Always Yours (Roommate Duet 6)

“I need you to move here.”

“That wasn’t the deal,” I remind her, and I’m starting to sound like a broken record. “I want a paternity test.”

“And I want to know why you were asking my dad about what family properties we own,” she abruptly changes the subject. How the hell does she even know that?

I groan as the memory of JJ being at the bar surfaces, and there’s no doubt he overheard the conversation and told her. I dream of the day I’ll get to kick his fucking ass.

“What’s wrong with talking to your father? Isn’t that what you want anyway? We get close, and he believes our marriage is legit?” I ask, shrugging off her suspicions.

She inches closer, leaning her elbows on the countertop and showing off her breasts. “I’m not a goddamn idiot, Liam. I know what you were fishing for, and you better stop before you regret it.”

I smirk, knowing Maddie will be fine as long as Victoria isn’t near her. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked, now let me go home. I have a life I need to get back to.”

Victoria pats my head as if I’m a small child. “Shopping first.” Then she takes my cup and pours the rest of my coffee down the sink. Bitch. “Go get dressed. We leave in thirty.”

After I’m showered and ready for what’s surely going to be an awful day, I wait in the living room. I’m tempted to take my shit and leave right now, but knowing she’s able to make my life a living hell, I stick around. Playing this fucking game is getting old, and I really do need to get back to work, but Maddie’s safety is my top priority. If that means parading around the city as Victoria’s husband and buying baby shit, then I’ll do it all day long.

But I don’t have to be happy about it.

“You look nice,” Victoria singsongs, pressing a palm to my chest and sliding it down to my belt buckle. “Very handsome in fact.” She starts undoing my jeans, and I see red.

Squeezing her wrists, I push her away. “Not a chance in fucking hell,” I hiss, growling as I step back.

“You expect me to stay celibate?” She scowls, crossing her arms.

“I don’t fucking care what you do, but it won’t be with me,” I warn, walking around her toward the door.

“You really think she’s going to take you back?” she says from behind me. “She’s cozying up to one of my men as we speak. She’s forgotten all about you, Liam. It’s time you realize you belong here, with me.”

I swallow hard, resisting the urge to snap at her. Looking over my shoulder, I say, “I wouldn’t let you touch me if you were the last person on earth.”

Victoria actually looks hurt, but what did she expect? She’s trying to blackmail me into having sex with her, and there’s nothing she can say or do to make me change my mind. I’d let her father kill me before I ever make that mistake again.

She swallows and straightens her shoulders, then walks to me. “I don’t give a shit what our arrangement was, so it’s best you forget it. The moment you violated the terms and screwed her while we were supposed to be proving to everyone that we were happily married is when you threw it all away. Now, you’ll do whatever I say because you have no other choice. Got it?”

That’s what she fucking thinks, but I hold back the smug grin I want to flash at her. Instead, I force out a smile. “Sure, wifey. Ready to go now?”

The corner of her lips tilt up in victory, and I can’t wait to see the shock on her face when she discovers holding Maddie hostage didn’t work. I have faith in Tyler and whatever he’s planning.

The morning is filled with Victoria bossing me around as her driver takes us from store to store. The number of things a baby needs is absolutely ridiculous, and she’s shopping for two, which makes it worse. We register at five different places, which is insane, considering Victoria’s loaded and could buy it all herself. But not the O’Learys. They need big, glamorous parties to show off, and I have no doubt that if she gets her way, she’s already planning for me to be at all of them.

At each shop, she looks through baby clothes and purchases more than I think any baby could actually wear without changing them twenty times a day. By the last one, there are ten large bags in the car, and I know because I’ve carried each of them.

“Are we done now? I need to eat something,” I say when we get into the back of the car.

“Yes, let’s stop for a late lunch. It’ll be good to be seen eating out together,” Victoria says, then directs Hector where to go. “Which means—”