He turned around and set the food down. “You said you would give me another chance. So that’s what we’ll work on.”
“I only said that so you wouldn’t shoot Damien. And you did anyway…then missed.”
He finally showed his shame by looking away and closing his eyes. He gripped the edge of the table and turned quiet, accepting the loathing that accompanied the consequences of his actions. “You know that was an accident. You know I would never hurt you.”
“You tried to kill the man I love. That was no accident…and I’ll never forgive you.” My eyes started to water because I was so hurt by his betrayal. I’d asked Damien to let live Liam live, and he did. But when I asked Liam the same thing, the man I was married to, he refused. It hurt. Bad. “You can lock me up here for fifty years, and I’ll still despise you. There’s nothing you can do to make me fall in love with you ever again. I will try to escape. And if I can’t, I’ll try to kill you.”
He lifted his gaze and looked at me again.
“Damien will find me. And when he does, he’s going to kill you. Don’t expect me to stop him.”
With his hands on the edge of the table, his eyes shifted back and forth as he absorbed what I said, as he processed all the threats I’d just thrown at him. “If you don’t want me to kill him first, I suggest you be cooperative.”
He was trying to control me with another threat, but I wouldn’t fall for it. “I told Damien to kill you, so go after him if you want. I know he’ll win.”
I knew Damien would rescue me.
I just didn’t know when.
I barricaded myself in my bedroom and didn’t leave. Liam tried to lure me downstairs with food, and when I refused, he said he would let me starve until I changed my attitude. But I never did, not even taking my medication because of it, so he caved.
He left my food outside the door so I could grab it once he was gone.
I had no phone and no means of escape. Liam was always at the house, and he set the alarm at night so I couldn’t slip out the back door. The cars were in the garage, which had its own alarm system, and there was no phone in sight. Sometimes I stared at his jeans to see if his phone was in his pocket, but he didn’t carry anything at all.
The only way I was getting out of here was if Damien set me free.
I sat on my bed and stared out the window because I had no idea what else to do with my time. I was just letting it pass, allowing my wound to heal. All I was supposed to do was rest, so I was at least doing that.
But I should be resting at home…with Damien. He was probably so worried about me. When he realized I was gone from the hospital room, he probably figured out who took me within a few seconds. Now he would comb the streets, asking anyone who knew Liam where he could be hiding.
I wasn’t sure who knew about our Tuscan home, so I didn’t know what kind of information Damien would find. But if he looked up our asset information with the province, he would find the deed to this house under Liam’s name.
I was certain Damien would figure it out…eventually.
I took comfort knowing he would never give up on me. It was only a matter of time before he broke down that front door and took me away.
There was a knock at my door.
Liam always announced the tray by tapping his knuckles against the wood. When I resisted conversation, Liam didn’t force it. Maybe he assumed I would have a change in attitude on my own.
Never going to happen.
I opened the door and looked at the tray on the floor. It was always a nutritional home-cooked meal, the perfect ingredients to help me heal and get the inflammation down. I bent down and picked it up.
He appeared in the doorway, catching me off guard.
I flinched at his appearance, my hands still gripping the handles of the tray. My heart skipped a beat before I turned away and carried the tray to the bed. I could hear his footsteps behind me. “I still don’t want to talk to you, Liam. I’ll never want to talk to you.”
He helped himself to the armchair by my window. His massive body lowered until he took up the entire seat. One ankle rested on the opposite knee, and his hands got comfortable in his lap.
I sat on the bed with my tray in front of me. I was hungry and had nothing else to do, so I grabbed the sandwich and took a bite, ignoring him by the window. We hadn’t spoken much in the last week. Every time he tried, I ignored him. Nothing that came out of his mouth would change my mind about anything.