Page 85 of Battered Moves

“Fuck,” I murmur, quickly assessing the situation as my eyes flick back to Liam on the ground. He sneers at me but lifts his hands in surrender when I point the gun at his head.

“Can you walk?” I ask Gunner, trying to keep my voice steady, eyes not leaving Liam.

“I’ll manage,” he says with a grunt, clearly in pain.

“Okay, get out of here and get help. Tell the paramedics to hurry for Jaxon,” I instruct him firmly.

“I’m not leaving you here alone with him,” he protests.

“Gunner! Get the fuck going. You’re no help with your wrists in cuffs, and Jaxon needs a paramedic. You do too. If our friendship still means anything to you, you’ll do this for me. You leave and save yourself and my man,” I plead with him, feeling tears stream down my face, but my voice is calm. He hesitates for a second, but then stand up and slams a kiss to my temple.

“I’m going to kill you if you die,” he whispers, then I hear him run out of the room.

I feel a sense of relief that he’s safe and going to get help, but now I’m alone with Liam. I look at him, my heart racing with fear and anger.

“If you hate me this much, you could have just let me disappear and forgotten about me,” I say.

“And let you whore yourself out?” he responds with a laugh, his eyes gleaming with malice. “You’re mine, Olivia. If I can’t have you, no one can.”

I feel a shiver run down my spine and take a quick look over my shoulder to check on Jaxon. He’s unconscious but still breathing, thank god, but before I can do anything else, Liam kicks my feet out from under me and I fall on the ground, hitting the back of my head.

He’s on me in an instant, trying to grab the gun, but I’m kicking and screaming. We struggle, and he hits me in the face twice, hard. The pain is excruciating, but I can’t let him get the gun.

Without thinking, I pull the trigger, the recoil hitting me in the chest and my ears ringing from the loud bang. Liam slumps down on top of me, the impact stealing the breath out of my lungs, his warm blood flowing over my body. He’s so much bigger and heavier than me, and I can’t move my arms to push him off. I feel like I’m suffocating under his weight, and bile rises in my throat. I can’t feel him breathing, and I start to sob uncontrollably.

* * *

The minutes tick by, and everything feels fuzzy and muted, like I’m trapped in a bubble with just enough air to survive but not enough to actually take a deep breath,until I hear footsteps running towards me.

“Liv, Fuck! Are you alive, baby?” Ryder exclaims frantically.He pushes Liam’s body off of me, and I gasp for air, tears streaming down my face.

“Jaxon… He was shot,” I manage to get out, pointing towards him.

The cops that came in with Ryder lower their guns since the imminent danger is over. Ryder takes a quick look at Jaxon and curses under his breath. I can hear the panic in his voice as he yells for everyone to hurry the fuck up.

I try to get up, but my body feels weak and my head is spinning. Ryder puts his arm around me, supporting me as we crawl over and kneel beside the still passed out Jaxon. Again, I put pressure on his wound, which isn’t bleeding as much anymore, and wait for the paramedics to arrive. I can’t believe what just happened. I killed him.Liam is dead because of me.

Ryder looks me over with wide eyes.

“None of it is my blood,” I whisper, tears still streaming down my face.

The paramedics arrive with River in tow and usher us away from Jaxon before putting him on a stretcher and hurrying out with him. River looks devastated when he sees me and pulls me gently into his arms, not caring about the blood that’s covering me.

“I’m so sorry we only just got here, but we have you now, beautiful.”

One of the paramedics stays to examine me, but I tell him I’m all right and just want to follow Jaxon to the hospital.

My feet aren’t ready to move yet, so I stumble a bit before River bends down and hoists me up by my butt. I wrap my legs around his waist as he carries me out of the room.

We make our way out of the warehouse and find Chase standing with Gunner at one of the ambulances, getting questioned by the police. As soon as he sees us, he leaves the cop mid-conversation and runs to me. He takes my head between his hands and looks me over critically. I hiss at the contact, and he gentles his grip.

“Liam?” he asks River.

He shakes his head, and Chase looks back in my eyes.

“I’m glad he’s dead, or I would’ve killed him myself for that alone,” he says, brushing his fingers over a bruise on my forehead.

I sob again at the reminder that I killed my first love. Chase kisses my temple before he guides all of us back to the ambulance.

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