High Stakes (26 page)

It was costing Liam his sanity, resisting
the urge to pull her into his arms and beg her forgiveness. But he’d be damned
if he let her waste her life playing nursemaid to a man she didn’t even want to
be married to anymore out of some misguided sense of obligation. “It’s not my
fault if the truth hurts, baby.”

“I thought you loved me,” she said, looking
up at him, her blue eyes shining with unshed tears.

“You thought wrong.” The pain he
experienced when he’d had the heart attack paled in comparison to having to
tell the woman he loved that she meant nothing to him. “So, did you bring those
divorce papers with you? I’d be happy to sign them now.” If she produced those
papers now, he couldn’t trust himself not to tear them up and fall to his knees
begging her to give him another chance.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Whatever.” He winced when he felt a twinge
in his chest. The doctors told him he’d been suffering from undiagnosed angina
for some time before the heart attack, another one of the many symptoms he was
too busy to acknowledge.

She rested her hand on his back, her eyes
reflecting her alarm. “Are you okay? Do you need me to call the doctor?”

“No, what I need is for you to get the hell
out of here,” he said through clenched teeth. “Go back to your boyfriend and
leave me the hell alone.”

“Nick’s not my boyfriend,” she said
quietly, setting her hand back in her lap.

“Maybe not now, but I bet he will be again
before the ink’s even dry on our divorce papers.” He was silently cursing
himself with every vile word he spoke. “We both know it’s only a matter of time
before he wears you down. It’s better this way. The thought of you banging him
while you’re still using my last name leaves kind of a bitter taste, ya know?”

“How can you be so cruel?” she whispered.

He’d learned to be callous to survive the
competitors trying to bring him down, and the women trying to use his money to
pave their path to easy street, but he never set out to intentionally hurt
someone he loved before. “I’m not being cruel, just honest.”

“I loved you,” she said quietly.

He almost doubled over when he heard her
use that word in the past tense. Nothing could have prepared him for the pain
of knowing she didn’t love him anymore.

“I thought you felt the same way.”

He didn’t trust himself to speak, so he
said nothing.

“I promised Abby I’d stick around for a
while, to make sure you’re okay, but I’ll try not to get in your way.” She
stood up and began walking toward the door. Without turning around, she said,
“I’m sorry I bothered you, Liam.”

“You stupid son of a bitch!” Matt shouted,
throwing the door open. “I brought her back here so you guys could work things
out, and you managed to make everything worse.”

Liam was still trying to come to terms with
what he’d done. He didn’t need his kid brother to read him the riot act. “Get
out.”

“No!” He slammed the door. “If you think
I’m gonna sit by and watch you self-destruct, you’re crazy.”

“It’s my life. I’ll do whatever the hell I
want.”

“She loves you, man,” he said, lowering his
voice. “Why can’t you see that?”

“
Loved
.” He scowled when his voice
trembled. “She doesn’t anymore. She told me so.”

Matt thrust his hands through his hair as
he began pacing the room. “And whose fault is that? Yours! You drove her away.
She tried to tell you she was concerned about you even before this happened,
and what do you do? You tell her she’s clueless. You dumbass!”

No one had ever called Liam dumb before,
though he knew no other word could describe the mess he was making of his life.
“I didn’t ask for your opinion and I don’t want it.”

“Too damn bad. You’re gonna get it whether
you like it or not.” Matt pulled back the velvet curtain to glance out into the
backyard. “Do you know how scared your little girl was when she thought she was
gonna lose you?”

Liam tipped his head back and closed his
eyes. That was the thing about siblings, they knew your weak spots, and when
they were out for blood, they knew exactly where to strike first. “Don’t go
there.”

“Why not? You need to know. You’re all she
has, Liam. Her worthless excuse for a mother never gave a goddamn about her; we
both know that.”

“I’m not going anywhere. My daughter knows
that.”

“You could have died that night, Liam.”
Matt turned to face him. “Do you even get that? You’re living on borrowed time
if you don’t figure out how to make some serious changes in your life.”

Liam knew his brother was right. The doctor
had told him the same thing, but he had no idea how to go from being a workaholic
to a man of leisure. And when he thought about what it would take to restructure
his business in his absence, it only intensified the throbbing in his head. “I
don’t know what the hell you people expect from me. I am who I am. I’m not
gonna change my entire life just ‘cause I had a heart attack.”

Matt stared at him a long time before he
asked, “Why are you trying so hard to push Alisa away?” He waited for a response,
but when he got none, he said, “She told me what you said to her.”

Liam grimaced. He couldn’t even bear to
think about what he’d said to her. “This is none of your business.”

“I know you. You wouldn’t even say those
things to your worst enemy, so how the hell could you bring yourself to say
them to the woman you love?”

“I don’t love her.” His heart protested the
claim, but he knew indifference was the only way to get his brother off his
back and his soon to be ex-wife out of his house. “I thought I did, but what
the hell do I know about love, right?”

“Her ex was there with her when I got to
her store today.”

If his brother was trying to give him
another heart attack, he was going about it the right way. “Why should I care
who she’s with? We’re getting a divorce, remember?”

“He was begging her to take him back.
Telling her he loved her… he needed her. In fact, he was moving in to kiss her—”

“Shut the hell up!” Liam shouted, his voice
reverberating off the walls.

Matt smirked as he folded his arms and
propped his hip against the wall. “I thought you didn’t love her anymore?”

Liam forced himself to take a few deep
breaths to calm down as he tried to get the picture Matt painted out of his
head. “I don’t want her to stay with me for the wrong reasons,” he whispered.
“Because she thinks I need someone to take care of me.”

“Everybody needs someone to take care of
them, Liam. That’s what marriage is all about, the peace of mind that comes
with knowing you never have to face shit like this alone.”

“What if she sticks it out with me for a
while and then realizes he’s the guy she really wants?”

“That’s a risk you’re gonna have to take.
But if you push her away without ever knowing for sure, you’re gonna have to
live with that regret for the rest of your life.” Matt pushed off the wall
before walking to the door. “I’d hate like hell to see what that would do to
you.”

Alisa tapped on Abby’s open bedroom door.
“I made some dinner. You hungry?”

She shrugged as she tucked a lock of hair
behind her ear. “I guess I could eat, but what happened to Mrs. Foster? Why
didn’t she make dinner?”

“I gave her the night off. She’s going to
the movies and spending the night with her sister.” She smiled. “She was pretty
upset after going a round with your father.”

Abby moved back on her king-sized four-poster
bed and tucked her legs under her. “I overheard you telling Uncle Matt what my
dad said to you.” She bit her bottom lip as her cheeks flushed. “I wasn’t eavesdropping,
I just—”

Alisa held her hand up. “It’s okay, you
don’t have to explain.” She didn’t relish the idea of discussing their relationship
with Liam’s daughter, but she knew from experience that being kept in the dark
was often worse. “Your dad and I had to figure out where to go from here.” She
had trouble forcing herself to say the words, but she wanted to tell Abby her
side of the story while she had the chance. “We’re getting a divorce.”

Abby pulled her knees up to her chin and
wrapped her arms around her legs as she stared at Alisa. “Why? I know you love
him.”

Alisa tried to swallow the anguish that made
it difficult to breathe. “I do, but sometimes that’s not enough.” She glanced
at a framed photo of Liam and Abby when she was a gap-toothed toddler and her
heart ached for the children they would never have together. “Your dad and I
are just two very different people.”

“You guys could work it out if you really
wanted to. He’s just so stubborn.”

“Honey,” Alisa said, reaching for her hand,
“this isn’t your father’s fault, and it isn’t my fault. Sometimes two people
just aren’t compatible.” She forced a smile. “We got married on a whim, before
we really even knew each other.”

“Why’d you do it?” Abby asked, leaning her
head on her legs. “Why’d you marry him?”

“He made me feel something,” she said
quietly. “Something no one else ever has.”

“Do you still feel that way about him?”
Abby asked, squeezing her hand. “The truth, just between you and me.”

“Yes, but—”

“Isn’t that the only thing that matters?”

“No, honey, it isn’t. It takes two people
to make a marriage work, and your dad’s decided it just isn’t worth the
effort.”

“He can be so stubborn sometimes,” she
said, releasing Alisa’s hand. She grabbed a pillow and held it against her
body. “Just like that art school I want to go to…” Her eyes traveled to a
well-lit alcove in the corner of the room where an easel occupied a good
portion of the space.

“May I?” Alisa asked, getting up off the
bed.

“Sure,” she said, shrugging. “I know I have
a lot to learn, but that’s not gonna happen if my dad has anything to say about
it. I have an opportunity to go to this incredible private art school in New
York. They teach all the usual high school subjects, but the art electives are amazing.
I mean, I could be studying with some of the masters…”

Alisa couldn’t contain her surprise when
she viewed the canvas. “You did this?”

“It’s no big deal,” she said. “I’ve always
liked to draw and stuff. I just started working with watercolors last year, but
I love it.” She smiled. “Like, I
really
love it.”

“I can see that.” Alisa looked at the
landscape from different angles, appreciating the sunlight she’d infused into
the waves and the shadow the water cast on the sand. “The surfer is Colin,
right?”

Abby blushed and lowered her head. “How’d
you know that?”

Alisa laughed. “I had a Colin in my life
when I was just about your age, too.”

“Really? What happened?”

“We both grew up and moved on. It happens.”
Alisa reclaimed her spot at the foot of Abby’s bed. “I went through something
similar when I was just about your age. I wanted to be a model, but my dad
didn’t want to let me leave home so I could pursue a modeling career. I can
understand why, I was so young and inexperienced, but…”

“Did you eventually wear him down?” Abby
grinned. “Please tell me you did.”

Alisa laughed. “I did, but it took a
while.”

“You think my dad’ll give in if I keep
working on him?”

“I don’t know. It’s a little different in
your situation. My dad had my mom to lean on after I was gone. You’re the only
person Liam has to come home to.”

“He could have you… if he wasn’t such an
ass.” She giggled. “Just don’t tell him I called him that, okay?”

Alisa raised her pinky in the air. “Pinky
swear.” They both laughed as they locked fingers. “Thinking about losing your
dad must have been tough, huh?”

Abby shuddered. “It was brutal. My dad’s
always been this larger than life guy, ya know? And to see him lying in that
hospital bed, hooked up to all those machines…” She shook her head. “I don’t
know what I’d do if I lost him.”

Alisa rubbed her leg. “You’re not gonna
lose him, Abby. He’s young and strong. This may be the wake-up call he needed
to reprioritize his life.”

“Everybody always tells me how smart he is,
and I know he is, but…”

“But what?”

“How can he be stupid enough to let you
go?”

Alisa reached over to give her stepdaughter
a hug. This girl had stolen her heart almost as quickly as her father had, and
she was going to miss them both... so much.

Liam threw the magazine down when he heard
a tap on his bedroom door. He considered pretending he was asleep, in case it
was Alisa, but before he could hide under the covers, his daughter poked her
head in the door.

“Is it okay if I come in?”

“Of course, you’re just the distraction I
need.” He grinned. “I’m going a little stir-crazy already.”