A Perfect Love by Hot Tree Editing, Becca Lee, Lm Creations

to stay. So I did. When he left, he spoke to Mace and told him to look after me, despite my protests and eye rolling. There were quite a few people in the house, many who I didn’t know, but they were friendly all the same, so I wasn’t worried, especially since lots of the guys there were cops. Liam was just being his overprotective self.
    Liam had been gone for about an hour when Mace and Abi, his fiancée, had a heated argument. She ended up walking off in a huff. Concerned, I’d made to go and see if he was okay, when a woman sidled up to him and whispered in his ear. He looked to me for a moment, clocking where I was, before he turned his back to me and led the woman upstairs.
    I desperately hoped he wasn’t off to do what I thought he may be doing, but unfortunately, it turned out later that he was. After another thirty minutes, Liam was yet to return. With the heat and cigarette smoke clinging to the air inside the house, it made my drunken arse feel sick, so grabbing a glass of water, I took myself outside.
    I was relieved there was no one around. Loud music and drunken bodies were taking their toll, plus I worried about Liam. I hadn’t been outside in the dark yard for more than five minutes when his voice broke the quiet.
    “You stupid fucking bitch. Liam will get what’s coming to him.”
    I wasn’t sure how much time had passed before Liam found me, his cries breaking through my haze and pain. When I was able to pry my bloody eyes open, it was to be faced with a Liam I had never seen before. I thought I was broken. I was wrong, until I saw Liam. His face was contorted in pain. Blood smeared his ghostly-pale cheek. His pained eyes stared down at me, tears freely flowing as he glanced over my bruised body.
    But it wasn’t until I answered his question of ‘who?’ that I saw him shatter. Narrowed eyes turned hard, his jaw tightened, and his pale skin turned an angry shade of crimson. He became someone else before my eyes, and it wasn’t for a long time afterward that I was finally able to get him back.
    It sickened me that David was released. While Liam and I hadn’t discussed it in a while, I knew he was out. Nausea regularly sat in my gut at the thought, but I wasn’t afraid. I refused to be. My way of dealing with it was to show no fear, and allow no fucker to destroy what I had: my family. With Mace before me, that thought held even more significance.
    Opening my eyes, I forced hardness into their depths. “It was shit. Everything that happened was a nightmare.” I kept my voice low and soft, despite the hardness of my words. “You need to throw your stupid guilt away right now. Let it go.” I swallowed. “I forgive you.” Despite my anxiety, those three words were effortless because I meant them. I refused to allow anyone to take responsibility for something they had no control over. Living life with what-ifs was not a part of my genetic makeup, and that was the way it would always be.
    Closing his eyes at my words, he exhaled heavily.
    “Okay, now that’s sorted, get your arse over here. Give me a hug and then I’m off to bed.”
    He did as I asked and sat beside me. Before he took me in his arms, I had one last thing to say. “Just to be clear, we do not talk about this again. There is no need. Also, I expect to see you around here at least every three weeks, but as soon as your niece is born it’ll need to be more often. Got it?”
    A smile tugged at his lips. The great big man before me, arms painted in beautiful ink, face covered in a beard, was a great big softie, and I loved him. He nodded in confirmation.
    “Good.” I grinned, pressed against his chest and wrapped my arms around him. His arms mirrored mine.
    He planted a kiss on the top of my head when Liam walked back outside. “You want to get your hands off my woman there, brother?”
    I scoffed, still snug against Mace’s chest.
    “And you, woman, you better not be sniffing him or some shit. I know what your weird