Read Marked Heart (Marked Heart #3) Online
Authors: M. Sembera
The farmhouse was silent when Braden walked in. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not because Liv's car was parked outside. It was eerily quiet as he walked through. Deciding to start where he ended up finding her last time, he headed down the hall.
Walking past Liv's library room, he stopped. The light was on. Turning back, he remembered shutting the light off.
"Liv..."
She was sitting in the old marking chair in the corner. A bottle of liquor was in between her legs. There was a glass in her hand, as she rested both on the arm of the chair.
"I forgot," she shared before drinking what was in her glass.
The pain in the pit of his stomach twisted. It was painful to watch her as she held the glass next to her thigh and tipped the liquor from the bottle into it.
"That's when we met ya know... On his birthday."
Braden stepped closer to her as she emptied another glass in one swallow like it was nothing before repeating her refill routine.
"And I forgot."
Making the final step to stand next to her, Braden wanted to knock the glass out of her hand and jerk her out of that damn chair. Maybe shake her a little.
So she forgot his birthday. Kieran forgot to be faithful. It was about even as far as Braden was concerned, and the fact that she was sitting there reminiscing or remorseful made him sick. It was different before; before she was grieving. She didn't need to grieve anymore. The man had been dead for a while now and she had him. They had each other. The agony of seeing her falling apart over someone who never deserved anything from her to begin with was too much for Braden.
He was going to tell her that Kieran was a cheating bastard. That he was an unfaithful piece of shit and that she needed to get over it because what they had was better. Her marriage to his cousin meant nothing compared to what was between them.
When he opened his mouth to speak, he stopped, hearing her admit, "I always hated this room."
Instead of talking, he decided to listen, watching her eyelids close then flutter open again.
"This chair... I was jealous... of a chair."
Liv lifted the glass and started to take another drink before he took it away from her. Even then, she wouldn't look at him.
"There was never anything for me...here."
She flinched as he touched her arm.
"Don't say that."
Her eyes remained closed this time as she reached for the bottle between her legs assuring, "It hurts to be wrong."
Braden pulled the bottle away from her. Liv was fixing to be out, there was maybe enough left for a half of a glass in her liquor bottle.
"Please... go."
Shaking his head, he touched the side of her face.
Liv's eyes opened as she looked into his, mumbling, "Away from here."
He watched her eyes close, thinking about what she said.
She would most likely be out for a while. Staring at her, Braden thought she might be right. He needed to get out of there, but so did she. If it was just the two of them, away from everything, she would see all they needed was each other. He couldn't very well take her without her permission, she'd be pissed, but he knew if he waited until she sobered up, there was no way she would agree to going.
Taking a long shot, he nudged her, asking, "You want me to take you away from here for a couple of days?"
When there was no response, he nudged her again. Liv's head fell forward, sort of like a nod. Close enough.
Braden walked out of the room and into Liv's. Opening her closet he dug around until he found a bag. She would need some clothes. Pulling her drawers open, it was a bit odd that the first three were filled with socks. Not a variety socks, identical pairs of the same socks. Moving on, he knew she needed underwear and pajamas. Grabbing items and stuffing them into the bag he thought she would need deodorant. In the bathroom, he wasn't sure what else she needed. Toothbrush and toothpaste were a must, but there were twelve different types of lotion in there. Shaking his head he grabbed what he thought would be necessities and called Penny.
Penny picked up after only one ring.
"Braden, was she there?"
"Yeah," he replied before lying, "She's okay. She just wants to be alone right now ya know."
"I understand. She's okay though?"
Taking a moment to make sure his voice was convincing, he replied, "She needs some time to herself, that's all. She'll be back at the shop Thursday, but she doesn't want to talk to anyone until then. Okay."
"Okay, I'll tell Charlotte."
"Alright, Pen. Later."
Putting Penny's mind at ease also meant no one would expect to hear from her. Which was good. He left Liv's phone on her bed, intentionally, not packing it.
Now, there was the small problem of grabbing the things he needed from his apartment. And food, they would need food. If he put her in the car now, he could risk her waking up at one of the stops. What if someone saw her in his car at the grocery store? Braden needed to be smart about this in order to successfully get her out of town.
Opting to leave Liv at her house to run errands seemed like the best route to take.
~
When Braden arrived back at the farmhouse, and found her on the floor instead of in the chair where he left her, he felt a little bad for leaving her there. She didn't seem injured, although really how would he be able to tell until she sobered up.
He made a few trips back and forth out to his car before he decided on the best strategy of getting her in his car. The blanket they kissed under on the couch was on the passenger side and her pillow was in there too. That way, if she did start to come out of her stupor, maybe she would think she was at home. At least that's what he was hoping.
Braden lifted her off the floor, flinging the top part of her body over his shoulder. He made it through the house and off the porch before standing there staring at the open passenger door. It seemed fairly simple in his head. Sliding her off of his shoulder while holding onto her he was able to bend her over enough to get her in. Moving her into an up-right position he clicked her seatbelt on, and wrapped the blanket around her. He ended up rolling the window down so he could hold her head with one hand to keep from shutting her in the door. That actually worked out nice because he was able to wedge her pillow in between her and the door, so she could comfortably lean against it.
Sliding into the driver's side, he slowly rolled up the passenger window. Glancing over at her, he smiled. This was going to be good for her. For both of them.
Liv rubbed her eyes with her fingers tips, trying to alleviate the pain sunlight was inflicting on them. The stiff feeling in her body had nothing on the throbbing in her head. Confused, she couldn't figure out why it was so bright or where the musty mothball smell was coming from. Still half asleep and in a hangover daze, she slowly stood up.
Braden's voice came from somewhere, informing, "Bathroom's the door on your left."
Stumbling into the kitchen, she could feel Braden's eyes on her as she squinted at her unfamiliar surroundings.
"Where the hell am I?"
His voice was calm as he replied, "Away."
For a second, she thought she might be dreaming.
"What?"
"Does it matter?" he answered, walking towards her.
Her squint turned into a glare. She needed to shower so she could wake up enough to be as angry with him as she needed to be.
The throbbing in her brain had turned into a dull ache after her shower. She refused to take aspirin simply because it was helping her keep an agitated state of mind. It didn't matter what he said, taking advantage of her drunken state by driving her out of town without her consent was for lack of a better word, a crime.
"When you take someone against their will, it's kidnapping."
Seemingly offended, Braden argued, "It wasn't against your will. You were unconscious."
"That's worse."
Shaking his head at her, he admitted, "You wouldn't have come any other way."
Wide eyed, Liv threw her hands out at her sides saying, "That's kidnapping."
"Look, we're here now, lets..."
Crossing her arms, she leaned against the wall stating, "No."
"We could..."
"No."
Stepping closer to her, he griped, "Would ya stop being pissed at me?"
Refusing to change her disposition, Liv asked, "Where's my phone?"
"I left it."
"Where's yours?"
With a heavy sigh, he replied, "Its put away."
"Then no."
Appearing frustrated, Braden fussed, "Fine. Be that way then. We're about fifty miles from nowhere, so funky ass attitude or not, you're stayin' here until I get ready to leave."
Pushing away from the wall, she stomped back to the couch and sat down.
Infuriated with him, Liv switched back and forth between refusing to look in his direction and giving him hateful glares. He must be losing his mind to think taking her to the middle of nowhere while she was passed out was a good idea. Maybe he had finally snapped. As long as she had known him he always seemed somewhat passive, even where Lily was concerned. Sure he would get upset but he was the king of sedentary response.
As she continued to sit there stewing, trying to figure out why Braden would do something this drastic, she glanced over at him. He was standing in front of two glass doors that opened from the center to the outside. The sun coming through them highlighted the copper color of his hair and the distressed expression on his face. She wanted to look away but she couldn't. She wanted to lock herself in the bathroom until he gave in and took her home but she didn't. Everything about this was wrong. Their pain, due to life's circumstances, was supposed to be shared. However, at the moment, she seemed to be the cause of his. That wasn't who she wanted to be. In her mind, she recognized the past week may have been an all good things come to an end farewell to their unusual friendship.
Yesterday she was sick with guilt but the longer she sat there drinking, the more it occurred to her, the things she was holding onto from Kieran were ridiculous. Liv had fallen fast and hard the moment she met him. When she looked back on her life with him though, it was somewhat mediocre. She loved him, and if he were alive today she would still be committed to him; holding out hope that things would change. It was all rather sordid and cliché when she thought about it.
Liv was smitten with a guitar player that was hung up on someone else. After their one night stand, she left town heartbroken, questioning her worth. When she came back overflowing with self-confidence, she thought he would take notice. She only came back to throw the woman she became in his face. And as it turned out, she found someone else and she didn't even care that he didn't remember her in the first place. It seemed now, everything had come full circle. Death had caused her another heartache leaving her questioning her worth. Liv was smitten with a man that used to play guitar that was hung up in life.
Getting up, she walked over to where Braden was standing. Liv stared through the glass doors at the trees and the leaves covering the ground.
"It's nice here."
"You still mad?"
Smiling to herself, Liv replied, "No, but I think you need therapy if you're into kidnaping people."
Braden cracked a smile before his expression grew serious again. "I hate that you miss him. Especially now."
Taking a deep breath, she knew he did.
"You of all people should understand."
"I don't miss Lily. I haven't in a long time."
Liv turned and looked at him, "It's not about the person, it's about the things you missed out on."
Nodding, Braden questioned, "This is it. Isn't it? I crossed a line."
Closing her eyes, she thought for a moment.
The same man who spent an entire week fulfilling every fantasy she had then kidnapped her was willing to let go just like that. It was the inevitable and she knew it too, but it saddened her that there wasn't the least little bit of fight in him. With all the things that Braden was, when it came down to it, he still wasn't man enough for her. Maybe there was no such thing.
The weight of the moment grew to be more than what Liv was prepared to handle.
Lightening the mood, she asked, "Do you starve your hostages? Or is there food here?"
"I got you covered," he assured as a smile spread across his face.
Walking to the kitchen, Braden opened the ice chest next to the pantry.
"We've got, frozen burritos, corndogs and toaster streusel."
Stepping into the kitchen, Liv replied, "Great. How are you going to cook 'em?"
Braden gave her a curious look before glancing around the kitchen. Liv couldn't help laughing as he kept turning in circles with a baffled expression on his face.
"There's no stove."
Letting out a loud laugh, she enlightened, "I hope you know how to make a fire."
"Guess that was poor planning on my part."
"I'm sure your next kidnapping will go much smoother."