La Cosa Nostra, This Thing of Ours (14 page)

How
am I supposed to go to work now? I'm just one of the many employees that he has now fucked. Oh, and I get to see him with other girls.
Goddammit, Harper.
Way to hang on to that dignity, Harper Troy
.

Chapter 15

I find my phone in the bathroom of my
apartment.  I have texts galore from Liam the night of the club telling me he's about ready to come looking for me. "Fuck you!" I say to my phone as I delete all of his old messages. I have texts from Jax asking me where I am and to please let him know I am safe. 

Dam
n, why didn't I listen to him? I shoot him a text telling him I'm fine that I've just had the flu. I receive one back immediately.

Jax
: Girl you have had me worried. Christ, answer your texts once in a while, save me the heart attack
.

Me: Sorry, I lost my phone. Just found it.
I will be at study group tomorrow
.

Jax
: Good, I miss you
.  

This puts a smile on my face.  At least someone does. 

I call my brother Kade next. 

"Hey
, Sis," he answers.

"Hi, how you doing?" I ask the question I always ask
, but he picks up on my sadness right away.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just miss home," I answer.

"We miss you
, too, but that's not it. What is going on?" he pushes.

"I probably won't be
getting that work study for U of I. They cut the program," I tell him, because that is part of what is wrong.

"I'm sorry
, Sis, but I am glad you will be coming back to Iowa. ISU is a good school also, you know," he utters. He's been begging me to go to ISU ever since I got accepted into Chicago. 

"I know."

"What else is wrong?" Damn, he knows me so well.

"Just a guy." I don't know how else to explain to my brother that I got played and played good.

"Just a guy, huh? What has this guy done to make you sound so sad?" he presses for more.

"Oh
, you know, some are real assholes."

"Yeah
, this I know, but I've never heard you be upset about one before. What did he do to you, Harper?" he spits louder with more annunciation. 

"I just thought
he liked me more than he did. I'm fine. I don't want to talk about it."

I finally get him to drop the subject
after assuring him over and over that this guy did nothing to me.   We talk about other stuff that is going on at the farm for a while and I finally get him off the phone.

The next
call I make is to The Guardian. I tell Matty that I won't be in again.

"Why?"
he demands. It's the only question he asks.

I contemplate saying, "Ask you
r nephew," but chicken out and tell him that I have to concentrate on school and that after I graduate I'm going back to Iowa. He tells me he can pay me more if I reconsider, which is flattering, but there is no way in hell I can go back to that place. I decline politely. He tells me if I change my mind I still have a job there. 

I go the rest of the night without studying one bit.  I type out a text about a million different ways a
bout a million different times. All pretty much saying, what the hell happened and go to hell. I never do send the message. I also never receive one from Liam.

T
he next morning, after a very restless night's sleep, I get ready to go to the library. I am able to cover up what's left of my black eyes with foundation and eye makeup. 

I'm t
rying to push Liam out of my head. All it takes is looking at my shiny new/old car to remind me again.
God, how can this hurt so much, it was one night. One incredible fucking night
.

On the way to the library I decide to s
ell the car and send the money to Liam. Him paying for this car was like him paying for the sex. It turns my stomach to think it was all just a fucking game to him. 

I get through the study group wit
hout retaining a single thing. Jax asks me about lover boy on our way out of the library that night.

"Meeting up
with the mob tonight?" he snickers, trying to make it a joke. 

"Nop
e, it's not going to work out. I'm done, just concentrating on graduating right now," I tell him walking toward my car. He grabs my wrist, turning me around.

"Did something happen?" His eyebrows shoot up and
his tone says he must have done something.

"No,
Jax, nothing happened." I yank my wrist away and start walking again.

"T
hree days ago you were in gaga land in love." He makes googly eyes at me. I'm trying to walk fast, but with his long legs he looks like he is leisurely walking.

"No
, I wasn't. I just realized that I need to concentrate. I don't have time for a relationship." I lie, there's no way in hell I'm going to admit to him that he was so right.

I stop abruptly and turn to face
Jax, I don't want him seeing my car. "Jax, I have a lot on my mind. I just need to be alone right now." I stare up at him not moving. "I will call you tomorrow, okay." I continue to stand there and wait for him to go in the direction of his car which I know is on the other side of the parking lot.

"Ok
ay." He has a hurt look on his face when I motion with my head for him to leave.
I'm sorry, but I don't need him seeing my shiny new car, that will lead to more questions
. 

When I get home
, I get a call from Tara. Since she's met Tony they've practically moved in together.

"
What did you do to Liam?" She's exasperated as she accuses me of something. What the hell, I haven't talked to her in four days and this is what she asks me?

"Hi
, Tara, how are you? I didn't do shit to Liam." I snap immediately. "And why in the hell would you think I did anything to Liam?

"Sorr
y," she instantly apologizes. I know how Tara is, she has been this way since I met her three years ago. When she has a boyfriend, she is all about that guy and basically forgets about everyone else. I know it and accept it. She has lost a lot of friends because of it. That's just how she is. She thinks she has to be with that guy 24/7 to keep him. Ironically, that is also how she usually loses her boyfriends.

"I know I've been a bad friend lately, I just...
" She has changed her tone immensely.

"It's fine
, Tara, now why do you think I did something to Liam?"

"Tony went over to his apartment last night to
get ... shit I don't remember. Anyway, he went over there to get something. He said that Liam looked like hell warmed over. He was drunk off his ass and was positively pissed. When Tony asked him what was wrong, he couldn't even speak. He threw a half full whiskey bottle across the room and punched the wall. Tony said it wasn't the first time. There were holes in several places on the walls and his hand was bruised, swollen, and bleeding." I swear she shoots it all out in one breath.

I explain to Tara what ha
d happened since the night club. That he dismissed me basically and I hadn't heard from him since. 

"So if he was pissed at so
mething it wasn't because of me," I finish after my long story of the past four days. I can't help but be very curious at what does have him so mad. Not that it matters to me, I should be happy the asshole is upset. I almost wish it was because of me. 

"That's strange, Harper
. I swear the way he was swooning over you the other night, you know, when we were waiting for you to show up, I could have sworn he was head over heels in love," she states as if it is a fact.

"Obviously not, look I don't want to ta
lk about Liam Tarseta anymore. I've wasted enough time on that bastard."

"One last thing, did he ever tell you about what happened with Chelsea Waters?"

"No, every time I would ask him something about his past he would change the subject. It really doesn't matter anymore, now does it?" I sigh into the phone. 

"I asked Tony, h
e said it was family business. He said that he wasn't allowed to talk about it. That just seems so bizarre, he was mad that I brought it up," she mumbles annoyingly. I can just hear the cogs of her mind turning. One thing Tara does not like is not knowing something. 

"Like I said
, it doesn't really matter. I don't need to know what is in Liam's past or future, so can we please drop it?" 

We chit
chat for a while, but I can tell she is anxious to get off the phone when I hear Tony in the background. I let her off easy and tell her I have some stuff to do, and I will talk to her later.

L
ater that night, I get a text from Sarah from the club. 

Hey girl, I
'll miss you around here. P.S. Liam was just in and was super pissed when he heard you quit
.
He left minutes later
.

Thanks, I'll miss you too
. I type out and decide to leave out anything about Liam. I don't really care what those girls say about me, but I am not going to fuel the fire. 

I don't know what'
s got Liam's panties in a twist, but I know it is not me. Fuck, I should be the one punching the walls. I just don't want to hear that name ever again. 

The next morning I am driving my car, the last reminder of Liam, to a dealership just outside of Chicago. It is owned by one of my father's friends, so I am hoping to make some money and drive away in a new Liam free car. 

When I walk into the dealership
a swarm of men in suits ascend. I politely nod and make my way to the reception desk. A bubbly brunette is sitting behind the desk. 

"May I speak with Ted
Oberman?" I ask the girl.

"Who can I say is asking?"
she asks politely, picking up the phone. 

"Harper Troy." 

"He'll be out in a minute," she says after hanging up the phone. I meander around the show room floor, avoiding eye contact with all of the salesmen ready to pounce.

"Harper
!" I hear Ted's booming voice. I turn to see the man I've known for years coming toward me.  He is a giant teddy bear of a man. He instantly embraces me giving me a crushing bear hug.   "Your dad never told me you were looking for a car," he says looking down at me, his arm around my shoulders.

"
Ummm ... he doesn't know. I actually want to keep this between us for now." He gives me a fatherly stare, before he nods. 

"What can I help you with today
, dear?" 

"I want
to see if I can trade in my car. It's had some work done, so I would like to actually downsize, walk away with money," I tell him, he looks confused. I motion to the door so I can show him.

"Wo
w, you had a lot of work done. This is so cool," he says, walking around the car whistling through his teeth. "I've never seen anyone trick out this style of Jetta. Why in the world would you want to down size?" he asks, opening the door checking out the interior. He pops the hood and whistles even louder when he sees the engine.  "This must have cost a fortune." He turns to me knowing I'm a college student. He has a lot of questions in his eyes.

"A guy did it for me.
A guy I don't want any reminders of. This is why I don't want you telling my father. At least until I've had a chance to talk to him." I am pleading him with my eyes not to make a big deal of this. The only reason I came here is because I know he won't screw me out of a great deal. 

"Ok
ay, sweetheart, it will be our secret. Now let's go in and play let's make a deal." He gives me a wink and directs me to his office.