“It is exactly that easy.”
“Can you say no to your family?” I ask him. And I’m genuinely curious. I grew up with money, but maybe the uber wealthy operate differently than we do. People like Sam and Stephanie are in a whole other league, so I have no idea. “Do you get to marry whomever you want?”
He looks me over, and I know what he’s thinking. No. He doesn’t. There is no way he could bring me home to daddy. There’s nothing to be gained.
“My family wouldn’t force me to marry someone I don’t want to marry,” he responds. Nice deflection. There’s probably a short list of girls here at St. A’s who he’s supposed to be considering. Holy shit. I’m sure there is. Why on earth hadn’t that occurred to me before?
“Did you think that we’d keep seeing each other?” I ask him, now that the thought of Sam finding his own bride has occurred to me. “Even while you’re off courting whomever it is you’re supposed to be courting?”
He looks baffled but doesn’t deny he is supposed to be vetting a list of potential future wives. “I—I—Well, yes. Yes, I did. You said you were moving to California after graduation. I mean, fuck. You’re engaged.To the mob.How the hell are we supposed to keep seeing each other now?”
I’ve always been part of a clan, but now that there’s going to be a mobster’s ring on my finger, I’m suddenly untouchable. Gotta love that. What I want is irrelevant. I’m irrelevant. I now only exist as someone’s soon-to-be wife. “I guess we’re not.”
He looks me over. Sighs. Seems to deflate. “We’ve been doing this thing”—he motions between us—“for two years now. I thought, at the very least, we were friends. I’ve been helping you move money around so you can get yourself to Stanford. You’re giving up on that now? Just like that?”
Just like that? Just like that? I throw my hands up in the air. “What the hell do you want from me, Sam? I didn’t ask for this. I don’t want to marry him.”
“Do you want me to make some calls for you?” Sam asks. “Theo may be able to help.” Theo Nicopolis is heir to the Greek mob, and one of Sam’s best friends on campus. It’s a ridiculous suggestion. The Greeks have nothing to do with my future, and Sam is a naive idiot if he thinks that’s the way things work in my world.
“Theo can’t help me.” And I sure as hell am not going to involve him in my troubles. Talk about a slap in the face to my family. Involving the Greeks. No. I’m going to have to find another path. One that enables me to derail this from within.
When the knock on my door comes, I’m surprised that Sam throws it open. “We’re having a conversation here,” is how he greets Liam. Ugh. It’s obvious my going off alone with Liam embarrassed him last night. It’s as if I can feel the testosterone radiating at nuclear levels all around me.
I can’t see my almost fiancé around the annoyed guy who is blocking my doorway, but I sure as hell hear him. “Move the fuck out of my way, Rutherford, or I swear to Christ they’ll be finding your body parts for years.”
I suck in a breath. I’ve never heard Liam talk like that. He’s always smiling at something. Joking. Laughing. In fact, I almost convince myself that I’m mistaken about the voice. It’s hard to believe it’s Liam on the other side of my door. He sounds unhinged.
“Fuck you, you—” Sam doesn’t finish because I grab his shoulder and use all my force to pull him away from the door.
I look him right in the eye. “I have to go. With Liam.”
“And, I told you, no, you don’t.”
I glance over to see that Liam has let himself in my house and is standing in the doorway, arms crossed, glaring eyes volleying between my now ex and me. Liam is a bigger guy, and suddenly, I’m concerned for Sam’s safety.
“Sam,” I hiss. “Please. Leave.”
“You heard her,” Liam growls. “She said to get the fuck out.” Okay, so that’s not exactly what I said, but, eh, close enough. I don’t argue the semantics. I’m still too flabbergasted by Liam’s tone.
Sam glowers at me, and he starts toward Liam, who looks ready to come undone. When Liam clenches a fist, I brace myself for the blows to come. Instead, Sam reaches for his coat. “We’ll talk later, Taryn.”
I nod, and while Sam is watching me, Liam opens the door and literally shoves him out of it. “The fuck you will. Stay away from my fiancée, dickhead.” He slams the door behind him.
I cannot believe any of that just happened. Who the hell does Liam think he is? Does he honestly think he’ll get to dictate who I talk to? I mean, fuck that. We aren’t even engaged yet. He’s supposed to be helping me find a way to prevent that from happening.
“You can wait in the car. I still need a few minutes,” I tell him angrily.
“Nah. I’m good here,” he shoots back at me, every bit as irritated.
With a huff, I head back upstairs to my room to grab my purse and run into Stephanie, who is eavesdropping in the hall. My roomie doesn’t even pretend otherwise.
“Yeah, I’ll tell you about it later.”
“You’d better.” She nods and scurries back to her own room.
I grab my cross-body bag, and Liam helps me into my coat, despite the effort I make to shove him off me. We both trudge to his car in silence. He starts the engine and sits there, staring at his steering wheel. He is clutching it so hard his knuckles are white.
Suddenly, he turns off the ignition. “Did he stay the night?”
