End of an Era (Book 7)

Whatever It Takes

|Patrick's POV|

Being without Liv has been torture. A lot has been going on with my family, a lot that I didn't want her to get drug in the middle of. I got the news from my sister that her boyfriend had been putting his hands on my niece Ruby.

To say I was livid was an understatement. That's one of the things I hate about being in the limelight, not being able to defend my family myself. Yes, I have people to do it for me, but I'm fully capable of handling things myself.

She took Ruby to the hospital. Thankfully there were no signs of sexual abuse, but she had bruises. I remember my sister telling me that Ruby was afraid to sleep alone, she didn't want tog on trips with them either. She left her as much as she could with my parents, but she felt something was off. Ruby ended up telling my mom what happened and all hell broke loose.

In a way, this brought my family and I closer. I hired the best lawyers to handle this. My sister is back home with my parents for the time being. There's a security team. My sisters boyfriend has been arrested. So there's that.

I end up hurting my calf and Coach insisted I sit out even with us making it to the playoffs. He said he didn't want it to get worse and then I need surgery. Both Teo and Logan were already on the bench with injuries and I felt like I was hanging on by a thread. So, between

The one person that's always brought me peace, I pushed away. I couldn't think straight and instead of explaining things to Olivia, I told her I needed a break. Yes, a break from everything, but I regretted telling her that I wanted a break from our relationship. We didn't spend the holidays together, even though I sent her gifts to the condo.

Having her respond to the birthday message I sent.

Her cousins and sister knew we were on a break and I went out on a limb asking if they could help us get back together. Wyatt was harder to persuade. I had stopped by the condo so much and he was there. He wouldn't let me inside, but always took what I dropped off for Liv and said he'd let her know I stopped by. Whether he did that or not, that's left to be revealed.

I was going to take Liv away for her birthday, but they said they were throwing her a party. I had an outfit delivered to her parents house and requested that it not be given to her until the night of her party.

When I got here to the club where her party was, I saw she was already tipsy. I don't know how much alcohol she had on the party bus, but I saw her stumble off. If Wyatt hadn't caught her, she would've busted her ass. I'm a creep watching from a distance, I know. I can't help myself. Olivia is my girl and just because I was an idiot, it doesn't change my feelings for her or the status of our relationship.

Heading to the VIP, I said hello to her cousins and sisters. Stephen was here.

"What's up bro?"

"Shit, I should be asking you that. What's up with you and Liv? Mickey said y'all were on the outs," he stated.

"I had some shit going on and told her I needed a break. I'm trying to fix things."

"You didn't cheat or anything?"

"Fuck no. I would never do that to Olivia."

He nodded.

"Just asking. You know they would kick your ass if you did. Wyatt is super protective over her and Logan can be unhinged. Plus, when he's on 10, Matteo is right with him. Throw their dad and uncles in the mix..."

"I get it. Trust me, Dr. Ty already warned me about this. He told me if Liv said back off that I need to take heed before I get hurt and he wasn't talking about my feelings."