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176|Haunted Me
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
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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
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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
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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
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