Liv rose to her feet, her voice quivering. “Bentley, I…”
He shook his head, and in an uncharacteristic move, pulled her in for a fast hug. “Not needed, Liv. We’re family, and you know how I feel about family.” His gaze was intense as he stared at us. “Don’t ever keep me out of the loop again, understand?”
I stood. “It was my call.”
“We’ll discuss it later. Right now, we're going to focus on solving this issue.”
He left the room quickly.
“Shit,” I muttered. “He is pissed.”
Maddox rubbed his chin. “He is, but he’ll deal with it later. He knows what’s most important now and that’s dealing with this issue.”
Aiden reached for his phone. “I’m a little pissed too, to be honest. If you had told me, I might be ahead of the game already. I need to make some calls. You okay with Reid being part of this, Liv?”
“Yes, although I’m not sure why he has to be?” she asked.
I covered her hand with mine. “Reid will find everything out about Nolan. Everything,” I stressed. “Even things he’s forgotten.”
“Oh, ah…”
Maddox looked kindly at her. “He’s completely trustworthy, Liv. You’re safe with him.” He flashed a wide smirk. “I probably can’t say the same for Nolan.”
I chuckled.
Liv’s fingers pulled at the seams of her jeans. “I can’t afford the likes of Hal Smithers.”
“I can,” I said calmly.
She frowned, and I slid my hand around her neck, rubbing the tense muscles. “Remember the royalties I told you sit in the bank, Liv? There are millions of them. I only use the money for important things. I bought my house, I made my father retire, and I take care of my parents. And now, I’m taking care of you.”
“I can’t—you can’t,” she sputtered.
“I can. Don’t argue. You and Mouse are the most important things in the world to me.”
She stared.
“Hal’s a friend of Bentley’s,” Aiden drawled. “His office is in one of our buildings. He lives in one of our condo towers. He’ll do right by you, Liv.” He winked. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t break the bank either, Van.”
I met his gaze. “I wouldn’t care.”
He nodded. “Good man.” He glanced at his phone. “Bentley’s already reached out. Hal will see you later this afternoon.”
Overwhelmed, Liv buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking. Jordan, Aiden, and Maddox left, pulling the boardroom door shut behind them to give us privacy. I pulled her into my arms and held her close.
“I told you that you wouldn’t be alone.”
“I had no idea,” she hiccupped.
I tilted up her chin. Her usually bright eyes were dim and filled with worry. “We’re fighting this together, okay?”
“O-okay,” she sniffed.
“I need to ask something from you now, Liv.”
“What?”
“I need you to go home, pack up some things, and come stay at my house. I want you and Mouse close.”
“Why?” she breathed out.
“Because I do. It’s simple. He’s threatening you. You’re going to fight back—something I don’t think he expected. It’ll make him angrier, and I need to protect you. My house has an alarm, and I’m there.”
She rubbed a hand over her face. “Won’t it give him even more ammunition? That I’m living with my boyfriend?”
“He’s living with his girlfriend.”
“Fiancée. I’m sure he would argue the difference.”
I studied her and lowered my face close to hers, dropping my voice. “Is that what you want, Liv? I’ll take you down the street right now, pick a ring, and we can go to city hall.”
Her eyes flew open wide. “What?”
I warmed to the subject. “It will cancel out most of his arguments right there. You move in. We’ll get married. Mouse will have a stable home with two parents already. Hell, I’ll build a spot for your mom, and she can come move in too. A house filled with people to care for Mouse. He can go fuck himself.”
Liv looked shell-shocked. When I grinned at her with an exaggerated wink, she relaxed.
“Too much?” I asked. I had been teasing—mostly.
“A bit.”
“Okay. How about you move in with me?”
“Temporarily.”
I tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “For now. But in all seriousness, I would feel better.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
I was surprised. I had been certain she was going to push back. Refuse and tell me she didn’t need any protection. It showed me how anxious she was over the situation.
“My dad and I will move Mouse’s bed and bookcase over later, so she has familiar things in the house,” I offered. “Your mom has Sammy until tonight so we can get this all handled today.”
“It seems like a lot of work for a few weeks. Why don’t I use one of the beds from the warehouse?”
“Nope. Both will go in the truck in minutes. Mouse will be happier. You pack whatever clothes and stuff you need. We can get anything you forget later.”
She huffed but grudgingly agreed.
I didn’t bother to tell her it wasn’t for a few weeks. I had a feeling once this was over, I wouldn’t let them go.
Hal Smithers closed the file and glanced up at Liv and me. He was younger than I expected—younger than me. His brown hair was short, his beard trimmed, and his suit expensive. There was an air of confidence about him, his gaze direct, and his demeanor intense.
He was perfect.
He tapped the file. “I’m not going to lie and say this is open-and-shut, but I’m going to make this very difficult for him. Very, very difficult.”
“Can he really do this?” I asked, aghast. “Waltz back into their lives after all this time and demand to be part of Sammy’s life?”
“Oh, he can demand anything he wants. It’s my job to make sure he doesn’t get it.” He sat back. “He signed his rights away. He has a huge uphill climb to get them back.”
“He said he is going to ask for visitation.”
He shrugged. “Again, he can ask for anything he wants. A judge will decide if it’s in Samantha’s best interest. Since he hasn’t had any contact, provided any support either financially or emotionally in her lifetime, it’s a pretty big if. I’ll fight it and use his past behavior against him.”
Liv shuddered, and I slipped my arm around her shoulders.
“From now on, Liv, you don’t talk to him about Samantha. I would prefer you not have any contact with him.” He studied her. “I know it’s your job, and this project means a lot to you, but you need to decide which is more important.”
“Sammy,” she replied immediately.
“Then figure it out.”
“I was thinking maybe Liv could do the design work but send an assistant to meetings and to do the on-site checking until WIN is off the project,” I offered.