“Two whiskeys,” Levi tells the bartender. “Top shelf. We’re celebrating.”
The bartender, a middle-aged woman with tired eyes, looks between us with obvious curiosity. “Celebrating what?”
“My brother’s marriage to this beautiful woman.” Levi’s arm comes around my shoulders, easy and casual. “Though he’s doing a piss-poor job of showing her a good time, don’t ya think?He didn’t even bring her to the bar.” He winks. “That’s alright, cause I stole her away myself.”
The bartender smiles and pours two generous shots. Levi slides one toward me, raising his own in a toast.
“To new beginnings,” he says. “And to surviving the Bishop family. Which, let me tell you, is no small feat.”
I stare at the amber liquid, at the way the overhead light catches it. Part of me knows I shouldn’t take the shot. Knows Calder will be angry if he finds out. But another part of me, the part that’s been locked away and terrified and completely powerless for over a week, wants to feel something other than fear. I want to take back control, power. I want to be me.
I pick up the shot glass and throw it back.
The whiskey burns a path of fire down my throat that’s harsh and smoky, but I don’t cough.Thankfully.
When I set the glass down, Levi’s staring at me with undisguised surprise.
“Well, shit.” He laughs, a genuine sound that loosens the tightness in my chest. “Something tells me Calder has no idea the type of woman you are.”
“None of you know anything about me.”
“You’re right. We don’t.” He signals for another round. “But I’d like to change that. I’d like to know the real you, the woman standing in front of me with a steel spine and fire in her eyes. Not the version of you that my brother’s been parading around.”
The second shot arrives quickly, and we toss them back together. Again, warmth encompasses my chest, dulling the sharp edges of fear and anger that have been a constant companion since Calder took me.
“All I’m trying to do is survive, to make it through another day.”
Levi gives me a half-hearted smile. “I know none of this is what you wanted, and maybe you might have wished he killedyou instead of spared you. I don’t really know. What I do know is that loyalty and protecting those he cares about are the most important things to him. And for what it’s worth, I think he’s actually trying to keep you safe. Even if the way he’s doing it is a little bit twisted.”
“Safe. Is that what you call this?”
“No. I call it exactly what you did earlier…survival.” Levi signals for a third round, and this time, the bartender looks at him skeptically before pouring. “And sometimes survival and protection look the same. It’s like locking the door to your house to keep the rest of the world outside, even if it means you can never leave. No matter what you think, it’s better than death, because we both know you aren’t ready to die.”
The third shot goes down easier than the first two. The world is starting to soften around the edges, and the constant tension in my shoulders finally begins to ease.
“I get that. I understand why he did it.” I hear myself say, and I’m not sure if it’s the whiskey or the fact that Levi actually seems to care. “It just annoys me that everyone thinks I chose this. That all they see when they look at me is the girl who fell in love with Calder Bishop and married him. They don’t know the truth.”
“What’s the truth?”
I meet his eyes, and for a moment, I consider telling him everything. All the ways my mind and body have been torn in two since Calder took me. But no, he already knows because he helped build the lie.
“The truth is complicated,” I say instead.
“Yeah.” He nods slowly. “It usually is.”
The bartender slides one more shot toward each of us without being asked.
Levi grins at her. “You’re my favorite person right now, Deb.”
“Is that you or the whiskey talking?”
“Me, of course.” He winks.
“I’m sure. Just don’t go telling your daddy I’m getting you drunk before you have to go out there and ride that bull.”
We take the fourth shot, and this time, I definitely feel it. The world tilts slightly, everything going warm and fuzzy. I haven’t eaten much today, and four shots of top-shelf whiskey on an empty stomach is hitting me hard.
“Easy there.” Levi steadies me with a hand on my elbow. “I don’t need you face-planting before I make my ride.”
