In the twenty minutes it took Liam to follow Eden, he went through every emotion under the sun as he watched her fall apart on the sidewalk, and pick herself up again. His heart ached more than anything imaginable when she burst into tears and broke into gut-wrenching sobs, and it took all of his self-control and lots words of caution from his driver and security detail not to go after her and drag her back to the car. By the time he returned to Anderson Logistics, he was highly pissed and terrified out of his head. What if he pushed her too far, he thought frantically as he paced the length of his office. What if she doesn’t come back? God, he shouldn't have allowed his security team to convince him to return to the office without her. He shouldn't even have taken her to Linda. He thought lashing out at her would give him some relief, some satisfaction. But this—he did not sign up for this heartache. Feelings, especially of worry and sadness,

The phone rang a few times before Lydia picked up, and seconds later, her face filled the screen. Dressed in a white bathrobe and her dark hair extensions piled high in a messy bun, she looked flawless as usual. Her face was still bare, though; they'd caught her in the middle of her routine. "St Eden! This had better be good. What the heck is going on? I haven't even put on my face yet!" And that's what earned her the 'Darling' award from the women in the room. The guys too went wild for her. "Hush now, and behave yourself. I'm at work," Eden groaned, hiding her face in her hands. "So what's up?" She asked. "What can I do you for—Oh, hi Liam!" Eden wished the floor would open and swallow her up then. She shook her head frantically at the screen, silently pleading with Lydia to behave herself and not say shit that can blow her cover wide open. Liam barely noticed the silent exchange, though. If he did, he did a great job

Liam didn't get Eden out his system like he told his cousins he would. How could he, when he saw her everywhere—in the elevators, in the staff lounges, in meetings and Matthew's office. He'd smile at her, try to make small talk but she'd return all his advances with a polite nod and nothing more. Now that she reported to Matthew, a decision Liam regretted immediately after making it, Eden didn't pay him any attention. In all the meetings he chaired, he may as well have been invisible in her eyes since she barely acknowledged his presence and hardly glanced at him. If there's something she didn't understand she made a point of asking his cousins or the other assistants to clarify. Liam knew silent treatment when he saw it; he'd been in his fair share of semi long-term relationships and had landed in the dog box one too many times. But in all his past fuckups, an expensive gift often fixed the problem, and the longest he's ever been in the dog box was t

"Excuse me!" Eden held up her index finger, pulled out her iPhone and checked the caller ID. Liam didn't mean to peek, but the lawyer's name flashed on the screen in big, bold writing, taunting him. All his anger and annoyance at her was back, swallowing up his sincere apology. "I should return to my desk," Eden said, slipping her phone back in her blazer. "Why is he still around? Stop wasting his time and yours," he said, pissed out of his head at the realisation that Julian was right about the lawyer. He's very much a part of Eden's life, and he didn't like it at all. "I don't know what you mean." "You know damn well what I mean," he snarled, crossing his arms over his chest. "You don't like him. You don't belong with him, and you're just wasting both your time." "Who are you to decide I don't belong with him?" "I'm the man who knows how to please you, Princess. The lawyer can't." He said frankly. "And when you're rea

An hour later, as Eden went through her evening routine with Aiden, she was still reeling from her hot encounters with his father. "Ducky!" Her son screeched with excitement as he held up his bath toys and splashed water everywhere, and for a little while, Eden just watched him play, floored by the immense love she felt for him.  His father might be an asshole half the time, but he knew how to please her for sure, and it's only a matter of time before she crawled back to him, begging to be pleased like he was so convinced she will. Mortified at the direction her thoughts were taking, She mentally shook herself, "No!" She couldn't and shouldn't allow this thing between her and Liam to burn out of control like Clara warned her it would.  He's married, and he still hated her. However painful they were to accept, those two facts hadn't changed; no matter how intense his desire for her had grown over the past month. It's true what