Aiden was out like a light even before they left the dispensary, but Liam refused to put him in his car seat, insisting on holding him for the entire ride home.
"You know he'll be okay, right?" Eden assured him for the millionth time.
Liam nodded just as many times. "I know. I just want to hold him and never let him go. And when we get home, I want to hold you, too."
"That sounds nice," Eden sighed dreamily and rested her head on his shoulder. "I can do with some holding right now. I was so afraid."
"Me too," he admitted. "I don't think I've ever been so terrified in my life, and from now on, I don't want anyone near Aiden. I'm getting him a sterilised bubble like the one from that Bubble Boy movie."
Eden chuckled. "He can't live in a bubble. He needs human contact."
"Either that or I die before I'm thirty. You choose, Princess."
"That's an unfair choice," she mumbled through her very loud yawn."Guess it's settled then.
The lunch was going well until it wasn't. And the topic that sparked all the strife, or at least Eden's discontent, was the mysterious engagement party she didn't even know about until Holly brought it up when she asked about the guest list and invitations. Willow, too, wanted to know if they'd set the date and whether she and Liam planned to wear matching outfits on their big day. So while Liam's sisters babbled on and planned her entire engagement party in between mouthfuls of pasta primavera and red wine, Eden's anxiety crept up to such unhealthy levels she mentally muted them. Sure, her mother had said something about a summer wedding, and when Liam mentioned losing his inheritance if she didn't marry him in six months, she'd thought he was joking. But now, with all these plans being made on the fly, it was becoming more apparent the joke was on her, and the wedding she hasn't agreed to is a go. Eden placed her fork and napkin carefully be
After their shower, Liam stopped by the nursery to check on Aiden. As usual, his son had kicked off his blanket, but his plushy was still firmly at his side, his tiny hand wrapped around the toy's arm. He leaned over the crib and kissed him on the forehead, and Aiden opened his eyes and smiled so briefly. "Dad?" He sighed sleepily. "Yes, baby," Liam smiled back as he covered him up with his blanket. "Nemo sleeping?" Aiden mumbled before he closed his eyes again, and he was out like a light. "Yes, he is. And you should, too. Sleep tight, Kool-Aid," he murmured as he kissed him again and dimmed the light before he left the nursery, a regretful look in his eyes. He's barely spent time with his son, and the next few weeks weren't going to be easy either once he got entangled with the Ivanovs. But he didn't want to be that guy, the one who never had time for his kid, and for that not to happen, a lot would have to change, starting with his
Since she couldn't fall asleep after Liam left for the gym, Eden decided to get started on her day as well. She fired up her work laptop and caught up on her reports and emails, and by the time Aiden woke up an hour and a half later, she'd cleared out her inbox and sent her creative plan for Lydia's onboarding in two weeks to the head of marketing. Pleased with her work progress, Eden stretched and yawned before she shut down her laptop and padded to the nursery, where she found Aiden trying to jump out of the crib. "Aiden Clarke McBride!" She scolded him. "I've taught you better than that!" Ordinarily, her son would have laughed at her and blew her a kiss or two. But today, for some reason, he was feeling a little sensitive. His face melted into a puddle of tears, and he wailed like someone had stolen candy from him. She was about to scoop him up when a sweaty and sexy as fuck Liam sprung into the room. "Don't they have washrooms at y
Eden was in a meeting with the marketing and brand teams for a large part of her morning, going over the event lineup for the family fun day where Lydia would make her big debut as the company's brand ambassador. By the time Sarah, the head of marketing, announced a second tea break, Eden's head was swimming with market analysis data—all the boring stuff she had no interest in and would never have known existed if Liam hadn't thrown her in the spotlight and put her in charge of Lydia's account. She was so drained she could barely move from her chair, so she closed her eyes, hoping to catch a nap while everyone was on a body break. She was still trying to convince her brain to shut down when Clara came in with a tray of something awful in her hands. Whatever it was, Eden didn't think it tasted as horrible as it smelled. But heavens, the smell—no—the stench was too much for her. "What is that?" She gagged and wrinkled her nose, surprising the few pe
The office was the same, but the staff was different. The receptionist wasn't the bubbly, chubby pink-haired girl who welcomed Eden to Dr Waylon's office two years ago and made her feel like she was family. This receptionist was haughty, and the longer Eden spoke to her, the more she made her feel she was being a nuisance and irritating the hell out of her. The nurse who took her vitals, a silent, speak-when-spoken to type, was also new. She clucked her tongue and shook her head at Eden's readings and measurements but didn't say anything. She didn't have to. The grim look on her face as she pushed her inside the doctor's room did all the talking. Eden's biggest shock yet came as soon as the door slammed behind her, and she came face to face with the beautiful, dark-haired woman with the sincerest brown eyes she'd ever seen. She looked way too young to be a doctor, but her white coat told Eden she'd better take her seriously. She didn't
6:00 PM. That was the time they were supposed to meet. Liam was there at 4:30 PM, though. Not because he was eager to strike a deal with the devil, but James and his guys wanted to scope out the place for possible threats. Ordinarily, entering the venue after hours would have been a hassle, but as a former motorsport driver, his lifetime pass allowed Liam 24/7 access, and within minutes they were in the VIP lounge. He slipped off his messenger bag, took off his coat and placed both on the coffee table. "Do you need anything, Sir?" James asked as he scanned the room.Most of the general workers had already gone home, and other than the bartender and a few waitstaff, the place was empty. No surprises there. Liam figured if Aleksei planned to off him, he wanted no witnesses. "I'm good, thanks, James," he murmured as he sank into the club chair and pulled out his laptop from the bag to get some work done. By 4:55 PM, his hea
There are moments in our lives—crossroad moments—that change everything through the convergence of destiny and choice. Moments when one must decide to proceed in the same direction or change course. Liam getting shot wasn't that moment. But, the seventy-two hours before the shooting—at the charity benefit when Aleksei handed Eden the ring box—now, that was a crossroad moment, the converging point when their fate collided with their decisions. The minute she looked inside and saw the bullet, she knew she'd opened Pandora's box and released all the misery and evil into their lives, and Liam's feud with the Ivanovs would only end in grief and bloodshed. Now, as Jace and Aaron raced her to the Medi Clinic in Glen Eagles, where Liam was taken by an emergency services helicopter, Eden was well aware she'd been presented with another crossroad moment—she could either curl up and die from despair or hope and pray that the God she hadn't talked to in years miraculously comes through for her
Lois grabbed her shoulders and shook her hard. "Eden!" "Listen to me!" Clarke added in a gentler tone. "Liam is going to be okay. The surgery was a success. I told you he's a stubborn oaf. He'll be okay." It took her frazzled brain a second or two to register his words, and once they'd sunk in, Eden couldn't contain her tears. She broke down and howled, her anguish and fears and heartache flowing out of her, leaving her empty and drained. "I thought—I thought—You were crying so much, I thought—" She stammered, unable to say the unthinkable. "I was crying so much because I'm so relieved. My baby is going to be fine," Lois said as she looked through her bag for tissues. When she couldn't find any, she snapped her fingers at the brothers to hand over one of their handkerchiefs. Julian did the honours, and Eden dabbed her eyes and threw Brenda's rosary around her neck. "He's still heavily sedated, and they're moving him to the ICU so they can monitor him closely over the next day or