Chapter 31
Liam
“Fucking Albert,” David exclaimed. We just had a meeting with one of our other mentees, and I only got around to telling him about that imbecile’s visit after we got out.
“Are you coming back to the brownstone?” he asked, ordering an Uber.
“No, I’m going to Soho Lingerie’s pre-opening party, remember?”
David grinned. “You party, I work. When did the tables turn?”
I grunted. He grinned even more. “That’s it. Brood some more so I don’t feel like I’m turning into you…too much.”
“Tess wasn’t very happy that I didn’t tell her how pressing the issue with Albert is.”
David held his hands up. “Man, don’t ask me for relationship advice. Most of my relationships last between one night and one week.”
“I wasn’t asking for advice,” I assured him. “Just thinking out loud.”
“Good luck at the party, then.”
I nodded as he got in the Uber he ordered. I flagged down a cab and headed to SoHo. When I arrived, I did a double take when I noticed the store was already full. I checked the time. I definitely wasn’t too late.
I pushed the door open and was immediately greeted by Cole, Josie, Hunter, and Ryker.
The store was filled with the entire Winchester family plus Isabelle.
Since the furniture wasn’t here yet, the sound of voices was amplified.
I felt like I just stepped into a stadium.
Amelia and Mick waved to me from next to the buffet.
“When did you all arrive?” I asked. “I thought it was supposed to start in ten minutes.”
“It was, but Tess and Skye asked us to come earlier. Emergency family council,” Ryker said.
Josie grimaced. “You weren’t supposed to give that away.”
Ryker cocked a brow. “They never said it’s a secret.”
“I think my wife is right,” Hunter said, putting an arm around Josie’s shoulders.
Emergency what? My pulse sped up. “Where is Tess?”
“Some of their VIPs saw that the party started earlier and came in too. They took them to the changing rooms, where we’re not allowed,” Cole said. “But don’t worry, she’ll come out eventually. We can entertain you in the meantime.”
I rubbed a hand over my jaw. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to spend time with them, because I did. But I needed to talk to Tess first. I had a bad feeling when I left the store before, and now it was just getting worse.
I shrugged out of my coat, intending to take it easy and enjoy a drink with the Winchester clan while Tess tended to her customers.
Five minutes later, I broke down and asked Josie to tell Tess I wanted to talk to her.
She headed to the back and returned with Tess, who’d changed into a black wraparound dress that was driving me crazy even from a distance.
It was tight around her body, molding perfectly around her breasts and hips. And those heels…fuck.
I met her halfway.
“Babe, you look beautiful,” I said, leading her a bit farther from the group, near one of the mannequins.
She gave me a small smile. “Thanks. Josie said you need me.”
“Can’t I compliment my gorgeous woman?”
She tilted her head, smiling even wider. “Compliments are always welcome, but we have customers out there.”
“Ryker said you wanted an emergency family council.”
“Ummm, yes.” She averted her gaze.
My stomach clenched, but I wanted to keep things light.
“Never heard you mention family councils. Is that more serious than a meeting?”
Tess sighed before nodding.
“Babe, talk to me,” I said.
“Can we do it after the customers leave?”
I stepped closer, cupping her face. “You want to torture me that long?”
I looked her straight in the eyes, watching her determination melt until she shook her head.
“I think Skye can handle the customers for a few minutes. Let’s go in the back office,” she murmured.
We passed the changing rooms, which were shielded from the store by a huge black curtain. Tess closed the door behind us in the office.
“Tess, talk to me.”
She paced the room, arms over her chest as she bit her lower lip. I grabbed her shoulder, steadying her so we had eye contact. I touched her lip where she bit before.
“You’re worried.”
“I am. Hence the family council.” She was smiling, but her eyes were still full of unease.
“Is it related to our conversation before I left?”
“Yes. I’m still processing it, but I wanted to process it with my family.”
“You’re mad at me?”
“Not exactly…but I don’t understand why you didn’t tell me everything.”
I pressed my thumbs gently in the nape of her neck, deciding to lay all my cards on the table. “Because when I talked to you on Thanksgiving about this, you closed up. I could practically feel you slipping away, and I didn’t want to risk that happening again.”
Tess dropped her gaze to my chin. “You’ve been so withdrawn and silent during these past few weeks instead of letting me in so we could work through this together. I thought…” Her voice wobbled a bit. “I thought I’d done something wrong.”
Fuck!
“Tess…babe. I was just trying to protect you.”
She swallowed, nodding. “But I don’t want you to do that. You’re taking all the tension on yourself all the time, and that isn’t good, you know? You’ll get tired of it…of me,” she whispered.
“No, I won’t. Ever. I love you.”
“I spoke to Skye, and we’d like to tell you to please not handle the situation with Albert any differently than you usually would. If we weren’t together, I mean.”
“What are you saying?”
“I spoke to my family, and if you were to freeze the investment for a while, they could extend us a credit line until things work out.”
“You’d rather borrow money from your family, which you’ve told me you don’t want to do, than trust me to fix this?”
Her eyes flashed. “No, I’m looking for options so you don’t have to put your business in danger. Because I love you, Liam.”
Fucking hell, this woman. She was infuriating.
Did she really trust me that little? That was worrying me more than anything else.
I knew Tess loved her independence. I knew her dad leaving when she was a child affected her more than she let on.
She’d practically told me that one of the reasons she’d always been so self-sufficient was because she hadn’t wanted to depend on anyone else financially—not even her family.
I wasn’t asking her to depend on me, just to trust me.
“You can’t go rogue. We need to decide these things together,” I said in a measured tone.
Tess threw her hands up in the air. “You’re the one who didn’t involve me in your decisions.”
There was a knock at the door. Isabelle poked her head inside.
“Sorry to interrupt, but the customer is asking for you, Tess. Also, we can hear your voices a bit. I propose you continue the conversation later on. Liam, we have plenty of goodies outside. I will have Josie stop by the changing room with snacks for you too, Tess. Things make so much more sense once your belly is full and you have some sugar in your system.”
Tess chuckled. I smiled too. Isabelle was something else.
Tess hurried outside the room to her customer.
“Come on.” Isabelle laced an arm around mine, practically dragging me from the room. “I wasn’t joking about the sugar.”
“Is that your official therapist advice?”
She laughed as she led me to the buffet.
“Hell no. That would be to not push things tonight. Tess and Skye are running on adrenaline. Once everything’s over and they’ve rested a bit, I’m sure they’re going to see things more calmly.”
“Listen to Isabelle. She knows her stuff,” Hunter said. He was right next to us, helping himself to snacks.
“Awww, thanks for being such a supportive brother-in-law,” Isabelle replied with a wink.
Ryker and Cole approached us too.
“You survived,” Ryker said seriously. “I’m impressed.”
“Means he doesn’t even need the talk, does he?” Cole added.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Ryker said quickly.
Hunter patted my shoulder. “Liam, full disclosure. I completely agree with your approach.”
“So do we,” Cole said.
Ryker nodded. “But a lifetime of dealing with our sisters taught us that we actually have no clue what to advise you.”
Isabelle groaned. “You lot are no help.”
Hunter smiled at her. “No. Hence why we suggested he listen to you.”
“Why don’t we all listen to me and actually eat some of these goodies? Maybe we can come up with better advice after that.”
I loaded my plate, not really caring what I was eating.
I looked over my shoulder, willing Tess to come out of the changing rooms. I just needed to try talking to her one more time tonight.
Isabelle’s advice made sense, but I didn’t want to let this evening go by without making things right with Tess.
But at five o’clock on the dot, the rest of their VIP customers came running inside the store. Skye and Tess only emerged from the changing room to walk customers out before heading back.
I was forced to admit defeat. Isabelle was right.
This was not the time to talk to Tess. I wanted nothing more than to wait and take her home once the evening was over, take care of her in all the ways I knew.
But the longer the evening stretched on, the more I realized that wasn’t likely to happen.
The party just refused to end. Their VIP customers didn’t show any signs of wanting to stop shopping.
As an investor, that was excellent news. But I just wanted to be alone with her.
As the family started to filter out, leaving Tess and Skye with their customers, Josie and Isabelle approached me again.
“Oh no, no. That’s a determined look,” Isabelle said.
“I’m calculating the risk of Tess still wanting me if I throw her over my shoulder and take her out of here,” I replied. I was only half joking.
Josie patted my shoulder. “You don’t want the answer to that. Why don’t you focus on what you’ll do next time you see her instead?”
“Just a tip, but having her favorite food around might not be a bad idea,” Isabelle added.
Josie nodded. “Like ice cream.”
“And cheese,” I said.
Josie grinned at me.
Isabelle nodded approvingly. “I think you’ll do just fine.”