Chapter Thirty-Five
Olivia
Despite what Silas made me promise, I let Liam have some of the jam.
“I knew you loved me,” he says over breakfast, slathering it on an English muffin Frederich baked.
I laugh. “Does Silas always do this?”
“What, makes jam for birthdays? No. Sometimes the rest of us talk about throwing rocks at his windows, just to annoy him, so he’ll make some jam.”
I shake my head. “He might just kick your asses instead.”
“All of us?” He chews thoughtfully. “That’d take a while. But when he’s upset, he makes jam.”
I caught some glances between Liam and his brothers during the brunch. Not sure exactly what they meant, but it looks like I passed the first round.
That’s enough for now.
They’ve included me and acted like I was a real part of the family, which made Liam happy. And that’s more than I could ask for. I want Liam to be satisfied with our marriage while it lasts—
A sudden pang stops me. Our time is so limited, and he deserves a wonderful woman by his side to the end, not someone as calculating and difficult as me.
As I promised him last week, I text Simon to quit picking me up and start driving myself to work. He waits for me in the hallway in front of my office.
“Good morning, Olivia.”
“Good morning,” I say, opening the door before he can get it for me.
“That’s new.”
I look down. The pavé ring glitters under the fluorescent light. I smile. “Yeah. A birthday gift from Liam.”
Simon inhales sharply. “Looks very nice.”
“Mm-hmm.” I frown. “What’s wrong with your voice? Are you coming down with something?”
“No. Just got something stuck—” He clears his throat.
I grin. “Good. No time to get sick! We’ve got proposals to review.”
The materials and the contract from the Portuguese facility look great. So it’s time I decided on a diamond inlay supplier.
The week flies by. Liam’s extremely busy, always coming home after nine, closer to ten in some cases. Which is a change—he normally makes an effort to be home before seven.
The worst part is how much I miss him. Even though Frederich makes sure the fridge is full of delicious food, I don’t have much appetite.
On the days he’s home late, I miss cuddling with him and chatting about whatever silly thing happened during the day.
I roll the Rubedo on my finger and sigh over how lonely I feel, then stop.
When did I become so needy? Being alone has been my default mode for close to twenty years. I can’t afford to become so attached to Liam that leaving him hurts as much as losing Mom and Pochi did. I don’t think I could survive.
It won’t be that bad, I tell myself. Mom and Pochi disappeared before I was ready. With Liam, I already knew our marriage would end—and when.
Besides, he’s a CEO. Of course he’s going to be busy. His company probably has plenty of projects in addition to Luminary & Co.’s request for proposal.
The specs and quality guarantee from Kingswood Stones & Designs are superior to everyone else’s. His company must know what it’s doing to be so confident in its deliverables.
We would never make a deal we can’t honor in good faith, Mike from KSD said in the email during the back-and-forth to go over the deal’s details.
“Have the final contract ready to sign by next week,” I say to Simon. Here’s to a beautiful partnership.
“So you’re choosing your husband’s company after all.”
I tilt my head at the “your husband.” Not that there’s any obvious displeasure, but something that’s half accusation and half disappointment crackles underneath.
“What’s wrong with Kingswood Stones & Designs?
” I emphasize the company name, rather than calling it Liam’s company, hoping Simon gets the hint.
My relationship with Liam has nothing to do with the business decision I just made.
His company genuinely had the best proposal.
Simon bites his lip. “It just feels too much like keeping business within the family.”
“I wouldn’t have chosen them if the company wasn’t the best. And if you didn’t think it measured up, you would’ve said so. You might be worried about the appearance of impropriety. But Liam doesn’t know I own Luminary, so he couldn’t have given us a nepo deal. Everything’s perfectly aboveboard.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound accusatory,” Simon says.
“It’s fine. I know your heart is in the right place.”
He nods and leaves. I pick up my phone. It’s Friday, so maybe Liam will be home early? I start typing, then hesitate. I don’t want to sound too eager, but I really miss him. After thinking for a moment, I finally send my text.
–Me: Hey, are you working late again?
–Liam: Hopefully not. I’ll do my best to come home so we can have dinner together. Sorry about this week.
I tap the edge of the phone.
–Me: No need to be sorry. Your work is important.
–Liam: Not as important as you.
I smile. I can just picture his unhappy face. The clock on my desk says 11:30. If I leave now, I can reach his office for lunch. Even if all we can do is gobble something from a food truck for ten minutes, I’d like to spend some time with him.
I head to Kingswood Stones & Designs. The traffic isn’t too bad, and I make it by noon. As I park and walk toward his office, a flower stand catches my eye. Profusions of vivid red, yellow and orange brighten the otherwise mostly gray street. I stop to look at the tulips, roses and sunflowers.
“Yo, how you doing? Aren’t these flowers great? Very fresh,” the young woman at the stand says. She has a beautiful seahorse tat that covers the entire outside of one thigh.
I start to say no. But the pavé ring glints in the sun, and I hesitate.
Liam has given me so much—his honesty, the beautiful birthday celebration and pulling me into his family.
But I haven’t been equally generous with him.
Roses seem ridiculously sentimental, and tulips are a bit too much.
Sunflowers are the safest: friendly without any hint of expectation.
“One sunflower. No, wait.” I shake my head.
Way too anemic. “Actually…give me all the sunflowers.”
Her eyes widen even as she nods judiciously. “Bold move, sis. But hey, who am I to stand in the way of true sunflower love? Thanks!”
I pay for the bouquet, then step inside Kingswood Stones & Designs.
I head to the showroom floor’s side elevator, which leads to the corporate offices on the upper floors.
Inside the car with an armful of sunflowers in front of me, I stare up at the changing number on the panel.
What am I doing? This isn’t like me at all.
What is like you? A voice that sounds like Liam whispers in my heart.
I don’t know, but nothing sweet or nice. I can only look at my goals, my needs. Until I can make Hugh, Deena and Brielle pay, I can’t truly relax.
The trauma of seeing my mother die in front of me will never fade. The grief of losing the loving dog Mom and I rescued together will never disappear.
Your mom would want you to have a life dedicated to something other than revenge. Like love. Happiness. Liam seems like a perfect partner—
Of course she would, but I can’t. Something hot and painful lodges in my chest every time I think of the wrongness of what she suffered. Fury rages every time the trust disburses funds to me and Hugh. He doesn’t deserve a single penny!
And it’d be foolish to discard my plan when I’m so close. There’s no need to make a decision about my future beyond kicking Hugh and his family off the trust right now.
The elevator dings, and the door slides open silently. I step out into the hallway. “Which way is Liam Kingswood’s office?” I ask.
“That way.” A scruffy guy who looks like he could use a bucket of coffee mainlined directly into his veins points to my left. “He just stepped out of a meeting, so you should be able to deliver those and get his signature.”
“Okay, thanks.” Wait—do I look like a delivery person? Shrugging in amusement, I start toward his office with a spring in my step. But then stop dead in my tracks.
The door is ajar and his assistant is inside. Emmie was her name. She hands Liam an open box with a tie inside. She’s smiling brightly—it’s not quite a purely professional smile—as Liam pulls out the long strip of silk. Only then do I notice his tie from the morning lies on the desk behind him.
I hold my breath. Something about the way Emmie is hovering reminds me of…Brielle. Liam loops the tie around his neck and tries to knot it but for some reason his fingers are clumsy.
Why? He’s knotted ties all this time without any problem.
He shakes his head.
“Let me. I used to do it for my younger brother.” Emmie steps forward and expertly creates a perfect Windsor knot as Liam bends forward to make it easier.
The scene is so domestic. But it makes my eyes bleed.
My mind says he isn’t cheating on me, but that doesn’t matter. My breath hitches. The fear that I could lose him before I’m ready to let him go turns my heart to ice. A need to rush inside and tear her away from him starts to spiral up inside me.
I close my eyes for a moment and clamp down on the urge. This is Liam’s company. And I am not the kind of woman who gets jealous, especially over a contract husband. The chill in my chest is just fury because Emmie has no business tying my husband’s tie. No other woman does—
Fuck it. I step into the doorway to his office. “Well. This is cozy.” The words seem to come out of their own accord.
Emmie jumps back with a gasp. Liam, on the other hand, smiles. “Hey, Olivia!”
“Is this how you spend your working hours?”
“It was just a gift to celebrate signing a new contract,” Emmie says defensively.
Probably my contract. I close a business deal with my husband’s company, and it’s his assistant who gets to celebrate with him? I tower over her in my heels and arch an eyebrow. “I see. And are you done celebrating?”
“Um.” Her eyes dart to Liam, who’s staring at me slack-jawed.
“Get out,” I say.
“You don’t have an appointment.” From the wide-eyed shock and embarrassment, she probably didn’t mean to say that. But it still strikes me the wrong way.
Oh my God, Olivia, it isn’t like he’s your exclusive property.
Brielle’s familiar laughing words ring in my head.
She taunted me every time she managed to sabotage yet another of my relationships.
I keep my voice cold and level. “I don’t need an appointment.
I’m his wife. Now, anyone unrelated to the family can get out and close the door behind them. ”