Chapter 14 Liam #2
Before I could respond, a sudden stir of movement across the crowded gallery drew my eye.
A figure gleamed red, like a flame in the dark.
For a second, I could have sworn it was Andrea.
As if a girl like that would be wasting her time in this cloud of complacency and obscene wealth.
She’d said she liked to paint, so that must be what had made me think of her.
It was vaguely annoying that she was still rattling around in my head.
I checked myself and refocused on Hugo. “Yes. If the right people could be convinced of our direction and stability, it would certainly help.”
“Stability,” Hugo repeated, tilting his head.
“A commodity we value highly in my field.” He gave me a measured look.
“You’ve always had … spirit, Liam. It’s served you well at times.
But after everything, one can’t help wondering if you’re ready to stay the course.
People will want to be sure you’re steady—not just brilliant in flashes.
And as you know, all change carries inherent risk for those supporting it.
” He looked away, as if this was a conversation he’d rather end.
“Gentlemen, Miranda, I must excuse myself.” Dex nodded to the group.
“I have a few more pieces to view tonight, and I have another event to get to.” He tapped me lightly on the shoulder, then disappeared into the throng.
It was getting busier by the minute, the room louder and more crowded than it had been only ten minutes before.
From the other side of the hall came raised voices—sharp, urgent, not the drunken kind.
The sound prickled the back of my neck, though no one else seemed to notice. I refixed my attention on the minister.
“Hugo, I completely understand.” He was uncertain, that was clear. My tiny window of opportunity was closing in front of my eyes. “I think if we could perhaps set aside some time to discuss—”
Then, out of nowhere, I felt a sudden, sharp pain, as if I’d been struck by a piece of shrapnel. What the hell—
I looked down to see a gold three-inch heel impaling the soft leather of my shoe, and by default, my foot.
The heel rose up into a shapely calf and fine-looking thigh encased in a red silk dress.
Dark hair swung against bare shoulders. My assailant was focused on something across the room, where the shouting had come from—there was a blond woman clinging to her arm and looking in the same direction.
They were giggling nervously, out of breath.
“One moment, Hugo,” I said, holding up a finger and trying not to grimace. I turned back to the lady in red. “I’m sorry, my foot seems to have got stuck under your heel. Do you think you could—”
The woman turned and looked down at my skewered toe before raising her eyes slowly until her gaze locked onto mine. Recognition was quickly replaced by a mix of shock and something I couldn’t quite place. She jumped backward.
“Andrea?”
Fuck. It was her.
The blonde tottered forward slightly, pushing Andrea toward me again.
I caught her by both shoulders, fingers pressing into her warm skin.
The group stepped back to give us space, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
The woman in front of me was nothing like the corporate sales rep I’d last seen in the Novexia offices.
“Who’s your friend, Liam?” Ben nudged me in the ribs, but I barely heard him.
Andrea and I stared at each other, the tension between us a live wire humming through the room.
Out of nowhere, two security guards in black suits appeared behind her, comms wires curled behind their ears.
“Excuse me, miss.” The guard’s tone was cold, and my jaw tightened. He was already reaching for Andrea’s arm.
“This area’s for guests only. I’m going to have to ask you and your friend—”
He took half a step closer, but I was already there.
The guard’s arm hung in the air. I moved between them quickly, dropping a hand to the small of her back as if I’d done it a hundred times before. The heat through the silk was a jolt of hot energy.
“She’s with me,” I said, even enough to be mistaken for polite—except it wasn’t.
The guard’s eyes flicked to mine and faltered. Andrea was staring straight ahead, but I could feel her tense. I’d just lied for her—and we both knew it.
“Mr. Roth.” The guard stepped back, looking uncertain. “We were told they entered without credentials. There’s a call out—”
“Apparently, you have the wrong information,” I said. “These are my guests. We arrived … separately.”
No going back now.
He hesitated. I looked him dead in the eye. “I said, she’s with me.”
He paused, then nodded. “Apologies, sir.”
They turned to each other, speaking into their headsets. What in God’s name had Andrea done? If they dragged her out now, it would be my name in the papers. My credibility on the line.
And still—my hand stayed exactly where it was, as if we’d practiced it.
“Liam.” Hugo’s voice behind me sounded miles away. “Aren’t you going to introduce your companion?”
I turned to face him, keeping one hand on Andrea’s back.
“My … ah, yes …” What now? Hugo was already cynical about my plans for Novexia. I was getting entangled in exactly the sort of drama I needed to avoid.
Goddamn, this woman was a kind of trouble I’d never encountered.
He glanced from me to Andrea. The guard was watching us suspiciously, his partner hovering close to the blonde. “Roger that. Holding visual until police arrive.”
Police? Fuck. Did Hugo hear that? I couldn’t let this happen. Not for me, nor Andrea.
“Everything all right, Liam?” Ben murmured behind me.
Hugo frowned. “Liam?”
“Yes.” I looked at the woman pressed against my side. She was staring at me, eyes wide, her gaze darting to the blonde, then the guard. Was she shaking?
“This is … Andrea.” I glanced at her again and decided to try a smile. What the hell were we doing?
She held my eyes a beat too long, like she wasn’t sure whether to thank me or run away. Then she turned and extended her arm, smiling.
“Lovely to meet you.”
Her fingers found Hugo’s, but there was the faintest tremble in her hand.
She was bluffing. Hard. She didn’t trust me.
And how could I forget her behavior in the boardroom? Was she recording this too? Maybe a hidden camera in her cleavage, so she could put whatever this stunt was on her Instagram?
Either way, we were both in deep.
Ben leaned in, sotto voce. “Well. You’re either getting laid or arrested. Possibly both.”
Hugo, in the meantime, was looking from Andrea to me, and back to Andrea again, beaming.
“Andrea. Wonderful. My wife, Miranda.” Andrea offered her hand, and they shook. “I must say, we didn’t expect … this. You are a dark horse, Liam.” Hugo wagged a finger at me. “And how long have you two been together?”
Andrea glanced sideways at me. Hugo cleared his throat.
What did I say—oh, about two minutes?
She kept her gaze fixed on mine, then raised her right brow ever so slightly and smiled the sweetest smile I’d ever seen.
“Feels like a lifetime, doesn’t it, babe?”
Did she just call me babe?
Dear God.
I heard Ben choke on his drink behind me.
“I … ah … yes, that’s one way to put it.” I smiled stiffly at the minister. “Well, perhaps we ought to look at some of this stunning art, darling. Before the evening gets away from us.”
But I wasn’t getting away with it that easily.
“Liam?” said Ben. He was standing next to Miranda now, gawking at me like I might have actually gone mad. The security guards still hadn’t left.
“Oh, and of course, you know my brother, Ben,” I said, as if on autopilot.
The handshaking continued. I felt that I was watching some sort of frame-by-frame car crash, Andrea moving in slow motion in front of me, charming the group and giggling like … well, like she was my girlfriend.
Damn, she was beautiful. Those big blue eyes, her breasts rising and falling with her breath.
“Liam, darling.” I snapped back into reality—she was looking at me. “Aren’t you going to introduce my sister?” Andrea nudged me aside and turned to the group. “This is Eliza.”
The blonde stepped forward and extended her hand confidently. What the hell were these two, professional con-women?
Ben picked up her hand and kissed it, as if he’d stepped straight out of a Jane Austen novel. “Charmed to meet you, Eliza.” Noticing his date appear at his shoulder, he dropped it again rapidly and made a space. “And this is Ava.” The women nodded politely to one another.
“Darling, could you?” Andrea gestured to the guards with her head.
Dear God. Now I had three problems: convincing Hugo I wasn’t a playboy flake, somehow pulling off the lie that Andrea was my girlfriend, and getting rid of two guards who appeared to have phoned the police.
This was trickier than active combat. At least in Helmand, you knew who was shooting at you.
Ben caught my eye and moved out of the circle toward the guards hovering behind us. If I could count on my brother for one thing, it was sorting out shit. And this was more than a little snafu. I’d owe him and Dex by the time this evening was done.
“So. You must tell us how you met.” Hugo was smiling at us both expectantly. I turned to my new “girlfriend.” The pause extended unbearably.
“At work,” I said.
“Socially,” said Andrea, at the same time.
We both froze.
“At work,” I repeated.
“Yes. A … work-adjacent, social sort of thing,” she said, brightly. “An event. In London.”
Hugo tilted his head. “How fascinating. What event?”
Andrea waved a hand. “Oh, you know … one of those big … networking-type events. Crowds. Energy drinks.”
I squinted at her. “Right. A conference.”
“But less … formal.” She paused. “It was … fun. Social. There were booths.”
I could feel Ben vibrating behind me.
“Eliza and I went,” she added quickly. “She loves that sort of thing. She’s a student.”
“I do,” added Eliza. “I love it. All the … booths.” Her laughter had a slightly hysterical tone.
I pinched the bridge of my nose.