Page 76 of Claiming Liberty
“Please.” He motions to the sofa. “Sit.”
“I think I’ll stand.”
“Mmm, I think you should sit.” His words come out clipped, irritated. Threatening.
I don’t budge.
“Where is she?” I ask, cutting through the bullshit. There’s no reason to drag this out. I need to knowright nowif she’s dead. Because if she is, then so is he.
He raises his brows. “Are you referring to Elsie or Liberty?”
Without waiting for a response, he drops onto the couch and snatches one of the glasses off the table. He takes a deep gulp before resting it on his knee.
“She’s safe. Both of them are,” he says, staring at my wall instead of me. “I’m recognizing now that I underestimated how important Liberty is to you.” He lowers his head and gazes at his lap before shrugging. “And I fucked up. I fucked up horribly. I shouldn’t have sent Jasper to follow you to Spain. I damn sure shouldn’t have even agreed to buy Liberty for the island in the first place. In hindsight, it’s obvious you cared a little too much about her.”
“We can leave,” I say, walking to the recliner catty-corner the couch and sitting. “We’ll leave with Elsie now. Neither one of them will ever be a problem for you.”
He weakly lifts a hand as if to say ‘who knows?.’
“Sawyer...”
“What were you doing at Monty Chaffer’s tonight?” His head lifts, so his hardened eyes can drill into me.
“He asked me to meet.”
“Mmm, and how did that go?” he asks, his tone flat. “Did you manage to get rid of him for us? Or did you manage to…” He opens his palms and lifts one shoulder. “I don’t know, get information on him? Lure him to a meeting onourproperty? Gauge his security? Or…” his face cracks with either anger or sadness. “Were you there to betray me?”
“Don’t be stupid,” I spit. “I would neverbetray youfor Monty Chaffer’s benefit. I went to speak with him because I felt it would look suspicious if I didn’t. He’s gearing up for a war, Sawyer. His house is crawling with guards, all carrying guns.”
“Mmm,” Sawyer hums again. “And then he just … let you go.”
“He knows if he killed me, he really would start a war,” I lie.
Sawyer’s lips lift into a half smile. “He would’ve. I would’ve gutted anyone who eventriedto hurt you. I love you. You are the closest thing to family I’ve ever had.” His eyes begin to water, and a fake laugh bursts from him before he sets his glass on the table. He rubs his eyelids with his thumbs. “That’s why this is so fucking hard.”
I turn my head toward the back door. It’s open. Ready for the guards to come through.
My eyes shift to the Brandy bottle.
He inhales a loud breath through his nostrils and drops his hands to his lap. “I want you to know that this was the last thing I ever wanted. And if I could go back and do things differently, I would.” He stands. “But unfortunately, I can’t just let you kill me.”
I remain seated, anger brewing inside me, smothering all remnants of fear.
He’s not going to kill me. He’s too big of a coward for that.
No, he’s going to let the men outside do it.
“I had no intention to,” I say, my voice steel. “Rumor has it, you killed Beth. You tried to have the love of my life murdered. And still, I had no intention of killing you.”
He gives me a tiny, sad smile and huffs. “You know, you’re the best liar I’ve ever come across. I genuinely can’t tell when you’re doing it.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that, Sawyer.” I stand, gauging where the Brandy bottle is, practicing grasping it in my mind. “You’re a damn good liar yourself.”
I swing my arm for the bottle but hit the base instead of the neck. I still grasp it with ease, it’s still quick, but it’s just slow enough to give Sawyer a chance to raise his forearm in time to block the blow to his head.
I drop the bottle and rear back my fist, crashing it into his jaw before he can properly react.
He stumbles backward but rights himself before I swing again. His head ducks, and my fist meets empty air, knocking me off balance. Sawyer takes the opportunity to grab me behind the neck, using it to brace himself as he slams his knee into my stomach.