Page 132 of Push

Empty.

Empty.

The room at the end was dark. Someone had shut the blinds. I reached over to flip on the light, but a voice stopped me.

“Don’t.”

A silhouette lurked in the corner, swallowed in shadow. I stepped inside, inching close enough to make out Liam’s face in the gloom. He lounged in an overstuffed patchwork chair, eyes closed, and raised a glass to his lips. The smell was strong. I glanced at the bottle on the tiny wooden table beside him. Whiskey? Yuck.

Liam didn’t just take a sip. He skulled the whole glass in one go. Grimacing, he reached for the bottle to pour another. I foldedmy arms over my chest. He couldn’t be serious. Was he getting sloshed?

“Sweetheart, were you worried about me?” He smirked, but it seemed forced. “I’m touched.”

“What are you doing in here?”

“Brooding.”

My face scrunched up.What the hell?“Is that a thing?”

“Obviously. I’m doing it.” He raised his glass. “Care to join me?”

“There arekidshere,” I snapped.

“I’m painfully aware.”

“You’ve got guests downstairs. Yoursisteris there, and you’re up here—” I waved an annoyed hand. I had no clue what he was doing. Getting drunk? Being dramatic? Whatever. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I wish I knew.” His smirk peeked over the rim of the glass before he took a sip. “You don’t like me, do you?”

Talk about stating the obvious. “I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you. You change personalities faster than Noah changes diapers. And then there’s the fact that you’re more than a little obsessed with my wife despite the fact you abandoned her.” I stared him dead in the eye. A challenge. “And I don’t like it.”

“Obsessed? No.”

“Clippings?”

Liam shifted in the chair. “Perhaps I’m a little too invested in Gwen. But not in the way you think.”

“And how do you suppose I think?”

“With your penis, no doubt.” He sipped his drink as if he wasn’t bothered in the slightest. “No offense. Most men do. Like your daddy.”

I ruffled a restless hand through my hair and blew out a slow breath. I ignored the thrum of blood roaring in my ears and shoved down the anger burning a hole through my chest.Liam was taunting me on purpose. Deflecting.Dodging. I’d hit a nerve.

“I know what you’re doing.” My voice came out low and measured, even though my fist clenched by my side. “Cut the crap and tell me the truth. You left Gwen behind without a damn word, and I’m supposed to believe you’re keeping a sentimental scrapbook of her achievements?”

“I’m…” Liam’s fingers drummed the arm of the chair. “Proud of her.”

“You damn well should be. One of the cool parts of being her husband is seeing her kick ass, you know? I’m more than happy to sing about Gwen from the rooftops, but if you’re proud of her, if you care about her even a little, how can you sit there and justify disappearing for half her life?”

Liam ignored me. His glass hovered in the air, not quite touching his lips as he stared at nothing. “Is Gwen happy?” He eventually asked. “With you?”

Was she? Probably not. I’d stepped up and given her more reasons to want me in her life, but there was still a long list of reasons she was probably going to end up hating me—an envelope full of them, even.

“I want to make her happy,” I said. “I’d do anything for Gwen.”

“As would I.” He sighed. “I owe a debt to my sister. More than one, actually. And for as long as I’m stuck on this godforsaken Earth, I’ll repay every last one. Do you understand?”

“No?”

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