“Dealing with you has been a full-time job,” Liam shot back. He began to pace. “Believe me, Cora, there are things you don’t—”
“Save it,” she snapped. “I want you out of here, Liam. Today. I’d hate for you to have to strain yourself dealing with me a moment longer.”
“I’m not leaving you,” he said fiercely. “If I’m not here to look after you, I won’t be able to guide you and make sure—”
“Guide me?” The utter audacity of this man! “Now who’s delusional? You call this—” she gestured to the mess “—looking after me? I don’t need your guidance, thanks very much. I was taking care of myself long before I ever met you, and I’m doing just fine.”
“Not for long,” Liam said with conviction. “You don’t do so well on your own, Cora. I’ve seen your track record, and it’s dismal. Trust me on that.”
“How dare you?” The anger that had been simmering inside her since last night finally bubbled to the surface and overflowed. “You know nothing about me, Liam O’Connor. Nothing. As for my track record, I may not be an all-star athlete, but I can guarantee you I don’t have ‘murder suspect’ on my list of personal stats. Who the hell do you think you are? I don’t care if my father says you’re a fine, upstanding—” she made air quotes with her hands “—good guy. Not one second has passed since the moment we first met where I’ve wholeheartedly believed that.”
He gave an arrogant shrug. “I never claimed to be.”
“That’s it,” she said flatly. She was so done with him. “This arrangement between us is not working, and I’m tired of trying to hide the way I feel about you.”
His dark eyes pinned her in place, glittering with emotion. “The feeling is mutual.”
As usual, Cora sensed he was hiding something important from her. Something she should know...or used to know, but forgot. None of it made sense. Her head began to pound and she squeezed her eyes shut, rubbing her temples to ease the ache. She took a breath to steady herself. Then another. In a quiet, surprisingly calm voice she said, “I want you to leave now.”
He started toward her. “Cora—”
She held up a hand. “I mean it, Liam.”
“Don’t do this.” His expression was so bleak, so heavy, it threatened to take her down, too. “There’s too much at stake, Cora.”
“You don’t get to choose,” she said, steeling her resolve. “This is my home. Your name isn’t even on the rental lease yet, and even if it were, I’d still insist that you go. I’ve tried to play house with you as a favor to my father, but I can’t do this anymore.” To her utter shock, tears pricked the corners of her eyes.
He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off before she broke down. “If there’s even a tiny shred of you that cares for me at all, you’ll understand that I need space, and you’ll give it to me. I have to work on this case, and you being here is making it too difficult. Just, go. Please go.”
They stood facing each other for several erratic heartbeats, but it could’ve been seconds or minutes or hours, for all Cora knew. In that moment, time didn’t apply. It was like a river flowing over and around them, rushing inexorably forward, and she and Liam were two trees with branches so intertwined, and roots anchored so deep, they remained unmoved.
But eventually, he did move. He walked down the hall to his bedroom, and a few moments later he reappeared with his duffel bag. At the door, he paused with his back to her, broad shoulders stiff, head high like an exiled nobleman. It struck her, at once, how devastatingly alone he seemed. A hollow ache throbbed in her chest, rising into her throat, making it hard to swallow. Cora waited for him to say something—anything—but he didn’t. He just opened the door, and then he was gone.
Angel gave a forlorn meow.
The clock on the mantel chimed.
And time came rushing back, sweeping Cora up and carrying her away in a flood of frustration and tears.