Page 28 of Lethal Lover

“Fuck you.” He has balls, I’ll give him that. He knows who I am and he curses me out without fear. I could use a man like that if he was loyal, but this one is trouble.

“I’m going to ask you again to?—”

His fist flies, interrupting me and connecting to my jaw bone in a hard right cross. I see stars as I stumble backward, and then he’s on top of me, pounding away. I resist the urge to pull my knife, opting instead to lunge back at him, pushing him against the far wall before pummeling him with my blazing fists. His body jolts and doubles over with my hard blasts, but before I can land one to the face, Elena rushes in, cheeks red, eyes wide in shock.

“Fuck! No! Stop it!” She pushes on my shoulder as I take one last swing into his stomach, and she stands between us. “Liam, stop. You’ll hurt him.” Her chest heaves, eyes filled with anger and emotion.

I back away and rub my sore fists. He’s big, but he’s weak. He is literally no match for me. I’m a trained fighter. He may be in good shape, but he’s a stage fairy, no good in an actual fight. The best he’ll ever do is have good footwork, which failed him this time because I am too angry to give him any space.

“Are you okay?” she asks, but she’s facing Warren, helping him straighten. He holds his sides and grunts, a most-dramatic expression on his face, which is laughable. Definitely an actor.

“God, my ribs… I don’t think I can sing…”

She ushers him out of the room, and I wait for her to return. When she does, she’s livid. She paces and can’t even look at me, so I grab her wrist and force her to turn around and face me. She looks scared of me. This is new.

“Baby, he attacked me. I was defending myself.” I try to hold her gaze, but she looks away. I’m forced to grab her chin and make her look at me. “What did you want me to do? Let him beat me?”

Her nostrils flare as she jerks her chin out of my hand and glares at me through slitted eyes. “I don’t know, Liam, or Dominic, or whatever the hell your name is.” Tears well up in her eyes, but she blinks them back. “You could have killed him. You’re so much stronger than him. Did you see what you did?” Her wrist turns in my grasp as she struggles to squirm away.

“You believe that shit he said about me?” I feel anger rising.

“Elena, two minutes to curtain!” a voice calls, and she backs away from me.

“You need to leave.” Elena rubs her wrists and shakes her head. “I want you to leave now.”

“You can’t possibly believe that asshole…” Warren is going to pay for this. When I get my fucking hands on him, he’s dead.

“Please, Liam. I need space. I need to think… I have a show to do.” Her hands are busy again, flying to her hair, then her neck, then the spot on her wrist that is tinged pink from my grasp.

I take a deep breath and pause. I will not hurt her. She will do as I say because she believes it is the best and most right thing. And I will not give up until she thoroughly believes I am the best thing for her. I won’t let that asshole or her director, or a stage hand, or anyone else, get in the way.

“Alright, fine. I’ll leave. But I’ll be here after the show. You can come with me, or you can choose to go home alone. I’m not leaving you, Elena. We will work this out. Warren is wrong.”

Without waiting for a response, I button my suit coat which was torn open in the struggle and walk straight into the hallway. As I pass Warren, who is sitting on a prop in the wings, he glares at me and mouths the words, “I win…” And something tells me he’s hiding something too.

Except, two can play at this game. And I never lose.

18

ELENA

Plunging the spoon back into the pint of ice cream, I attempt to drown my sorrow yet again. Trixie sits next to me with her own pint of ice cream, providing solace and company in my indecision and heartbreak. I knew Liam had a temper. I’ve seen it flare up at times, but never this badly. Never to the point of violence against someone, and now I’m not sure what to think. Warren said some very incriminating things about him, and at first, I didn’t believe them. Now, I’m inclined to think he may be right.

“Look at the bright side. At least you know now?” Trixie is less comforting than she thinks she is as she waves her spoon around in the air and talks with her mouth full of food. In the past few weeks, we’ve gotten closer, especially with Nina gone, but when she saw what happened last night and Warren asked me if I wanted him to come home with me, I insisted that Trixie would be more helpful.

He wasn’t happy about it at all, but I don’t know if I’m ready to cut Liam off. I don’t know if what Warren said is true or if Liam just got his buttons pushed. Warren is good at that. He does it tome all the time, so I can see him saying things that trigger Liam’s sensitive temper switch. And besides, how would I explain that to Liam if he found out the man he pummeled in a fit of rage came home with me?

“Know what?” I grumble and shove a heaping spoonful of rocky road into my mouth. All I know is two men duked it out over me, and now I’m certain Warren still has a crush on me.

“You know what sort of man Liam is. He literally attacked Warren for no reason.” Trixie takes another bite of ice cream and shifts her weight on my pull-out sofa. She stayed last night after the show to keep me company, and we’ve spent the majority of the day on this uncomfortable bed watching movies and playing cards to pass the time. We have to get ready for tonight’s show later.

“That’s not what Liam says, and I don’t know what to believe. Warren has a way of saying things to provoke people. You know that.” Trixie should know better than anyone. She has feelings for Warren. Everyone can see it, even if Warren doesn’t. She knows his personality is abrasive and caustic.

“Okay, well you know he has no control over his temper, at least.” Her spoon scrapes the bottom of the ice cream container and comes up empty, and she sets the container on the end table. “I’m just saying, you can’t be too careful. Warren knows a lot of stuff about the city, so I don’t think he’s lying. If he says that guy is into organized crime, then he is.” She wipes her mouth with her thumb and index finger and shrugs a shoulder at me.

I’m annoyed that she’s taking Warren’s side, but I don’t blame her. Her personality is abrasive and over the top, but she is a good person. I can tell she’s only trying to help. Why else wouldshe offer to sit at my house and console me for more than twelve hours post-show?

“I don’t know what to think. All I know is really scary things keep happening around me, and now I have this stalker person sending me increasingly scary letters.” I pout and thrust the half-empty ice cream container out to her, and she takes it. I can’t take another bite. I feel sick to my stomach with worry. “There is a connection. I just know it. I just want to feel safe again.”

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