It was still dark when Liam returned home after dropping Eden off, but the house should have been at least lively with Dave and the housekeepers as they got ready to start their day. It was surprisingly quiet, though, and the silence was even more deafening now that Eden was gone. Liam picked up the gift box with her dress and underwear and took it upstairs, smiling as he relived their conversation earlier when he asked for his shirt back. He was teasing her about the shirt, of course. But if he was honest, he liked having something of hers close to him. The smell of their lovemaking, still lingering in the air, hit him as soon he walked into his bedroom, and his eyes immediately fell on the tousled sheets, and he suddenly found himself missing Eden with a force that left him stunned for breath. He pulled out his phone and sent her a quick text. 'I miss you.' She replied immediately. 'You just miss fucking me, that's all.' Liam laughed and typ

The girls were already seated in a corner booth, nibbling on their quesadillas and sipping their warm drinks, when Eden stepped into Rise in the food court some five minutes later. "Gah! I need something strong today!" She blew out an exasperated sigh and hid her face in her hands as soon as she sat down. "That bad, huh?" Cassandra asked, patting her back gently. "Here," Sienna murmured and slid the chai latte they'd ordered for her across the table. "Have something light instead. You'll thank me later when you wake up with no hangover tomorrow morning." "Thanks," Eden mumbled and stared broodily at her cup. "I must have been insane. Honestly, I think I've lost my mind. Why didn't you guys stop me when I applied for a job here?" "Well," Lydia smiled wickedly and shrugged. "We did, but you wanted Liam's dick so bad it was obvious anything we said wasn't gonna fly!" "Lydia!" Eden looked around the room cautiously, making sure no one had

Liam's been back from lunch with his parents for a while now, but no matter how hard he tried to settle down for the afternoon and trudge through the thousands of proposals screaming for his attention, he couldn't. He pushed away from his desk and stalked his way to Matthew's office. "King Liam, twice in one day! To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit this time?" Matthew mocked him when he walked in and crashed on the couch. "Eden's old office," Liam said. "Don't you think there's something wrong with it?" "You mean apart from its size?" "Look at all the other offices; they're all cluttered with shit from their homes, family photos, travel boards, birthday cards." "So?" Matthew pushed away from the desk. "Eden doesn't have any of that. When I fetched her this morning, all her stuff fit in a small box." "Maybe she doesn't like clutter." "I get that," Liam blew out a frustrated breath. "But what about her son

"Eden!" Laura was a picture of joy and politeness as she dazzled her with her megawatt smile. Eden could see right through her fake friendliness, though. But she smiled back anyway as she tried to side-step her. Laura quickly blocked her path. "Can we talk?" Eden didn't think they had anything to talk about, considering they didn't know each other very well. Before she could refuse, though, Liam's ex took her hand and pushed her to a dimly lit corner a few meters from the restrooms. "What's this about?" Eden demanded as soon as they were out of earshot and prying eyes. "I get to ask the questions, and you just listen," the other woman snapped, her saccharine smile vanishing as quickly as it had appeared, leaving a frostiness that chilled Eden to the bone. "Now, how long are you planning to keep this up?" "What?" She asked, baffled by the question. "Your innocent act," Laura murmured. "We both know you are hardly the saint that

As soon as his head of security left, Liam gathered up the paternity test results, birth certificate and the report on Eden's dating history, stuffed them in the brown envelope with Aiden's photos and locked them away in his safe. He couldn't take any chances. The last thing he wanted was information about his son ending up in the wrong hands, or worse, getting leaked to the tabloids. He'd just thrown on his jacket and fixed his tie when Clara strolled in, a notebook in her hand and an anxious look in her eyes. She paused just inside the door and announced, "Sir, they are waiting for you. Ms Edwards and her team are already here." "I'm right behind you, Ms Winston." Liam nodded and followed her out of his office, his mind still racing at unprecedented speeds with endless questions. Twenty people were seated around the oval table when he walked into the boardroom on the 35th floor, but Liam only cared about one. He held Eden's gaze briefly before makin