Page 73 of Daddy's Laws

“But this is important!”

“And you can express yourself without swearing, little one. It’s not like Shannon is in a life-threatening situation. She’s just angry, and rightfully so.”

Ouch. Bryant winced at the ice in his brother’s tone, which was no doubt directed at him. “Yes, yes, I screwed up. Help me fix it.”

“Did you at least tell her you love her?” Liv asked.

“Yes. Not that it did me any good. If anything, I think she feels even more betrayed now.”

“I wonder why,” Liv mumbled. “Look, I’ll head over to Shannon’s in case she comes home. You pack up your bags and hers but hold tight in case she comes back instead.”

“Bossy little brat,” he said, not without affection and more than a little relief.

“Yeah, well, this brat may be your only chance of saving your relationship with your other favorite brat.”

“I don’t know about that. I think she’s pretty pissed at you, too.”

“She probably is. But unlike you, I’m too cute for people to stay mad at.”

Despite himself, he grinned at Liv’s pronouncement. “It’s a good thing, too, or else you’d never sit comfortably.”

Liv giggled, but quickly sobered up. “We’ll fix this, Bry. I promise.”

A lump formed in his throat, and he had to swallow hard against it before he could speak again. “I hope you’re right.”

CHAPTER25

Streaks of red and purple were painted across the horizon by the time she pulled into her driveway. For a moment, she’d been tempted to go to Liv’s house and gorge herself on empty calories while they commiserated over what a jerk Bryant was.

But Liv was part of the problem, wasn’t she? It had been Liv who’d asked him to take the case in the first place. Liv, who should have known better.

And, as it turned out, Liv wasn’t home anyway.

She was perched on Shannon’s front porch, her arms laden with the junk food Shannon had been craving the entire drive but couldn’t indulge in because she’d run out of the house without any shoes.

Just one more testament to what a fucking idiot she really was.

Even from this distance, she could see the nerves on Liv’s face as she stood and waved awkwardly, her arms weighed down by the bags of snacks. Closing her eyes, Shannon gave herself until the count of ten to calm her out of control emotions before she shut the car off and climbed out.

“Go home, Liv,” she ground out as she climbed the front steps.

“Shay, we need to talk about what happened. Bryant is worried sick about you.”

“Well, he can stop worrying. I’m not his responsibility anymore.” Would the ache ever fully heal this time, she wondered?

Maybe. But it would be a cold day in hell before she let another man hurt her this way.

“Don’t say that.” Following her inside, Liv dropped the grocery bags on the dining room table and fished out a pack of sour gummy worms. “Truce?”

“You really think a bag of candy is going to fix this, Liv?” But her empty stomach growled, overriding her desire to kick her former best friend out of her home. “Fine. Truce, but only until I finish these.”

Snatching the bag from Liv’s hand, she stomped over to the couch and flopped onto the plush cushions. Liv joined her a moment later, her legs curled up under her, looking so sad and lost, Shannon almost wanted to forget she was mad.

But she wasn’t just mad. She was hurt. Two of the people she loved most in the world had betrayed her on a level she could barely fathom.

“I’m sorry.” Liv finally looked up, a sheen of tears over her eyes. “I know it doesn’t even begin to make up for how much we hurt you, but I’m really, really sorry.”

“You’re right. It doesn’t even scrape the surface.” Pulling a pink and yellow worm from the bag, Shannon studied it, but her stomach was tied in too many knots to eat it. “Why would you help her? After everything they did to us?”

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