Only a Millionaire (The Sinclairs #6.5)(21)

“It isn’t that I don’t want to know, Brooke. I guess I just wanted to give you time to trust me.”

I surveyed his gorgeous face, and the earnest look in his eyes. My heart melted. “Oh, Liam. It isn’t that I don’t trust you. I’m just not sure where to start.”

He shrugged. “Anywhere you want. But finish eating first.”

I started eating again, pausing when my stomach was full.

Glancing over at Liam’s plate, I noticed he’d completely demolished his food.

“There’s more,” I offered.

He held up a hand. “I’m done.”

We quickly made short work of cleaning up, and then went to sit down in the living room. I’d poured myself a glass of Merlot, and Liam had gotten himself a soda.

We’d made ourselves comfortable on the couch before I spoke. “I’m not a waitress anymore. At least, I wasn’t always one in California.”

I’d decided that my career was a good place to begin my explanation.

“I wouldn’t have guessed that,” he replied. “You’re pretty damn good at it.”

“My references were real. I was a waitress from the time I could legally work until I completed my degree. I’m a financial analyst. I was working in a small branch of a national bank in Citrus Beach before I came here.”

“I should have known you had a financial job, since you strangely love numbers.” He paused before inquiring, “Is this about a guy? A stalker?”

I could see that Liam was ready to kill the fictional weirdo in my life as I smiled at him. “No. It wasn’t like that.”

He looked relieved. “Thank fuck.”

I wasn’t sure the truth was any better. “I’d been working at the bank for a year. I loved my job. Then one morning, the bank got robbed.”

I saw Liam visibly tense, but I kept talking. “I was in a back office, but I heard the shots. When I went to see what had happened, all of my friends and coworkers were dead. The bastard had shot the two tellers and the assistant manager.” My heart was racing from reliving that horrible day, but I couldn’t stop. “I should have been dead, too. But the police pulled into the parking lot while he was filling a paper bag with money from the drawers. He had to escape through the back.”

Liam reached for my hand and pulled me against his chest, his arms wrapping around my waist to hold me.

“You don’t have to talk about it, Brooke. You don’t,” he said hoarsely.

I shook my head. “I do. I want to.”

“You’re crying,” he argued.

“It’s okay. Sometimes it’s okay to cry.” I’d figured that out soon after I’d moved to Amesport. I’d needed to mourn in private, and the small coastal town had given me that opportunity. I was seeing a local counselor who had kept my secrets safe, and I’d slowly worked my way through the fear, anger, guilt, and despair.

“Then finish,” he agreed.

“He saw me, Liam. But he saw the police, too. So I guess he decided he was going to take his chances by leaving a witness in order to avoid getting arrested.” I paused to take a shaky breath. “All of my coworkers died for a sum total of twelve hundred dollars.”

Once I’d gotten the whole story out, I hugged Liam and sobbed.





CHAPTER 11

BROOKE



I wasn’t sure how long I’d unloaded my sorrow onto Liam’s shoulder, but it felt good to cry. I hadn’t really bawled over my friends for months. Even though I’d sorted my way through their pointless deaths, I wasn’t quite healed from the trauma of what had happened at the bank that day.

“Jesus, baby! I’m so damn sorry,” Liam said with his mouth against my hair.

I nodded and pulled back so I could see his face. “They were my friends.”

He kissed my forehead. “I know.” He paused before he asked, “Did they catch him?”

“They did. He was already known to law enforcement, so it wasn’t all that difficult for them to find him. I testified as the lone witness, and the video had been running. He was easily visible on the tapes, and the police had all kinds of supporting evidence. He’ll never get out of prison.”

“That had to have been a rough time for you,” he said as he rocked my body gently. “You couldn’t get over it because you had to testify.”

“After the trial, it was a media circus,” I told him. “Reporters wanted my story as the sole survivor. And I wasn’t ready to talk. I hadn’t mourned my friends. I hadn’t made sense out of everything. I felt like I was walking around in a trance, Liam, and I had every reporter from every major network outside my door. They were even hounding my family. I had to get away.”

“I take it they stopped,” Liam said flatly.

“They finally gave up and went on to the next, more current story. We figured they would eventually. But Noah and Evan were worried, so they swore me to silence on who I was and what had happened. Both of them just wanted to give me some time.”

He stroked my hair. “I’m glad they did.”

“Even though I had to lie?”

“I don’t give a shit if you had to lie to every person in Amesport. It was about your safety and your sanity, Brooke. Nothing is more important than that.”