Page 74 of Between Secrets and Obsession

Instead of thinking about Liam’s protest, I give my full attention to the man standing in front of me. “Officer Ferguson, I’d?—”

“Call me Blake.”

“Blake,” I repeat, blinking up at him. “I’d love that.”

“Great. What about Saturday?”

“Saturday is perfect.”

We exchange numbers, and when Liam says my name again, I put my hand behind my back and flip him off so he’ll shut the hell up. He has no right to dictate what I do.

“It’s a date then,” Blake confirms with a boyish grin.

“I can’t wait,” I tell him, trying to hold in my excitement as we exchange goodbyes. When I climb into Liam’s Mercedes, he looks like he ate a lemon.

“You can’t go out with him.” Liam pulls out of the parking lot.

I scoff. “I can do whatever the fuck I want. The last time I checked, you have a wife. So worry about yourself.”

He opens his mouth, then closes it before opening it again.

“He’s bad news, Maddie. He’s a player and has a revolving bedroom door. Everyone in my field knows about Blake and knows he doesn’t do relationships. It won’t be any different with you. He uses women.”

I glare at him. “So…he’s exactly like you?”

“Worse.” He glowers, sounding jealous.

“You’re wrong. He was super charming and understanding when I told him what happened. Plus, I bet he’s big. Guys like him—as you say—who sleep around are usually pretty confident in that department.” I grin, wanting to piss him off even more.

“Don’t push me, Maddie,” he growls, his knuckles turning white around the steering wheel.

“Why not? Isn’t that what we do?” I ask, crossing my arms. “We push each other back and forth until one of us goes too far and gets married?”

He knows he can’t talk his way out of this and doesn’t respond. Liam’s nostrils flare, and he’s tense as fuck for the rest of the way home. My breathing is ragged, and I’m fumingat everything that’s happened today. The last thing I need is for Liam to act as if he has some say over my life.

When he pulls into the driveway, he keeps the engine running for a second, but I don’t give him time to speak.

“Thanks for picking me up,” I say hurriedly, then open the door.

“Hey! We need to talk about what you did, Mads!” he shouts when I step out. “Don’t think you’re off the hook for the stupidity you pulled today.”

I lean down, narrowing my eyes. “Excuse me? You’re not my fucking father. Why do you care anyway?”

Liam slams the door before he rounds the car and stands in front of me. “I told you I’d help you buy a car, and what do you do?” He throws up his arms. “You go meet a fucking stranger by yourself. He could’ve taken or hurt you, Maddie. Jesus, fuck knows what could’ve happened. After what Soph went through, you ought to know better.”

His words make my blood boil, considering this isn’t even the same damn thing. “Well, he didn’t do anything besides scam me out of all my damn money, so calm the hell down,” I shout. “And I’m not that dense. I knew his name and even talked to him before we set up a meeting place. It was in a public area, so it’s not like he lured me into his house,” I defend, crossing my arms. I already feel like shit. I don’t need him adding to my guilt.

Liam pulls at his hair, grinding his teeth in frustration. “Mads.” He blows out a breath. “I’m so fucking pissed at you for doing this alone. My mind went crazy when the clerk told me what you were in for.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” I say roughly, another thing he’s often said about me.

Before he can get another word out, I walk away and go into the house, heading straight to my room. I lie back on my bed and stare up at the ceiling, replaying everything from the day.

Liam and I have exchanged more words in the past fifteen minutes than we have in over a week, and I can’t say it ended on a happy note. While I’m grateful he rescued me, I wish I wouldn’t have had to call him. My sisters are going to want to know what happened, and I can only imagine what they’ll say about the entire situation.

Curious, I log in to Facebook and look at my messages. As I suspected, Nico’s profile no longer exists. It’s all the confirmation I need to know it was all a scam, and I’m the idiot who fell for it, but truthfully, I should’ve known better.

I’m too fucking trusting, and at the end of the day, I’m the one who got screwed over.