Page 207 of Between Secrets and Obsession

“Because I wanted to know what my boyfriend was getting into. I have a right to know how dangerous this is and need to prepare myself for the worst.”

“You’re right. It is ugly, but that’s why I’m training so hard, baby.”

“That doesn’t guarantee the other guy won’t have just as much training, or hell, more. There’s no way to know how this is gonna turn out and?—”

“Maddie, stop,” he demands, cupping my cheeks. “I promise you, okay? I promise I’m coming back to you in one piece. My obsession with you is too strong. There’s nothing in thisgoddamn world that’ll keep me from you. Got that? We fought way too hard to be with each other. I’m not letting anything come between us now.”

Tears hang at the corner of my eyes and slowly fall down my cheeks. I know he can’t promise me that, but I hang onto every single word because it’s all that’ll get me through this until it’s over.

I nod, unable to speak through my emotions, and Liam hugs me to his chest.

“I love you,” he says softly.

“Always?”

His lips tilt up against my skin.

“Always.”

Now that I’m on Christmas vacation, my days are starting to run together, and when I wake up to another morning of Liam already gone, it takes me a minute to realize it’s Friday. One more day until our family Christmas party here with my sisters and their husbands. And of course, Tyler as well.

Too bad there isn’t a fourth Corrigan sister because Tyler could easily blend in with our family. The guys all love him, and he’s good with Lennon’s kids. He’s tall, dark, and handsome.Literally. There is nothing not to like about him.

“Get up, Madilocks!” He pounds loudly on my door. “Soph’s trying to call you. Answer your phone!”

Okay, except forthat.

After Liam left for Vegas and Tyler was put on “Maddie duty,” he gave me a nickname after Goldilocks to fuck with me. He thinks it’s the funniest thing in the world since it annoys me. Then Sophie chimed in and said it was perfect since I moved into the house last and took over her bed.

“You’re an asshole, Beanstalk!” I shout, whipping off my covers and marching to the door. “What?”

Tyler steps back and blinks. His eyes glance down once before snapping back to mine. “Uh, Sophie texted me to wake you up because she’s trying to call you.”

“Okay. I’ll call her. Anything else?”

Tyler focuses on the ceiling, shaking his head. “Nope.”

I furrow my brows, wondering why he’s acting so weird. Looking down, I realize I’m only in my sports bra and shorts. “Oh, now you’re shy?” I chuckle. “You walked in on me getting out of the bathtub naked, remember?”

He squeezes his eyes shut. “That was an accident.”

“Mm-hmm,” I tease. “Relax, I’ll get dressed.”

“Good, because Liam is getting really strong, and I don’t want him kicking my ass for seeing you like this.”

“What? Did he say something?” I jab my finger in his ribs so he’ll look at me.

“Jesus.” He yelps, stepping back. “I’m leaving now. Get dressed and call your sister.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Tell your possessive best friend that I’ll walk around naked if I want.”

“I wouldn’t recommend that.” He peels open one eye and squints. “The last time I made a joke about you, he had me by the throat against the wall. Remember?”

Guilt creeps up at the memory of how worked up Liam got while waiting for Victoria to file divorce papers.

“Is he getting that bad?” I ask.

By the time I see him every day, he’s already spent hours at the gym, then after he cleans up, he’ll go track a fugitive until the evening. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was purposely avoiding me, but I understand he’s trying to juggle a lot at the moment.