Page 12 of Divine II

“Bullshit. We all know Syre’s your favorite.”

“He just requires the most attention. I love you just as much.”

He chuckled. “Tell me anything.”

“Thank you, Psalm.”

“You’re welcome, baby girl,” he said, ending the call first.

I laughed under my breath, knowing I had probably interrupted him from his gaming. It was cool though. I had exactly what I needed. I opened the message that he’d sent and clicked the attachment.

I smiled at the candid picture of Liam along with his home address and that of his parents. The message also included a few personal details like his height, weight, and birthday. I frowned as I read over his birthday for a second time.

How the hell had I missed Liam’s last birthday? I wasn’t sure that we’d discussed it. I had only had a low-key celebration for my own since I planned to go all out for my thirtieth birthday. Liam hadn’t mentioned his birthday at all. Some men were like that. The guys didn’t give a damn about their birthdays. I had to go to their jobs and drag them away from their work just to give them their gifts. That wasn’t my style at all. I felt that life shouldbe celebrated. I was even more dedicated to that now that I had lost some of the most important people in my life.

Loss made you appreciate life. Although I was sorry that Liam had lost his mother, I hoped that it would help him learn to appreciate being here.

“I’m headed out,” I called out over my shoulder to my staff as I grabbed my keys from the counter.

If I was going to do this, then I didn’t have any time to waste. I had almost a four-hour ride ahead of me.

I wonder why my nerves waited right until I was about to pull up to Liam’s location to get bad. I wasn’t sure if I was more nervous to see him after our last conversation or about the fact that I was about to show up at his parents’ house unannounced. Liam and I were close enough to where I didn’t think coming to his parents’ place would be a problem, but I had been wrong before.

Part of me didn’t want to face him because I knew he was pissed. His grief trumped the bundle of nerves sitting at the pit of my stomach. There was no way that I could sit around and not at least try to be there for him. He was the sole reason that I was able to pull myself out of the darkness after losing my mother. It was his hand that reached down into the pit and pulled me out. It was his love and devotion that saved me from myself.

Liam loved me way before I had enough sense to realize it. There was no telling how long I had ignored the signs right in front of my face, but now, I was ready to face it head on. Even if I had to pretend that I was dating someone else to help our family business and save Liam’s life, he was the man I loved. He was probably the only man I would ever love. I needed him to know that.

As I got closer to the house, I said a silent prayer that my words would be enough to save what we had built from the ground up. Liam meant everything to me. If I could think of another way to handle this situation, I would do it in a heartbeat just so that we could be together.

I couldn’t risk having my family go to war, though. What else could I do other than go along with the plan until they figured out another way? I needed Liam to understand that this decision was out of my control.

When I pulled up in front of Liam’s parents’ place, I double checked the address. I wasn’t expecting to pull up to one of the houses fromGone with the Wind,but here I was. I wasn’t sure if Psalm was playing with me. I wouldn’t put it past him to send me fake information just to see what I would do with it.

Something told me that wasn’t the case, though. He’d sent it over too fast to fake it. That didn’t mean anything, though. We were talking about Psalm. I was convinced that there was nothing he couldn’t do when it came to technology. Knowing him, the whole damn house could have been a hologram.

Fortunately, as I turned into the long driveway, I saw Liam’s motorcycle parked out front. What the hell was going on? Apparently, Liam’s parents were loaded. How had that never come up in conversation? Who was I kidding? He had barely ever acknowledged that he had a life before we met. The man spent his entire birthday with me and never uttered a single word. Of course, he didn’t tell me his parents were the Huxtables.

I took my time making my way up the drive hoping that he would recognize my car and come outside or something to verify that he was here. I never ever got nervous, so the way my heart was beating in my throat puzzled me. Once I parked my car, I picked up the bottle of passion fruit lemonade and took a swig.On the rare occasion that I got nervous, my mouth was always dry as hell.

Rifling through my purse, I found my lip balm before applying some to my lips. I put it back in my bag then found a pack of gum and shoved a stick in my mouth. I had driven four whole hours to get there, and I was doing everything I possibly could to prolong the time before getting out of the car.

Finally biting the bullet, I pushed the door open and climbed out. Every step I took made me more anxious. My legs felt like lead as I trudged up the walkway. When I made it to the door, I knocked quickly before I had the chance to change my mind or talk myself out of it.

This was crazy. There was no reason for me to be afraid to see Liam. It was Liam. I laughed at my own foolishness just as the door swung open. A woman dressed in black scrubs with salt and pepper hair greeted me with a warm smile.

“Good evening. How may I help you?”

“Hi. I’m not sure if I’m in the right place. I’m a friend of Liam’s. I came by to check on him,” I stated.

“Come on in, darling,” the woman said, never dropping her smile.

Just being in her presence made me feel better, especially since her inviting me in was confirmation that I was in the right place. I stepped into the foyer and was amazed at how beautiful the interior of the house was.

Someone had done an amazing job of blending shades of cream and white. The cream-colored marble floor had swirls of gold throughout that made everything feel regal and elegant. With as beautiful as Liam’s parent’s home was, it didn’t really feel like a home. I wasn’t sure if it was the opulence of it all or what, but just standing in the entrance made me feel like I was walking into a museum.

“Wait right here. I’ll get him,” she told me.

As soon as the woman disappeared at the top of the staircase, my nerves came crashing back down on me. She was only gone for a second before everything in the room seemed to freeze. The shift in the atmosphere made the hair on my arms stand up. He was here.

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