroom or bathroom. No second toothbrush. No makeup or hair products on the vanity or in the shower. If she’d been living there at the time, wouldn’t there have been more evidence of it? There was only that one picture in a drawer. Nothing else.

I call work and tell them I’ve had to leave town because of a family emergency. My manager is nice about it. I’m sure they’ll be able to get someone to fill in until they can hire someone full-time.

Brady plays happily in his car seat for about an hour, then is ready to get out. Liam stops so I can change him and move to the back seat to help entertain him for the second half of the drive. I’m somewhat successful, but by the time we arrive at the Quincy mansion, Brady is very fussy.

It feels surreal to suddenly be in Liam’s house again, but I barely have time to process it. Brady’s upset and that comes first. I make a warm bottle, which immediately calms him. He was hungrier than I realized.

Liam takes the boxes upstairs but puts the playpen and activity center in the kitchen.

“If we’re going to stay here, we need to baby-proof the house,” I say as Brady crawls across the kitchen floor at top speed.

“Make a list of what needs to be done. We’ll do it.”

When Brady reaches the hall, I stride over to scoop him up. He fights being held. It’s a new place, and he wants to explore.

“The family room might be better,” Liam says, looking at him. “Those doors close, so he could crawl around without the risk of his making a break for the stairs.

I lick my lips and nod. “We can try it. Is there a television there? I can put on one of the shows that fascinate him.”

“Yeah, there’s a flatscreen.”

I try to grab a pen and paper but give it up because Brady is too rambunctious. Liam grabs them for me and leads me to the family room.

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