Marked Heart (Marked Heart #3) (18 page)

M
36
H

Saying goodbye to Liv was the hardest moment of Braden life. Harder than seeing her broken and suffering, even harder than the anguish he felt finding out she left. If it weren't for knowing their goodbye was the only way to truly end things in order for them both to have a new beginning, leaving her while she slept in the middle of the night may have done him in completely.

~

Waking up alone after falling asleep in Braden's arms hurt Liv's heart. However, since the pain was self-inflicted, it was enough to secure her guard back in place where it belonged. She could now leave without sorrow. There was no loss here. Only surrender to what was good for both of them. That kind of pain, she could deal with.

~

The night was lit by a mixture of stars in the summer sky and tiny white lights hanging from the trees. Music played loudly from the DJ booth set up on Ren and Jacks' back porch, making it a pleasant volume as it filtered out into the yard among the guests and their conversations.

Family and friends roamed the property, visiting with each other and congratulating the couple that was legendary in their family for proving real love could endure everything. Braden stood with his brother Ailin waiting for their mom Sarah to show up.

"Do you miss it?"

Ailin shook his head questioning, "Miss what?"

With a shrug Braden replied, "The way things used to be."

"I miss y'all and Will of course. It's kinda strange though, knowing Keylee won't grow up here."

Braden smiled, teasing, "Don't worry, we can still corrupt her from a distance."

Laughing, Ailin agreed, "And how the hell is Auggie her favorite? I'm going to have to lock her up when she's a teenager if that's a hint of what's to come."

"Nah, she's one of us. It's the other kids parents that'll need to worry."

As they laughed together, Penny and Seth walked up.

"Mom's still not here?" she questioned, appearing a bit put out.

Seth stated, "I'm sure she's on her way."

Whipping her head around, she snapped at him. "How do you know?"

"I don't. I'm sorry. I love you."

Shaking her head she started to cry, "Why am I so hot?"

Braden stared at his sister, trying to figure out why that was worth crying over.

"Would you like me to get you some ice?" Seth offer, in a compassionately smooth tone.

Just as quickly as Penny started crying, she stopped.

Pushing up on the toes of her sandals, she gave him a cheery smile saying, "I love you." Wrapping her arms around his neck she pulled him close for a short kiss before informing, "I'll just go get some."

As she walked away, Braden couldn't help blurting, "That was frightening."

"You have no idea." Seth assured before Ailin sympathized by patting Seth on the shoulder, saying, "I remember those days."

Seth instantly looked up as Penny shouted, "Are you coming or what?"

"Yes, baby, I love you," he answered, taking off after her.

Shaking his head, Braden started laughing again.

Not long after Penny and Seth stepped away, Auggie and Charlotte showed up.

"Lookin' pretty sharp there, brother." Braden said, complimenting Auggie's tan suit that matched nicely to his wife's dress.

Holding his hand, Charlotte leaned into Auggie from the side as she blurted, "Doesn't he look sexy."

"No," both Braden and Ailin replied before another voice came from behind saying, "I kinda think he does."

Charlotte laughed, noting, "See," as Liv nudged Auggie with her shoulder and winked at him.

Romeo was right beside her assuring, "That's fine for boys. Men are debonair."

Braden, Ailin, and Auggie gave Romeo a nod as another voice interrupted them.

Braden was slightly shocked to see his mom. Not because she was finally there but because of the way she looked. Her auburn hair that was normally pinned up in a bun or kept back in a long braid was down, making her look younger. And she was wearing makeup.

"Where is your sister?" Sarah griped at them.

Braden thought, at least she sounded the same as he replied, "She had a mini melt down and went to get some ice."

"Wow, Sarah, you look nice." Charlotte complemented, earning her a sarcastic smile before Liv asked, "What's got you all dolled up?"

"I'm so glad you're back." Sarah mocked as she eyed, Romeo. "Isn't he a little old for you?"

Romeo cocked an eyebrow at Sarah as he answered, "I would hope so, I'm her dad."

Sarah's let a light smile slip as she replied, "Oh." Holding out her hand to him, introducing herself. "Sarah."

Taking it, he kissed the top of her hand and stated, "Romeo."

The smile spread across her face as she offered, "Would you like to get a drink?"

Romeo nodded at her before they walked off together.

Everyone stood there in a sort of stunned silence for a moment.

"What the hell was that?" Auggie griped, saying what everyone else was thinking.

Liv smirked, saying, "My dad's always had a thing for red heads."

Auggie scowled at her fussing, "What the..." before Charlotte cut him off, patting his arm.

"Now, Augustus, I'm sure Sarah knows what she's doing." Then with a wicked smile as if she couldn't resist, she added, "And later she'll be hookin' up with Liv's dad."

"Ha!" Liv blurted as Auggie drug Charlotte away saying, "Come on were going to go get a drink."

Ailin shook his head saying, "Yeah, I better go see if Sophia ever got Keylee to sleep." Before he walked off towards the house.

Then it was just the two of them.

When Liv glanced at him, Braden could feel the tear in his heart. She was leaving in the morning.

"Ya know what I find odd?"

Wrinkling up his forehead, he turned to face her.

"They're celebrating ten years, when they spent a lifetime loving each other."

Braden thought for a moment before sharing, "Maybe it's easier to love someone than to really be with them."

"You may be right."

Flashing a smile at her, he turned and walked towards the party.

~

The evening wound down as it got to be close to midnight and guests started to leave. The pain Braden was experiencing knowing what was to come started to weigh on him as he felt an arm slide around his waist. Looking down, he saw a pair of beautiful grey eyes staring up at him.

"Did you have a nice time tonight?"

Smiling at Ren, he nodded.

"Do you remember when we met?" she asked, letting go of him as she tucked a few strands of her long brown hair behind her ear.

With a laugh, he replied, "Yeah, me and Auggie gave you hell 'cause I asked you if you were gonna kiss Jacks."

Rolling her eyes she gave him a sincere smile. "We wasted a lot of time, waiting for the right time."

Braden found it hard to smile, thinking of what love really does to people.

"Braden." Ren stated before glancing at Liv and then back up at him. "Stop wasting time."

Ren reached down and squeezed his hand. When she let go, she turned and walked back to her husband Jacks.

Braden watched Ren slide her arms around her husband as he leaned down and kissed her. Their love story was epic, but she was right. What was the point of fighting the good fight for years when he could throw down right now?

M
37
H

Hugging Penny and Charlotte as she was getting ready to leave, Liv promised to stop by and see them on her way out tomorrow. It was going to be a long drive with her dad to get back to his house and just the thought of driving for thirty six hours was already making her tired.

She was about to interrupt whatever conversation Romeo and Sarah had been holding all night, so they could go back to the hotel, when Braden stopped her.

"You still owe me a dance."

"What?"

Smiling at her, he reminded, "Remember, at Auggie and Charlotte's wedding? You were going to dance with me, then you said you would catch me next go round."

She did remember.

"They're not playing music anymore."

As soon as the words left her mouth, 'Hallelujah' by Rufus Wainwright started to play.

Liv gave him a suspicious glare, but didn't fight it when he led her a few feet away from her dad and his mom. The song was rather appropriate after all that had been said and done between them.

Braden held her in his arms. As they swayed back and forth to the music, Braden hummed along with the song until it was almost to the end.

Whispering in her ear, "Remember when I moved in you... Every breath we drew was hallelujah..."

She was so moved by Braden holding her, the song, and his whisper, she slid her hands to the sides of his face, allowing him to rest his forehead against hers.

"Let's get married," he murmured, like it was nothing.

Quickly letting go of him, she blurted, "What?"

"I love you."

Shaking her head at him, Liv couldn't believe he was doing this to her.

It was too late for him to say those things. Yesterday when he said his piece, he agreed. It was over. Twice now, Braden had told her that he loved her and both times, it was almost like a last resort. Now he was throwing marriage at her to try and keep her there. Who wants to be someone's afterthought? Liv's mind spun in a thousand different directions, reliving moments with him as well as imagining different scenarios. He couldn't do that to her. Tell her things. The things that should have already been said, just because he wanted to keep her around.

Pushing against him, she barked, "You're an asshole."

Walking away from him as fast as she could, she heard Braden call after her.

Her dad shouted, "Lillian!" But she didn't care.

Sprinting to her car, she stopped when she reached it. Frantically pulling at the handle she needed it to open, but her dad had the keys.

Finally she heard a pop as the door unlocked.

"Other side. You're not driving."

Thankful she was getting out of there and away from Braden, she didn't argue with Romeo.

~

Still standing in the exact spot where he danced with Liv, Braden stared at his sister.

"Why did he call her that?"

Charlotte answered for her, saying, "Because that's her name."

Confused, he argued, "Liv's not short for Lillian."

"No, her middle name is Ingrid. Liv is her initials. Or they were before she was Caffrey." Penny shared.

How could he have known her for so long and not known that?

He recalled, Lily's 'good luck with your new Lily'. She must have remembered her from high school, even though he didn't. What were the chances that he ended up on the losing end of another Lily? He had to wonder if that was why things didn't seem to work out no matter how hard he tried. Maybe the name was cursed. Like him. His tattoo instantly came to mind. Liv practically freaked out when he was going to take his shirt off after bringing her storage bins into the house. Then when she actually saw it, at Brennen's cabin, she couldn't take her eyes off of it. The night Kieran gave it to him, he said 'You're taking the mark of someone's heart that doesn't belong to you'. At the time, Braden just thought that Kieran was pissed and being an ass because he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Heat started to spread throughout his entire body as he looked at his mom.

"Did you give me Liv's mark?"

Pursing her lips at him, Sarah scoffed, "I gave you one that she drew."

"How did that happen?"

Auggie scowled at him as he explained, "When Kieran went to mom with the lily, he had her draw him a different one."

Shaking his head, he couldn't believe that no one told him.

"Why didn't Liv stop him?"

Charlotte cleared her throat, saying, "She didn't find out until a few months after you got it."

"Honestly, son, it's not that big of a deal."

Giving her mom a dirty look, Penny took a few steps forward informing, "Yes it is. Whether you believe in it or not, you gave Liv your heart when you took her mark."

Glaring at Penny, Sarah argued, "Getting a tattoo doesn't make you fall in love with someone."

Ignoring her mom, Penny stressed, "Think about it, Braden. Do you really think it's a coincidence?"

~

They reached the hotel after an agonizingly quiet drive. Liv knew there was no way Romeo was going to let what happened at the party go. It wasn't in his nature to not question her.

Romeo turned the car off, holding the keys in his hand as he demanded, "Answers. Now, Lillian."

"I'm a grown woman."

His tone was harsh as he assured, "When you start acting like one, I'll treat you like one."

"I can't believe you're on his side."

Romeo's eyes softened as he replied, "I'm not on his side."

"Then why aren't you questioning him?"

"Is he in this car? Is he my daughter?"

Rolling her eyes, Liv made an irritated noise and looked away.

The car was silent for a moment before he shared, "You can't be mad at him for loving you."

"Who says I am?"

"I do."

Leaning her head back against the headrest, Liv blew out a loud breath saying, "It's all just one big lie."

"Not to him. That boy's in love with you."

Shaking her head, Liv argued, "We're wrong for each other. He knows it too. He said it himself that he's not the man he needs to be. That's because of me. Something happens when we're together. We can't move past each other. It's not right."

"Look at me Lillian," he stated as she turned her head in his direction. "Now, you listen to your old man."

Feeling desperate, she nodded.

"Men are strange creatures, constantly at war with themselves on the inside. We're designed to sabotage ourselves. It's the woman though... The one that gives him something to fight for that makes him the man he needs to be. There's no good, bad, right or wrong to it. It's the victory he's after. You're either the prize or a casualty. And that my girl, is the only decision that's up to you."

Romeo patted her on the arm before opening the driver's side door. Dropping her keys in the seat as he got out, he closed the door, and walked into the Inn.