Highest Bidder

I lifted my head, startled and found myself staring into Liam Lucan’s eyes. Instinctively, I frowned and took a few steps backwards.

“Wow,” he observed. “Surely, I can’t be that unsavory to you? Has Brent so thoroughly brainwashed you with his lies?”

I had expected him to be at least courteous towards me, but he wanted war. I didn’t however want a verbal exchange with him, so I stepped to the side to walk away, but once again, he blocked my path.

“I’m not done speaking to you,” he said.

“Get out of my way, Liam,” I spat, and tried to move away again, but he shoved my shoulder to keep me in place and I staggered backwards. My eyes immediately darted over to the aged butler waiting by the corner who stared at the both of us in shock. When he caught my gaze however, he simply lowered his head meekly to the ground. His hands were held in front of him in the same pose as the woman who served me my glass of water.

I’d had enough. “If you touch me one more time, Liam, I will make sure you regret it.”

His laughter roared into the hallway. “How? If I may ask. Are you going to report me to Brent? You think because you’ve become his whore that you can now have anything you want?”

The insult shot pain straight into my body, but nothing could compare to his following statement.

“I cannot believe that after my warnings, you still ran into his arms. The arms of the very man that killed your own father. And you still have the audacity to carry yourself all high and lofty. You’re a whore … Nothing but a cheap, rotten excuse for a daughter and—”

“Master Leighton," the butler suddenly called, panic in his voice.

I thought he was referring to Liam, but when Liam’s face became tight with surprise, I turned around to see what he was staring at.

Brent was walking towards us.

I was shocked out of my mind. He was supposed to be in New York.

“Freya, step away,” he commanded.

I quickly did as I was told. It all happened so fast, but in one movement, Liam was retreating and in the next, he had been struck violently to the ground, blood pouring out of his nose.

I was so shaken that I couldn’t move.

Liam brought his hand to his nose at the pain, and cried out in fury.

Brent had no mercy. He dove at him again and dragged him up to his feet. Blood was running down Liam’s throat into his collar. His voice was low and thick with rage but I still managed to hear what he said, “I warned you to stay away from her.”

“I’m in my own fucking house!” Despite the blood, Liam laughed cruelly, his hand over his nose. “You have become completely possessed by this whore, haven’t you? Well, that’s no surprise. My mother did the same to your father. A mind-blowing fuck is beyond reason, isn’t it?”

I could see Brent’s hand fisting by his side once again to throw him another punch, so I hurried over to stop him, but I was too late.

Liam tried to defend himself, his arms flailing out wildly, but he was once again struck and sent crashing to the ground.

“Stop, please stop!” the elderly butler cried from the distance in a creaky voice.

I’d never seen Brent so furious before and for a moment, I felt as though he would fling me away to get to Liam, so I held onto his hand and pulled as hard as I could so he would turn his attention to me. “Brent,” I called, my eyes filled with tears, I understood now where their enmity originated from. “Please stop. I’m begging you.”

“Why did you agree to come here?” he spat furiously. With a look that was so dark and cold that it froze me over, he turned and began to walk away.

Liam yelled after him, battered and beaten, but still so bitterly amused, “What are you so afraid of?” he bellowed. “That she’ll be poisoned to death just like your mother was?”

I stilled, and so did Brent, and when he turned around to gaze at Liam, I had never been so terrified.

“You’ll be in the hospital before the end of the week,” Brent said to him. “Let me know how being poisoned to death feels like.”

Freya

“What’s wrong?” Maddie asked as she took her seat beside me in the mall.

I turned to her. “Why do you think there’s something wrong?”

Her response was to look away and scroll through her phone.

I looked towards the ice cream cart where Ella was buying ice cream for all three of us.

“Why didn’t you order rum and raisin?” she eventually asked. “It’s your favorite.”

I blinked at the question. “I don’t understand. Why does that matter?”

“You always pick that flavor. Today, you just told Ella to get you anything.”

“Well ... that’s because I wasn’t even thinking of ice cream.”

“Then what were you thinking of?” Her tone was surprisingly sharp.

“Why do you sound as though I did something to offend you?”

“Are you pregnant?” she blurted out.

I almost choked. “What the hell? Why would you even think that?”

She regarded me and eventually accepted that I wasn’t putting on an act to cover it up. “Fine,” she conceded.

“Where did that come from?”