Pride and Papercuts (The Austens #5) - Staci Hart Page 0,81

disguised how I felt about you, you’d be more willing. But I won’t wear a mask, not for you, not for anyone. I’m not ashamed of how I feel about you, nor do I wish I hadn’t told you. But could you really expect me to celebrate the inferiority of your family and the burden it puts on me?”

She stood before me, trembling softly with fury. “Thank you for making this so easy. For a moment, I forgot the simple truth of your character, as you call it. From the second I met you, you have shown nothing but arrogance, conceit, and disdain for the feelings of others. Within minutes of learning your name, I knew without question that you were the last man in the world I would ever lower myself for, Liam Darcy.”

I was struck breathless, my lungs screaming for air and my heart throwing itself against my sternum, reaching for her. “Then there’s nothing left to say. Forgive me for inflicting myself on you tonight. It won’t happen again.”

With an unfathomable pain in my chest, I turned and walked away.

And with every step I took, she seeped from that space in my heart where she’d fit so perfectly, leaving it empty once again.

25

Evasive Maneuvers

LANEY

I barely recognized myself.

Exhaustion played some part—not only had I spent the last week working three jobs, but after last night with Liam, I hadn’t slept but for the occasional drifting in and out of consciousness. This morning, I’d dragged myself out of bed and come to the Longbourne offices early to get a jump on the day.

My team’s proposal for the ad campaign was finished before my coffee, and I sent it off, washing my hands of the project. I would be there for the final presentation, and then I was finished. I’d sent Cam an email somewhere around three in the morning to ask for a leave and let her know I didn’t have time for the firm now that my family needed me, which was true. But not as true as the necessity of getting away from Darcy.

No one in this world made me so angry as Liam Darcy. Nothing confused and upset me like the presence of a man who could kiss me and insult me in the same breath. A man who made me feel so intensely, I could burst into flames with a word. A touch. His kiss was a smoldering brand on my heart, leaving a wound in the shape of his name.

I had been reduced to embers, eviscerated and consumed. Used up and flickering. I had nothing left for him, my will and patience exhausted, gone the second I’d given in to my desire. Because he’d destroyed me the moment I was vulnerable enough to forget who he was.

And this time, I wasn’t going to let it go. There was no going back. And the only solution to putting it all behind me was to extract myself from the situation. I could leave my position at their firm. Wasted Words would understand, and if they didn’t? Well, I’d figure something out. Because one thing I would absolutely not do was willingly put myself in his path again.

There were masochists, and then there were fools. I liked to think I was neither.

So this morning, I sat in the empty offices of my family’s business, picking up the mess left by whoever had set out to ruin us. Again.

Though I had no proof, I still suspected Catherine. It made the most sense, and though I’d occasionally been known to be wrong, it was rare. Speaking to Darcy about it would have gone nowhere, even before last night. And I’d thought to discuss it with Georgie, but she’d avoided me all week, and when we did speak, it was a tiptoeing, superficial thing, working hard to dodge the subject of my brother. I couldn’t upset her worse by accusing her aunt of interfering with us, especially because I doubted any good would come from it. Georgie had just as much of a chance at stopping Catherine de Bourgh as I did of flipping a car over.

Of course, if Darcy was present and his mouth was moving, flipping a car might not be out of the question.

The best thing any of us could do was try to offset Catherine’s interference while Marcus tried to dig up some evidence as to her involvement. She was sneaky, though—the headhunting always came from a different company and none affiliated with her. But if