Page 14 of Adoration: Isn't What It Seems (Love Isn't What It Seems 2)

It was obvious he couldn’t stand me. Well, the feeling was mutual. My body liked him, but my brain mattered more.

I decided I would nag Lena to find my replacement tonight. This man wasn’t good for my sanity.

Chapter Six

Alexander

In less than half a week, Liberty Rain Smith became the woman I obsessed over. She was smart, challenging, efficient, and sexy without trying. I wanted to find one fault, one flaw in that woman but everything I saw, I liked. I had reached out to my contact to get any and all information on this woman that was a mystery to me. Women fell all over themselves to be around me. This one couldn’t stand to be around me. In fact, I was sure she avoided me.

I glanced at the folder sitting on my desk that contained everything about her. She had a happy and carefree childhood. As she became older, she helped her mother out in the publishing company she owned, but then her mother died. She and her sister up and moved across the ocean to the UK. Now her sister was married with a son and her own secretarial company.

There was also a section about her life with Callen McLeod. Intense jealousy ate at me every time I thought about her with another man. It was her sister and her husband that stood by Liberty afterwards. Those two were very close, despite not being blood sisters.

I remembered how happy they all were at the restaurant, you could tell they were all close and comfortable with each other. As they laughed together, it was as if they were in their own little world, where only their family mattered. I could see how much Liberty loved the little boy.

Her file was simple and as expected... except for her almost wedding. She was engaged to Callen McLeod. I was pretty sure Callen was the reason Liberty built a wall around herself. He practically left her at the altar, confessing his infidelity on the day of the wedding, at the church right before the ceremony.

Although, I had to admit; I was glad she was not a married woman. I hated marriage infidelities. I had seen firsthand the damage it had done to my family thanks to my own father. Just the thought of my father had me balling my fists in fury. He was the reason I had to clean up the mess and buy Smith Publishing company.

Liberty was an open book with secrets roaming around her she wasn’t even aware of.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Alexander?” Maxim walked into my office without bothering to knock. He put the reports for Monaco on my desk and sat himself.

“What do you want, Maxim?”

“You are being a jackass to Liberty,” he accused. “She doesn’t deserve your barking.”

“Nice of you to be her knight,” I spat out. I knew I was being unnecessarily harsh with her. And her easy way with Maxim sparked some unexpected rage. I tried to protect him from most of the scandal that surrounded our family but some were too big to cover up. I wondered who would protect Maxim from me? Or Liberty for that matter, because with each day that went by, I focused too much on her.

“What is the deal with you? Why don’t you like her?” He watched me as if trying to figure me out. “Or is the problem that you do like her?”

Yes, I fucking liked her. I wanted to drag her into my office and bend her across my desk. I wanted to see the lust in her eyes for me, I wanted to see what shade her eyes would be as I made her climax all over me.

“Worry about your life, Maxim,” I told him sharply, promptly dismissing him by getting back to my report. “And keep your distance from her.”

“Why?”

“Because seven years ago, it was her mother’s publishing company we forced out.”

“Ah, fuck.” Maxim’s expression was distraught. He knew this wouldn’t end well.

“Yes, fuck.”

And Caldwell’s forcing her mother to sell the publishing house barely scratched the surface.

If I was a decent man, I would have ensured her sister sent another secretary immediately, instead of tempting myself further with Liberty.

Chapter Seven

Liberty

Wednesday night, I was having our regular get together dinner with Lena, Larry, and Brandon. Larry was in the midst of giving a bath to Brandon and I took advantage of just two of us being alone.

“Please, Lena. I tried this and hate it.” I begged Lena to ask Layla to replace me.

“You should stay and see this through,” Lena stated. “I have a good feeling about him.”

I watched her in shock. “You are kidding, right?”

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