Chapter 192

Aria’s POV

“William? What are you doing here?”

William, with Liam holding his hand, come into my office.

“Can I hang out with you today?” William asked me.

I looked up at Liam, searching for explanation.

“Someone got into a fight with the school bully,” Liam said. “He’s been suspended for the rest of the week.”

That explained the bruise on his cheek. Worry swelled inside of my chest. William had acted out in the past, but I’d thought we’d worked through that. Sophia had been the root of most of his problems. Now that he was in a more stable home, he was improving in school. At least, he had.

“We’ll talk later,” Liam said. “But William wants to hang out with you for a while if that’s okay. We tried to go to my office but Joanna… uh…”

“She’s mean,” William said.

On that, we could definitely agree. Liam didn’t say anything against it either.

Well, if the only other option for William right now was to hang out in the same room as Joanna, I couldn’t blame him for wanting to be somewhere else.

“I’m about to head down to the track,” I said.

William’s eyes lit up like Christmas.

Liam looked at me with question, as if making sure it would be okay. Things could be dangerous down on the track. I’d have to keep a close eye on William, and we’d have to find him some ear protection against the loud noises of the cars.

But this was a kid who had grown up with Liam. He’d practically been raised on the track.

“You have to stay close to me and do exactly as I say, okay?” I told William. “And once we find you some ear protection, you have to keep it on the whole time we are outside. No getting out of it, okay?”

William slumped a little. He was a rebel who hated being told what to do, but he was also smart. I could see the wheels turning in his mind. He had to know that if he said no, then he wouldn’t be able to come with me out onto the track.

“Okay,” he said.

“Good,” I replied. I held my hand out for him. William let go of Liam’s hand and clasped mine instead.

“Thanks,” Liam said.

“You don’t have to thank me for this,” I replied and led William out into the hallway.

As we walked down the hallway, once we were a fair distance away from Liam, who seemed to be going the opposite direction, I looked down at William.

“What started this fight?” I asked.

“It was dumb,” he said.

“Yeah. Fighting at school usually is. What happened?”

“He was just a bully,” William said. “I didn’t like being shoved around anymore.”

It was a good enough answer, but something about the way he said it made me doubt him. I couldn’t really explain why. I just had a mother’s intuition.

If this was the truth, it wasn’t all of it. There was definitely something more going on.

For now, I wouldn’t press. Since Liam went to the school, he likely had the full answers. I’d talk about it with him when I could.

“Fighting isn’t the answer,” I reminded him, though, because there had to be some kind of punishment and conversation about what happened. Liam and I were going to have to talk about this too.

“I know.” William lowered his chin. “Sorry, Aria…”

Hearing him say my name jarred me. He hadn’t used that in a long time.

He must have felt me jolt, because he looked up at me. “Dad told me to keep things secret…”

“Oh,” I said.

I had my reasons for wanting to keep things secret here at the office, but I never thought my work life would overlap with my family life.

“Did I do wrong?” William asked.

“No,” I said quickly. “No, you did good.”

Yet even as I said the words, I felt regret. I only wanted to be ‘Mom’ to William and Joe.

Liam’s POV

In the afternoon, even I was tired of being cooped up with Joanna in this office and went for a walk, looking for Aria and William. I found them both out in Aria’s usual place in the pit of the track. William had thick earphones on, covering his ears. Aria stood beside him as he controlled the stopwatch.

But she wasn’t the only one there, giving William attention. On his other side stood Jackson.

Jackson said something that made William laugh and Aria smiled. Seeing it, my chest twisted up into uncomfortable knots. I was filled with both jealousy and guilt.

I was the one who should be down there with my son and my wife.

Yet, because of work, I’d been so distant lately. I knew I didn’t have any right to be mad about anything. I was the one practically pushing my wife into the arms of others. And by not spending enough time with my kids, I could expect they would search out father-figures elsewhere.

Even so, I’d be damned if I was going to let Jackson step into that role. Samuel was a doctor, but Jackson was a racer, just like I had once been.

Though, before I could storm down there like a hormonal teenager looking for a fight, I closed my eyes and inhaled a deep breath.

William would want to meet the drivers. There was no harm in letting them form a friendship. And Jackson was also a good friend to Aria, standing up for her when he thought I was doing her wrong. I couldn’t fault him for that. I wanted more people around Aria who would protect her.

Still, I would feel better about all of this if I could repair things with Aria and reconnect our whole family. My jealousy over Jackson had to spiral from the insecurities I was now bringing into my own relationship.

That William had thought Aria and I might divorce…

Everything felt so fragile. Too fragile. It scared me.

After Saturday, I would fully focus on repairing everything. On Sunday, Aria and I would talk about everything, and all of this will be solved.

With those thoughts giving me comfort, I opened my eyes and headed down to greet Aria, William, and Jackson.

“Dad!” William said excitedly when he saw me. He held up the stopwatch. “I’m doing the time trials!”

“Good job, kid,” I told him.

“Did you come to see for yourself, boss?” Jackson asked. “I’m up next.”

“I could stay for that,” I said, accepting the generous olive branch he seemed to be extending. “But that’s not why I’m here.” I looked at Aria. “Congratulations are in order.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ve finally convinced the board to fire the new head trainer and reinstate you to your old job,” I said.

A smile broke out on her lips, and it warmed me from the inside out.

“Oh, that’s wonderful news,” she said. “Thank you.”

“Thanks?” Jacksons said. “This should have happened weeks ago. What the hell took so long?”

“Jackson,” Aria said, her smile slipping.

“No, I’m sorry, Aria, but Liam needs to be called out for this. Especially since it’s Aria. This problem should have been handled right away. What in the world took you so long to finally make this happen?”

Then, at once, a tiny voice shouts, “Don’t talk to my dad like that!”