Page 7 of Peyton's Price

“I thought Liam had always been against Calen trading on his father’s reputation.”

“He was…is. As far as I know, it’s the only time he ever asked Calen to use it that way.” She huffed. “And it worked. The minute those three knew who they were dealing with, they almost wet themselves. They were small-time thugs. Colman ran almost a third of Boston at the time.”

The men had left in a hurry shortly after, but not before Calen assured them he would be in touch regarding her father’s debt. To this day, she wasn’t sure if Calen had paid it off in cash or threats. It was equally possible he’d traded a favor from his father. Neither Liam nor Calen would discuss it with her afterward.

After the intruders had left, Liam had found her shivering in one of the kitchen cabinets. Calen had patted her hair awkwardly while Liam packed her things for her. They had taken her to the B&B. Afterward, they left again. Only that time, it had been to find her father.

Donny had been scared of Liam and Calen enough to check into rehab.Too bad it hadn’t lasted. He would always fall off the wagon after a few months.

There was a long silence as Ethan digested everything. “Well, it’s nice to know Liam wasn’t always an asshole.”

She took a deep breath, hiding the small shudder that racked her body. He had that wrong. Liam wasn’t an asshole. He was what she, Maggie, and Patrick had made him.

Liam had been a few weeks shy of his eighteenth birthday when his parents died. He’d stalled the powers-that-be long enough for him to come of legal age. The minute he did, he took custody of his younger brother and sister, making sure they stayed together despite the kind, but ultimately misguided, intentions of distant relatives and the state.

Every flashy magazine profile written about Liam had mentioned how he’d taken charge of his two siblings, but the reality was he’d assumed responsibility for Peyton, too.

Burdened with three underage kids, Liam had slaved away at the B&B, not settling for keeping the place afloat. Instead, he’d insisted on expanding, using Calen’s legitimate contacts—the friends Calen made at university—for seed funding on what had become one of the world’s most exclusive hotel chains.

“Liam also paid my tuition in high school,” she said after a long silence. “My scholarship had dried up halfway through. Liam arranged to take over the payments without telling me—right around the time he opened the first Caislean hotel here in town. I only found out about the arrangement because one of the school counselors let it slip. I also wouldn’t have been able to pay for college without the hotel. The Caislean paid for it as part of a work-study program.”

The words came out without heat. Back then, she had been furious when she discovered the truth. It wasn’t that she hadn’t wanted to work in the hotel anymore, but she’d been determined not to rely on Liam and the Tylers anymore. College would have been her fresh start, at least until she discovered she couldn’t pay for it. Not until she’d been offered that work-study program.

“Don’t bother getting all worked up over it,” Liam had told her when she’d confronted him about it. “We need you, and you need us. Besides, it should be a moot point. We’re practically family.”

Family. The word soothed and stung at the same time. Belatedly, she realized Ethan was still talking.

“If he wants to ruin his life with that cold fish, it’s his business,” he said. “But you deserve someone who can focus on you and not the empire they’re trying to build.”

Peyton remained quiet. This evening had been a disaster. She felt eviscerated, but there was almost a strange sense of comfort in a pain so overwhelming it wiped her numb.

“Eva offered me a job.”

Ethan’s head snapped quickly to her. “She did?”

“Yes. An amazing one, if I can land it.”

“That sounds great. Your talents are wasted working at a hotel. I mean, it’s challenging in its own right, I’m sure, but I couldn’t even pronounce half the words in the title of your thesis. I’m sure it would be a nice change, too.”

And there would be the added bonus of not having to see Liam every day. Ethan didn’t say it aloud, but he didn’t have to.

“It’s in Silicon Valley,” she said.

“As in California?” He sounded disappointed. “Well, that’s quite a big change of scenery,” he said after a long minute.

“I’m going to take it.”

“Ah.”

With the salary Eva quoted, Peyton could pay off every cent she’d ever taken from Liam…and she could pay off the others he didn’t know about, the ones her father had left her with a few bookies in Southie.

Ethan didn’t say anything until he had pulled up in front of her office building. “So, how would you feel about a visit in a couple of months?”

Peyton blinked. “I’m not sure,” she whispered.

Ethan leaned over, getting close enough to unclip her seat belt. “Why don’t you think about it and get back to me?”

“Uh…”

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