Page 17 of Point Proven
Putting the cigarette out on the back of my hand, I dropped the remnants to the ground, snuffing it out with my boot. “We’re good. Now, instead of keeping Simon and Liam waiting any longer, how about we head inside?”
Furrowing his brows, he dipped his chin in a faint nod, but I could see the doubt clouding him. “Okay… We can stop discussing it for now, but I know you, Thorne. If you think you can hide from me, keep trying.”
Little did he know, I was more than capable of doing just that.
CHAPTER EIGHT
LIAM
My leg bounced beneath the table with an unsteady rhythm, my nerves growing to a near-unbearable high. With Thorne and Oren missing for over twenty minutes now, my mind immediately wandered to the possibility of Stefan having stuck to his word, finding out we’d come here and decapitating Oren in front of our prior commander.
I was losing my mind, and there was no way I would be able to keep going like this. Every thought was suffocated by Stefan’s presence and all the threats he’d promised me over the phone. Maybe if I called and offered myself back to him… Maybe then he would leave them alone?—
A squeeze to my thigh pulled me from my spiral as my gaze greeted hazel irises. “Hey, it’s Oren and Thorne. They probably just went to fuck.”
“They seemed angry,” I whispered, my attention settling on the half-eaten plate of food in front of me.
“I mean, angry sex is a thing, but I’m sure they’re alright, darling. You know Thorne wouldn’t let anything happen to Oren. We’re all safe, okay?”
“Maybe coming here was a bad idea…”
I am ruining everything around me. Everyone.
Simon curled his fingers beneath my chin, dragging my face to his before pressing his lips to mine. It was short, sweet, and gone too quickly as he planted another one on the corner of my mouth. “Stefan can’t reach you here, I promise.”
“You can’t promise that… Not with someone like him.”
“Yes, I can, because I won’t let anything happen to you. Ipromise.”
Opening my mouth to speak, that sunshine timbre returned, as if nothing had happened. “Sorry to interrupt your dessert, but it’s time to discuss why you both came here.”
Oren slid back into his chair, running a hand through his messy curls as he flicked his attention to Thorne one last time. There was a waver in his gaze that suggested everythingwasn’tfine, but when Thorne rejoined us at the table, it vanished.
Simon cleared his throat. “Well, shit, how do we start?”
My hands were trembling in my lap, every part of me recoiling at the thought of having to disclose everything.
Thorne seemed to catch my unease. “Is it what I think it is?”
I only nodded.
“What you think it is?” Oren cut in, glancing between the two of us.
“You…Heknew?” Simon turned his head to me, and his shoulders tensed. “You didn’t… before me?”
“Oh, for the love of fuck, Simon, get over yourself,” Thorne snapped, his gaze narrowing. “He told me a long time ago becauseyouelected to push him away. Who the fuck else would he confide in?”
Simon’s jaw feathered, but he didn’t say anything else as one hand remained on my thigh, the other scratching at the underside of the table. Nails digging into the wood, he fixated his attention on his empty plate.
“It’s okay, Simon,” Oren said, his timbre steady. “You’re allowed to feel upset, but ultimately, it was Liam’s decision, andthere’s nothing he did wrong. I can see the fear in your irises, Liam. If… If this is too much, we can take a break, okay?”
Inhaling deeply, I shook my head, mustering the courage to speak even though my tone wavered drastically. “No. I, uh… We need to talk about it because if we don’t, I fear it will put the two of you in danger as well.”
“Us in danger?” Oren twisted to Thorne, narrowing his gaze. “Baby.”
“There’s a slew of things the two of you don’t know,” Thorne responded, glancing between Simon and Oren. “And if either of you elects to lean into your anger, direct it at me, not him.”
“Thorne, you don’t have?—”
