Secret Diaries (Heartlake Cliche #1)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

April 18, 2010

There are only two kinds of emotion that can turn someone blind: love and anger.

 

     “You son of a bitch!” Nick raged as he lunged at Liam, taking Rachelle’s boyfriend by the collar. “I’ll never forgive you for this!” he seethed before his fist landed on Liam’s handsomely wicked face.

    Liam was caught by surprise, making him an easy target for his sudden attack. He wasn’t able to deflect any of the next three punches that Rachelle’s best friend fired at him. A glass table crashed into thousands of pieces as Nick literally threw him on it. His eyes had become swollen from the punches, and blood started dripping from his nose and hands.

     Nick had become too blindingly angry that it took him several seconds to realize that Lance and Kane had started grabbing his arms to stop him from actually trying to kill the bastard. He was, however, having a difficult time trying to stop the violence that was trying to rush out of his fists and he struggled, his murderous eyes focused on Liam, and Liam alone.

     No one should dare hurt Rachelle. No one.

     His anger had become irrational and all he wanted to do was destroy the cause of Rachelle’s distress.

     “Stop! Please,” he heard from the only voice that could manage to calm him. It came in a hoarse whisper—as if the person who said it had a huge lump in her throat and could only force that much sound out of her mouth. “Nick.”

     His head snapped to her direction and he saw her again. That girl from many years ago—frightened—as her dreams came crashing down on her. And just as she was that day, she fought for control. She tried to keep her tears at bay, standing straight and facing everyone with her chin held up high. He watched her brace herself to face the man who was apparently behind her most recent nightmares. Long ago, she would have quivered in fear but tonight, she had obviously become stronger as her eyes began to glint with confidence as she looked at her enemy straight on.

     “Why?” Rachelle asked Liam.

     “You killed my sister.”

     Surprise and confusion showed in everyone’s faces as Liam condemned Rachelle of a crime nobody knew about.

     “Trixie,” he continued. “She was David’s girlfriend before he left her for you.”

     Nick saw the realization in Rachelle’s face when she heard the name “David”. If Nick remembered clearly, that guy and Rachelle had a short-lived relationship. She left him after he chased after a younger model.

     “I don’t remember meeting your sister,” Rachelle replied in a soft, solemn voice.

     “You haven’t,” he averred. “She committed suicide the day they broke up.”

     Rachelle’s gasp combined with some of the other girls’ who stayed in the bar to listen in was enough to make it sound like a soft scream of horror.

     “That doesn’t mean she killed her,” Kane said, his eyes and voice obviously mutinous.

     Liam’s battered face turned towards Rachelle as he stared her down. “If you hadn’t been there, her boyfriend wouldn’t have left her. And she would still be here with me,” came his accusation.

     Nick’s fists began to clench again, angry that Liam had twisted the situation and blamed Rachelle for something she clearly knew nothing about.

     A tear fell from Rachelle’s right eye and she replied, “I’m sorry.”

     It was an unsolicited apology, something Liam had not expected to hear, and it was enough to break her boyfriend’s accusatory façade. His face began to crumble with sadness and regret, and he took a deep, agitated breath.

     “Don’t be,” he told Rachelle. Liam obviously didn’t want to see Rachelle anything more than a scheming bitch that killed his sister.

     “Answer one last question for me, Liam,” Rachelle said after a few seconds of silence. “Did you love me even a little?” she asked in a broken voice. “Or was everything an act?”

     Liam looked away from her now tear-streaked face and his quiet voice answered her. “Maybe,” he answered. “But my sister’s death was too painful, Rach. And you’re such a big part of it that I couldn’t let myself love you completely. I had to get revenge.”

     A sob escaped from her lips and she gave up all pretense of control. She strode over to Liam and with no further warning, slapped him soundly on the cheek.

     “Bullshit!” she yelled at him. “Couldn’t you have answered with a simple ‘no’? Why’d you have to go and tell me you could’ve loved me had I not been the reason why your sister killed herself? I loved you! Why’d you have to be so cruel, Liam?” she ranted as she pounded her fist on his chest. 

     When the fight had gone out of her, she lowered her head and cried even more. Nick rushed over to give her a comforting hug but she refused it. Instead, she turned around and slowly began to walk out of the Empire. When her sobs became louder, her feet began to walk faster and by the time she got out of the door, she had started running.

     “Now perhaps you’ll allow me to kill you,” Matt’s menacingly soft voice penetrated through the thick silence that Rachelle left in her wake.

     “It’s the least you could do,” Liam replied, aware that there was no way he would be forgiven for what he did.

     Matt reached out to take him by the collar then he slammed Rachelle’s ex-boyfriend to one of the posts. Nick didn’t bother to watch the rest of the fight as he began to make his way out of the bar.

     There was only one place where Rachelle could be.