58

LIAM

The woman next to me was all sorts of different from the one I used to know. She’d come in with the usual air of seductiveness and sensuality I had always ascribed to her, but right now, she was more vulnerable than I'd ever seen her.

Her shoulders had finally stopped shaking, and I made her some tea to keep her sniffles at bay.

My mind had been reeling since she shared that her parents had forced her to date the old billionaire. Was that why she left without a goodbye? Was she too embarrassed?

I glanced at her, watching as she blew on her tea before taking a sip. She scrunched her brows together, staring into her cup like it had the answers to world hunger. “I know you want me gone, I'll leave as soon as I'm done with this,”

Her smile was sad, and it tugged at my heartstrings. “It's fine, Em. You can crash here, it's pretty late already,”

She met my eyes with a small nod, taking another sip of her tea to hide the small smirk dancing on her lips. I ignored it, sprawling out next to her.

As much as I didn't want to get entangled with another woman, Emily was my friend, and seeing her this helpless wasn't an everyday thing. She trusted me enough to open up her emotions and I certainly wasn't going to turn her away from it.

“So,” I began with a sigh. “Your parents match-made you?”

She nodded, a solemn look in her eyes. “Pretty much. Al was the rich idiot they wanted to suck off, and I was just a means to an end,” she shrugged. “Nothing new,”

“You do realize how fucked up that is, right?”

For what it was worth, Emily and I had one thing in common: both our dads were shitheads. I never really liked her father. He was once a business partner of my dad’s, but I knew he wasn't a good person when he doubled over in laughter after my dad made jokes about sleeping with underage women.

I had always known he was a dick. But this? Forcing your young daughter on the arm of a rich business executive simply because he wanted a payout? That was insane.

I yearned to comfort the woman next to me, but I was nervous she would misinterpret it, so I didn't. Instead, I nudged her with my knee. She rolled her eyes, abandoned her tea on a nearby table, and adjusted so she was sitting with both her feet propped on the couch.

She raised her brow, the moonlight illuminating her face cast a soft glow. Emily was a beautiful woman, she just wasn't who I wanted. Not anymore.

“We’re all messed up in some way,”

“Doesn't make it right.”

“Who are you, and what have you done with Liam Carter? You used to be the most cynical person I ever met.”

I shrugged. “I switched things up a bit,”

Emily eyed me, brown eyes washing over me with curiosity. Uh oh. Emily was just like Anna, they were both too perceptive for their own good. I looked away from her wandering gaze, hoping she didn't see through me.

Nora wasn't a secret, but she wasn't mine yet, and until then, I would like to keep her a secret. Especially from Emily. She might've shown me a softer side to her today, but she was still a conniving snake when she wanted to be.

Right now, she was looking at me like she had just solved the world's toughest equation. “Who's this Nora? Something tells me she has a lot to do with your newfound outlook on life.”

I swallowed, wishing I had something to hold onto. My phone, perhaps. Where was it? I needed to check in with Nora.

“She's no one,” I lied.

“Oh yeah? What are you looking for? This?” she brandished my phone, wiggling it in her hand with amusement.

“Give it back.”

“Nuh uh,” she examined it, pouting when she realized it needed a pass code. “I imagine this Nora is waiting for a text from you. How would she feel if she didn't get one?” Another pout.

Frustration bubbled within me, but I knew Emily wasn't going to hand it over so easily. How the hell did she even get her grubby fingers on it? Shit. What if Nora really was waiting for a text from me?

I reached for the phone, but Emily was quick to pull back, she jumped off the couch, laughing as she scrambled away from me. “Come and get it,” she teased, a small smile dancing on her lips.

As glad as I was that she was out of the funk from earlier, the last thing I wanted was to play tag with my freaking ex-girlfriend.

I groaned, ignoring her for a bit. But I desperately needed to get a text through to Nora. I hadn't told her I was back home, and she might've been worried.

A part of me whispered that this was merely my excuse to text the gorgeous woman, but I ignored it.

While ignoring the whisper in my ear worked, it certainly didn't work with Emily. She was now trying to go through my phone, punching in random numbers.

Shit.

I got off the couch, closing the space between us, but she squeezed past me and towards the kitchen island, giggling as I chased her down.

“You’re so slow now, what's this? A dance rehearsal?”

I'll show her slow.

Quickly, I ambushed her while she had her head buried in my phone. She tried to slip away, but I grabbed her biceps, flipping her around and binding both her wrists behind her. Emily let out a small gasp.

I pressed her against the cold island, prying the phone out of her hand with a triumphant smirk.

“Who’s slow now?”

She groaned before letting out a little laugh. “Fine, you still got it,”

I chuckled, tensing when I felt Emily press her ass into my crotch. I'd been so concerned about getting my phone from her that I hadn't noticed the position we were in. Emily was bent over the counter, face pressed against the marble, and hands bound behind her in one of mine.

I was behind her, my crotch lined up to her ass, almost like I was going to…

“Shit,” I cursed, taking a sharp step away from her as I released her hands. “I'm sorry,” I took another step back, lifting my hands to show I was harmless. It had been an honest mistake.

Emily whined, pushing off the island. She straightened her shirt on her before folding her arms. She raised a questioning brow. “You really wouldn't fuck me?”

“We’ve been over this, Em. I'm not interested.”

“Turned me down twice in one night. I definitely need to know this woman.”

Just then, my phone pinged with a text and I couldn't stop myself from hurriedly unlocking my phone. It was from Nora.

My pulse thrummed in my ears, excitement coursing through my veins. She hadn't texted me since we began working together. Was she warming up to me? Did she care about me after tonight?

Before I could open the text, Emily’s voice spoke up. “Wow, you really are whipped,” she sounded disappointed, but also a bit curious. However, she didn't leave me any room for an argument because she turned on her heel and walked up the stairs.

My brows furrowed as I tried to decipher her words, but my excitement to see what Nora had texted overrode the need to mull over Emily’s observation.

It was a simple five-word text: Did you get home safe?

But it was enough to lift my spirit and keep it that way for the entire weekend.