Hush Hush #2 by Anneliese Vandell

Liam—keeping an eye on his every flickering smile and every twitch of his jaw, as though they might somehow reveal the truth of his family’s crimes—but I’ve never actually paused to notice how he thought of me.
    Could that really be true? Can he really have feelings for me? A current of excitement slicks down my spine, tickling my skin. I have to press my lips together to keep from grinning.
    “Oh my God.” Miranda’s voice is like a blade, slicing through my thoughts.
    “What?” I say, quickly looking over at her. “What is it?”
    Miranda is staring at me with wide eyes and a thunderstruck expression. Her hand covers her open mouth.
    “You like him too, don’t you?” she says through her fingers.
    She may as well have just pulled the chaise out from beneath me. I draw in an involuntary gasp of air.
    I have feelings for Liam, sure, I’ll admit it. But they’re strictly physical. My body takes on a life of its own when I’m around him.
    But do I like him?
    “What are you talking about? You’re crazy,” I say. But the words come a little too quickly and too loudly to be believable.
    Miranda shoves herself off the chaise in a huff. She paces to the door and then back again, her stilettos click-clacking beneath her.
    “I can’t believe this,” she says bitterly. “No wonder you wanted me to find an alternate plan for you. There I was, thinking you were just chickening out, but no—you didn’t want to break your poor little Liam’s heart.” Her voice begins to take on a harsh, mocking quality. “Suddenly he’s more important to you than your parents, than the vengeance you’ve been talking about for the last three years. ”  
    “Of course he’s not,” I say, rising from my seat.
    “How did you think this would end, April?” she demands. “That you could get justice for your parents and get to keep the boy, too?” A burst of angry, unhinged laughter escapes from her lips. “Doll, that’s not how it works.”
    At her words, I can feel my defiance start to wither.
    “Tell me,” Miranda says, storming up to me, “which do you want more: vengeance or Liam? Because you can’t have both. And before you answer, let me tell you this—if you say ‘Liam,’ then I’m out of here. You’re on your own.”
    I hesitate. My mind shifts back to that fateful day in the courtroom. Even now, after all these years, I remember the smug expressions on Mr. and Mrs. Hawthornes’ faces as my parents were being dragged away in handcuffs. I can still remember the anger, hot and white, that took seed in my heart that day.
    My hands clench into trembling fists.
    I whisper, “They have to pay.”
    Miranda’s mouth curves into a satisfied smile. “They will,” she promises me. Her eyebrows furrow. “But the only way that’s going to happen is for you to get out.”
    “What?” I breathe out. My chest deflates.
    “Give me a few weeks and I’ll have Liam eating out of the palm of my hand. I know his type. I know what he likes. Hardworking executive, just wants a pretty young thing to help work out the kinks of his day,” Miranda says cloyingly. “But in order to get Liam to even look at me, I need you out of the picture.”
    I can feel my back begin to stiffen at her words.  
    Oh, she knows him, does she? I think angrily.What can she possibly know about Liam? She’s barely talked to him. She hasn’t seen his passion and his playfulness, like I have. She hasn’t looked into his blue eyes and seen the sincerity that lies deep within them.  
    If she had, she’d realize that Liam Hawthorne is not his parents’ son. He may share the family name, sure, but there’s a doubt that stirs within him. I’ve seen it. And this doubt, this hesitation— this is the source of his urgency when he puts his hands on me. This is why he owns the rope, the paddles, everything. I understand it now. It’s his attempt to reclaim control over his maelstrom life.
    But Miranda doesn’t know all of that. She’ll chew