Chapter 176

Liam’s POV

I still hadn’t found my phone when Joanna walked in. Standing behind my chair, I shook my coat, hoping the phone would fall out of one of the pockets. All of my drawers had been pulled open and my chair pulled away from my desk. I’d just finished searching beneath the desk and behind it.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Looking for my phone,” I told her.

“How could you lose something so important?”

I didn’t reply to that, not wanting her to know that I fell asleep at my desk.

Glancing down, she seemed to spot something near her desk. After bending down, when she stood again, she was holding my phone.

“Here it is,” she said and held it out for me. “It must have fallen out of your pocket.”

Odd. I could have sworn I looked there.

“What’s that look?” she asked me, holding the phone back as I tried to reach for it.

“No games, Joanna. Give me the phone.” I was tired and uncomfortable from sleeping in my desk chair; my patience was already running thin.

Joanna sighed dramatically and held out the phone again. “I just don’t like how you looked at me just now. It was like you were accusing me of something.”

“I just want my phone,” I told her and snatched it away from her before she could pull it back again. With it in hand, I immediately called Aria.

As I turned away from Joanna, I could have sworn I saw a smug sort of smile on her lips. Yet, when I glanced back, it was gone.

The phone rang a few times before finally Aria picked up.

“Liam?” Her voice was tight. God, it reminded me so much of how she had been in the past, when I’d stayed out too late without telling her what was going on.

I’d promised to be different than I was back then, yet here I was, breaking that promise. But this time, it wasn’t for any selfish, self-fulfilling reasons. I’d simply fallen asleep at my desk.

“Aria, I’m so sorry,” I said in a rush. “I was working late at the computer and I closed my eyes just for a minute. Well, I thought it was a minute. Next thing I know, I’m awake and it’s morning.”

“Oh.” There’s a touch of relief in that soft little word.

“I had no intention of staying out all night. Especially without telling you.”

“I appreciate that,” Aria said. “Though, Liam. I’m worried about you overworking yourself. It’s not healthy for you to just fall asleep like that. Did you sleep in your chair?”

“Yeah, with my head on the keyboard,” I replied, rubbing my forehead. “Admittedly, I’m pretty sore.”

“Don’t stay late tonight,” Aria said. “Come home, eat a good dinner, and sleep in your own bed.”

That sounded really nice, but with how chaotic things have been around here, I wasn’t sure I could make that happen.

“I’ll try, Aria.”

“Try?”

“That’s the best I can offer right now. Don’t think I don’t want to, but I might not be able to if –”

“Liam, I know the team is important to you. It’s important to me too. But this is your health on the line.” She sighed a little. “Please just come home tonight. We have a lot to talk about and I need you to –”

Whatever she was going to say was immediately swallowed by the boisterous voices of William and Joe who must have bound into whatever room she was in. They asked her about breakfast, about the weather, and about school.

She clearly had her hands full. Guilt swelled within me. I should have been there to help her with the kids.

“I have to go,” Aria said. “Talk later?”

“Talk later,” I assured her. I would find a way to make this work, still believing that I could save the team, fight off Markus, and keep Aria and my family. I just needed to work harder to find a way to juggle it all.

Aria hung up first and then I did too.

“There. Do you feel better now?” Joanna asked.

I did and I didn’t. I was glad I could talk to Aria and explain things. She seemed to believe me easily enough. But I also desperately missed her, William, and Joe.

As things were, I felt like I was on the outside looking in at my own family. I wasn’t a part of it anymore, and that really stung.

I needed to find a way to deal with Markus once and for all, so things could go back to how they used to be before he started interfering with my life.

Joanna continued to gawk at me, waiting for a reply.

“I’m fine,” I said and started returning order to my side of the office.

Aria’s POV

Liam’s phone call had eased some of my stress regarding the situation. It made sense with all of the hours he spent working and how tired he always was nowadays that he would simply fall asleep at his desk.

I didn’t like it, but it was a much more logical reason than the overly emotional ones my brain was providing me earlier in the day.

Relief was still flowing through me, even later in the day as I was preparing for lunchtime.

Anthony had already stepped out of the office, saying he was going out for lunch. I planned on staying in, having brought a bag from home.

I’d just placed it on my desk when Joanna waltzed into the office without knocking. She didn’t say anything for a moment, just looked around the room. I tried to ignore her for a time, focusing on unpacking my sandwich and my salad.

After another moment of quiet, she looked back at me.

“Do you know where Liam was last night?” Joanna asked me.

“He was asleep in his office,” I replied.

She was clearly trying to start drama, using Liam’s having been out all night as a basis to fill me with doubts. It was the perfect opportunity for her, I reasoned, as she was trying to drive a wedge between Liam and me.

I wouldn’t let that happen, however. Since I was onto her intentions, I could counter them by not believing a word she had to say.

“I know that’s what he told you,” Joanna continued. “But do you know where he was for real. Or, maybe I should say, what he was doing. Or who.”

Lifting my gaze from my lunch, I glowered at her. “Surely you have something better to do than try to get under my skin.”

“This isn’t about annoying you, Aria. It’s about the truth,” Joanna said. “He wanted me to keep things secret, but it just doesn’t seem fair. You are the mother of his children, after all. He should really be more upfront with you, rather than sneak around behind your back.”

I didn’t want to listen to her. She was purposefully trying to upset me.

Yet the words pricked at my own insecurities, built over the time we’d been married initially, when Liam had spent so much time with Sophia.

Nothing had happened then. Nothing was happening now.

But my doubts were loud and unavoidable.

“You don’t believe me,” Joanna said. “But I can prove it. I can prove Liam and I are having an affair.”