Chapter 86

Liam’s POV

Two days passed, and I still hadn’t heard anything more from Sophia. If it was her alone, I would not be as concerned. She had a tendency to disappear for long periods, particularly when she was mad at me. But never in the past did she include William in her silent treatment.

For William’s sake, I had always been allowed to see him. I’d babysit him sometimes, or help him with his homework. These past few days had been the longest I went without seeing William since he was born. Genuinely, I just hoped he was okay.

I sat behind my desk at my office, trying to concentrate on work. The last thing I needed was to be driven to distraction, especially so soon after that recent-screw up with Aria.

I was expected to run the ship here. How would it look if I couldn’t even keep myself together?

Read the paperwork on your desk, I commanded myself. Approve the invoices.

One by one, I approved the invoices and set them aside for my assistant to take later. As soon as that was done, I checked my emails. I told myself I would focus on the work-related ones first, but that was a lie. I couldn’t stop myself from skimming my entire inbox for any hint of Sophia or William.

Which was beyond absurd. Sophia and William didn’t even have my work email. If they emailed me at all, it would have been sent to my personal account, which would ding on my phone. I would hear it instantly.

I truly was a wreck.

Suddenly, the work phone rang, dragging me out of my maudlin thoughts. Eagerly, I snatched it off the receiver and brought it to my ear. “This is Liam.”

“Liam. It’s Amanda.”

Immediately my adrenaline spiked. Amanda was a mutual friend of mine and Sophia’s. Now, she worked down in accounting, but she was someone that I had known for many years.

Earlier, I’d asked her to reach out to Sophia, just to check on her. I didn’t say much, except that Sophia seemed upset and wasn’t speaking to me. Everyone who knew Sophia knew how… passionate she could be at times. The request to Amanda hadn’t been a strange one.

Even so, I hadn’t expected to hear back this soon.

“Did you speak with her?” I asked. “Is William okay?”

“I don’t know, Liam. I’m worried. She picked up, and we were talking like always. Then, out of nowhere, she just snapped. She shouted at me, telling me I needed to mind my own business. All I asked her was if she has any plans for the weekend.”

Rubbing my forehead, I was worried. “Did you hear anything about William? Or did you hear his voice at all, in the background?”

“Yes… at one point, he asked her about lunch, but she didn’t say anything in response. I assumed he was talking to someone else in the room.”

That seemed unlikely. More likely was that he was trying to get Sophia’s attention and she actively ignored him.

“Sophia has always been a bit of a free spirit,” Amanda said, which seemed like an understatement to me. “She gets passionate about things sometimes. But she’s never flown off the handle like this over nothing. I swear all I asked was her plans for the weekend and it set her off.”

“Thank you for trying, Amanda,” I said. “I do appreciate your effort.”

“I wish I could do more,” Amanda said.

After thanking her once more, I hung up the phone, then tried to concentrate again on work. I succeeded for as long as it took to answer three emails. Then I picked up the phone again and called Aria’s desk.

Knowing she might be down on the track, I tried not to get my hopes up.

“Hello?” she asked through the line.

Immediately, relief filled me.

“Aria, it’s Liam. Hey, listen. Has Joe told you anything else about William?”

“You still haven’t heard from William or Sophia?” she asked.

“No.”

She made a worried hum. “No, Joe hasn’t said anything more, Liam. But I can ask him tonight when I get home.”

“If you could, Aria. I’d really appreciate it.”

“Of course. I care about William, too. We’ll make sure he’s okay.”

Aria’s POV

Liam’s worried tone of voice alarmed me more than his actual words. Where William was concerned, I knew Liam could be protective, as a father – even a surrogate one – should be. But there was more than that in him when he called me just now.

He sounded genuinely afraid.

The thought stayed with me the rest of the day. By the time 5 o’clock rolled around, I was desperate to get home to see if I could gather any more answers from Joe.

When I arrived home, Joe was sitting on the couch, watching television with the babysitter. I paid her and she left. Then I took the babysitter’s spot next to Joe. He kept watching the television, even as the babysitter left, which was unusual for him. Usually he liked to say goodbye.

His eyes were on the screen, but he didn’t seem like he was fully paying attention. It was more like he was spaced out.

“Joe,” I said, and he startled, like he hadn’t expected me to be beside him.

“Oh, Mom! You’re home.” He inched closer to me and spread his arms for a hug, which I was happy to reciprocate. Typically, he was the hug and go type of kid, always on the move, always looking for the next adventure or thing to get into.

This time, he kept hugging me. While I loved this as a mom, it also concerned me.

Something was wrong.

“You can talk to me about anything in the whole wide world, Joe. You know that, don’t you?” I asked.

His voice was very small. “I do.”

“So if there’s anything bothering you, all you have to do is tell me, and I will try my very best to make it better, okay?”

He pulled away from the hug but didn’t look up at me, his eyes downcast.

“Joe?”

“William still hasn’t been at school,” Joe said. “Even our teacher seemed worried. And I don’t know… I just don’t know what to do, Mom.”

“Oh, honey. You don’t have to do anything,” I told him. “You were right to tell me. I’ll call Sophia and see –”

“No, Mom. You can’t.” Joe looked up at me now, desperation in his eyes. “You can’t call her. She doesn’t like you and she might hurt him again.”

I replayed his words again in my head, very slowly and deliberately.

Did he just say…?

He did…

He said she might hurt him again.

“Are you mad at me?” Joe asked.

Immediately, I release some of the tension from my face and shoulders. “Oh, no. No, no, sweetheart. Not at you. I’m worried about William, too. Maybe… Why don’t we go and see him?”

It wasn’t the best plan. After all, even with Joe in tow, we weren’t likely to get in through the door. But if we could just see William, and make sure he was okay…

Joe immediately perked at the idea. “Okay! I’ve been keeping notes for him in class. Can we bring them to him?”

“Yes. I think that would be a wonderful thing to do.”

As Joe hurried off to find his backpack, I took a minute to collect myself.

If we went over there and I saw evidence that Sophia was actually hurting Joe, I didn’t know what I would do. But I wasn’t going to pretend it was nothing.