Page 16 of Somebody's Watching Me
“Liar.”
“I’m not lying,” she insisted, very much a liar. “I hope he’s doing well and happy.”
“He’s not.” Samuel rested his elbows on his knees and looked her over. “He’s the exact opposite of happy. Tomorrow is going to be tough on him.”
Her nostrils flared. “Way to be supportive ofyoursister.”
“Jamison, you called off the wedding over a single argument.”
Why was it that men couldn’t see a problem until it exploded in their face? It wasn’t one argument. It had been an ongoing discussion for months.
“I don’t see how it’s any of your business.”
Samuel’s brows snapped together. “If I’m watchingmysistersuffer because she’s destroyed a relationship that was stronger than most marriages, then yes, it’s my business. I mean, if you think about it, had the world not gone to hell these past few years, you two would already be married.”
“And what?” She leaned forward, putting them nose to nose. Fairweathers were hard-headed to a fault, and she could hold her own with the King of Stubborn here. “Be raising our family by now?”
That shut him up, and Jamison smirked in triumph. “You don’t get to sit here and lecture me when you’re a person who has it all, including two daughters upstairs. I want my happily ever after, Samuel. The way I want it.”
This weekend needed to be a celebration of her having the courage to seek her own way, on her own terms. The life she wanted included a loving husbandandchildren. Liam fit the bill on the loving husband part. A best friend. A confidant. A man who loved her unconditionally and trusted her without hesitation.
It was the part about having a family he wasn’t on board with.
She first noticed his reluctance when the Bureau transferred him to working trafficking cases after they first moved to Texas. Liam took things to heart and would spend hours of his free time seeking justicefor those who had fallen through the cracks. The stories of the children hit him the hardest.
“I don’t think I can bring a baby into this world,” he would say, pouring over the never-ending files. “People are monsters.”
She told herself he would get over it. Everything always came at them in extremes. Even their relationship began under intense circumstances.
“I want a family of my own. Liam couldn’t accept that, but maybe…” She paused, the bitterness over what she was about to say sliding down her throat. “Maybe he’ll find someone who wants the same things as he does.”
“What about you?”
“Maybe I will, too.”
Samuel gave up. Pinching his brow, he fell back on the couch. “You are so stubborn.”
“Speak for yourself,” Jamison said, ready to change the subject. “What was that Zanmi press conference this afternoon, and why wasn’t I made aware?”
“Because I wasn’t aware of it until an hour before it started.” Samuel tossed back the rest of his drink. “Honestly, where the hell do these people come from?”
“Everywhere.”
Too many movies and false documentaries based on Toby only fueled the Zanmi narrative. When things were at their worst, and the gates were installed, Simone demanded a state-of-the-art security system to go along with it. Of course, she got what she wanted, and all of their residences were covered. From the cottages, to the apartment she once shared with Liam, to even her oldest brother’s house in Atlanta, none of them were left without protection.
Rowan oversaw the annual maintenance, making it the best of the best. Every room—excluding bedrooms and bathrooms—held a minimum of one camera manned by Fairweather Holdings’ privatesecurity. Her father had mentioned recently that the company had hired on some sort of genius to take over the team and give Rowan extra support. This new person apparently wanted to revamp the entire way they approached threats from Zanmi, and it sounded like a good time to get started.
“Is that why you had Rowan come at the last minute?”
“Rowan was already coming,” Samuel said. “He’s upgrading some things at my place, but he just bought a penthouse over in Port Michaelson and closed on it this afternoon.”
“He’s transferring to the Florida offices?”
Samuel went to pour himself another drink. “He keeps submitting a request to move, but Dad wants him in Texas.”
“Well, isn’t that interesting.”
“Why is that interesting?
