Bitter Kisses (It's Just High School #3) - Thandiwe Mpofu Page 0,117
said he was shot to death.”
“That part is true, but it was censored out.”
“What about me?”
“They’re speculating your involvement. I mean why else would those damn tabloids b e lurking trying to snap a picture of you, not that anyone can access thios floor.”
“Wait, what?”
“Oh you didn’t know that either?” Liam questions, surprised. “Julian made Dad clear all the rooms on this floor for your privacy, then private security was placed on this floor.”
You’ll never live in fucking fear of anyone ever again.
A shudder moves violently through me as Julian’s word echo in my head, my heart and even my soul.
“When did all this happen?”
“Well most of the shit was done on the low, to keep Nathan from suspecting Dad’s safety measures but yeah, if that asshole tried something, there were people ready to take him out.”
He’s not joking. I can see the truth of his words in his eyes. Julian and his father John were really prepared for anything.
“But then you woke up and flipped the script with that amnesia chip you cashed in. Fucking brilliant!”
He’s so proud that I don’t have the heart to tell him everything I said about Nathan was the truth, so I just whisper the only words I can manage right now at these revelations.
“But how?” I croak.
Liam laughs at that.
“You’re really asking me that? Have you met my brother? When he wants something, he gets it. And he wants you protected, and on his life, he’s going to do it.” I manage to just stare at him, blinking like a cartoon character. “Which is why you should’ve just let him take that bullet. Though he did walk through fire to atone for that. Hell, that sonofabitch made sure none of the flames touched you.”
That’s true. There isn’t an inch of me that was burned. My hair was singed a bit but it’s just hair and besides, I need a haircut anyway.
“Sonofabitch?” I quirk my eyebrow.
“We’ve recently realized we can use that one on each other with reckless abandon due to recent events,” Liam says with a shrug.
He’s trying to be casual about it all, but I can see the whole Courtney thing is affecting him. After all, when your mother hurts you, that hurt sinks really deep. And when a father sells his daughter to some underground prostitution/trafficking ring, the scars and injury are forever.
So what business do I have with entertaining a future with Julian when my tomorrow isn’t even guaranteed?
“I haven’t heard anything about Nathan. What’s happening?” I whisper, fear knocking at the doors of my still fractured mind.
“Trust me, the silence is deliberate,” Liam says, his voice now arctic and hard. “I’m pretty sure Dad has something in store for his step-brother.”
If this was about seven months ago, hell, two years ago, I would have followed up on that sketchy comment, but I’m different now. Nothing’s the same anymore, so I just shake it off to fortify my heart against the pain of what my own father did to me.
“If my name has been kept out of the news, what’s this ongoing investigation on the Matthews about?”
“Yes, well, apparently the devil’s been busy on that too.”
I already know which devil he’s talking about, but I need to be sure.
“You mean this is all Julian’s doing?”
“Well of-fucking-course, Mia! My brother and I share the same view when it comes to revenge.”
View. As in singular.
There’s something dangerous about lone rules with no follow up, no reiteration of any explanation. So when I ask him what he means, Liam looks down at me, holds my gaze and then, “That it has to be profound and thorough.”
A shiver runs down my spine. I don’t doubt it but that must be dangerous, isn’t it?
“He’s doing this all alone?”
“Nah, this time, the devil has two heads,” Liam says, looking annoyed now.
“I’m going to guess here and say you mean Cole.”
“Well of course, cupcake, which other two assholes can put together an elaborate plan years before to fuck up some asshole by preserving the body of a strangled three-month old poor baby only to bury it in the backyard of the inbreds that fathered that baby and killed it.”
“Oh my God,” I gasp. “A strangled baby?”
“Feeling disgusted huh?” Liam bites out. “You know that sister of theirs, the one who used to stalk Julian?” I nod, feeling horrified. Who kills a baby? I saw the miracle of life myself, how could anyone… “Yeah well, it turns out Sean and Shane took turns raping their own sister. She