Collide (Impact Book 2) | h.s. | complete

17. Captain

~Tori~

“Oh my god.” I breathed into Liam’s shirt as he squeezed me tighter.

“I got on a plane as soon as you hung up the phone.”

“But all I told you was the town I was in.” I said, holding him at arms length, taking in every bit of his face. A face I had missed so much.

“I hired a private investigator months ago. I told him what you told me,” He said, lifting his hand to show me that he had written Gordes, France in black ink on the back of his hand. “And he found you.”

“Oh,” I breathed, shaking my head slightly.

“Who is it, babe?” Tanner shouted from up the stairs and Liam’s eyes widened, his eyebrows lifting slightly.

“Uhm, stay up there, I’ll only be a second…” I said.

“I’m not leaving.” Liam said, planting his feet and dropping his bag.

“I don’t want you to, I want you to stay…” I said, taking his hand and pulling him into the kitchen behind me. “I need you to stay.” I said, guiding him to a seat at the island. “There’s so many things I have to tell you, I just-”

“Babe? What’s going on…?” Tanner asked from behind me and I took a step to the side away from Liam revealing him to Tanner, who’s eyes bulged. Cici was in his arms, her small hand against his chest.

“Tanner, uhm….”

“Oh my god.” Liam breathed behind me and I looked back at him. His nostrils flared slightly as tears pooled on the lower lid of his eyes. “Is that…? But I thought…”

“Liam,” I said, walking over to Tanner. I lifted Cici out his arms and he reluctantly let go, letting his arms fall to his sides. “This is Ciella.” Liam took her from me, cradling her gently in his strong arms. She made him look so big, he tiny body curling into his.

“This is…”

“Yea,” I said, knowing exactly what he was asking.

“But you said you weren’t.”

“I know, I only said it so that I could take her away and keep her safe from-”

“I think you need to leave,” Tanner said, pushing past me and pulling Ciella out of Liam’s arms. She stirred and whined slightly as he stepped back.

“He isn’t leaving, T.”

“He is.” Tanner bellowed, taking a step backwards, his face reddening. “He’s going to walk out that door, get back on a plane to wherever the fuck he came from, and he’s never going to tell a soul what he saw here today.”

“I’m not leaving mate.” He said, standing. “I’m going to take care of our girls in a way that you can’t possibly, and you have a choice to make.” Liam said, walking closer to Tanner.

“And what’s that?” Tanner asked, standing taller.

“You can either live with the fact that I’m running this show now,” Liam said, carefully reaching out and extracting Cici from Tanner’s arms, “Or you can get the fuck out.” It felt like hours before Tanner moved, his body rigid with anger. I crossed the kitchen and stood infront of him, taking his face in my hands.

“Tanner, we need Liam, you can close your connected accounts from you father and we can really go off the grid and he can keep everyone else off out backs.” I said, trying to convince Tanner, when all I really wanted was for Harry to find us, not to run firther.

“Fine.” He said after a moment, his shoulders visibly relaxing and his breath returning to an even pace. “What’s our next move, Captain?” He said, pulling a chair out from the dining table and sitting down.

“First thing’s first,” Liam said, rocking Cici carefully, “I need a nap.”