“That’s incredible.” I reach up to swipe away an errant tear.
I can’t imagine Liam ever being small, but I see a small child, cold and starving, and a mother who sacrificed her needs to feed her son.
It’s more than touching. It’s overwhelming.
Liam continues with his story, ignoring the stray tear.
“That job saved us. It wasn’t easy. She worked long hours and we slept in the diner until her first check. The manager helped her find an apartment. Within six months, I was going to school. I wasn’t hungry. I wasn’t cold. I had my own bed to sleep in.”
“You’re breaking my heart.”
“Don’t be sad.” He stops and spins me to him. “We never had much, but we had each other. Five dollars from a stranger changed my life. That woman back there may spend it on drugs. She may spend it on booze. But she might spend it on a meal. I’ll never know, but in my mind, that’s the five dollars it takes to turn her life around. It’s my way of paying back the charity my mother received.”
“Wow.” I shake my head, feeling incredibly small. “You are an amazing man.”
“I believe in kindness.”
“Yet you work in a job where you see the worst humanity has to offer.”
“Only because I’ve been gifted with the ability to make a difference.”
“Each time I think I know you, you throw in a curve ball like that and leave me speechless.”
He kisses the crown of my head. “I know other ways I’d like to leave you speechless.”
“Goofball.”
“Princess.”
We volley nicknames back and forth. I haven’t settled on mine. Between Goofball and Hollywood, I don’t know which one is a better fit.
“We should figure out how we’re going to play this with your family.”
“How do you mean?”
“Forest suggested fiancé, but maybe boyfriend is better?”
“Either way, my mother is going to rake you over the coals. She’s protective.”
And if what Forest thinks is true, my mother will want nothing to do with a man like Liam. Especially if she’s working on a suitable match to be my husband.
“I can handle that.”
“You don’t know my mother.”
“What about your uncle? How will he react?”
“It depends on our plans.”
“Such as?”
“He wants controlling interest in the Belvedere. I understand a little better now why that may be. If our plans are to stay, he’ll find a way to get rid of you. My mother will help. If our plans include moving away, he won’t be a problem. But we’ll still have to deal with my mother. She won’t want to let me go.”
“After you and Sybil would go out, what happened afterward?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your security detail?”
“Well, I would usually call my mother and check in with her while Sybil and I grabbed beignets and coffee for breakfast.”
“Did she get angry?”
“Not really. I think she sees it as me getting all that wildness out of my system.”
“Makes sense.”
“And my security team eventually caught up with me.”
“At the Belvedere?” Liam draws his hand down his chin, scraping against a night of stubble.
“Sometimes I caught them watching from the street while Sybil and I finished our coffee.” Hot and scratchy, my eyes burn from lack of sleep. I try to swallow a yawn but lose the battle.
“You’re exhausted.”
“I’m okay. Put some coffee in me and I’m good to go.”
“You have to sleep sometime.” His eyes twinkle. “Have you thought of how you want to introduce me to your mother?”
I rub my hands on my skirt, trying to get rid of the nervous perspiration that comes on the heels of what Liam says. My gut feels all kinds of wrong.
“What does Forest think this accomplishes?” I’m still not sold on how this pretense works.
“He wants to put a Guardian close to your family.”
“If I understand what I heard last night, Mitzy’s already hacked into the security systems at the Belvedere. Bringing you along doesn’t add anything.”
“On the surface perhaps, but remember what Forest said.”
“Forest said a lot of things I still don’t understand.” The struggle is real. I’m still trying to wrap my head around most of what Forest mentioned last night.
“You’re correct about the Belvedere. That access is secure. What about the family home? There’s your uncle’s house, but you also mentioned the Hamptons?” He rubs at the back of his neck. “It’s a bit of a drive …” Mirth swims in the delectable depths of his eyes. The Hamptons is more than a bit of a drive; it’s several hours by plane, days by car.
“We still have the house but don’t use it like we used to. When Sybil and I were at Cornell, we drove down as often as we could. Spent all our summers there.”
“Why the Hamptons if the family business is down south? That doesn’t make sense.” Liam scans the area around us. I follow the direction of his gaze, finding nothing concerning, but he’s trained to identify threats.
“I’m originally from New York and if you’re a wealthy family in New York, having a house in the Hamptons is required if you want to be taken seriously. My father always had business dealings in New Orleans, part of his shipping empire, but we lived in New York.” I press a hand over my belly. Now that I know what those dealings are, it’s hard not to get sick.
“When did he move the family down to New Orleans?”
“He didn’t. My uncle took care of things down here while my father ran things in New York.”
“Your mother moved here after your father’s death?”
“Only because she married my uncle.” Every time I think about my mother and uncle’s marriage, my skin crawls.
“That makes sense.” He runs his hand over the stubble of his beard. “What about the house in the Hamptons? Does it belong to your uncle? Your mother?”
“It’s mine. I’ve been considering selling it, but it’s the last thing I have of my father. I grew up in that house.”
“And you came down here after graduating Cornell to be close to your mother?”
“I came because my father wanted me to run the Belvedere. My uncle has tried to take it from me several times, but the way my father put together his trust, I hold the controlling shares. It doesn’t feel right to give that up.”
“Yes, that’s right.” Liam’s pensive for a moment, pulling at his chin again. “You said your father set up the twenty-fifth floor for his business. Did he ever bring any of that back to the Hamptons?”
“He was always doing business. I don’t think his office has been touched, come to think of it. Sybil and I spent what time we could at the house, but I don’t think my mother’s been back since my father died.”
“Why not?”
“I have a feeling their marriage wasn’t as picture-perfect as I thought. It was almost like she couldn’t move out fast enough.”