Page 78 of Waiting For A Girl Like You (Haven House #4)

When the first tear fell, Liam cradled her cheeks in his palms, brushing his thumbs under her eyes.

“No tears. I won’t lie and say this is going to be easy.

This is probably going to be the hardest moment of our lives and screw us up mentally for years, but it’s not going to screw us up.

It’s you and me. Okay? It’s always been just you and me.

We’re getting out of here, and we’re going to live a long life.

We’re going to grow old together and be so fucking happy.

” His voice broke, but he kept talking as fast as he could to help her remain calm.

“You and me. Always has been. Always will be. ”

She couldn’t control her breathing. Seeing him terrified earlier and then hearing his words now had panic gripping her firmly by the throat. “D-d-don’t leave me.”

Without another word, Liam grabbed her hand and dragged her across the room and into the bathroom. “We need a minute.”

“We don’t have—”

Michael’s voice cut off as the door slammed shut. Her breathing had turned shallow, her lungs simply unable to get a full gulp of air as the weight of what was about to go down sunk in. Pressing her back against the door, Liam held her by the shoulders.

“Let it out, Jamison. No one can see or hear you but me. Give me your fears.”

Her brain tried to articulate what to say, so she didn’t sound like a horrible person, but she couldn’t, and he was right.

They were the only ones in the bathroom, and no one else would hear.

“I don’t need you to be a hero today,” she blabbered through tears.

“I need you to be mine. I need you to promise you won’t do something that could get you killed.

Like if you see someone down there begging for help or saying they didn’t mean any of this and to please get them out.

I know you. You’re a good man. You’ll want to try to save them. ”

“I’m not a good man, Jamison. Not anymore,” he rasped, dragging her into his arms like he needed the reassurance as much as she did.

“And maybe I never was because I don’t give a damn what happens to those people.

I don’t care what happens to Tobias Miller.

Samuel should have killed him in the graveyard.

We… no , not we. I failed that day. I should have finished the job.

I should have shot Toby. I failed to protect you and everyone else.

Now dozens of people are about to pay for that failure, and yet…

I still don’t care. I’m going to walk away and allow Sinclair to have his vengeance. ”

Pressed against his chest, she shook her head. “How did he do it? How did he stay around these people and pretend for so long?”

“Because he’s ambivalent to life. The man handed out death to hundreds during his career, and when the world finally gave him something to cherish and love, these people ripped it away,” Liam whispered into her hair. “Sinclair is a man who has lost everything, and when there’s nothing left—”

Liam didn’t finish his sentence. Going instantly on alert, he slammed one hand against her mouth while readying the Glock in his other.

“It’s not time to start,” came a shrill voice through the bathroom door. “So why is he on the floor, Michael?”

Taylor.

“Don’t just stand there,” Taylor screeched. “Answer me!”

As slowly as possible to minimize any noise they might make, Liam moved Jamison behind him to listen.

“I leave for a few hours, and this is what happens. I get wanting to rest for the party tonight, but did everyone need a nap all at the same time?” Taylor whined. “And where the hell is Jamison? Did you leave her in your room? I want to talk to her.”

Something big hit the wall, rattling the medicine cabinet. “And why are these bitches out of their chains?” Parker bellowed with a grunt. “Stop biting me, Emily!”

“Oh my God, Michael. Get them under control.” Even through the bathroom door, Jamison could hear Taylor stomping her foot. “I don’t have time for this. And Parker, don’t step on my Damon!”

Liam swung open the door, his Glock aimed at someone Jamison couldn’t see. She balled her hands into fists, fighting the urge to pull him back.

“Taylor.” Liam stepped out of the bathroom. “Move away from Damon.”

A snorting round of giggles rolled out of Taylor. “How the hell did you get in here?”

Careful to keep out of sight, Jamison peeked around the corner, her breath catching in her throat at the scene.

Michael stood back while Taylor squared off against Liam.

On the wall next to the bathroom, Parker was getting absolutely wrecked by her cousins.

Claudia was pummeling him with her fist, giving his face a rapid succession of strikes while Emily had him pinned around the waist against the wall as if she had tackled him like a linebacker.

But before the beating could continue, Parker regained control and tossed Emily aside to go after Claudia. With a backhanded hit, he knocked the mother of his child flat onto her back.

“What is wrong with you, Parker?” Taylor yelled. “She’s pregnant. ”

Parker shook off Taylor’s warning to stalk Claudia as she crab-crawled away. On the ground, Emily sat dazed from hitting her head against the hardwood floor. Michael moved to intervene, and, keeping his gun trained on Taylor, Liam rushed up behind Parker to stop him.

But a small voice had everyone halting instantly.

“Daddy?”

Wearing a pretty floral dress with a matching ribbon woven into her braid, Madison clutched her teddy tightly to her chest as she watched them from the doorway. “Why’s Mama crying?”

Parker didn’t look away from Claudia. “Go back downstairs so Ms. Jessica can take care of you.”

Madison stuck her chin in the air. “No, Daddy.”

Baring his teeth, Parker turned to Madison, and Claudia used the distraction to her benefit. Popping to her feet, she got one good punch to Parker’s nose, but paid for it dearly. As if swatting a fly, Parker knocked her into the wall, where she went crashing back down to the floor.

Madison screamed and tried to run to her mother, but Emmett caught her from behind.

“Take her to the stairs, Emmett,” Michael ordered. “But don’t go down until I join you.”

“Yes, sir.”

With a kicking and screaming Madison secured in his arms, Emmett left as Parker went for Claudia again. Out of instinct, Jamison shouted for him to stop, but Liam let off a shot right above Parker’s head. The bullet struck high on the ceiling, cracking the plaster and freezing the entire room.

“If you touch her again, I’m going to paint the walls with your brains,” Liam said in an eerily calm voice. “Now, get the hell back.”

Hands in the air, Parker stepped back and waited.

“Why is he even alive?” Taylor pointed at Liam as she rounded on Michael. “Can’t you do anything right?”

Taylor stopped short when she came face to face with Michael’s gun inches from her nose. “Yeah, I can do a lot of things right,” he told her softly.

Jamison was sure Taylor was about to get a bullet point blank to the face, and she squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting the gruesome image stuck in her head. But when no shot went off, she risked a look and saw Liam moving closer to Parker while Michael smirked at Taylor, who was turning purple.

“You son of a bitch,” Taylor hissed. “I knew you weren’t totally down with my plan, but I never thought you would turn to their side. They hated Cecilia, and she hated them!”

“No, she didn’t.” Michael wagged his gun toward the room’s empty corner. “Now, wait over there while we discuss what to do with your pet.”

Surprisingly, Taylor obeyed, storming to the far side of the room to sulk like an angry child. “When I tell my father about this, that’ll be it for your men. You might be dead soon, but it’ll be Bruce, and the rest of them he’ll hunt down.”

“Sorry, Taylor, but Daddy Dearest is dead.” Michael shrugged with a hint of a smug grin on his lips.

“Or should I call you Brandy? Your dad always hated how you used the name Taylor, and it just feels wrong not to honor his preference now that he’s rotting away in his own shit and piss on some hotel floor in Tulsa. ”

Taylor’s hand flew to her mouth. “What are you talking about?”

“The shit and piss? That’s what happens when you die,” Liam said casually, pressing the barrel of his gun to Parker’s temple when he again tried to advance closer to Claudia. “So, what are we doing with this one?”

“Claudia?” Michael didn’t look in her direction when he said her name, keeping his focus on Taylor. “It’s your choice.”

Cowering on the floor with her sister, Claudia stuttered as she spoke, barely able to get the words out. “My choice?”

“Parker is dead either way, but you’re the one he used,” Michael explained gently. “The only question is whether you want to pull the trigger or do you want me to do it?”

Claudia’s tears overwhelmed her, and she held onto Emily. “I can’t. I just want my daughter. Just give me Madison, and let us leave.”

“You’re so fucking weak. Manipulating you was probably the easiest part of all this.

” Parker sneered at Claudia. “Poor, lonely Claudia Fairweather. I expected a challenge, but you’re so emotionally starved for affection that it took less than a month to convince you to have my kid.

No ring, no questions asked. You just wanted someone to love you. ”

Emily tensed beside her sister, but Claudia didn’t even flinch. Parker’s words seemed to be doing the opposite of what he wanted, building her strength instead of tearing it down. She openly glared at him, looking like she might want to be the one to have Parker’s kill shot instead of Michael.

“How many times did we laugh and ask ourselves, is Claudia blind or just stupid? Turns out, it’s both.

” Taylor tossed the insult down at Claudia, laughing wildly as she continued.

“News flash, bitch. No one will ever love you, and you will ruin that beautiful little girl. Madison will one day hate you the way you hate your own mother.”

Standing on shaking legs, Claudia dragged Emily to stand with her. “Michael, you can be the one who kills Parker. But I have one request.”

Michael spared her a glance. “What’s that, Mama Bear?”

“Make it hurt.”

A glimmer of satisfaction crossed Michael’s face. “That’s a very Fairweather type of request. But yeah, Claudia. I plan on it.”

“Good.” Claudia nodded once, then pulled Emily toward the door, keeping her head held high. “I look forward to hearing his screams.”

“Jamison, go with them,” Liam ordered once Claudia and Emily had cleared the room. “But stay right outside the door and wait for us.”

She hesitated, rooted in fear. Her instincts screamed that this could all still be an act. Michael switching sides, Bryan being dead, Taylor quietly biding her time in the corner. It could all be a show. If she left Liam alone…

“Go, baby,” Liam said quietly, his focus and gun steady on Parker. “You don’t need to see this.”

Choosing to trust his judgment, she took a tentative step toward the door.

In her mind, there had never been a more deserving person to meet their end with violence.

Parker had used Claudia, wormed his way into her heart, and had a child with her.

All for Taylor, who probably didn’t care about him at all.

She couldn’t meet Parker’s hate filled gaze as she left, keeping her eyes lowered while she moved around him to step over Damon, still sprawled on the floor.

And that’s when things got a bit fuzzy.

She was stepping over Damon when the world turned upside down.

One second, she was upright, and in the next, Parker’s elbow was coming directly at her face.

It connected with her nose, the crunch of pain shooting her backward into the wall.

The dull smack of her skull against the wood vibrated loudly in her ears, mixing perfectly with the echo of a gunshot.

She tried to scream, but the darkness was too much.

It claimed her immediately, swallowing her consciousness and wiping away the chaos as it descended upon the room.