The Story of Killian & Liri (Cruel Love Book 1)

by Glenna Maynard

  Hunter shows up and I get in his car.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I just want to go home. Please don’t ask me to talk about it.”

  “You and Killian…are you through with him?”

  “I don’t think so. I don’t know. Maybe.” I know I said I didn’t want to talk about it, but I feel like I need to. “He lied to me. Again.”

  “What happened? I mean, you don’t have to tell me but if you want you can.”

  “Liam and Hayley broke up because he found out she had slept with Woodrow and lied about it. At least that is what I thought but it turns out she fucked Killian too and they both lied to me about it. Tonight I found out the truth.”

  “This happened before you got together though?”

  “They were still in high school, but that’s not the point. The point is he lied about it because he was scared I would leave him.”

  “But he only did that because he felt he had no choice. I can’t believe I am saying this.” He pauses and I can’t believe him either. “But he did it from a good place. He loves you. Of course he’d be terrified to lose you. The guy has never taken a relationship seriously in his life. You’re his first love.”

  “Stop taking up for him. You’re supposed to be my friend.”

  “I am your friend and that’s why I am telling you, yes he fucked up, but he loves you.”

  My phone starts ringing and I am sure it is Killian, but I am shocked to see Hayley’s number. I am tempted to hit ignore but it is weird for her to call me.

  Chapter 49

  Liri

  “Hello.”

  “Where are you? You need to come stop Killian from doing something stupid.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “He drank a lot and then him and Liam got into another fight. They both left out of here and are going to race. He stole Ben’s car.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “Because of you why else?” I end the call feeling sick to my stomach.

  “Hunter can you take me to Butler Road instead?”

  “You got it.”

  We get turned around and I feel like I am going to vomit. I shouldn’t have run off, but he infuriates me. I want to smack him then kiss him. Then choke him and fuck him. He makes me so damn crazy. I hate him. I love him. I feel like I can’t be with or without him. I am stuck in this cycle with him and I don’t know how to stop it. We’re toxic and make everyone around us nearly as crazy as we are.

  I should have gone home and packed my bags and drove away. But here I am chasing after Killian wanting to be the one who changes him for the better, but it’s killing me to do it.

  It seems the party moved from the house to the clearing. As soon as Hunter stops the car, I am out the door and running toward Ben’s car. Killian is in the driver’s side spinning the tires in the freaking dirt. I grab the door handle and jerk the driver’s side door open. I gasp and cover my mouth when I see Killian’s face. His nose is busted, and both his eyes are bruising and swelling up. I think his nose is broken.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Settling this shit.” His tone is cold, and my sweet boyfriend is gone and replaced with his asshole side.

  “Killian, you don’t have anything to prove. Not to me.”

  “You riding with me? It is your ass on the line?”

  “Stop it. I’m not doing this. I don’t agree to this bullshit. It’s stupid.”

  “Too late. You riding with me or not?”

  “You’re drunk.”

  “I’m not asking again,” he grits.

  “Please stop. I don’t want you to do this.”

  His darkened gaze nearly knocks me down, and like a fool I run around the car and get in.

  “Just take me home and we’ll talk like you wanted, Killian. Just the two of us. I know you never meant to hurt me.” I grasp his arm and he shoves my hand away. “Please, Killian. Let’s leave.”

  “Okay,” he deadpans but then he pulls up to the center of the clearing.

  “Killian, I know you love me can we please go home?”

  His eyebrows lift into arches then he laughs. “You think Liam will stop? He will keep pushing until I give him what he wants. Don’t worry though. I never lose.” The dark look in his eyes is scaring me.

  I move over the console and grab his face. He winces at the contact. I bring my mouth down on his and kiss him hard. His tongue moves against mine tasting of blood, liquor, and tobacco. “I love you. I don’t want to fight. I don’t want you to race.”

  “Too late.” He looks straight ahead, and I see Jackie’s stupid ass standing with her shirt off in the cold. I look to the left and Liam is revving his engine. “Put your seatbelt on.”

  I move back to my seat and Killian gives Jackie a chin lift. I yank on the seatbelt and close my eyes. Black Sunshine by White Zombie belts through the sound system, and I grit my teeth and bite back my tears.

  The car jolts forward and I feel faint. I open my eyes and my heart sinks. Liam is ahead of us and his headlights are moving past us as he turns the car at the bend.

  “Goddamn it,” Killian growls and steps on the gas but it’s not enough. We take the corner too wide and by the time we recover Liam is back in the clearing.

  We stop next to Liam and he rolls down his window to gloat. “That was pathetic, man. Guess you don’t love her after all. Come on, Liri. I don’t have all night.” He winks and Killian grips the steering wheel.

  “Let’s just go,” I tell him.

  “I can’t. If I don’t pay, I lose Ben’s car.”

  “What?!”

  “I’ll figure it out.”

  “Are you saying I’m equal to the price of this car? Is that what you are saying?”

  Killian doesn’t answer because my door is flung open and Jackie and Misty are dragging me out. Hunter is trying to stop them but some guy steps in and grabs him. Killian is out of the car and trying to get to me, but people are fighting, and my ears are ringing as my back scrapes over the ground. Jackie nearly trips, and I wrestle out of my shirt to get away from her. I start to run when Liam grabs me around the waist.

  “It’s okay, Liri. I won’t do anything just get in the car.”

  “No.”

  “Listen, just get in the fucking car and once people clear out, I’ll text Killian and drive you home.”

  “Get your hands off her!” Killian’s voice cuts through the chaos.

  “We only need to give them a little show.” Liam sneers at him and cups my boob over my bra then forces his mouth down on mine in front of everyone. Tears roll down my cheeks as I push against his chest.

  Hunter breaks through the crowd and charges into Liam’s shoulder and takes him down. I hear a horrible crunching and popping sound then Hunter howls in pain. His bad shoulder. Liam looks at me then shrugs. I drop down to the ground where Hunter is clutching his shoulder with tears in his eyes. Liam peels out of the clearing and nearly hits Jackie on his way out.

  “I’m going to fucking kill him,” Killian seethes from behind me.

  “Enough!” I scream at him. “We need to get Hunter to the hospital, and I am sure your nose is broken.”

  “He had his hands on you. He kissed you!” Killian tugs at his hair. “I love you, Liri but he isn’t getting away with that shit.” He gives me a sad smile and climbs back in Ben’s car. I watch him race after Liam and there is nothing, I can do to stop him at this point.

  Hayley comes up behind me and hands me my jacket and shirt. “I’m sorry, Liri. I never thought they would take it this far.”

  I jerk my clothes from her and turn back to Hunter. “Come on, I’ll drive you to the hospital.”

  Hayley and I help him to his feet, and she offers to drive because I’m upset.

  Hunter is laid out in the backseat clutching his shoulder. I get in the passenger side feeling violated and numb. Hayley starts the car and it takes us a while to leave because we are stuck behind everyone else.


  When we get off Butler Road and turn to go to the hospital, we get stopped in traffic again.

  There are blue lights flashing and sirens wailing. A nervous flutter shoots through me. Hayley is tapping on the steering wheel and we aren’t moving.

  “I’m going to see if I can find out what happened and if there is any way we can get through.”

  “Okay.” Hayley gives me a weak smile.

  I press ahead to the end of the street and my head starts to spin. Ben’s car is smashed into the side of another. The front end is demolished and there is a body in the road. My throat goes tight and my feet drag me forward. I can’t breathe. I can’t talk. This can’t be happening. It feels like a bad dream and any minute now I am going to wake up and be back in the apartment with Killian lying next to me. He’s going to stroke his finger along my cheek and give me his charming smirk that gives me butterflies. I go around the police car and stare at the wreckage. Glass is glittered on the asphalt. Bile rises up my throat, and I swallow it back down and look around for Killian. There’s a woman with a gash on her head crying to a police officer.

  Another officer grabs my arm. “Miss, you can’t go over there.”

  My eyes land on Killian’s leather jacket and a scream pierces through my soul and it doesn’t stop until I realize the guttural sound is coming from me and that the body in the road is that of the man I love.

  “No. Nohoo. Please, God. Killian, get up.” I wrestle away from the officer and throw myself down on his chest blinded by my tears. “Get up, baby. Please Get up.” I bang my fist on his chest. “Breathe damn you. Just breathe for me, Killian. Please,” I whisper. “I need you.” I touch my fingers to his top lip and bring my mouth to his, blood smears across my cheek and on my hands.

  Arms hook under my shoulders and pull me back as EMTS arrive on the scene.

  I kick and scream but they keep dragging me further away. I stretch my hand out trying to grab for his jacket hoping his hand will reach back and take mine, but it doesn’t. He is eerily still.

  Hayley has her arms around me. “I’m so sorry, Liri. I’m so sorry,” she cries and pets my hair as they wheel him away on a stretcher.

  Fat tears roll down my cheeks. “He has to be okay, Hayley. I can’t lose him. I can’t.”

  “Can she go with him?” I hear her ask someone. “They live together.”

  Some man takes pity on me and says, “She can ride in the front.”

  I don’t remember getting in the ambulance. I don’t remember arriving at the hospital or calling Killian’s dad. I don’t remember anything as I take another shaky drink of my coffee. All I know is that there is no world for me outside of Killian. Hayley squeezes my hand and the door of the waiting area we were taken to opens. Conrad and Susie walk in and take one look at me and they both burst into tears.

  My heart squeezes tight in my throat. I feel like I am drowning and the only person who can save me may no longer be here. I stare blankly at my blood-stained hands. Hayley keeps trying to get me to wash it off but right now it’s all I have of him. Fat tears roll down my cheeks and plop to the floor. Susie wraps her arms around me, and I sob into her neck.

  The door opens again, and I blink seeing a figure that looks like Killian standing there filling the space. He has his height and dark hair, but his face is all wrong. I jump to my feet ready to run to him, but then I realize it is only Dillan. I look away from him and pray for a miracle. I sink back down in my chair, and Conrad leaves to ask for an update. I close my eyes and think back on the events of the night and wish I could take it all back.

  I did this.

  We did this, Killian and me.

  My teeth sink into my bottom lip until they draw blood.

  The door opens again. I hear Hayley telling someone to leave. My eyes pop open and my gaze lands on Liam. “Liri,” he says my name, and I get up from my chair. My feet move one foot in front of the other until I am standing in front of him. His eyes are glossed over and red brimmed with tears. He looks absolutely gutted. “I’m so sorry.”

  My hand goes back then thwacks across his face so hard I feel the sting in my soul. His head whips to the side as the smacking sound echoes in the tiny room. I hear Hayley gasp and then I fall to my knees and cry. Liam drops to the floor with me and pulls me into his body. I want to hate him. I want to punch him. I want to tell him that he’s garbage, but he wraps his arms around me and rocks me until my sobs stop racking through my chest. Hayley sits next to Liam and his other arm goes around her and the three of us pray and we cry. We cry a lot.

  We cry for the boy we all love.

  We pray for him to wake up.

  We pray for this nightmare to end.

  Conrad returns and his expression is grim.

  If he tells me that Killian is gone, I won’t survive.

  I squeeze Liam and Hayley’s hands for strength.

  “Is he?” I can’t finish my sentence. I can’t say the words.

  Conrad wipes at his eyes and shakes his head. “I don’t know anything yet. They wouldn’t tell me anything. He’s in surgery.”

  I let out a shuddering breath and the doctor enters the room with a solemn expression.

  I keep waiting for him to tell us that Killian is gone or that he’s going to be just like my father. I don’t know which outcome would be worse.

  Conrad follows him out to the hallway, and all I can do is wait for him to come back and tell me if my life is ending or just beginning.

  To be continued

  The Conclusion of Killian & Liri

  Book 2 Cruel Love Pre-order Now

  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QVHKWGY

  Dear Reader,

  I know you are probably cursing me right now. I get it. I know cliffhangers make readers crazy. I have a love hate relationship with them myself. The thing with Killian and Liri is they still have so much story left to tell. I would be doing us both an injustice if I gave you a rushed ending and everything wrapped up perfect. These characters aren’t perfect, and they have so much more to share with you. I hope you will return for their conclusion. I am writing it now and the preorder release date could come sooner. I am hoping for a June release, but it all depends on how well they cooperate with me during the writing process. Be sure to join my reader group to keep up to date on all things Killian and Liri. I hope if you enjoyed this book you will leave me a review. Just a line or two will do.

  Thank you for reading!

  Glenna

  Playlist

  Wanna know what I was listening to while writing The Story of Killian & Liri? Listen now on Spotify. The Story of Killian & Liri Playlist

  Acknowledgments

  I have so many people to thank. I hope I don’t leave anyone out, but if I miss someone it is not on purpose. To my fantastic beta readers, Nickie Seidler and Tina Gibler, you ladies were essential, and I cannot thank you enough for reading and allowing me to deprive you of sleep. This story bled onto the pages so quickly I couldn’t type it fast enough, and I know my rough draft was well rough. Just thank you. I cherish you both.

  To my amazing and talented group of cheerleaders who pushed me to keep writing and get this book written I love you. Dawn Martens is my ride or die my fail or fly. She pushed me every day to give her more to read of this book and without her cracking the whip I may still be thinking about writing it. Hayley Faiman, KL Donn, Jordan Marie, Morgan Jane Mitchell, and Darlene Tallman thank you for your support and putting up with my five hundred word count updates every day on Facebook ha ha.

  As always to my wonderful readers who follow me on this journey with your continuous support, I write for you.

  To my family—Brett, Brandon, and my Ava pooh I love you so much. Thank you for putting up with my endless hours typing and doing my book stuff. I know I take a lot of time away from you guys to do what I love.

  About Glenna

  Glenna Maynard is a Kentucky native with a passion for romance best known for her bestselling romantic suspense novel I'm with You and
The Black Rebel Riders' MC series. When she isn't arguing with the voices in her head or drinking reader tears, she enjoys watching classic TV shows with her two children and longtime leading man. Visit https://www.glennamaynard.com for more information.

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