Page 81 of The Wedding Engagement

His voice was soft. “Sure.” He kept an arm around her as he took the phone and quickly tapped the screen. A few seconds later, he placed it next to him on the couch, then wrapped his arm around her again.

They stayed silent for a moment, Arran stroking her hair as she pressed her face against his chest. Maybe, if she pressed hard enough, it’d squeeze the painful thoughts from her mind.

“I deleted the messages too,” he said, the vibration thrumming soothingly against her cheek.

Her throat felt tight. “Thank you.”

The bass of his voice was calming. “Do you think he’s still in town?”

The idea somehow seemed less scary when Arran was holding her. “I don’t think so. It’s been a few weeks. Hopefully Sam saw him off last time.”

He kissed the top of her head again, then eased her away, meeting her eyes and tucking her hair behind her ear. “You sit here for a minute. I’m going to bring us some tea.”

She managed a weak smile. “That sounds great.”

Arran paused, brushing his thumb over her cheek, and itseemed as if he wanted to say something more. But then he pressed his lips quickly to her forehead and got up.

When he came back, it seemed as if he’d only just left the room, and Liv realized she’d been sitting and staring at the wall with a blank mind the whole time he’d been in the kitchen.

She accepted a warm mug of tea as he sat down, slipping his arm around her. “How’re you doing?” he asked.

She sighed. “Trying not to think about it.”

He squeezed her shoulder. “Hopefully you won’t hear from him again now that he’s blocked.”

Blinking, she took a deep breath. “I should’ve blocked him years ago. I should’ve known that if I did ever hear from him, then it wouldn’t be because he was actually interested in me.”

He ducked his head to look at her, and she turned hers to meet his eyes, leaning back against the heat of his arm. “There’s nothing wrong in that, Liv. It was only natural that you’d hold out that hope.”

She took a deep breath. “Natural, or naive?”

He smiled. “Perhaps a little of both. But naivety isn’t a sin. It’s a reflection of being a good person at heart.”

A jolt of anxiety pierced her chest, and nausea circled her stomach. “Do you think that we’re in charge of the goodness of our hearts? Or is it something printed from birth? Like, as in…genetically determined?”

He frowned, studying her face. “I think it’s complex. A bit of nature and nurture. Like most things.”

She nodded, the nausea intensifying and making her a little breathless. What if it was more nature than nurture?

“What is it?” Arran asked, his eyes shining with concern.

Dean’s voice cut through her thoughts.“For fuck’s sake, Liv. You’re just like your dad.”

She swallowed. “Nothing.” She sipped her tea. “You know, Mum told us these stories about how he behaved when they firstgot together. He seemed like this huge romantic. Showering her with affection, making these grand gestures. One time he got onstage at a gig they’d gone to, grabbed the mic, and told the crowd he was in love with her.” She took a breath, noticing that Arran was listening intently. “And when he proposed to her, he hired one of those small aircraft pulling a banner that read ‘Marry Me Tara.’ ”

“Wow,” Arran said, his brow deeply furrowed. “That’s intense.”

She nodded. “I’ve read up on it. It’s called love bombing, and it’s what narcissists do to tether their…victim to them, emotionally.”

“Shit,” he said softly. “That’s sick.”

“Yeah.” She took a deep breath. “Catriona was the same with Sam. She wasn’t as showy, but she used the same tactic. Stealthily creating scenarios where he’d end up hurt, then comforting him like his savior. Overboard on the public displays of affection, acting like she was running around after his every need at home.”

He nodded. “I remember all that. I’m sorry to say that I thought she was just madly in love with him. So I guess I was love bombed by association.”

Liv shook her head. “It’s not your fault. None of us spotted it at first. And the only person to blame was her.” She pushed her glasses up her nose, letting out a shaky breath. “The gestures of ‘love’ get withdrawn, with their victim believing if only they could behave in just the right way, then they’d get it back again.” Her voice was starting to wobble, so she stopped and sipped her drink quietly.

“It sounds like you’ve read a lot about it,” he said, tucking a wave of hair behind her ear. “Is that because of what happened to your mum and Sam?”

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