Home > Loved by Liam (Vested Interest : ABC Corp, #3)(12)

Loved by Liam (Vested Interest : ABC Corp, #3)(12)
Author: Melanie Moreland

“You protect, never hurt,” he said over and again. “You help people. You never tear them down.”

I sat next to Evan and Ronan as he described what occurred. The way the boys surrounded him and why. All because he told the truth about meeting our family. They called him a liar and pushed him around, kicking his crutches out so he fell.

I met Ronan’s eyes over his head. My brother wasn’t going to let this rest. “Beth is going to talk to the principal,” he said. “Again.”

I nodded in understanding. It wouldn’t help if she’d already tried. I clapped Evan on the shoulder. “I brought Chinese for dinner. Ronan said it was your favorite. I got you extra spring rolls.”

A real smile broke out on his face. “Awesome.”

“You go inside and wash up. We’ll be right there.”

He got up and went inside, his limp more pronounced than ever. No doubt, he was aching head to toe from his fall earlier. I headed to the truck, getting the bags of food.

“I’m going to contact the teacher that Evan likes. The one who was having the discussion about BAM today,” Ronan said.

“What do you have in mind?”

“I think one of our company community visits is in order.”

“The power of BAM, you mean?”

He nodded.

“I’ll call Bentley and rally the troops. You know he’ll support this one hundred and ten percent.”

Ronan nodded, looking grim. “That’s what I’m counting on.”

 

 

Paige looked surprised to see me, but she accepted my kiss, her hug tight as I pulled her close. I dropped a kiss on her head. “It’s okay, Sweet Pea. We’re here. We’re going to figure this out.”

“I’m glad you’re here,” she admitted. “But I’m not sure what you can do except talk to Evan.”

I slipped my fingers under her chin and smiled. “Trust me on this. There is a lot we can do.”

She looked confused, but she went along with it. “Okay.”

I dropped another kiss to her mouth. “Good.”

“My flowers,” she whispered. “They are so beautiful, Liam. I’ve never gotten flowers before.”

“Ever?”

“Not once,” she confirmed. “I was sure they were for Beth or the wrong address,” she admitted. “Until this happened, I couldn’t stop smiling.”

“I always want you smiling.”

She hugged me again, her arms tight around my waist. I wrapped her close, letting her know I was there and she wasn’t alone in this or anything else.

“I’m here,” I said quietly. “Not going anywhere.”

Her sigh was shaky and low. “Good.”

 

 

We made Evan smile during dinner. The spring rolls helped. Lucy was attentive, sitting between Evan and me, fussing over his “boo-boos,” which she thought he got after his crutch slipped. She helped him with extra plum sauce and made sure he had lots of crunchy noodles on his chow mein, which meant a pile over his entire plate. He ate it all, not once impatient with her. After dinner, the girls went for a walk to get ice cream, while Ronan and I talked more with Evan.

“You going to school tomorrow, bud?” Ronan asked.

Evan shifted in his seat. “Yeah. I can’t let them win, right?”

Ronan nodded. “Right. Just be careful. I have an idea that might help, but I need a couple days to pull it together, okay?”

“Okay.” Evan paused. “Does this have something to do with asking for Mr. Humphries’s email?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, Ronan. I trust you.” He looked at me. “You too, Liam.”

I pulled him in for a fast hug. “Good man.”

We ate ice cream after the girls got home. I sat on the steps while Paige put Lucy to bed, and Ronan and Beth stayed with Evan. Paige came outside, sitting beside me. I slipped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.

“Lucy settle okay?”

“Once she was sure her unicorn was tucked in too, yes.” She chuckled. “That thing you won her is as big as she is.”

“Bigger,” I agreed.

“Sorry about our date.”

“Nothing to be sorry for. Ronan says he’s coming over tomorrow. We can go out then.”

“Oh, ah—”

I cut off her objections. “They’ll look after Lucy, and it gives them some alone time. I want to take you out.”

“All right.”

I pressed a kiss to her head. “So enthusiastic.”

She laughed and snuggled closer. “I just feel guilty.”

“Doing something for yourself, you mean?”

“Yes.”

“I told you, your life is changing, Paige. What happened before is the past.”

“Sometimes that lingers,” she whispered.

“Your ex,” I said.

I felt her nod against my chest. I waited, but she didn’t say anything.

“You don’t have any family?” I asked.

“No. My parents split when I was little. My mom died when I started university. It was just her and me. I never saw my father aside from a few pictures. He was older than my mother. He passed a few years before she did.”

“Was she ill?”

“Yes.” She swallowed. “We weren’t, ah, close. I think she always blamed me for my father leaving us. I mean, she was nice and treated me okay, but there wasn’t any affection, and she encouraged me to leave as early as possible. She always treated me like a friend or a little sister, not a mom. I learned how to do things on my own pretty fast.”

“Sounds lonely.”

“It was. I always swore my kids would know how much they were loved.”

“Lucy knows.”

“I hope so.”

“Hey.” I waited until she met my eyes. “You are an amazing mother. In fact, you’re the whole package, Paige. Loving, caring, beautiful, sexy—” I stopped at the subtle shake of her head.

“You brush off my compliments all the time.” I narrowed my eyes. “Between your mother and your ex, you have no idea how special you are, do you?”

She played with the hem of the sweater she was wearing. “I-I don’t know how to answer that.” She swallowed. “Alan was very critical. I mean, when we dated, he seemed uptight at times, but once we were married, he became controlling and, ah, very vocal about my shortcomings.”

“Your shortcomings?” I repeated. I didn’t really want to have this conversation here, sitting outside, but since it had come up, I decided we needed to address it.

“I was too slow, I didn’t keep the house tidy enough, my clothes didn’t fit me the way they should since I was, ah, fat. Nothing ever pleased him. He constantly compared me to his friends’ and coworkers’ wives. They were prettier, sexier. Thinner.” She snorted. “Taller too, not that I could do much about that.”

“Yet you stayed with him.”

“I didn’t have anywhere else to go. He had taken over my life without me even realizing it.”

“Lucy?” I asked.

“All his friends’ wives were getting pregnant. He always wanted to keep up the appearance of a perfect, happy couple.” She sighed. “It was like a competition. Someone got a new car, he had to have one. They got the latest cell, he bought a better one. They remodeled their bathroom with a soaker tub, he got a hot tub. Always more. It was never enough.” She shook her head. “Nothing, especially me, was ever enough.” She rested her chin on her hand and canted her head toward me. “He wanted a baby too. I thought maybe if we had kids, he’d relax. Be happy. Be a family.”

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