Page 7 of Begin Again, Part 2

"It wasn't enough. Now three of our men are dead!" Liam gritted his teeth and toyed with his half-empty glass. "How do I look at their wives and kids? How do I even begin to make up for that?"

"You couldn't have known. It's the security team's job to monitor these things. Someone dropped the ball, and a disciplinary process should be followed."

Liam turned to Julian with a wry grin. "I dropped the ball. If anything, my head should be on the chopping block."

They fell silent again, sipped their drinks, and watched the traffic.

"She's in her office, you know, getting dolled up for a date." Matthew patted him on the back. "If you hurry, you might catch her before she leaves."

"Who?" Liam asked, feigning ignorance.

"The real reason for your shopping spree." Julian wasn't exactly big on subtlety. "The one person we all know you want."

But can't have, Liam thought, suddenly pissed at himself for being so transparent.

He should have gotten her out of his system, considering he hadn't seen her in almost a month. But Eden was like a wound that began as a small scab and grew and widened, turning septic the longer he scratched it. In his case, the longer he avoided and pretended she didn't exist, the more he craved her.

"Go talk to her," Matthew suggested.

"There's nothing to talk about." Liam shrugged. What the hell would he even say to her? Sorry I couldn't fuck you? It was as clear as day he was irrevocably broken. His last attempt to make love to her had proven that. There was no way she would want him now. Not when he'd failed her so spectacularly.

"Yes, there is," Matthew insisted.

"Go throw yourself at her feet and beg for mercy. Admit you're an idiot, and you shouldn't have stayed away from the office for so long," Julian offered.

"I didn't stay away from the office," Liam grumbled. "I had work to do. Companies to acquire. Deals to make. Contracts to sign."

"Sure." Matthew winked at him as he hooked his arm around his brother's neck, and they strolled to the door. "Are you coming to Crush with us just to unwind? It's been a brutal month."

Liam declined the invitation. He was exhausted. Racing all over the country had finally caught up with him.

Alone again, he tried to settle down on the couch, but he couldn't get comfortable. He tossed and turned, and gave up on sleep after an hour or so. Convinced he needed his bed tonight, he slipped on his shoes, flung his jacket over his shoulder, and left his office. But his place was equally uncomfortable, made more so by the silence. Sometime after 9:00 PM, after a few more glasses of bourbon, Liam made his third terrible decision in three weeks. He picked up the phone and called Eden.

She answered on the fourth ring. "Mr Anderson, how can I help you?"

"Where are you?" he asked amidst the chatter and glasses clinking in the background. Was she at some kind of celebration? Or the date Matthew had mentioned? Whatever it was, wherever she was, pissed him off because he wasn't there with her.

"Is there anything you need, sir?"

You, he thought, but released a frustrated sigh instead. "Eden, where are you?"

"On a dinner date. If there's nothing you need—"

"With the lawyer?"

"With all due respect, that's not your business!"

"I have an off-site meeting tomorrow. Clara will send you the details," he said, annoyed as fuck that she was out on dinner dates while he was going crazy out of his mind from missing her.

"But you said you don't need me to come with you anymore —"

"I don't answer to you, Princess," Liam growled. "I suggest you cut that date short and return home right now. Stop canoodling with that lawyer!"

"Goodbye, Mr Anderson," Eden said and clicked off.

Liam stared at his phone, stunned by her audacity. Nobody had ever hung up on him.

Chapter

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