This was it. This was the rest of his life right here. His mother might claim that she had no ulterior motive telling her little story about his nanny, but he saw through that lie. She was trying to pull him in, trying to make him trust her.
"...Emma would be a perfect choice," his mother was saying, as if Liberty were nothing more than set dressing. "From such a good family."
"No."
"No?" His mother paused. "Well, there are other options if Emma doesn't work for you."
"I'm with Liberty," he said.
"Yes, well, just keep it quiet," Marisa said impatiently. "That's what-"
"No," he insisted, louder this time. "No, Mother. You don't get to pick. You don't get to dictate my life anymore. I didn't want Lillibeth. I don't want Emma. For God's sake, I didn't want to come to this wedding and have to put on a good face all because it fits some twisted version of what the Warren name stands for." His mother opened her mouth, but Marcus cut her off. "I'm with Liberty. I'm not going to cheat on her and I'm not going to use her and I'm sure as hell not going to cast her aside because you think I can do better. I want her and I'm damned lucky that she wants me."
His mother glared at him. "You're being difficult, Marcus. Do you really think she-"
"She's the only person in my adult life who has cared about me. Not about what I could do for her, not about what I can buy her-but about me, Marcus. I want someone who's honest with me, who would never lie and cheat. I want the one thing money can't buy. I want her love. And if that means I'm not protecting the Warren name, then so be it."
His mother's eyes narrowed to slits; she looked like a snake on the verge of striking. No, she wasn't going to let him go that easily. "This is exactly why we didn't tell you about your stupid nanny. You always were a fool. You-"
"I," he interrupted, jerking his arm free from her grasp, "am going to do exactly what I want."
Lesser men had cowered before that look of intense hatred. But Marcus would not give. "Are you, now?" It wasn't a question, but a threat.
No, she wasn't going to let him go at all, if she could help it. "I am. And if you try to interfere? I will do everything in my power to drag the Warren name through the mud. You think we lost face when Lillibeth sold me out? You have no idea how much damage I can inflict."
That got his mother's attention. Her eyes widened and she physically recoiled in horror. "You wouldn't dare."
"Try me and we'll find out."
They stood in a furious silence for a moment, trying to outglare each other. "I am very disappointed," his mother said softly, the simper back in her voice. "Very disappointed."
"So am I. God knows that when I have children, I won't treat them like pawns in some game that's rigged from the start." He turned, still holding Liberty's hand. "Goodbye, Mother. Don't look for me at the wedding tomorrow. I won't be there."
"Marcus?" Marisa called after him. "Marcus, this is not acceptable!"
But he didn't stop, he didn't try to figure out what twisted definition of love his parents had been using for the past thirty-some-odd years. Maybe they did love him and this was the only way they knew how to show it.
No, that was a cop-out because he'd grown up in that world, and even he knew that wasn't love. That was control. And he was done being their puppet.
Everything had changed.
And now he was free.
He began to run.
Fifteen
She had to tell him the truth. And she would, just as soon as he stopped sprinting along the dimly lit path-and pulling her with him. Liberty stumbled to keep up in her flip-flops. Somehow, she managed to keep her balance. But that was only physically.
Emotionally, she wasn't sure she'd ever find her balance again. How was she supposed to make sense of what she'd just heard? No, what his mother thought of her wasn't a huge shock. Nor was it shocking that what Marisa Warren had a problem with wasn't that Marcus was sleeping with Liberty, but that he'd gone public.
But... He'd almost been kidnapped as a kid? By his nanny? And his own parents-people who should have loved and protected him at all costs-had...well, she couldn't make sense of it. They'd put the perpetrators behind bars-but completely ignored Marcus while they did it? They'd kept him locked away from the world, as if it'd been his fault?
Her own mother had been a horrible person. Liberty knew that. Jackie Reese had been a sheep without a flock, lost in a hell of her own making. She'd ignored Liberty for drugs and men for years and years.
But no matter how bad it'd been-and Lord knew it had been pretty damn bad-Liberty had always had hope. She'd had Grandma Devlin teaching her to read. As shitty as the foster homes had been, the foster parents had fed her three squares a day and made her go to school. There had always been the promise that if Liberty put her head down and worked her ass off, she could save herself.
But Marcus-with all his money and all his power-had never had that hope. All she wanted to do was pull him into her arms and tell him it was going to be all right.
If only that were the worst of it.
But it wasn't because he really was going to fight for her. He really was going to risk everything-his name, his fortune-for her. He'd promised her that and he was going to keep his promise.
She'd tried to tell him that she wasn't good for him, that she'd hurt him. But he hadn't listened.
Well, that had to change, starting right now. She'd tell him about her childhood, about her times in foster care, about all those lies she lived with. He'd understand. After all, he understood how much she needed to make sure William was okay. It hadn't mattered to Marcus that William was a lost baby boy. Marcus would see that Liberty had done what she needed to in order to survive.
They crested the small hill in front of their cabin hut. He didn't even break stride as he ran up the single step that led inside. He only stopped when they reached the raised platform that held the bed.
Hands linked, they stood there for a short second, both of them panting from the run. His head was down and she knew he was hurting. And she knew telling him that she wasn't exactly the woman he thought she was would hurt him even more.
But she couldn't be yet another woman who lied to Marcus Warren. She was better than that. She had to be, if she wanted to be good enough for him. "Marcus," she began, trying to find the words. I'm black-but I've been passing as white my entire adult life. My mother was an addict and a hooker. And I'm in love with you.
"Don't talk," he said gruffly, turning and yanking her into his arms. Before she could react, his mouth crushed down onto hers.
It was not a tender kiss, not when his teeth clipped her lower lip. But she didn't pull away, didn't do anything but tilt her head to give him better access. She could taste the desperation on his lips-the confusion, the despair.
"Marcus," she said, pulling back enough that she could form the words. "I need to-"
"Don't want to talk." He jerked at the clasp of her bikini top and savagely pulled it off. The cold air hit her chest, still damp with ocean water, and she shivered when her nipples went tight. Then his mouth was against her bare skin, sucking her nipple into his mouth. "Let me take care of you."
"Marcus..." This wasn't about him taking care of her-she needed to take care of him. She needed to protect him. But his mouth was on her body and he was yanking down her bikini bottoms and sliding his hands up between her legs and...and she couldn't fight the rising surge of desire.
Still, she knew this wasn't about her. It wasn't. This was about him and dammit all, she needed to do something to tell him that she'd be here for him, however he needed her. "It's going to be okay," she said because that's what he needed to hear. Because that was what she'd always wanted to know when she was being thrown around by her mother's fate. She reached for his board shorts and began to pull them down. "Everything's going to be okay."
"Stop talking." He pushed her back down onto the bed and grabbed a condom. Before she'd even gotten his shorts all the way off, he spread her legs and plunged into her with a savageness that she'd never experienced before. She gasped as he filled her completely in one sure stroke, her body shuddering to take him in.
He paused, hovering over her, his head down. He was breathing hard, although she didn't know if that was from the sprint back to their hut or from the conversation with his mother or what.