Chapter 115

Aria’s POV

As soon as the executive stepped away from the podium, and the meeting officially ended, Liam walked away from the line executives and straight to me.

“We need to talk,” he said. “Come with me to my office.”

As I agreed, I saw no reason to argue, so I followed him back to his office, neither of us saying a word the entire way.

The minute we entered the office, with the door closed behind us, Liam turned to me and said, “I’m turning down the position.”

“What?” I asked, not trusting my ears. I’d been having trouble hearing since the initial announcement, my heart thundering too loudly for me to hear much else.

“I’m not doing this,” he said. “They didn’t ask me. They sprung it on me like a trap, as if they had initially expected me to say no, and hoped, by asking in front of everyone, that they might pressure me into saying yes.”

“They could have asked you in a better way,” I agreed. “But that’s not a good reason to turn them down.”

“It’s not the only reason I have,” Liam said. He looked at me with a sudden intensity.

I couldn’t let him turn this down for my sake. “I will miss you and William, of course. But this is too big of an opportunity for you to turn down. This could be a huge step forward for you, Liam.”

“Why do I need to step forward?”

“Don’t you have ambition?” I asked.

“Sure,” he said. “But not if it splits up my family.”

He was saying the right things, the words that I wanted to hear. But they didn’t seem right for Liam. Since I’d known him, he’d always been chasing after the next big thing. It was hard to imagine him now, happy enough with his life to want to stay where he was.

I didn’t want to lose him forever, but I knew better than to try to hold him back. That would only brew resentment. He’d learn to hate me and then leave me anyway.

Better to push him away, so when he left, there would be no surprises and no drawn-out heartbreak.

“This is too big,” I said again. “You have to go.”

“No,” Liam said firmly. He was suddenly much closer to me than before, only a foot away from me now, standing right in front of me. “I don’t. And I won’t.”

“Work is important,” I said, my voice weaker now, with his closeness.

“Work is important,” Liam said, “But not as important as my family.”

The words hit me like a blow, stealing my breath away even as my heart continues to thunder.

Six years ago, he never would have said anything like this. Now, everything had changed.

“They think a lot of you, to come here and offer you the job without you eve asking for it,” I said.

“They can think as much or as little of me as they like. Their opinion is secondary to that of the people who live in my house.”

“Liam…”

“Stop asking me, Aria. I’m not leaving you and the kids. I promised you forever, and that’s what I’m giving you.”

I shook my head lightly. “Don’t stay just because of that.”

“That’s not the only reason,” Liam said. “I also don’t want to leave. How could I? I finally have the life I want, with my wife and my kids. Why would I walk away from that now? My job here is good enough. We don’t need more money.”

Hearing him talk like this, I felt like I was in some kind of reverse universe, where up was down and left was right.

The Liam I knew had always put his work before everything, even me.

Now, it seemed the reverse was true.

“Maybe you could reach a compromise,” I said. I loved that he wanted to stay with us, his family, more than I even wanted to admit to myself. But he couldn’t turn down the executives flat like he wanted to. I would protect his career, even if he seemed determined to flush it down the drain.

“What kind of compromise?” he asked.

Twenty minutes later, I sat nervously outside of Liam’s office, as he spoke to the executives within it, discussing my idea.

Liam’s assistant and I shared worried looks as the seconds ticked by into minutes into a half hour.

They must have been arguing with Liam. Hopefully Liam was standing his ground. Though, with how he was speaking while with me, he likely wasn’t bending easily to their will. I had a hard enough time convincing him to compromise at all. He wasn’t likely to give them even more.

After another ten minutes, the door finally opened and the executives stepped out. None of them seemed particularly happy with the outcome, but they still shook Liam’s hand as he exited the room, following them.

“Glad we could come to an arrangement, gentlemen. Thank you very much for your understanding,” Liam said.

The executives nodded, then made their way down the hall. When they were gone, Liam walked over to me and his assistant. I immediately stood from the chair I had sat on while I was waiting.

“How did it go?” I asked. “Did they go for it?”

“They did, with a bit of encouragement,” Liam said. “I told them if they didn’t accept my terms, I would walk entirely.”

“Liam!” I scolded.

“It worked, didn’t it?” he said. “Now, I’ll only be gone a few weeks, temporarily overseeing the new office while they interview local qualified candidates.” He smiled to himself. “I told them I had too many roots to leave this place entirely. They didn’t know I was a family man.”

Panic slowly rose within me. He didn’t tell them about Joe and me, did he?

“I’d rather not pull William out of school,” Liam said, signaling to me that he hadn’t said a work about Joe and me. With that, my panic simmered.

“I didn’t think it would work,” the assistant admitted. “The executives were determined it be you, from what their assistant said.”

“And it will be me,” Liam said. “But only for a few weeks.”

“What if they try to draw it out?” I asked.

“I gave them a timeline. If they don’t match it, that’s on them. I’m coming back whether they have a new boss picked out or not.”

I wished I could throw my arms around Liam and hug him.

He’d stood up for us today – for family.

I was still amazed at the change to the man standing before me now, from how he used to be. Six years ago, he would have been on the first plane out of town, with or without me.

Now, I could hear his argument in my head again and again.

Work is important, but not as much as family.

My heart soared.

Too soon, I had to return to my own desk and my own work. Yet the thoughts stayed with me.

I couldn’t publically thank Liam for choosing family over work, but I could throw him a bon voyage party.

He was leaving in one week. That gave me just enough time to organize and order a few things…