The real Cole was worse than Jackson.
But they were both right.
The only word I had in mind…
Soon.
“Someone ratted you and Emily out,” Lincoln said.
“That’s simple to figure out,” Gage said.
I leaned against a wall and looked at the group around me.
Lincoln brought the other version of our crew.
Finn, Dax, Gage and Hudson had stood, listening to every word I said.
I realized what I must have sounded like.
A fucking baby.
“Never mind, guys,” I said. “Forget about it. I’m rambling like a kid that lost his favorite toy and didn’t even bother to look for it. Sorry about that.”
“Hey, love is crazy shit,” Finn said. “Worst drug out there. Easy to find, hard to get rid of. No fucking cure.”
Hudson made a fist and hit Finn in the shoulder. “Put that in a song.”
A song. Music.
Emily.
I hung my head and nodded.
They started to write a song right in front of me. Half serious. Half just trying to get me to laugh.
I couldn’t laugh.
I was pissed.
My plan had been to sit down like a mature adult and go over everything with Miranda. Hell, I had tried on two different occasions to do so and she wasn’t having it. She was on a warpath against me. Which I understood. I just wanted her to see the bigger picture. She could hate me all she wanted, but I wanted the truth out there.
Someone beat me to it.
Lincoln grabbed my shoulder. “You good, Liam?”
“Not even close,” I said. “I’m grabbing a shower and… I don’t know. I have to figure this out. It’s not even the notion of getting caught. Em and I didn’t do anything wrong. There was nothing to get caught about. It’s the notion that Em was thrown into this. I wanted to protect her and someone took that chance from me.”
Lincoln nodded.
I took two steps and Gage jumped out of the group toward me.
“Hey,” he said.
“What’s up, Gage?” I asked.
“You never let me finish.”
“What?”
“I know who did this to you.”
“You do? How?”
“Who had it out for you all along?” Gage asked. “There had to have been someone that either didn’t like you or Emily. Or someone who knew you were together and waited for the right time to do this. I hate to say it, Liam, but Emily is vulnerable now. So think about it…”
I looked at the large window that faced the busy street.
I heard the metal clanks of weights smacking each other.
Slowly, I started to nod.
“You’ve got it, don’t you?” Gage asked.
I grabbed his shirt and looked at him.
Gage’s pretty boy face grinned ear to ear.
“I should’ve known from the second this happened,” I said.
“Now the question is… what are you going to do about it?”
It was tempting to bring everyone with me. Have a little bit of a bar fight or something similar.
But this was one on one.
I knew who did this.
And I knew why.
Now I just needed to save Emily, then maybe I could save us.
When I saw the bakery, a flood of emotions went through me.
There was a part of my heart that wanted to know how everything got so fucking messy, but I knew how. I wasn’t going to let my heart go weak and look for excuses.
I opened the door and looked to my right.
I saw Emily sitting at a table.
Jeff across from her.
Folders open. Paperwork everywhere.
A smile on Jeff’s face.
A frown on Emily’s face.
She had a pen in her right hand.
When she put it to one of the papers, Jeff touched her hand.
I watched his thumb gently slide along her skin.
Fuck. This.
I walked to the table, unsure what I was going to do.
I let instinct take over…
Which made me grab Jeff by the shirt and stand him up.
His chair scratched against the floor and Emily let out a gasping cry.
“What the hell are you doing, buddy?” Jeff asked.
“You fucking did it,” I said. “You fucking followed us. What did you do? Take pictures? Videos? Huh? You know Miranda too. From this building. You had a way in. You fucking slimeball piece of shit.”
“Liam, what is this?” Emily asked.
I turned my head and she was standing.
“What’s going on here, babe?” I asked. “Signing a deal with this garbage? I bet he said all the right things. He got you at your weakest. He set this up, Em.”
“Set what up?” Jeff asked.
I looked at Jeff again and shook him. “Just admit what you fucking did.”
I had customers in the bakery looking at me.
A few had their phones out.
Great. Now I’m going to end up online.
I didn’t care.
I wanted the truth.
“Liam, you have to go,” Emily said. “Stop this.”
“I’m not leaving until he admits what he did,” I said.
“Get your hands off me,” Jeff said.
“Fine,” I said.
I threw Jeff back against the wall.
He hit with a thud and grabbed for his ribs.
I looked at the table and swept all the papers off it.
“Liam!” Emily snapped.
I faced her. “Em, he fucked us. I had everything under control. I’m sorry for what happened with Miranda. The way she showed up. That doesn’t mean we’re over. Jeff fucking followed us and talked to her.”
“How do you know that?” Emily asked.
I stepped toward her. “Trust me, I know.”
Emily stepped back.
“He told Miranda about us and then put you in this position. Leaving you feeling like you have no choice but to work with him. And he’s probably working with Miranda too. Playing both sides so she can screw you over one last time and he can get in your panties.”
Emily swung and slapped me across my face.
“How can you say that in front of people here?” Emily asked. “Making me sound like… like a…”
“No, Em, I’m not,” I said. “I’m telling the truth.”
“Now, you’ve made her cry,” Jeff said.
I whipped around and moved toward him. “I’m going to make you cry next.”
He put his hands up. “Don’t hurt me.”
“Then tell her the truth,” I growled.
“Okay, fine,” he said. “Fine. I talked to Miranda. Okay?”
“What?” Emily asked.
“Do you not remember the night at Paragen’s? I was there. Saw you both. I watched you the entire night. What did you want me to do?”
The anger rolled through my body.
It was Jeff.
I should have known from the second Miranda came back to the apartment and exploded on me.
“How… why…”
Emily’s questions floated in the air.
“You deserve better than this guy,” Jeff said to her. “And, yes, I followed you both. Just to make sure you were okay, Emily. That’s all. I didn’t take pictures or videos. But I knew Miranda enough to say something. She believed me right away. She said you two had been planning this behind her back. I couldn’t have it happen. Emily, I can do so much more for you. This guy is a loser…”