Page 50 of Adoration: Isn't What It Seems (Love Isn't What It Seems 2)

“I can’t,” I told her. “I can’t stand how freaking good looking he is. And he doesn’t have any issues having his damn date show up. I almost preferred him being an arrogant, stuffy, know it all from when I first met him rather than trying to be nice now.”

She watched me pensively, as if she was trying to think of something.

“You like him.” She didn’t even bother making it a question. “I thought so when we were all drunk that night, but you know how poor my judgment is when I am drunk.”

“No, I don’t like him,” I retorted too quickly. “And it is called impaired judgment.”

“Oh, yes you do,” she chuckled. “Here, have another glass of wine.”

I shook my head at her statement, but accepted the refill of my glass as I pondered at her words.

Did I like him?

He was handsome, yes. He captured me from the moment I first saw him, but he was arrogant, and he was used to getting what he wanted. I mean, each time he called me or demanded something, he hated to wait. Although the last two weeks, he had been different. And after his comforting words and arms following the funeral, I felt like my heart trembled around him.When I’m not falling off my feet from exhaustion, that is.

“Callen was at the funeral,” I told her, switching subjects.

Her eyes shot to mine. “I didn’t call him,” she replied defensively.

“I wondered how he heard,” I mumbled. “It is not like we announced it.”

It was peculiar that thinking or speaking of Callen didn’t bring that old familiar pang of pain, humiliation, or dull sadness. Now, I just felt tired, maybe slightly disappointed. Although I think disappointment was more aimed at myself than anyone else. I never had a burning passion with Callen, he was a comfort, friend, and a companion. We met right after Mom died and he was what I needed at that moment. Lena met Larry and they had each other… they had love and desire at first sight, but more importantly Larry was her comfort, her rock. Maybe Lena was right, I needed someone who would give me his all so I would give my all in return. Alexander’s blue eyes flashed in front of my eyes.

“Please, don’t hate me,” Layla muttered, stopping my train of thoughts and I glanced at her. “I called Lachlan to meet up with him. Remember, I was in Edinburgh when Lena’s accident happened. I wanted to apologize to him and close that chapter. He was in the midst of a discussion with his wife outside his apartment, and I had to rush him to take me to the airport so I wouldn’t miss the last flight for the funeral. He told me to take a cab and wanted to go back to work things out with his wife, but at that point, I would have missed the flight so I told him Larry and Lena died in a car crash. He must have told Callen.”

“Why didn’t he just fly you in his plane?” I asked.

“He probably didn’t think of it, and neither did I. He was all consumed with his wife and I was in shock after hearing Lena was gone.”

“I guess it was good Callen got to say goodbye,” I claimed. “It was weird. I thought it would hurt to see him again, but I felt nothing.”

Layla and I reminisced, cried, and laughed for the next two hours. All the memories, missing Lena, my mother, and wishing I could talk to them brought a dull ache in my chest. We finished another two bottles before she crashed on the couch and I dragged myself to bed.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Liberty

The next day, Brandon and I finally had a good start to our day. Things were going smoothly for the first time since I began taking care of him. It was surprising, considering I stayed up late and even ventured into alcohol, but maybe it was just what I needed to relax.

It has been almost five weeks now since I started working for Alexander Caldwell. Days turned into a routine. Except now I didn’t give him a hard time, and most of the time, he didn’t agitate me. Also he called me Liberty while I avoided calling him anything but Mr. Caldwell, at least to his face. It was my way of keeping things as normal as they could be while I felt something shifted between us since the day he came to Lena and Larry's funeral. I even brought Brandon to work with me once or twice.

While Alexander and I seemed to have some unspoken agreement, that certainly did not apply to Maxim. He went out of his way to tease me, and at times, like today when I lacked a proper amount of sleep, he agitated me.

Like now.

“Wow, Liberty,” Maxim teased. “You must have had quite a date last night to be so tired today. That was like the fifth stifled yawn.”

I glance at him annoyed.

“Anyhow,” I continued our discussion, ignoring Maxim’s last comment. “As I was saying, I did notice something odd as I took notes during the meeting. The Italian gentleman, I can’t remember his name, wouldn’t clearly confirm that the property title was his.”

“Good catch, Liberty,” Alexander praised, and I was so shocked I could have fallen off the chair.

“Yes, I caught that too,” Maxim added. “We should look into it.”

I smiled at both of them. “I did,” I told them. “And it appears it belongs to his brother. Again, I can’t remember the name, but it is in the notes.”

“Look at you, Liberty,” Maxim started teasing. “And you managed to do all that after just a few hours of sleep since you had a big date.”

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