I scoffed, shook my head, and rolled my eyes. “I can assure you that I’m not interested in your family’s wealth. I may not have come from what you all did, but I have worked hard to gain what I have. I’m proud of my family, the hard work that I’ve put in, and what I have accomplished. I don’t need your brother to boost me to another level. I’m good on my own. I want your brother because he’s a good man who loves me and makes me feel whole.”
He nodded. “Is that what you tell yourself?”
“Excuse me?”
“When you’re trying to justify being with him knowing that he’s still in love with his ex.”
I reared my head back. “What is your issue?”
He shrugged nonchalantly and turned his lips down. “I don’t have one. I’m just stating facts. It’s no secret that my mother wanted him and Pandora to marry, just like it’s no secret that Pandora will never let him go.”
“Seems to me like she already did. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be with me.”
“Sweetheart, this ain’t no fairy tale. I can promise you that it’s not over between those two. They’ve been best friends since they were four and inseparable for most of their lives. He found out she cheated on him during their freshman year of college and broke up with her. You were his revenge. But every school break, he found himself right back with her.”
“He was dating me in college.”
“That may be true, but where was he when he came home from college?”
I thought about that. We both lived in the same city, on opposite sides though. When we returned home on break, he usually spent time with his friends, and I spent time with mine. After all, we had time to spend with each other when we went back to school. I never questioned it.
“I don’t know what your endgame here is, but I don’t want to play.”
I walked away, but he grabbed me by the wrist. Liam pressed himself against me from behind, and I could feel his erection against my ass and his warm breath on my neck. Asshole!
“Too bad. You’re already playing. If you lose, the consolation prize is worth it.”
I spun around, and my eyes slammed into his, and his fingers pinched the skin of my wrist as he held my arm upward, pinned against my chest. “There is nothing that I want from this family except for Ethan. I promise that I won’t let Pandora, your mother, you, or hell stop me from marrying the love of mylife,” I hissed. We were only inches apart, close enough that we could kiss if we wanted to, but all I felt was an intense hatred burning in my belly for Liam.
Someone cleared their throat behind us, and I heard Mrs. Elaine Shields’s judgmental voice. “Sevyn, dear, my son, Ethan, is looking for you. I think you should rejoin the party now.”
A look of mock disgust colored Liam’s face, as he shoved my arm away. “I hope I made myself clear,” he stated in a low tone.
When I turned around, I saw a look of horror on Mrs. Shields’s face. “I don’t think my son would approve of your behavior, young lady. If you do anything to hurt my child, so help me God, you will have the entire fury of a mother bear raining down on your head.”
“But I?—”
“Please. Go see what Ethan wants,” she demanded and waved me off.
Fury rolled through me as I glanced back at Liam and saw the smirk on his lips. I rushed from the kitchen to find Ethan. From the way Liam portrayed things, it could have easily been misconstrued that I was coming on to him. I understood how his mother could have mistaken what she saw, but she hadn’t even given me the benefit of the doubt.
I hadn’t laineyes on the woman in months, but I immediately knew who she was. There was a certain type of evil that was impossible to forget, and Elaine Shields was that type of evil. I turned my gaze away from her, and Liam and I met each other’s questioning stare. I remembered exactly who he was too.
Liam was a different sort of evil than his mother. He was sneaky and quick to betray family if it yielded him what he wanted. I could not believe they were demanding I leave the home that I had lived in since marrying her son and his brother.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked, rolling in front of Deuce.
“You have the nerve to ask why we’re doing this, and you’re the one bringing another man in my son’s home? My child has not been cold in the grave for six months, and you’ve already replaced him.”
“What?” I shrieked.
Deuce’s large hand planted firmly on my wheelchair handle and easily pushed me out of the way. “The fact that your twisted mouth could form those words tells me what type of sick individual you are. First, she has the right to go on with her life at any point she chooses to, but she hasn’t done that. The only thing that she’s done is worked hard to get her mobility and speech back. But neither of you would know that considering that you only showed up once.
“I couldn’t figure out that day why you all showed up angry, but you never returned. I guess I know why now. You didn’t give a damn about her health and how she was doing in the hospital. The only thing that either of you gave a shit about was how soon you could kick her out of your property.”
“We’re here to reclaim our property. It’s time for us to cut our losses and for everyone to move forward with their lives.”
“And you just conveniently popped up to reclaim it the day that she was released from the hospital?”
