Chapter 32
“If Liam doesn’t come in the next ten minutes,” Alessia said, her eyes fixed on the courthouse door like she could will it open, “if he forgot what today is—I am going to kill him.”
Naija and Felicity stood off to the side, exchanging the kind of looks that meant they were enjoying this far too much.
I placed one hand on her shoulder and the other gently on her chin, turning her face toward mine.
“Relax. He said he’d be here in a few minutes.
” A smile tugged at my lips—she was doing that thing where her jaw tightened and her eyes narrowed, and it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
“Let’s not think about how to murder him just yet. ”
Her eyes narrowed further. “Six more minutes. Then I start planning.”
I glanced around. “We’re standing in a courthouse.”
“And?” Her eyebrows lifted. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”
My hand dropped to her waist, fingers spreading against the soft pink fabric of her dress. She looked so beautiful it stopped my breath every time I looked at her.
“It means,” I murmured, pulling her a step closer, “we should probably whisper the plans.”
Her lips twitched. I saw her fight it, saw her try to hold onto the irritation, and watched it crumble in real time.
“And besides,” I continued, my thumb tracing a small circle against her waist, “this is just a piece of paper. We’re already married in our minds.”
“Yeah, well, I need the paper.” Her voice was serious, but her eyes were dancing. “How else am I supposed to get all your money when you die?”
I laughed. “You already have more money than me.”
Her smile broke free, finally. “And I’ll have so much more. So.” She patted my chest. “When are you planning to die, exactly?”
My head fell to her shoulder, her laughter humming through her chest, vibrating into mine. “I can’t believe I’m marrying my bully.”
She chuckled, her fingers lacing behind my neck. “Last chance, Sterling.” Her fingers pressed lightly against my skin. “After today, we’re legally married. Bound for life. This is your moment if you want to run.”
I turned my head, my lips brushing her ear. “I’d rather eat a cockroach than be anywhere but here.”
She pulled back, her face scrunching in disgust. “Ew. Why would you say cockroach on our wedding day? Now that’s all I’m going to remember when I think of this moment.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I hope that’s not all you remember.”
She gave me a look—the one that said you’re pushing it, Sterling. “Are you really trying to steer this conversation somewhere sexual after saying the word cockroach?”
“I was steering it somewhere romantic.” I let my voice drop. “But I like how you think.”
The corners of her lips twitched. She took a step forward, her mouth opening to say something I very much wanted to hear—
“Sorry I’m late.”
Liam appeared beside us, slightly out of breath, a bouquet of white roses clutched in his hand. He held it up like a trophy. “This took some time.”
Alessia’s eyes dropped to the flowers, then back to his face. “Why did you bring a bouquet? No one’s going to catch it.” She glanced over at Naija and Felicity. They both shook their heads.
Liam’s jaw dropped. “What do you mean no one’s going to catch it?
What am I here for, then?” He thrust the bouquet into Alessia’s hands, ignoring her open confusion.
“You throw it. Correctly. I want to be married by the end of the year.” He clapped me on the shoulder, grinned at both of us, and strode off to where the others were waiting.
Alessia stared down at the roses. Then up at me. “Do you have to keep being friends with him? I’m sure Naija can find you better ones. We’ll all just have to work hard together.”
I laughed, pulling her closer, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. I let my lips linger there for a moment, breathing her in.
“Let’s get married,” I whispered against her skin.
She tilted her face up, and for a second, the whole world narrowed to her eyes, her smile, the way she looked at me like I was the only thing in the room that mattered.
She kissed the corner of my mouth, light and quick, a promise for later.
“Let’s go.”
“I“I wouldn’t ask you to be here if I didn’t absolutely need you. You know that, right?” Liam’s hands were still on the steering wheel, even though the engine was off, even though we’d been sitting in the driveway for a full minute.
“Liam.” I unclipped my seatbelt. “This is the third time you’ve mentioned this.”
He finally pulled his hands off the wheel and did the same. “Yeah. But you absolutely know it, right? Like, deep down in your bones, you know I wouldn’t—”
“Yes.” I opened my door. “Now can we go inside?”
He was out of the car before I’d finished the word, his jaw already tight, his shoulders already set. We were at Michael’s house.
Liam fell into step beside me, his pace slowing as we reached the study door. He had been trying to talk to his father for weeks. Every time he called, every time he showed up at the door, he got the same answer: Bring Cassian, and we’ll talk.
Liam didn’t want to get me involved at all, and I could see how much it was killing him to ask me to be here. But we needed to get this over with.
Michael sat behind his desk, turning something slowly between his fingers—an old photograph, perhaps, though I couldn’t make out the details from where I stood.
Then he looked up at the sound of our footsteps.
Something changed in his face. It was small.
Almost nothing. Just the faintest shift around his mouth, a glint of anticipation in his eyes. Satisfaction, maybe.
“My two sons,” he said, spreading his arms wide. “Finally home.”
My jaw gritted. Son. When was everyone around me going to stop using that word like a leash? When was I going to stop flinching every time someone tried to claim a piece of me that wasn’t theirs to take?
Liam went straight to the point. “Where’s Cassandra?”
Michael’s smile didn’t move an inch. “You come home after so long, and I don’t even get a hello?”
Liam’s jaw tightened. “Hello, how are you, I don’t care. Where is my sister?”
Michael stared. For a long moment, neither of them moved, and then he reached for his phone with unhurried ease. “Bring Cassandra down.”
I stood by the door, watching Liam’s hands curl into fists at his sides, watching Michael settle back into his chair like a king granting an audience.
The door opened. Mrs. Morris stepped in first, then Cassandra behind her, looking sickly and haggard.
Her eyes found me immediately. A smile flickered across her gaunt face, tentative, hopeful. “Cassian—”
Liam stepped between us before she could say anything more, blocking her view of me. “Cassandra. Let’s go home.” His voice softened. “You don’t have to stay here anymore.”
She looked at him, confusion creasing her brow. “I am home.”
“No.” His hand dropped to her arm, holding her gently.
“Not this house. Not this place.” He stepped closer, bringing his other hand to her shoulder, looking at her with a desperate steadiness, like he could somehow make her understand simply by holding her gaze.
“Let’s go to my house. We’ll figure it out.
We’ll—” He swallowed. “Let’s go there, okay? ”
Cassandra stared at him for a long moment. Then, slowly, she pulled herself out of his reach.
“Now you care?” Her voice was sharp. “You didn’t care when I got fired. You just stood there.”
“Because what you did was wrong.” He ran a hand through his hair, frustration bleeding into his voice.
“Cassian is married. You know he’s married.
Whatever you thought was happening, whatever Dad told you—” He stopped, pressing his palm against his eyes.
When he lowered it, his face was stripped bare.
“I should have been there. I should have paid more attention. I should have seen what was happening and stopped it before it got this far. I left you alone with him, and I am so sorry.” His voice broke on the last word. “But I’m here now. So let’s go.”
For a second—just a second—something broke through. Her eyes, so cold and dark and still, flickered. Her chin trembled. She was there, for a moment, the sister who used to follow him around the house, who used to beg him to play with her.
Then she blinked, and it was gone. “You should go. I don’t want to go anywhere with you.”
Liam looked defeated.
I’d seen him angry. I’d seen him frustrated, exhausted, desperate.
But this—this was something else. His shoulders had collapsed in on themselves, his hands hanging uselessly at his sides, and there was something in his face I’d never seen before.
Something that looked like a man who had finally run out of fight.
He and Cassandra had always had a complicated relationship. And now, watching her turn away from him, watching her choose their father’s house over the hand he’d held out to her, I understood just how much it was costing him. I could see it in every line of his body. It was breaking his heart.
“I told you.” Michael’s voice was smooth, almost bored. “She doesn’t want to go with you. You should have just listened to me.”
Liam straightened. He turned away from Cassandra, from the closed door she’d become, and faced his father.
“You’ve always had a problem with me, haven’t you?
” His voice was quiet, but it carried through the room.
“I thought it was because I left your company. Because I chose to work with Cassian instead of staying in the family business. That’s what I told myself, anyway.
” He let out a short, hollow laugh. “But that’s not it, is it, Dad? ”
He stopped in front of the desk, his eyes locked on his father’s.
“You just don’t like me.”
Michael opened his mouth, but Liam didn’t stop.
“I saw it. You always liked Cassandra more. And that was fine. I had Mom. She was there for me. She made sure I knew that someone in this house actually wanted me around.” His voice cracked on the word Mom, just slightly.