Page 216 of Push

Toeing the ground with her red sequin shoe, Josie nodded earnestly.

“Well, in that case, you and Morag better help me lay out the cutlery,” Cat said. “That is the most important job of all…”

Happiness sparkled in every direction.

Two years ago, a near miss on the highway had set off a chain reaction that had entwined the fates crowding the house not far from the beaches of Bondi. Yet, when I scanned the smiling faces, one was missing.

I slipped from the kitchen, and on silent feet, I headed up the back stairs. My fingertips brushed along the cool, white wall. Toby said I’d find the person I was looking for behind the last door at the end of the hallway.

I paused and took a breath before twisting the handle.

The room was dark. A solitary silhouette sat in a chair shoved in the corner, but there was a rustle of movement when I tiptoed inside.

“Gwen—” Liam’s voice was rattled. The clink of a bottle. More shuffling. Maybe the clink of glasses. “I—”

“Relax,” I reassured him. “I know you drink.” I edged the door closed behind me. “It doesn’t bother me. You’re not like her. I know you’re a good man.”

Liam scoffed a sound but sank back into the chair and crossed his ankle over his knee. “I’m many things, clever Gwen…Goodisn’t one of them.”

We’d have to agree to disagree about that. I’d seen the way Liam let Noah clutch his thumb as he pointed out the new herbs sprouting in Cat’s garden and the gentle way he held my little boy when he was asked for a cuddle. There was something sweet buried in the hollow echoes of my brother’s chest…if only he’d let someone close enough to see it.

I tiptoed over and sat on the edge of the bed. “You struggle with the noise?”

Liam jerked his chin in a nod. “Too many years with…” He waved a hand like the memories of our childhood were nothing, but I knew better. “Is your husband still crowing about finishing the first year of his doctorate?”

“He’s pretty proud. He’s always thought of himself as the dumbest person in the room”—I shrugged—“but he’s found his talent in pediatric dentistry. The change has been one of the best things that’s happened to him in a long time.”

“The lovable Labrador is certainly a hit with the children. And what of your vocation?”

“Are you mad at me for resigning?”

Liam scoffed a laugh. “Eli’s been preparing me for the day you’d leave since you first started.” There was an uncomfortable tightness to the smile he forced. “Helping those teenagers won’t save me, Gwen.”

Nibbling my bottom lip, I pretended Liam hadn’t seen right through me by smoothing the hem of my dress over my knees.

“You should’ve accepted your job back in the Prosecutor’s Office,” he continued. “Being an underpaid defender for the miscreant youth of Sydney is a waste of your talents.”

I could’ve batted back with any of the excuses I’d made when I’d surprised everyone with my new career path, but instead,I answered the real question. “Caring about you was never a waste.”

Another scoff. “You should have left me to die that night.”

“Never.” Even half-hidden in shadows, he wouldn’t miss the fierce protectiveness in my glare. “There was no way I was leaving you that night. Or any night. You got that?” Shaking my head, I took a deep breath. Getting overly emotional about a night that happened more than seventeen years ago wouldn’t help me convince Liam, but it was hard to keep my feelings in check. Memories of how broken and bruised he’d been still haunted me. “Wha…what happened that night?”

Liam shrugged. “I was too full of my own importance. Signor Morelli and the loyal elder Sullivan took it upon themselves to remind me how low I was in the pecking order.” There was a slight tremble to his hand when he lifted his glass. “It was a valuable lesson.”

I bet it was. “For when you finally rose to the top of the pecking order?”

Liam hummed softly, almost proud. “Clever Gwen.” He swirled his drink in the glass. “I did warn you.” It disappeared again in one gulp.

“You’re fighting Morelli to rule the underworld?”

“No.” Liam smiled. “He’s already lost that battle.”

“Is that why you left all those years ago?”

He cocked his head, thinking. “I had a choice to make. I saw our lives laid out in front of me. I knew my path, but what was yours? Sitting on the throne beside me? You, little Gwen, would’ve been formidable in my world.” His face softened with a smile far too affectionate for what he was talking about. “I used to listen to you cry yourself to sleep after our mother had done her worst. There was still some humanity in you. I could’ve stolen it, but because you saved me, I chose to save you.”

“Liam—”

---