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“Absolutely. I want to see where you work.”
I bet his office was as fancy as everything else in his life. And I was curious to see it. It was part of him, a place he spent a lot of time in.
“Okay, let’s do this, then. Wait for me to get your door.”
Unable to hide the smile spreading over my face at his insistence, I made no move to reach for the door handle.
After helping me out of the seat, he took my hand and led us to an elevator that required an access pass and code. We rode up to almost the top, our hands entwined the whole way, Liam’s thumb drawing circles on my skin.
Leading us past an empty reception area, he walked past closed doors to an office at the end of the corridor. Jude and Gabriel were already there, pacing in front of a sleek and incredibly organized desk.
“This is my office.” Indicating the space currently occupied by his brothers, Liam ushered me inside.
Gabriel’s attention jumped to us, his eyes narrowing when he saw me. “Seriously?” he snapped at Liam.
“None of your fucking business.” Shooting him a glare, he nodded to the door we’d come through. “Now let’s get this done instead of wasting any more of my time.”
With a grumble, Gabriel left the office.
Jude winked at me on his way past. “Quinn. Good to see you again.”
Smiling at him, I nodded. “You too.”
Liam put his hand on my cheek, tilting my head back. “Help yourself to anything you need. There’s a bathroom through the door next to the desk.” He pressed a hard kiss to my mouth before following his brothers.
Looking around the vast space, I took in the glass wall in front of me. The view was amazing, showing the high-rises in all their glory. I wandered along his bookshelves that covered the whole right wall, studying his boring textbooks on strategy and business. He didn’t have a single fiction title in his vast selection.
No wonder he was always grumpy. I would be, too, if I spent my free time reading mind-numbing books.
Next to the shelves was a coffee table and two leather seats. He also had a record player set up. Curious what he listened to, I browsed his collection, happy to note that his taste in music was much better than his taste in books. Settling on Aretha Franklin, I put a record on.
Deciding to kill some time by making a list of things I had to do when I was back in San Francisco, I approached his clean desk. Stacks of organized papers and a laptop sat on top, no blank paper or pens in sight.
I hesitated a moment before opening his desk drawers, hoping to find what I was looking for in there. The first one held pens, all neatly lined up. Selecting a black ballpoint pen, I continued looking for paper. Instead, I found a gun in the bottom drawer and a few knives in the lonely drawer on the other side.
All the papers on the desk looked like contracts. I scanned over them, hoping to find a blank page. But instead, my eyes landed on what looked like a deal between Liam and a guy named Aleksándr.
I wasn’t one to snoop, but when I saw the word “marriage” and a date only three weeks away, my curiosity won out.
And I wished I hadn’t seen what I did. Because the contract outlined the marriage between Liam and a girl named Vanna.
It was signed and dated two days ago. Which meant he’d invited me to Chicago knowing full well he was about to get married.
Not comprehending what I was seeing, I sank into his chair. This couldn’t be true. But a glance up confirmed the contract was still sitting where it was two minutes before, saying exactly the same thing.
Liam is engaged to someone else.
I didn’t know how long I sat there, staring at the paper that had pulled the rug from under me. After a while, everything went blurry, but I never took my eyes off it. No matter how much I wished for it not to be true, the paper didn’t suddenly combust and disappear.
How could I have let someone dupe me like this?Thinking back, I tried hard to find a sign that Liam hadn’t been sincere.
“What are you doing sitting in the dark?” Liam’s voice slashed through the silent room, making me jump in my seat, blinking my surroundings back into focus. It had gotten dark, the lights of the city gleaming through the big window at my back.
Coming to stand next to me, he leaned down to place a kiss on my head.
Stiffening, I moved back. “Don’t touch me.”
Reeling back, a frown line marring his stupidly beautiful jerk face, he studied me. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
