Chapter 62

Liam’s POV

It was the wrong thing to ask. I knew that the instant the words left my mouth. No, before that, when I was walking down the hallway to Aria’s office, repeating to myself, Congratulate her. Be happy and proud of her. Your own feelings can wait.

Lot of good that pep talk did. Fifteen seconds into my visit and I’d already offended her by cutting her off. And now, I went and said the most inciting question that could have possibly come out of my mouth.

Since discovering the timeline of Aria’s pregnancy, I’d been struggling with the knowledge that Aria likely cheated on me at the end of our marriage. It hurt worse than a blow to the face – more like a stab through the heart.

I thought I knew her so well, she didn’t seem like the type that could pull off this level of betrayal. But facts were facts, and they didn’t lie. Aria had gotten pregnant at the end of our marriage.

The only thing I didn’t yet know was by whom.

The question would haunt me the rest of my life if she didn’t tell me. Always, I would chase at the shadows, thinking the worse of every man who had been a part of our lives then. Old friends would be friends no more. Acquaintances? More like, enemies.

It could be someone I’d never met. That was enough to drive a man to insanity. Did I need to start suspecting every man on the street?

I meant to save this question and ask her nicely, in time. Surely she could understand my desire to know the truth, and with enough trust built between us, she might have even told me.

That seemed unlikely now. All because I couldn’t control my anger and impatience.

For a moment, a fire burned in Aria’s eyes, and something sparked inside of me, thinking she might snap back. Banter would be welcome, as I desperately needed a place for this anger to go. As it was, it festered inside me like an infected wound. The more I tried to ignore it, the worse it hurt.

But then, the spark in Aria extinguished. With a sigh, she lowered her gaze and her shoulders, as if she were entirely deflating.

“I thought we were trying to make peace?” Aria asked, her voice lilting downward, as if in defeat. “Isn’t that what we said? What you promised?”

Seeing her like this made something clench uncomfortably in my chest. My anger bounced around inside of me. Without her to argue with, my own frustration reflected back onto myself.

I had made promises, and I wasn’t keeping them.

“This is an important question,” I said. “If I had this truth, then I would be able to put it behind me.”

“How can I believe that’s true? You keep moving the goal posts on me, Liam. When will it be enough and we can finally look forward, not backwards.”

“After this,” I insisted, so sure of it. “Once I know the truth…”

“What?” she asked me. “What would it solve?”

I didn’t know. Would I want to chase after the other man? Would I blame him for running our marriage? Was he to blame?

Would I really be able to let this go once I had my answer?

Aria shook her head. “Maybe the time apart would be good for us, Liam. We’ve been pushing for something… maybe too hard…”

“No,” I said. “I don’t believe that.”

“Then why can’t you let this go?” Aria asks. “Why can’t we just agree that Joe has no father?”

If I kept pushing, I was going to lose her. Our relationship right now – this frail friendship – was already tenuous at best. She could disappear next week and not reach out to me, and I would have lost her forever.

“Don’t tell me then,” I decided, the fear of losing her pressing back by aching desire for the truth. “But I am worried about Joe. Did you know you would be gone for this long?”

“No, but… I’m determined to make this work.”

“What about schools for Joe? What are you going to do?”

“I’m working on that,” Aria said. “I could find him a tutor.”

“What about other kids his age?”

Aria pushed a hand through her hair. “I don’t know, Liam. But I’ll figure it out. Joe, as always, remains my first priority.”

“What if you go and he’s not happy there?” I asked.

“But what if he is?” Aria countered. “What if this is the change we both need? What if it brings us both nothing but happiness?”

That simply can’t be, because you wouldn’t be with me.

I didn’t say it, even though it sat on the edge of my tongue, ready to be said. It would only start another fight.

Aria responded… poorly to being told what to think and how to feel. All I could do anymore was watch for the sidelines and hope she saw me rooting for her and Joe.

“I only want good things for you, Aria,” I told her, but with the guarded look she gave me in return, I had no idea if she actually believed me.

Aria’s POV

When I finally returned home from work, I was absolutely exhausted – emotionally and physically. I paid the babysitter and watched her leave, closing the door behind her.

Yet even in the quiet of the house, I couldn’t stop the cogs from turning in my head. There was so much to do to prepare for the move, and so little time to do it. I barely even knew where to begin.

Well, that wasn’t true.

“Joe? Where are you?” I called.

“In here!” Joe replied.

I followed the sound of his voice to his bedroom. Inside, he sat at his child-sized desk, kicking his legs back and forth under his chair. On top of the desk, Joe worked on a drawing with crayons, his small fingers smudged with color stains.

“What are you working on?” I asked, peering over his shoulder.

He immediately pulled it away, blocking my view of it with his shoulder. “Wait until it’s done!”

“Okay, okay,” I said, chuckling slightly. Giving him room to work, I walked away from his desk and perched on the edge of his bed instead. “It was a big day at work today. I have something really important to talk to you about.”

“I’m listening,” he said as he scribbled something in blue.

“I’ll wait until you are done. It’s too important. We need to talk face to face.”

“Okay. Almost done. There!” With a flourish, he lifted his crayon and then set it aside. “Ready to see it?”

“I am.”

He kicked himself off of his chair and crossed the room toward me, handing me the picture.

Immediately I spotted the crudely drawn sports car. “Who’s driving it?” I ask.

“Me! I’m going to be a racecar driver someday,” Joe said with the kind of unbridled confidence that only a child his age could possess.

“I believe it,” I said smiling at him. “And who is this?” I pointed to the figure in the back, near the stands. It could be me, but it wasn’t likely, since the hair was so short.

“That’s Liam. He’s going to be my coach.”

“Oh.” My heart sunk at once.

“What did you want to talk about, Mom?”

As much as I wanted to put off this conversation, Joe was my son. He deserved the truth about what decisions I made for my sister. “I told you about the promotion. The one that might have some international travel…”

“Yeah…”

“I decided to take the job,” I forced excitement into my voice, hoping my good mood bright lead to a more enthusiastic reaction from him. “We’ll be heading abroad next week, and staying there for three months.”

“But what about school? What about Liam?”

“They’ll stay here, honey. But we’ll be back for a while. At some point.”

Joe’s face crumpled up. “But I don’t want to leave…”

“But Joe. Think of all the things you’ll see! And experience! All the people you’ll meet.”

“I guess…” Joe frowned.

“We’ll figure it out, Joe. It’s all going to be okay.”

He turned away from me.

Before I could comfort him further, my phone beeped from my pocket. Annoyed that I had forgotten to silence my phone before this conversation, I pulled it from my pocket to do just that.

Instead I saw the screen.

A message from Isabella read, TURN ON THE NEWS RIGHT NOW.