Chapter 157

Aria’s POV

After the kids are tucked into bed, I headed down to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. I reasoned that Liam would want to talk soon, as he’d been shooting glares at me all afternoon. This was a conversation I only wanted to have while caffeinated.

“Who was that man?” Liam asked from the doorway to the kitchen.

I jumped a little, not having heard him come downstairs. Fortunately, I’d already prepared the coffee pot, so I wasn’t holding anything to drop.

“His name is Samuel,” I said. “He’s an old friend from college.”

“A lover?”

The way he asked that, so brazenly, sparked anger inside of me. “None of your business.”

“Aria.” He stepped into the kitchen. I looked away from him and his accusing eyes and focused on the brewing coffee instead.

“It was a long time ago, Liam.”

“That’s no answer.”

“No,” I said, annoyed. I almost wanted to lie and tell him that Samuel and I had been lovers, but that would only make things more difficult for Samuel and me both. He was a dear friend, one I intended to keep. A lie like that would have a way of backfiring. “He pursued me, but I was never interested.”

“You seemed pretty chummy today.”

“We were catching up,” I said. “We are friends, and I intend to continue to see him as a friend.”

Glancing back, I watched as Liam glared again.

I decided to keep to myself the misunderstandings between Samuel and I. How Samuel had thought Liam and I were divorced, how he had thought he and I had been on a date…

That would only overcomplicate matters.

Liam was angry enough as it was. There was no reason to add more fuel to the fire.

“Tell me everything you talked about,” Liam said. “I want to know every word of every sentence he said to you.”

Outrage spiking, I turned to him. Crossing my arms, I leaned back against the counter. “Excuse me?”

“Answer me, Aria. Because I think he wants you, and you aren’t convincing me otherwise.”

“I don’t need to convince you otherwise. I’m telling you that Samuel and I are just friends, and that should be enough for you.”

“I’m not questioning you,” Liam said. “It’s him I don’t trust. He must be able to tell that I haven’t been around much, and now he’s trying to move in—”

“Stop.”

“He wants to take my place, and I—”

“Stop!” I shouted.

Finally she listened to me and stopped spewing such nonsense.

“You are being a hypocrite,” I snapped.

“Am I?”

“Yes! You’ve done nothing but put distance between us for the past several weeks –”

“I’ve been trying to save the club, Aria.”

“It’s not just about the club, Liam. I’m not just talking about physical distance or your busy schedule. You’ve been emotionally distant too.”

“What are you talking about? You know how I feel about you!”

“You don’t show it, Liam. You don’t even say it.” I was losing my patience. For so long, I had been trying to hold this family together, without any help from Liam. Now he was going to accuse me of being unfaithful? When he was the one running around with a woman who claimed to be his fiancé?

Enough was enough.

“I’ve been busy!” he replied, seemingly just as frustrated.

“You’ve been giving me the cold shoulder, even when we’re together. You are holding yourself back, keeping secrets. I honestly don’t know if I can trust you anymore.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“I don’t know what to believe. You’ve spent so much time with Joanna…”

“She’s not a part of this. She has nothing to do with us.”

“She thinks she does! She believes herself to be your fiancé!”

“She’s delusional,” Liam argued. “She knows she’ll never be my fiancé. Not when you are my wife!”

“Then tell her to stop wearing that ring, Liam.”

Liam narrowed his eyes. “This would be easier, Aria, if I could tell everyone at the club that we were married. You are the one who wants to keep it a secret now, even if the secrecy only leads to this misunderstanding.”

“You said you understood why I wanted to keep us a secret.”

“I did at first,” Liam said. “But now you are being unreasonable. Telling others about us is the fastest way to shut down Joanna’s fantasies.”

“I will not force our hand just because you can’t properly reject her.”

“I’ve told her it will never happen.”

I shook my head, not believing him. “I’ll never settle for being your mistress, Liam.”

“I’m not asking you for that, Aria.”

He wasn’t – yet. But I was starting to believe that was an option waiting right around a future corner for me. He already wanted me to make allowances for Joanna. How soon until he asked for more and more and more?

How soon until he wanted a divorce and to make me his mistress, just as Markus had suggested?

“I only want a simple, complete, and happy family,” I told him. “More and more that seems like something you are unwilling or unable to provide.”

“That’s not fair, Aria. You know how things are right now. How busy I’ve been…”

“All I hear are excuses, Liam. That’s all I ever hear from you anymore!”

“You are being ridiculous. You --!” Liam abruptly shut his mouth. Swiveling toward the door, he spotted something in the doorway. Looking as well, I spotted Joe or William’s foot as they scurried away, back into the hallway.

We’d tucked them in. They should have been sleeping.

Had we woken them up when we started to argue?

Liam looked at me.

“Was that…?” I asked, to be sure.

“William,” Liam said. “Though I’m sure Joe was right behind him. I heard two sets of footsteps run up the stairs just now.”

My heart immediately sank. Whatever anger and hurt I had for Liam vanished in an instant as I realized what hurt this conversation must have inflicted on our children.

Looking at Liam, seeing the regret in his eyes, I knew he felt the same way.

“We need to talk to them,” he said.

We were in agreement there. “We should talk to them together. Show we are a united front.”

Liam lifted a brow. “Are we?”

“When it comes to them, yes,” I said. Anything else, we could put on hold. The kids were the most important aspect of our lives. “Everything else can wait.”

“Agreed,” Liam said.

A exhaled a small breath of relief, glad we could be united in this, at least. Even as the rest of our relationship seemed to be falling apart, we could still come together for the kids.

“I’ll get William, you get Joe,” Liam said. “We’ll meet in the living room.”

“Okay.”

Nodding at one another, Liam led the way, walking into the hallway first and then up the stairs. I followed along behind him, then walked around him to Joe’s door as he stopped at Liam’s.

Pressing my ear to the door, I listened for any signs of movement within.

Softly, I heard Joe sobbing.

And my heart just about shattered.