The Virgin Next Door by Stasia Black

31

CALLA

“All right girl,”Calla patted Painter as she munched on hay from the hay net Calla had set up in the temporary stall. “It’s almost time.”

If she kept talking to Painter and focused on the competition, there wasn’t enough space left over to think about Mack. Right?

So why did her chest feel like a melon carver had been used to scoop out her insides?

“Calla! Thank Jaysus.”

“Liam!” Calla felt tears welling up in her eyes as Liam hurried toward her in the narrow path between makeshift stalls.

She climbed over the fence gate that made up Painter’s stall and flung herself into Liam’s arms.

“I need to talk to you,” he said urgently, grabbing her hands and looking nervously behind him again.

“What’s going on? Did Mack talk to you?”

She knew she should have told them both about the baby sooner. Her heart galloped as she waited for his answer, but he didn’t say a word. Instead he pulled her behind him down the path between the stalls. Other contestants watched them as they went.

“Liam, what are you—”

“Just a second. I want to get us somewhere private.”

“Okay, but Painter and I are on soon. The junior competition will be over in half an hour, so I can’t be gone too long—”

Liam just kept pulling her along until they were underneath the stands of the arena.

“Liam,” Calla said, tugging on the hand he was firmly gripping. “Talk to me.”

It was dim underneath the stands, but she could still see the tension on his face.

“I have something to tell you.” Liam finally said. “I want you to hear it from me first.” He looked around anxiously.

Um. Wasn’t that supposed to be her line?

“You’re scaring me.” She grabbed both of Liam’s hands. “What’s wrong? Are you sick?” Her eyes widened in fear. Oh God, what if he’d been diagnosed with something—

“No, no,” Liam shook his head rapidly and Calla felt almost lightheaded with relief. “Nothing like that.” He took a deep breath. “The thing is, I have a lot of money. Like, a lot.”

Calla blinked. What was he going on about? “So?”

Liam stared at her like he was waiting for some big reaction. “I’m a billionaire. Back in Ireland, me da owns Prism Media group. They’re the conglomerate that bought out half the European and Australian news companies and even one of the bigger American news corporations.”

Calla gave a tiny shake of her head. Where was he going with all this? “I know,” she said. “So?”

Liam frowned and pulled back a little. “What do you mean, you know?”

“Uh,” she shook her head, “yeah. You’re Liam O’Neill. Son of actress Ailis Duncan. Well, she became Ailis O’Neill, after she married your dad. But yeah. I know who you are.”

Liam jerked to his feet, staring down at Calla like she’d suddenly sprouted horns.

“What?” she asked, standing up and reaching for him, but he jerked his hand back.

“How do you know?”

She threw her hands in the air and shrugged. “I don’t know. They showed that movie, Irish Spring, the one that won all those awards, in the world cinema class I took in college. It was my favorite elective.”

Liam took another step back from her and raked a hand through his hair.

Calla didn’t know why he was so freaked out, but she kept going. “When I saw you at the bar last year, I thought you looked familiar. The more I thought about it, I finally realized who you reminded me of. Your mom. You look so much like her. When I googled her, I saw a picture of you two. You must have been a teenager when it was taken.” She smiled and lifted a hand toward him. “You had the most adorable floppy hair—”

“Stop!” he yelled. Calla flinched and her eyes flew open as he wrenched away. “What? I—”

“You fucking knew who I was? This whole time?” He looked at her and it was like his eyes were pleading for her to say no. But she wasn’t going to lie about something so silly.

“Yeah. I’ve known the whole time.” She shook her head. “I didn’t realize—” She felt completely bewildered. “Is it some big secret?”

“Yes,” he shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. “You’ve known,” he whispered, more like he was talking to himself than to her. “You’ve known all along.”

“That first time we had sex in the shower, you knew.” His eyes flashed and he shoved an accusatory finger in her face. “You lied,” he said. “You couldn’t believe what had just happened because, and I quote, you’re you. I asked you what you meant and you made up some bullshit about liking me laugh.”

Calla’s mouth dropped open. “It wasn’t your laugh. I said I like how you made other people laugh.”

“Bullshit,” he accused. “You saw me and thought, here’s me chance to cash in. Or at least get your fifteen minutes. Did you call the paparazzi in today?”

“I— Wha—” Each word cut off sharply and she finally threw her hands out in frustration. “I saw you and looked you up and thought: Huh, a celebrity. In Hawthorne. How cool. That was it. My entire thought process at the time.”

Liam shook his head. “You’re such a fucking liar.”

She sputtered but he continued, “You just happened to come work for Xavier when you went broke? Remembered how that billionaire you’d been stalking worked there and thought, huh, here’s me meal ticket!”

“How can you even—” She sputtered. “You were the one who approached me. I’d never even—”

“You know,” he cut her off, his face cruel, “let’s just fast-forward this little scene to the end. I’m sure as a fan of cinema, you’ll appreciate that. Come Sunday, I’m outta here.”

“Well good riddance!” Calla yelled back, her cheeks hot. “To you and Mack both.” It took everything she had not to put her hands to her stomach. God, she couldn’t imagine the things he’d accuse her of if she told him about the baby. She backed up out from underneath the stands.

“Anyone who doesn’t know me after sleeping with me for three months isn’t someone I could ever really care for.”

Liam scoffed. “As if you care for anything other than me bank balance.”

“You…” Calla reached down and grabbed a clod of dirt from the ground and hurled it his direction. He barely dodged it, but then he started clapping.

“Bravo. This really is the performance of the decade. Ma would be so proud. Too bad you’ll never get to rifle through her things. Or get anywhere near me billions.”

Calla’s entire body shook with rage. But then her shoulders slumped. She turned to walk away, not wanting Liam to see the power he had to hurt her. But no. Screw that. He thought he could just go around and carelessly shit on the people who lo—

She cut the thought off even as it formed. God, was it true? Did she love this selfish bastard?

The pain was almost enough to crack her in two.

“I let you in.” She hit her chest with her palm. “You and Mack. I let you both in. Like I never had anyone before. And then you both broke my h—” She stopped when she realized Liam wasn’t looking at her but had his face stubbornly set to the side.

“Goddamn you, Liam O’Neill.”

With that, she spun on her heel and strode back toward Painter. More determined than ever to win the prize money and be able to have control over her own future without ever depending on anyone else ever again.