Page 132 of Begin Again, Part 1

"Give me a minute," he pleaded.

"I'm sure that's important. Don't keep them waiting," she said, leaving his office.

She felt unhinged and needed a few minutes to decompress and breathe. So she dashed down the hall to the bathroom, surprised her wobbly legs could carry her.

Eden had an uncontrollable urge to run to her office, collect all her shit, and get out of Dodge. But brave as she was today, keeping Gibby waiting would just be pushing it. So she splashed cold water on her face to calm herself, wincing at her reflection in the mirror, at Lucy's handiwork, as she used paper towels to pat herself dry.

Chapter

Forty-Three

DID I COME CLOSE

"Anderson!" Liam barked into the phone as he watched Eden make her way back to her office. An office she now hated. An office he had no business messing with because she loved it the way it was.

"Sir, Laura Stone is on her way to see you. I tried to stop her." Gibby sounded as annoyed as he was at the intrusion.

"Got it!" He grunted and slammed the phone back on its hook. He had enough shit on his plate. He didn't need Laura's as well. But he'd just have to take it.

She knocked once and strode in, bringing in the cloyingly sweet but expensive smell of her perfume.

"Liam," she gushed as she ran into his arms, but paused when he held them stiffly at his sides.

"I have a meeting in fifteen minutes," he said, making a point of checking his Cartier.

Laura was easily one of the most beautiful women he'd ever fucked. Had the body and legs to make a man forget all his problems. But Liam's attention was inside a tiny broom closet office on the other side of the floor. Matthew was right. He shouldn't have bought the painting and the vase. He should have just apologised. He'd wanted to. He truly did. But somehow, he couldn't bring himself to say the words, maybe because he had never had to apologise to anyone before. Usually, money made everything go away. Not this time...

The timing, too...The timing of everything couldn't have been more wrong. Liam was so sure their dinner dates had brought them closer. Their lovemaking last night was perfect. But now, Eden was so far out of reach. Where would he even start making his way back to her? Could he, when she was so adamant she wanted nothing to do with him? Was this their end before they'd even begun?

"Li, did you hear me?"

No, he didn't. So he shrugged and checked his phone, fuming at the vitriol in the chats. He'd downplayed it for Eden's sake, but the rubbish they said about her had left him deeply disturbed. They'd all feel his wrath, every one of them, starting with Matthew's assistant. Nobody hurt his Princess and got away with it.

"I was a little rash the last time we met. I miss you so much, Li. Can't we try again?"

Liam stared at her, wondering what it was exactly she missed. He hadn't fucked her in two years or touched her in weeks before their final split. So for her to miss a relationship of convenience was mind-boggling.

"Please, Li?" She begged, batting her long fake lashes, a move he'd fallen hard for in the past. She had to come up with new tactics.

What exactly did he see in her? He wondered as he pushed her aside and returned to his seat. There was nothing of substance underneath her pretty exterior. She was as shallow as they came, and self-serving to boot.

Tired of beating around the bush, Laura got straight to the heart of her visit. "Liam, I want you back."

"We've tried. Ten times already," he reminded her. It could have been more. He stopped counting after their tenth try. He was exhausted from all their attempts to breathe life into something that shouldn't have been born. If it wasn't for Mrs Stone, her mom, they would never have met. But when Laura unexpectedly dropped by his place a little over three years ago to check on his housekeeper, it was attraction-at first-sight.

At first, Liam had ignored the sparks because he didn't want to mix business with pleasure. Laura, though, was headstrong and always knew what she wanted. Back then, it was his fully-functioning dick. She chased him hard, and he resisted her advances, buffered off her seductive attempts until he couldn't. She wore him down, alright, and the rest, as they said, was history. Liam planned to keep it that way. He didn't want her in his life or miss her in the least.

"I know how to fix you. The doctor I found is in Geneva, and he can see us in three months. I tried to get something sooner, but it's the earliest opening." She was reaching. They both knew that.

So he shut her down fast. "There's no need. Eden's already fixed me."

His paradise. His hell. Was she still crying? The knot in his heart tightened when he closed his eyes, and all he saw was the welt on her cheek. He didn't even get a chance to kiss it better. The tears in her eyes and the crushed look on her face when she told him about the chat almost killed him.

"What do you mean she's fixed you?" Laura shrieked.

Liam placed his finger on his lips to silence her as he picked up his phone and buzzed his junior assistant in. Moments later, his door swung open, and Clara strutted in with a tray of refreshments in her hand, the beads in her hair tinkling softly with each step she took.

"Mr Anderson, you wanted to see me?"

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