Chapter 199

Liam’s POV

I hastily shoved the ring back into my pocket, hoping Isabelle hadn’t really seen it or that she would doubt her eyes. Instead, she continued staring right where it was as if she was in a trance.

It was an awkward standoff, both of us like deer caught in headlights.

My dread helped me recover first. “Isabelle?”

She blinked, shook her head a little, and finally glanced away. Now, rather than stare at that singular spot, her eyes darted around to everywhere but at me.

“Isabelle, I can explain,” I said, though I didn’t have the faintest idea what I would say that could possibly help her deal with what she just saw. I didn’t want to have to lie about it, but I might have to, if pressed.

“I didn’t see anything,” Isabelle said suddenly, a touch too loudly. Then abruptly, she swiveled on her heel to leave. At once, she swiveled back. “I forgot my book.” Hurriedly, she grabbed it off the table, then disappeared down the hallway again.

“It’s not what it looks like,” I tried to say to Isabelle as she rushed toward the door.

“I didn’t see anything,” she said again. And then a third time, “I didn’t see anything!”

“Isabelle, wait.”

But it was already too late. Just as I said it, she rushed outside and to her car. Before I could even think, she was driving down the driveway.

Panic gripped me by the throat. If she had seen that ring, and if she knew about the event tomorrow night, she might put together that I was actually going to have to propose to Joanna. Would she tell Aria? That could ruin everything.

All of my planning and suffering and the strain I’d put on my relationship with Aria over this, all of it would have been for nothing.

I knew keeping things secret from Aria was not healthy and would ultimately hurt her. But I still thought that whatever slight damage it might cause could surely be repaired. Aria would understand where I was coming from, if I sat down and it explained it. Surely, after talking, she would see why this action was the best course for all of us.

But I had to wait to tell her, because I knew that if she was made aware of my plans before they happened, she would want me to stop. Even to save us all, she wouldn’t want me to have to make this sacrifice.

It was only pretend, but sometimes it felt real. I was so very tired.

Yet none of that mattered. For Aria, for my family, for the team – I had to see this through. Only by being officially engaged could I guarantee that Markus would leave us all alone.

Without that guarantee, he had tried his best to sink the club again and again, so much that the entire accounting department had made a small fortune pulling overtime and double shifts.

He’d also gone after Aria, approaching her when I wasn’t around. Offering her million dollar checks.

She might have chosen me over the money in the end, but that she even had to think about it was too much. Markus should have never been bothering her to begin with.

He hadn’t started in on the kids yet, but the writing was on the wall there. They were next. They had to be. Markus would keep pushing every button, pulling every trigger, until I finally agreed to his demands.

This ruse was the only way to make him back off without fully giving him what he wanted.

But now, despite her saying she hadn’t, Isabelle had very likely seen the ring. She would probably put two and two together. I’d be surprised if she wasn’t already calling Aria.

By tonight, I was sure all of my plans would be ruined.

Aria’s POV

Tonight, I was the one who had to stay late at work. Jackson had a wrist sprain after a long practice session, so I stuck around while the physician checked him over. They were inside on of the examination rooms near the track. I waited outside for them to finish.

Jackson pushed himself too hard, which worried me. My mind was fully committed to work, going over his daily training, wondering if I was the cause of his overwork.

I didn’t think so, though. Nothing about our training regimen had changed from the last time I had been the trainer, and we’d taken our time easing into back into the old schedule.

I still worried, though, not wanting anyone under my watch to be injured, even if it was only with a wrist sprain. Every injury felt personal.

Suddenly, my phone rang, awakening me from my downward spiral.

Looking down, I saw Isabelle’s name on the screen. She was babysitting tonight. Was everything okay with the kids?

Not taking chances, I immediately answered the phones. “Isabelle?”

“Aria, I have to tell you something.” Her voice was tight, like it was caught somewhere between trepidation and excitement.

My heart pounded so hard, it was loud in my ears. “Are the kids okay?”

“Oh,” she cursed. “Yes, sorry. The kids are okay. No one’s hurt or anything. But I have to tell you what happened.”

I sighed with relief. But then I glanced at the door behind me, beyond which Jackson and the physician were speaking. If the examination was over, they might come out of the room soon.

“I’m sorry, Isabelle. I don’t have time for gossip.”

“I know you are busy,” she said quickly, “But you are going to want to hear this.”

I glanced at the door again. It was still closed. There were still the muffled sound of voices within it.

“Okay,” I said. “But if I hang up suddenly, it’s work related and I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Okay. Are you sitting down?”

“There’s no chairs here, Isabelle. Just tell me what’s going on.”

“So Liam came home early today, right? He thanked me or whatever. I was ready to blow him off big time. Maybe I did a little…”

I shook my head. With all of the secrets Liam had been keeping, Isabelle found great offense. While she still occasionally floated the idea that the event tomorrow night could still be a surprise party for me, the other alternative – that this was something important to do with Joanna, and Liam was just blowing me off – was also at the forefront of both our minds.

Too many times Liam had chosen work over family in the past few weeks. While it was possible he was using this event to make it up to me, she was acting entirely too shifty about it.

Something big was in the works with him. I just didn’t know what it was.

“Well, when I started to leave, I realized I’d forgotten my book in the kitchen, so I went back to get it. There, I saw Liam looking at something he must have had in his pocket.”

His pocket? “What was it?”

“I almost couldn’t believe my eyes.” She laughed. “Aria, it was an engagement ring?”

A… what?

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” Isabelle said. “The rock on the band was so big that you could see it from outer space. But you know what this means right? The ring. The event tomorrow night. The secrets. Not being able to talk until Sunday.”

I was still trying to process the idea that Liam would have a ring…

“Aria,” Isabelle said. “Tomorrow night, Liam is going to propose… to you!”