Ultimately, I decided not to strangle the love of my life with my bare hands, purely on the principle of the matter. “Un-fucking-believable.” I stormed out of the room, past Liam, who was mouth agape in the doorway next to Cade.
“The fuck did you just say?” Liam demanded.
I shot Carter a look over my shoulder. “Thatis your fault.” I ignored Liam’s stream of outraged questions as I added sourly, “Have fun with that, Kensington. I’ll go ahead and order the dentures for you too because you’re gonna fucking need them! Because if Liam doesn’t do it, I swear to God, I’ll knock out your perfectly straight teeth myself!” Carter looked stunned as I shouted at him, and the peanut gallery stifled shocked, wide-eyed, disbelieving laughs from the corner of the room. “I’ve been sittingat your bedside day and night, worried sick, and I warned you what would happen if you got yourself killed, so don’t look so surprised—and will somebody get the damn doctor up here to look at his stupid brain already!?” I demanded, holding back a sob.
I practically stomped down to the cafeteria like King-Kong and angrily ate a chocolate pudding cup, unable to finish it as I finally burst into tears.
A little while later, I smelled Sloane’s signature perfume behind me, and she rounded the cafeteria table and slid into the chair across from me.
“How mad is Liam?” I asked, staring into the abyss of my pudding cup, feeling nauseous.
“If Carter wasn’t already in a hospital bed, I’m pretty sure Liam would have put him in one.” What a mess. “It’ll all work out.” She gripped my hand across the table and grimaced. “He’s probably disoriented, and he’s obviously been through hell—I’m sure he’s not thinking clearly yet, even if he thinks he is.”
I nodded, hoping she was right, but a small part of me knew she wasn’t. “You think I should go up there and check on him—on Liam?” I sighed halfway, wishing Liamwouldknock his teeth out. Maybe knock the sense right back into him, I certainly wanted to.
“Cade is trying to talk Liam down right now,” Sloane said. “Plus, Theo and his cousins are up there. They won’t let Liam hurt him. At least not while he’s still in a hospital bed.” Sloane nodded confidently. “Let’s give it a few minutes.”
Only I knew a few minutes wasn’t going to change his mind. I’d seen the look in his eyes. Seen the determination to push me away.
Why? I couldn’t say exactly. But he’d done it before, and I knew exactly what it looked like, and even worse, what it felt like.
CHAPTER 49
I Know You
CARTER
Standing in my kitchen, I knocked back a second pill from my prescription bottle as a pounding headache stabbed through my head, threatening to turn into another nasty migraine.
Liam yelling at me from across my new penthouse in the city wasn’t helping.
But this was progress, at least. The yelling.
“How. Long. Has this been going on?” Liam demanded, and I realized he’d stopped yelling long enough to actually ask a question.
I stared at the ceiling,since the moment I laid eyes on her.“Halloween.” I admitted.
Back at the hospital, he’d ripped me a new one, but this was essentially the first time he’d spoken to me since—he’d made a special visit just to ream me. Again.
Liam stared at me, jaw rippling. “Did you sleep with her?”
“I—” My lips formed and then unformed the words. What the hell was I supposed to say? I didn’t want to lie to him, but any version of the truth was only going to make things worse. “We?—”
His eyes narrowed. “I knew it was fucking weird that she was in your lap on Halloween.” I could see his wheels turning, and Iclosed my eyes, just waiting for it. “Was that my sister’s dildo in your bed?” Liam demanded. “Fuck!” He shoved both hands through his hair, still pacing furiously. “I don’t even know if I want you to answer that.” He stopped and stared at me, wheels turning, a shred of hope still there. “Kensington, I need you to be straight with me. Did you sleep with my sister?”
I was about to lose my best friend, but if it meant protecting the woman I loved, it was a painful cost I was willing to pay. “Technically, no,” I muttered, hating how awful that sounded.
“Technically?” He growled darkly, fists curling and uncurling.
I dragged two hands over my face in exasperation. “What the hell do you want me to say, Liam?”
“The truth!” He demanded.
I didn’t say anything more, and that was damning enough.
Liam shook his head in outraged disbelief. “I thought I knew you.” Then, “Actually, fuck that. Idoknow you. Which is exactly why I told you to stay the hell away from her.”
“Liam—”
