High Stakes (24 page)

Painless? Was she serious? The thought of
losing her was already debilitating. He should be on his feet, begging her to
stay, promising to change. Instead, he sat there, staring at her, speechless,
feeling lightheaded and confused, when it was obvious that the best thing that
had ever happened to him was walking out of his life forever.

He heard the echo of the front door
slamming, but still he couldn’t force himself to move. It was as though he was
having an out of body experience, watching himself, completely immobile for the
first time in his life. He was used to taking action, making things happen, but
when he should be acting to save his marriage, he felt powerless.

Abby appeared at the bedroom door. “Is
everything okay?” she asked quietly. When he didn’t respond, she glanced at
Alisa’s wedding rings sitting on the dresser. “I guess not, huh?” She walked
over to the bed and sat down beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder. “I’m
sorry, Daddy.”

The tears burned the back of his throat,
but he refused to allow his daughter to see him ravaged.

“If she wasn’t the one, better you find out
now, right?”

Alisa was the one, the only one for him,
but he couldn’t make her stay when he knew she was right. She would always feel
as though she was competing with his business and that wasn’t fair to her. He’d
been wrong to marry her in the first place. He had no right to believe he could
have it all. He already had a successful company, a daughter who meant the
world to him, friends, and family. That was so much more than most people had,
so he didn’t have the right to hope for the love of a woman to complete the
picture. That was too much to ask for, too much to expect.

“I had to let her go,” he said. He didn’t
know if he was trying to convince Abby or himself. “It was the right thing to
do. She deserves better.”

Abby rubbed his back, her head still
resting on his shoulder. “Better than you? Impossible.”

He tried to smile, but couldn’t. “Thanks
for saying that, kiddo. But your old man is seriously messed up. I let this
company take over my life, and now it’s all I have, aside from you.” He put his
arm around her. “And pretty soon I won’t even have you anymore.”

“You’ll always have me. But doesn’t it
scare you… the thought of being alone for the rest of your life?”

It hadn’t bothered him until he met Alisa.
Now that she’d given him a taste of what his life could be like with someone to
love, he knew it would be impossible to forget her. “She’s divorcing me,” he
whispered. It was difficult to even form the words, but his daughter deserved
to know the truth.

“Maybe she’s just upset? She could change
her mind.”

“I don’t think so, honey. Can you do me a
favor?”

“Sure.”

“Ask your uncle to call the airport. She
won’t be able to get a flight out at this time of night. Tell them to prepare
my plane for her.”

“Are you sure you really want to let her
go?”

“No.” He forced himself to draw a deep
breath. “I don’t want to let her go, but I don’t have a choice. I love her, so
I have to let her go.”

Alisa was safely stowed away in Liam’s
private plane, hovering 30,000 feet above paradise, before she finally gave in
to the tears. How had their fantasy turned into a nightmare so quickly? She
mentioned the prospect of him taking some time off work because she was
concerned about his wellbeing, not because she was trying to demean the
importance of his business. But instead of welcoming her concern, he’d turned
on her. He let her know that not only did he not appreciate her interference,
he wouldn’t tolerate it.

At least he’d had the decency to give her a
one-way ticket out of his life in style.

The flight attendant hovered near the rear
of the small seating area, obviously hesitant to invade Alisa’s privacy. “I’m
sorry, Mrs. Bryson, I didn’t mean to intrude. I was just wondering if I could
offer you a drink?”

The thought of a stiff drink to wash away
the bitter taste of failure was enticing, but Alisa knew it wouldn’t solve her
problems. “I’m fine, thanks.” She sniffled, trying to pull herself together.
“Would it be okay if I use the phone now?”

“Of course, ma’am. Just let me know if you
need anything.”

“Thanks, I will.” Alisa’s hand trembled as
she pressed the buttons to connect her call. Only one person would be able to
help her through this. “Hey, Lena.”

“I wasn’t expecting to hear from you. How’s
Barbados?”

“It was beautiful, but, um…” Her voice
broke. “I’m on my way home now.”

“Oh no, what happened?”

How could she explain it to her friend when
she couldn’t even make sense of it herself? “It started when I told him that
Nick stopped by this week.”

“I knew he’d cause trouble for you guys.”
She sighed. “But Liam can’t blame you for that. You told Nick flat-out that you
don’t want anything more to do with him.”

“I know, but I guess some of the things
Nick said made Liam think twice about us.” She’d never forget that vacant look
in his eye when she realized he’d given up on them. “We started talking about
his business and…” She squeezed her eyes shut to curb the flow of tears. “He
basically told me I didn’t know what the hell I was talking about and I needed
to stay out of it.”

“Ouch. He really said that?”

“Not in so many words, but I got the
message loud and clear.”

“So, what are you gonna do?”

“The only thing I can do… file for
divorce.”

“Oh no,” Lena whispered. “Are you sure you
don’t want to give it some time before you make a decision you might regret? He
loves you, Ali. After seeing you two together, I have no doubt about that.”

It wasn’t just the things he said to hurt
her, she could get past that, but she’d come to realize being third on his
priority list wasn’t enough for her. “It’s better this way, before either one
of us gets in too deep.” She sniffled. “It would’ve been harder months or years
from now, when we’d invested more time.”
Or kids were involved.
It
pained her to think that hours ago they’d been talking about starting a family
and now they were contemplating divorce.

“You don’t believe that any more than I do.
Breaking up with someone you love sucks. It doesn’t matter whether it’s weeks,
months, or years into the relationship.”

“I got through it with Nick. I’ll get
through it this time, too.”

“God, I don’t even want to tell you this,
especially not now, but…”

Lena usually wasn’t the kind of friend to
try and spare Alisa bad news, except where Nick was concerned. “Did he stop by
again? Why? He knew I wasn’t going to be there.”

“He came to talk to me.” Lena heaved a sigh.
“I guess he thought he could talk me into helping him get you back.”

Knowing how much Lena and her ex resented
each other, she could only imagine how difficult it must have been for him to
swallow his pride and ask for her help. “What did you tell him?”

“I told him you and Liam were happy. That
you guys loved each other and he couldn’t say or do anything to change that.”
She groaned. “When he finds out your marriage is over, he’s gonna be
relentless.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle him.”

Liam staggered into the kitchen, knocking
the cordless phone off the wall. He’d started drinking after he sent his
daughter off to her bedroom and hadn’t stopped in the hours since. He hadn’t
been this drunk… ever.

“What the hell happened to you?” Matthew
asked, watching him from the doorway.

“Haven’t you heard?” He cursed the slur
that made him sound so much like his old man had before he finally surrendered
his life to the liquid poison. “She left me. She wants a divorce.”

“Jesus,” Matt muttered, shaking his head in
disgust. “What the hell did you do to piss her off? Things seemed to be going so
well.”

Liam watched his brother brew a pot of
coffee before he dropped his head on the granite countertop. “I told her she
was clueless.”

Matt rolled his eyes. “Great. Women love to
hear that.” He pulled the carafe out as soon as the first cup was ready. He set
the tall mug down in front of his brother. “Drink that. I want to know what the
hell happened to make her leave you. People fight, they say things they don’t
mean, but that’s not enough to make someone decide to give up on their
marriage. You’re not telling me something, so let’s hear it.”

He took a sip of the coffee. Matt was right;
he needed to sober up. He hated the way he felt and acted when he binged, which
is why he hadn’t indulged since college. “Her ex told her I loved my business
more than I’d ever love her.”

“Is that true?” Matt asked, bracing his
hands on the counter.

“Go to hell.”

“It’s a fair question, Liam. The only thing
in your miserable life you’ve ever loved more than that goddamn company is your
daughter.”

“You’re just jealous. Jealous of my success.”
He took a long swig of coffee, hoping the time-honored remedy would help him to
feel human again.

Matt choked on his laughter. “You think I’m
jealous of you? What the hell have you got to show for all that hard work? A
few big empty houses, a fleet of fancy cars, an overpriced plane. Big deal.
That don’t amount to shit in the big picture and you know it. I wouldn’t trade
my life for yours for anything.”

His brother’s words were a harsh reminder
of how little he had. “You know how to kick a guy when he’s down, lil brother.”

“Maybe Alisa leaving you was the best thing
that could’ve happened to you. Maybe now you’ll get your head out of your ass
and figure out what’s really important.”

“Shit,” Liam said, clutching his chest as
he tried to push the stool back from the breakfast bar.

“What the hell’s wrong with you, man?
You’re as white as…” He ran around the counter when Liam tried to reach out for
support. “What is it? Oh my God, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

“Call ambulance,” he whispered before he
fell forward into his brother’s waiting arms.

Alisa was too tired to think straight, much
less ward off Nick’s advances this morning.

“Come on, honey,” he said, sliding his
hands into her hair as he backed her into the wall. “Now that he’s out of the
picture, we can pick up where we left off.”

Apparently, the absence of her wedding
rings told Nick everything he needed to know about the status of her marriage.
When she’d tried to tell him that she simply forgot them at home, he insisted
he wasn’t buying any more of her excuses.

“It doesn’t matter whether Liam and I are
together or not.” She pressed her palms into his chest, trying to put some
distance between them. “We’re not getting back together. Ever.”

The buzzer above the door sounded,
indicating she had a customer. Before she could find the strength to push Nick
away, Matthew spotted them.

“Oh great,” she muttered, finally finding
the strength to force her ex to back off. “That’s Liam’s brother.”

“What the hell does he want?”

“We’re about to find out.” Alisa forced a
smile as she finger combed her tousled hair. “Hi, Matt. This is a surprise. Are
you in town on business?”

“Uh, no.” He glanced at Nick. “Have you got
a minute to talk?”

Alisa hadn’t heard one word from Liam in
the four days since she left Barbados. The final day of silence convinced her
he was ready to end their marriage, so she’d called her lawyer to initiate
divorce proceedings. “Of course. Nick was just leaving.” She glared at her ex.
“You can show yourself out?”

He raked a hand through his shaggy, sandy
blond hair. “This isn’t over, Alisa.”

“Yes, it is. Now get out.” She smiled at
Matt. “My office is the first door on the left down that hallway. I just have
to go upstairs and get one of the girls to cover the floor for me.”

“Sure.”

Matt seemed reluctant to follow her
directions, and when the sound of muted voices followed her up the stairs, she
understood why.

“Why can’t you take a hint, buddy?” Matt
asked Nick. “She’s married now.”

“Not for much longer.”

“How the hell do you know that? She told
you?”

Alisa took her time walking up the stairs
so she could hear more of their conversation.

“She didn’t have to tell me,” Nick said. “I
know that girl better than she knows herself.”

Alisa rolled her eyes. If he’d known her so
well, he would have known that sleeping with another woman was a deal breaker
for her.

“Listen, my brother’s in love with her and
she feels the same way about him.”

“How the hell do you know how she feels?”

“I’ve seen them together. It doesn’t take
much more than that. Hell, they can’t keep their hands off each other. I’ve
never seen Liam like that with a woman, ever.”