Page 23 of Begin Again, Part 2

"I'm sorry about that," Randolph cleared his throat and returned his attention to the table, cutting through Liam's thoughts.

They worked on the contract amendments for an hour over their Irish coffees. There were a few clauses that both men weren't happy with, and they decided to go back to the drawing board with their respective legal teams before proceeding with the signing.

"I'll wait to hear from your team, Anderson," Randolph said much later outside the restaurant as they shook hands before he and Kayla vanished inside a sleek white Bentley.

Eden was on her phone, requesting an Uber when Liam went back inside.

"Cancel it," he told her as he held out his hand to her. "I'll take you home."

"No thanks!" she picked up her clutch and quickly made her way out of La Famiglia while he settled the bill.

Liam caught up with her outside as she was about to get into the Uber. He nicely asked the driver to leave, slamming the door shut before she could slip inside.

Chapter

Eight

NEED YOU RIGHT NOW

"What are you doing?" Eden asked as she crossed her arms and glared at Liam. It was bad enough she had to witness Laura's tongue stuck so deep in his throat, she thought he'd choke on it. But now, he didn't even want to let her go home so she could fume in peace.

"You are my date, and it's my job to take you home."

"No! This was a work assignment," she reminded him, closing her eyes briefly as she slowly counted backwards from ten to cool her anger. But by the time she reached the end of her mental countdown, she was still nowhere close to calmness. She was seething and properly pissed off at him for flirting with his ex in front of her, and annoyed with herself for acting like a jealous high-schooler.

"Eden, what the hell is going on?" Liam asked. "Are you upset because of Laura? She means nothing to me, I told you—"

She held up her hand to stop him before he could launch into a lengthy explanation that would serve no purpose other than to make him look even guiltier. "Please don't explain. Your messy love life is none of my business."

"I just bumped into her when I left the restroom. She didn't want her friends to know we broke up, and she kissed me when she saw you." Liam tried yet again to plead his case. The longer he did, though, the angrier Eden got because it all sounded like silly excuses he could have easily avoided had he just been firm with his ex from the start. She told him as much, and before she knew it, they were caught up in a heated argument on the sidewalk, with all kinds of accusations flying around.

Eden knew she was probably overly sensitive, especially since she was still dealing with the emotional onslaught resulting from their heavy foreplay in the restroom earlier. But she couldn't help but feel taken for granted.

Not caring that there were millions of curious eyes on them watching their Battle Royale unfold, she said heatedly. "I'm not an idiot, Liam. Quit messing with me!"

"I'm not messing with you." Liam threw up his hands in frustration. "And I never said you were an idiot."

"Then quit treating me like one," Eden said, making her way to the car as soon as James and Stephen pulled up.

Their argument continued, pausing briefly when Liam's driver rapped his fingers on the steering wheel and asked, "Where to, sir?"

"Forrest Creek," Eden replied.

"No, Willow Hills."

She was about to break into a long rant, but one quick look from Liam shut her up. He pulled out his phone and spent the rest of the drive to his house on a call to Clara, putting out fires from another deal on the brink of collapse if he didn't make time to see the client soon.

The minute they arrived at his place, Eden ran upstairs to the master bedroom to take off the fancy outfit she'd worn to dinner and slip back into her casual clothes. Liam had just hung up from his assistant when she drifted back downstairs, dead set on calling an Uber so she could get the hell out of Dodge. If she stayed, their fight would only escalate into something they might never come back from.

But Liam had his own plans. He seemed equally determined to keep her with him until they sorted out their issues.

"Do you want something to drink?" he asked, looking through the fridge.

"No, but I'd like to go home now," Eden said as she plopped on the couch in the living room and watched the flames in the fireplace flicker different shades of red like his hair.

"I can't let you go when we haven't cleared up this misunderstanding," Liam called from the kitchen as he slammed the fridge shut and glared at her.

"There's nothing to clear up, sir."

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