Page 53 of Begin Again, Part 1

"Well, that's a little extreme, but there's help out there. I've used the little blue pills myself once or twice. But I was drunk out of my head, so..." Always the fountain of hope and wisdom, Julian tried to console him, his little speech dying off, though, when he realised he'd lost the plot.

"No, there is no help." Liam gnashed his teeth and gave them a scaled-down version of his problems.

"The solution is simple. If your doctor says you must ask Eden for help, then that's what you do," Matthew said. "And if you play your cards right, you'll be as good as new before you know it."

Liam fell silent, mulling over his cousin's words.

After his confrontation with Eden, he was willing to start on a clean slate for the sake of getting cured. He was ready to leave the past behind. Until her brazenness when she negotiated the new contract. She had no experience but had the nerve to push for a ridiculous salary. He was still swimming in paperwork over her insane demands. HR and Finance would have declined her crazy scheme if he hadn't volunteered to give up a percentage of his salary to meet her demands. To top off all her craziness, she just admitted to using him as a rebound to get over her failed engagement. Liam would never forgive her for any of it. Now more than ever, he wanted his pound of flesh, and he planned to get every bit of it.

"It sounds like she's open to banging you one more time." Julian's face split into a huge grin as he reached for his glass and topped up his drink. If there was anything he loved more than women, it was alcohol.

"Yeah, she sounds eager for an encore," Matthew smirked, twirling his glass in his hand.

That was another thing, Liam fumed as he gulped down his drink. Eden was married and had a son with some other lowlife dirtbag, but would sleep with him if given a chance. Who the hell was this woman? She made no sense. Everything about her defied logic.

He deplored every inch of her.

But he craved her.

He hungered for her.

No, he shook his head at the direction his thoughts were taking. He'd never give in to his urges. The sooner Linda figured out how Eden could fix him completely, the better. Hopefully, it wouldn't involve touching her.

"So, what happens if, after your treatment, it turns out it's still only Eden who can get you horny?"

"Then I'll do without sex. I haven't fucked anyone in two years. What's a lifetime?" Liam asked, and his cousins roared with laughter. For him, though, it wasn't funny at all; Eden had ruined his life.

"What are you going to do about her?" Matthew rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Liam shrugged. He'd keep her close, like his therapist suggested, and make her pay for using him as a rebound. But he was seriously starting to question his decision to hire her. When it came to Eden, it was true what they said. Still waters truly ran deep. He never imagined she could be so volatile and unhinged.

"Do you guys want an assistant?" he asked as he threw on his jacket, preparing to leave. His confrontation with Laura had left a sour taste in his mouth. Seeing Eden, too, had ruined his night. No matter how tempting the bourbon was, he was no longer in the mood for company.

"No, thank you!" The brothers shook their heads. "Not with that temper. And we all thought you're the dragon."

"Shut up!" Liam growled as he left their booth and headed home.

An hour later, after a quick shower, Liam drifted to his study and wasted too many hours on the internet, trying every search term in the universe. But all his attempts to get any information on Eden came up empty. He was still inventing search terms when a knock sounded on his door.

Dave strolled in with a severe frown and placed a serious-looking envelope on the desk. "Sir, the head of security dropped it off this afternoon."

"Thanks." Liam smiled, confident the envelope held the answers he'd been waiting for since he tasked security to run a background check on Eden. The company had done all the necessary checks, and she'd passed them all. But this was personal and a little more detailed.

He looked up when he noticed his butler had no intention of moving along. "Is something wrong, Dave?"

"I know it's not my place, but I thought you were okay with everything. I'm afraid trying to find the little lady again will upset you."

"I can handle it!" he replied. "And I've already found her."

"It's just that the last time—"

"I don't want to talk about it, Dave!" Liam shot out a long breath and pointed at the door. His butler hesitated, seemingly ready to challenge him. After a minute of their standoff, though, he nodded and backed out of the room without a word.

Liam tore through the envelope, and a three-page report fluttered in his hands. He read through it, piecing together Eden's two-year timeline since she disappeared. She'd moved to the Blue Mountains three months after leaving his bed, returning two weeks ago with an eighteen-month-old baby. There were no photos of her son or husband anywhere. In fact, there was nothing about her marriage in the report.

Something was wrong with this picture. But, no matter how long Liam read James' neatly-typed notes, he couldn't slot the puzzle pieces in place. He picked up the phone and called his head of security.

"Mr Anderson, we dropped off the report this afternoon."

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