Chapter 224

Liam’s POV

The Circle Café was a smaller restaurant, opened only for breakfast and lunch and located in one of the corner buildings in the older part of time. It had an eclectic sort of aesthetic, with the paintings of many local artists on the walls for sale. The booths were all different colors and some in better or worse condition.

It was always crowded though, because the food was phenomenal. Even so, it wasn’t the kind of place I expected a multimillionaire like Alistair Greene to frequent. Even so, I spotted him in the far corner booth joking with a waitress who refilled his coffee. She called him Al.

I guessed you never really knew about people. It was wrong to judge a person by the number of zeros in the bank account.

As I came closer, Alistair looked at me. “Can you get another cup for my friend here, Rita? Thank you.”

“Sure thing, Al.” Rita smiled at me. “Have a seat, honey. Do you need a menu?”

“Uh, no thanks,” I said. With how knotted my stomach was, I didn’t think I could eat anything without being immediately sick.

I slid into the booth.

“Thanks, Rita,” Alistair said. When she was gone, his smile hardened as he looked at me instead. “Good of you to come, Liam. I hope you don’t mind the place. I always feel more relaxed here, like I’m a more normal person and not a trustee or anything else.”

Alistair had another job, in addition to being on the board of directors for the team. He ran a few hospitals across the country. This seemed to give him no small amount of stress.

“Tell me,” he said, seemingly ready to dive straight into business. “What exactly is the nature of your relationship with Joanna?”

Now was the moment of truth. I couldn’t go forward with my press statement like I had wanted, but here in this informal café, I could at least share the partial truth with one man.

I needed to be careful though, not wanting to break Aria’s trust in me.

“My reasons for becoming engaged to Joanna had nothing to do with love,” I said.

When Alistair nodded, seemingly pleased, I found the courage to reveal even more truths.

“My father, Markus, was a very powerful man with an unfortunately long reach. Under duress, I was forced to make a decision for my family and the team. It is one that I have come to regret, but not one that I have been able to easily untangle myself from.”

“You mean the engagement,” Alistair said.

I nodded. “I wish to end it as soon as possible, but the matter is… complicated. Joanna is very persistent.”

“No doubt she wants Markus’s money.”

I leaned back, slightly surprised.

Alistair looked at my face and shook his head. “Markus was an old miser who hoarded wealth. All he ever talked about was preserving his legacy.”

“You knew my father?” I asked, though that made sense. Though Alistair seemed more down to earth, he must have still run in some of the same social circles.

“We weren’t friends,” Alistair said. “But then I don’t think it was possible for him to have friends.” He cleared his throat. “Not to speak ill of the dead. May he rest in peace.”

“May he rest in peace,” I agreed, though I didn’t particularly feel the need to be as kind and generous to my father’s memory, given how terribly he had treated my mother and me.

“Hearing that your relationship is strained with Joanna is ultimately a relief for me,” Alistair said. “I’d been meaning to talk to you about her and how disliked she is by the other employees. Yes, the HR emails have even reached my inbox. But when you two became engaged, I thought, perhaps, out of kindness to you, I would allow time for things to settle.”

“You don’t need to hold back on my account, I assure you,” I said.

“I can see that now,” Alistair said. “But it’s only recent actions that forced my hand…”

My brow drew together in confusion. “What happened?”

At that moment, Rita returned carrying a fresh cup of coffee, which she set down in front of me.

Alistair’s entire demeanor changed once more. Shedding his down-to-business persona, he looked up at her with a bright, friendly, and relaxed expression.

It was almost uncanny, like he was two different people. Perhaps he was. One half of him in work mode, the other more relaxed. I wondered which was real, but I supposed they both were.

“Thank you very much, Rita.”

“You are welcome, Al.” Rita smiled at him and then at me. “Call me if you change your mind about eating.”

As she walked away, I watched Alistair’s transformation once more, back into the businessman, who had little time for games or pleasantries.

Looking at me firmly, he said, “Joanna tried to buy out all of my shares in the team.”

Shock struck through me. “What?”

“I contacted a few others,” Alistair continued, “And she reached out to them, as well. Some have already accepted her terms. Believe me, they are generous.”

This was not good. If she bought out enough shares of the team, she could claim the majority. And as the majority owner, she could lord the team over my head, forcing me to do what she wanted or the team would suffer.

What a vile, vicious threat. I almost didn’t want to believe that she could be capable of something like that, but why wouldn’t she?

After everything she had already done, this was just one more step in her plan, ensuring I stayed in her pocket so that she could have access to Markus’s money.

“I can tell from your expression that you realize what this means,” Alistair said. “And what the possible ramifications for the team would be if she were to become the majority owner.”

If that happened, we could kiss the team goodbye, because it would never be the same.

Alistair sighed. “This has always been a fun side project for me. I enjoy racing, and have liked my time with the team. But I can see the writing on the wall here, maybe more than anyone else can. I know what an attempted hostile takeover looks like.”

His gaze intense, he said, “You need to be careful here, Liam. Joanna is smart and crafty and has many resources at her disposal. She will not be an easy adversary to overcome.”

I already knew that, though I appreciated Alistair’s warnings and his seeming loyalty to me.

“I’m not going to sell,” Alistair said. “There’s little she can threaten me with. But you and I won’t be enough.”

“I understand,” I told him. “Thank you, Alistair. I mean it. Without this warning…”

“Just be careful. The waters are rising, son, and we’ve got to learn to swim in a hell of a hurry.”

Aria’s POV

At home, I walked into my bedroom, thinking over my past and what I wanted to happen in the future.

Even though I’d asked Liam to keep our relationship a secret for now, I’d always hoped that once I felt comfortable enough, we could reveal it to the world at last.

Fear was crippling though, holding me down and keeping me from ever feeling comfortable.

Fear was the enemy.

At my dresser, I place my hand on my jewelry box and lift the top, revealing my old wedding ring gently placed with the other rings.

Would it truly be so bad to be publically known as Liam’s wife?

What did I really have to fear anyway?

I trusted Liam. I trusted he would do his best for us and our family.

Wasn’t it time I showed that trust, and made my own gesture toward my confidence in our relationship?

Taking the ring out of the box, I slipped it down onto the ring finger of my left hand.

It was time to stop hiding.