Chapter 144

Liam’s POV

“You black-hearted, vindictive, cold-blooded monster,” I growled, my emotions getting the better of me. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, what he was saying. That he wanted me to divorce Aria was bad enough, but then he wanted me to take full custody of our son, ripping Joe away from her?

I would never agree to that. Not in a hundred million years. Not under the pain of torture. Not even if it meant the club would fold.

Joe would stay with Aria. William, too. And I’d be there beside them, protecting them from snakes like Markus who wanted to rip us all apart for the sake of legacy.

Bullshit.

His legacy was built on nothing but ash and pain. I was making my own with my own family. Those boys would never know the hardships I had to go through growing up. Poor William had already suffered too much with a mother like Sophia.

And Aria… She would never be forced to endure like my mother had, pushed even until her final days, when she finally succumbed to a life of grief and her shattered heart.

“Think it over,” Markus said. “This is what your mother would have wanted.”

His words made me see red. “Mom would have wanted me to be happy.”

“She would have wanted you taken care of.”

“She would have understood that I could take care of myself,” I snapped. “She wouldn’t have wanted me to live my life under your thumb, like she was.”

“Your mother and I had a complicated relationship –”

“You married her for her money, repeatedly cheated on her, disregarded and belittled her depression, and ultimately drove her to suicide,” I said coldly. “Even on the day she killed herself, you were out with another woman.”

“I already told you. Men like us cannot be tied down to any one woman. Your mother should have known that, rather than to attempt to chain me with her selfish desires.”

“’Selfish desires?’ She just wanted a faithful husband and partner.”

“That was her failing. Not mine.” Markus clutched the arms of his wheelchair, his own anger rising. “She was a weak-willed woman who couldn’t handle life outside of her own father’s home. She was spoiled and useless, right up until she died.”

“Don’t you dare talk about her like that,” I said sharply, taking a step toward him.

Lifting a brow, he looked up at me in mocking. “Can’t handle the truth, Liam? What are you going to do? Beat an old, dying man in his wheelchair?”

“No,” I said, forcing myself to take a step backwards. “You aren’t worth the effort.” I take a deep breath to calm myself.

“Embrace it, son. We are not all that different,” Markus said.

I refused to believe that. “I will never be like you. I will never inflict the same pain on my children as you have inflicted onto me. So long as I live, Aria will be my wife, and I will honor and respect that bond and promise that we made to each other.”

“You only married her on impulse,” Markus mocked.

“It doesn’t matter. She is the one I’ve chosen, and you, nor Joanna, are ever going to convince me to end it.”

Markus narrowed his eyes at me. “You are making a mistake, Liam. Don’t forget that you came here to make a deal with me. You know what kind of hell I can bring down upon you. Sooner or later, you will break.”

“Not in this,” I said firmly. “Never in this.”

Markus huffed. “You remain a disappointment to me. You think yourself strong, but you will surrender eventually, Liam. I always get what I want.”

“Not this time,” I said. Knowing the conversation was over, I turned away from him and headed toward the hallways. The butler was waiting there and showed me the rest of the way to the front door. The moment I stepped over the threshold, the butler closed and locked the door, barring me from reentry.

I had no desire to return there anyway.

Back in the car, I called my assistant to tell her to go home for the night.

“What happened at the meeting?” she asked.

“He wanted too much,” I told her.

She was quiet for a moment, before replying, “I worried he would be. I’ll head home now.”

It was going to be a long war. We all needed as much rest as we could muster.

By the time I returned to my own house, the kids had already gone to bed. Isabella had come over and was sitting with Aria on the couch. When I came in the door, she immediately excused herself and left.

With Isabella’s exit, I stood with Aria in the living room. She looked at me with surprise, like she couldn’t quite believe that I was standing there.

“What happened?” she asked me.

I didn’t want to lie to her anymore. “I went to see my father.”

Her eyes went wide. “You… what?”

“I thought we could work out a deal.”

“What kind of deal?”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “It fell through.”

“Liam…”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t want to worry you.”

“I’m plenty worried now.”

“Sorry,” I said and lowered my head sheepishly. An ache weighed on my heart. Aria had no idea how much I was willing to give up to be with her, and as far as I was concerned, she would never know. If the club were to go bankrupt, she might feel responsible. I would protect her from that guilt by shouldering it all on my own.

Reaching out, she placed her hand on my arm. I looked at it, her feminine fingers curled lightly around my forearm. How I wished she would reach out for me more often. Now wasn’t the time to lament the physical distance still between us. Now was the time to appreciate the small gifts I was given, like this.

“He wouldn’t see reason. He wouldn’t negotiate.” I was worried about this more than I’d been trying to let on. Though my determination to protect my family was resolute, I still worried what lengths my father would go to in an attempt to get what he wanted.

Aria’s earlier ask for security was a good insight. We were all in danger now.

“We’ll figure this out,” Aria said. “And we’ll do it together.”

I liked the way she said that, as well as the implication behind the words.

Together.

I could live with that.

“Yeah,” I agreed, letting a spark of hope and confidence fill me once more. It was a fragile thing, wavering slightly. But together, perhaps Aria and I might stand a chance.

Joe’s POV

Joe was supposed to be asleep, but he’d only been drowsing when he heard Liam’s voice. So he crawled out of bed, waited for a while at the top of the stairs to make sure Liam wasn’t coming around the corner to catch him, and then slowly moved down the stairs.

Peeking around the corner into the living room, Joe saw Liam and his mom talking. Though he didn’t really follow what they were talking about, he could see how troubled they both were.

Joe had been noticing that his mom and Liam had been tenser than normal lately.

Maybe it was time to put his plan into action…