Chapter 155

Liam’s POV

I looked down at Aria with confusion. Why was she telling me to back off? I was her husband. This friend of hers, who did he think he was butting in? Taking my family out to lunch?

Yes, I’d been working a lot, but that didn’t mean I was going to give up the right to be Aria’s father and William and Joe’s father to some stranger.

Yet, I couldn’t go against Aria’s wishes. If she wanted me to leave, I needed to respect that, no matter how much I desired an explanation right then and there.

Aria’s gaze drifted to Joanna, and I could see the same hurt I felt reflected in her eyes. I’d told her I was working, yet I was here at this café with Joanna. Aria couldn’t be thinking anything good about that. She didn’t know that anytime I was with Joanna, it was work.

We needed to sit down and have a long talk about everything, but it was all such a mess, I wouldn’t know where to begin.

One thing was certain though, this parking lot was no place for this conversation to occur.

“Dad!” William called. He and Joe came closer, standing on either side of me. They both looked up at me with wide, eager eyes. “Stay. Have lunch with us.”

“Yeah!” Joe agreed.

They didn’t say that they missed me but the message was clear with their pleading tones of voice and the unmasked vulnerability in their eyes.

“I’m sure Liam has to get back to work,” Aria said cuttingly.

She didn’t realize how right she was. My lunch with Joanna had only been an effort to placate her so that she would be more likely to stand at my side in the meeting we were soon to have with Markus. There was no pleasure in any of this

Joe and William’s faces both fell.

“You can’t stay, just for a little bit?” Joe asked.

I almost caved. God knew that I wanted to. But from behind me, Joanna cleared her throat.

“We have an appointment, Liam,” Joanna said.

Joe and William both deflated. Aria looked at me blandly, as if this was what she had always expected.

“We’ll talk about this later,” I said to Aria.

“Sure,” she said, disbelief thick in her voice.

How much I wanted to stay and argue and fight for my family. But I couldn’t, not with Markus waiting and the company on the line.

Joanna started walking to the car. “Come along, Liam,” she said, calling after me like a dog.

I couldn’t wait for the day when I could put her and my father in the rear-view mirror, and move on with the life I wanted with Aria and our kids.

For now, though, I had to obediently follow along.

Regret worsened with every step that took me farther away from my family, leaving them in the presence of some unknown man.

Aria’s POV

When Liam walked away, my heart sank, even as irritation prickled inside of me. It felt as if Liam had a choice here: his family or Joanna. He chose poorly, and now even the kids were downtrodden.

Even Samuel’s good spirits seemed somewhat dimmed. “Why don’t we get some food in our bellies? I’m sure things will look up once we’re all well fed.”

I appreciated his optimism, even if I was uncertain of the truth to his words.

Regardless, I tried to rally the spirits of the kids. “Samuel’s right. They’ve got some good food here too. I know you like chicken tenders, Joe.”

Somehow, I managed to usher the kids into the café, ignoring as Liam and Joanna drove away behind us.

Inside the restaurant, we sat down around a four person table. After ordering our drinks and our food, an uneasy quiet settled around us.

The kids whispered to each other while sneaking looks at Samuel. Samuel, politely, pretended not to notice, but I could see, even if the kids were blind to it, that he occasionally caught them looking.

“Joe. William,” I said in my most motherly tone of voice. “Be polite.”

“It’s fine,” Samuel said. “They must have questions for me. They don’t know me very well, after all.” Looking at Joe and Liam, he added, “Go ahead. You can ask me anything that you want.”

William immediately blurted out, “Why doesn’t our dad like you?”

“William,” I scolded.

William looked at me with confusion. “What? He said I could ask anything!”

“I did,” Samuel said. “It’s fine, Aria.” Clearing his throat, he addressed William. “I imagine that he is simply… unsure. Your father and I haven’t met before, so I’m sure my presence must have taken him by surprise. In time, he will come to see that I mean no harm.”

Knowing Liam, I wasn’t sure that was true.

The answer seemed to satisfy William though, who nodded sagely.

“The father of your children must have a hard time letting you go,” Samuel said to me, while the kids turned to whisper to each other.

“I’m sorry about all this. I wasn’t expecting to run into him here, or I would have better prepared you.”

“You needn’t worry. I only hope that he doesn’t always treat you like this.”

“He doesn’t,” I said plainly. Liam and I certainly had our disagreements, but, when things were good, they were really good. If we didn’t have Joanna and Markus standing between us right now, maybe they could be good again.

Lately it seemed like there was always something pushing Liam and I apart. It was all terribly frustrating.

“It was just a bit hypocritical,” Samuel continued. “How would he feel it right to call you out for coming to lunch with me, when he was clearly there with a date?”

That even Samuel could see Liam and Joanna were close cut me deeply. I wished I could set him straight and tell him that Liam and Joanna were just co-workers, but everything was such a mess right now. I didn’t even know what was true.

Joanna thought herself engaged to Liam, and Liam, though fighting it, seemed to be caught in a losing battle.

“Things are complicated right now,” I said, eyeing William and Joe who had begun to pay attention again. “But we work hard to make things work for the kids.”

“I understand,” Samuel said. “Say no more. These situations can be taxing, but I assure you, you don’t have to worry about my opinion. I will always be on your side, Aria.”

Samuel was so gratuitous, so kind, that I was incredibly grateful. He and Liam had nearly come to blows, yet instead of being furious about it, Samuel was understanding. If Liam was here, they would probably laugh about it and have a beer.

If Liam could get over his jealousy enough to see that Samuel was just a friend.

Unlike his situation with Joanna, I had clear boundaries here. It was nice seeing Samuel and catching up. Talking with him helped ease some of the pain that had been blooming since Joanna arrived at the office. And it was nice to get out of the house for a while.

Liam had misconstrued the situation, and maybe, out of my own jealousy, I had let him.

But I wasn’t the one working on tearing us apart. I wasn’t the one keeping vital secrets, or lying about what I was doing or where I was going and with who.

Liam had a lot to answer for.

For now, the only way to keep the pain at bay, that I could tell, was to keep spending time with Samuel.