Chapter 117

Liam’s POV

The first thing I did when I walked into my office the next morning, after throwing my briefcase to the side, was pick up the phone and make a call.

One of the executive’s assistants seemed confused by my sudden call. “I’m sorry, Liam, but appointments for the day haven’t started yet. I can have him give you a call when he gets into the office.”

The assistant was a bad liar. I could hear the executive’s voice in the background. Still, my plan hinged on playing nice, so I wasn’t inclined to point out things that might make me unpopular.

“Please,” I said instead.

“I’ll do that then,” the assistant said, relief in her voice.

Hanging up the phone, I made another call, this one to a sometimes friend, sometimes enemy: Logan.

Since Logan had rescued William, Joe, and Aria from a gun-wielding Sophia, I had been indebted to him in a way that I knew I would never be able to repay. He saved my family that night, and thereby saved me. All of our differences, our disagreements, and our betrayals seemed trivial in comparison.

I wasn’t sure that I could ever consider Logan a friend again, but he wasn’t an enemy any longer. And now that Aria was living in our house again, I didn’t even so much mind a friendship between her and Logan, as long as he understood any romantic connection was off the table for them.

Logan answered the phone on the fourth ring. “You only call when you want something,” he said, sans greeting.

“Can you come to team headquarters today? I have a proposition for you,” I said.

“You can’t just tell me over the phone?”

“If you say yes, we’ll need to move quickly. There’s all kinds of paperwork involved.”

“Interesting,” he said.

An hour later, the executive finally got back to me, and I was able to fill him in on my plan. While he was annoyed with me at first, my solution clearly satisfied him. By the end of our call, he was outright pleased.

“Keep me updated,” he said.

“I will,” I replied, and hung up. Now, all the pieces were in place. I just needed Logan to agree. He was sometimes a wildcard. There was no telling what he might end up doing.

I waited nervously for another half-hour before my assistant knocked on my door to tell me that Logan was here.

“Show him in,” I called, standing.

My assistant opened the door and Logan walked inside, looking at me expectantly. The minute my assistant closed the door behind him again, he said, “Well? What’s this supposedly great offer?”

I leaned against the side of my desk, crossed my arms, and asked him, “How would you like a job overseas?”

Aria’s POV

Last night, Liam had told me that he had a plan, but he wouldn’t tell me about it, insisting he didn’t want to trouble me in case it didn’t work out. I wasn’t sure why he thought I would be less upset with the thought of him leaving than the idea that he was working on trying to stay. But Liam was stubborn. If he didn’t want to reveal his plan to me yet, he wouldn’t – much to my frustration.

With nothing to go on, I had to continue to assume that Liam would be taking the job, which meant that I had to proceed with planning his bon voyage party.

The guest list was quite extensive, but I still believed we could house this many people at our house – well, at Liam’s house, for the sake of the party.

I trusted the guests, but I’d also make sure to install a few locks on the house, to keep wayward guests out of Joe, William, and my bedrooms. I still wasn’t ready for anyone to know that Liam and I had patched things up enough to live together. Right then, my address with HR was still the old house.

I hadn’t sold it yet. I wasn’t even trying, despite what I had told Liam, who sold the house next door in less than a week.

It felt something like an insurance policy, having that house in my back pocket, just in case things went bad with Liam. I wanted to trust in him fully, but when I’d done that in the past, it had blown up in my face.

Now, with Sophia’s accusations still bouncing around in my head, despite my best efforts to silence them, I didn’t feel like I was in the position to take any chances. I had a son now. Two, counting William. At the first sign of discontent, I would pull back from Liam much faster than I had in the past. It wasn’t just me he would be hurting this time.

Perhaps that was unfair. Since reconciling, Liam had done nothing to show me he hadn’t meant every promise he gave to me. The only reason I had to distrust him were his actions of the past and Sophia’s accusations, and Sophia wasn’t the most reliable of sources.

Still, until I could be entirely confident in Liam, I would be keeping that house.

Later, I arrived back at the house before Liam. He’d already texted me that he would be running late. When the kids came home, I helped them with their homework, then started making dinner.

Just as I put the chicken in the oven, Liam walked through the front door. After greeting and hugging the kids, he found me in the kitchen.

“I have great news,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.

Hope flickered to life within me. “What is it?”

“I’m staying,” he said.

Relief flooded over me like a great wave, carrying away all the worries and fears.

“How is that possible? What happened?” I asked.

“It was simple really, once I thought about it,” Liam said. “They needed someone to go overseas and take care of that new international office, for now or forever if he wants. I just had to find them someone almost as capable as me, though not nearly as handsome.”

He was feeling mischievous, to make a comment like that. It reminded me of the way he used to be when I first met him, roguish and confident, and sent nostalgic little butterflies flying through my chest.

We were both different people now, but seeing glimpses of the past like this was okay every now and then. It reminded me of a simpler time, a simpler life, when Liam was my whole world. Now, he was only one of several pieces, with Joe, William, my friendships, and my career filling in the rest.

A healthier way to live, surely, though perhaps not as exciting.

“Who did you find that fit that bill?” I asked.

“Logan,” Liam replied. “He’d been looking for a change anyway. A new place, a new start. He agreed to the temporary position for now, but I’m not convinced he won’t end up staying.”

While I would miss my friend, I was happy for him as well, knowing he would thrive with this position. Someday, he might even come back and be Liam’s boss. I decided not to mention that, for Liam’s sake.

“Hopefully, you won’t get too sick of me,” Liam said, sliding closer to me. “I know you were just getting used to the idea of being without me for a while.”

I liked when he teased like this. It seemed to unlock a more playful side of me that I’d buried for six years.

“I suppose I can adjust,” I said, smiling. “Though you’ve made more work for me…”

“How so?”

“I’ve been planning your bon voyage party. The invitation email went out.”

“So send a correction email. Keep the same guest list. Everyone knows everyone anyway.”

I lifted a brow. “You’re sure? You aren’t just trying to undermine Logan?”

Liam laughed. “Aria, those days are long behind me.”