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108|Not A Home For Cowards
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Eden stayed a little while with James, demanding answers, an explanation or a hint of the alert level of the shit storm she was in. But Liam's head of security was not at liberty to reveal anything.
Dissatisfied with his lack of cooperation, Eden stormed off, almost bursting into tears of relief when she walked into her living room and found her friends crowded around the couch, gawking at a passed-out Liam snoring peacefully.
She glared at his sleeping form, properly pissed off with him for making himself so comfortable on her new couch. But the traitor in her, the one driven by her heart and not her head, wanted to reach down and brush his tousled hair away from his face.
Brenda rushed up to her from her bedroom, a worried expression on her face as she twisted and unclasped her hands in front of her. "I'm sorry, Eden, he just came in before I could even stop him. He kept saying something about being home at last before he passed out on the couch. He's drunk
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Eden snatched her phone from the kitchen counter and called Clara. "What's going on?" Liam's assistant sounded sleepy and confused, not surprising since most people usually are at this time of the night. Eden fumed anew. She should be sleepy and confused as well instead of trying to get Liam home. "Mr Anderson is passed out on my couch. What do I do?" "What do you mean the Dragon is passed out on your couch?" "Exactly that, Clara," Eden snapped, well aware she was a little unreasonable at the moment, and it wasn't her friend's fault. "Now, what's the company protocol in such situations? Do you come over to pick him up?" "Why me?" "You are his assistant," Eden sighed and glared at her friends still keeping vigil beside Liam, like he was some saint or a deity, and just by being in his presence, they could all absorb his powers. "Wait, let me call Gibby. Maybe she'll know what to do." "She doesn't work for Anderson
Begin Again 110|Feels Like Home
For the second time that night, Eden stormed her way to her house, beyond furious with Liam, determined to shove him off her couch and make him sleep on the floor. But when she saw him, still sleeping peacefully, a slight flush on his cheeks and ears, she didn't have the heart to follow through with her nefarious plans. She grabbed the only photo of her and Aiden in the room from the TV stand and took it to her bedroom in case Liam woke up during the night. She wanted no mistakes. Eden was exhausted, but she took a quick shower anyway, changed into an old sleep shirt, and went to bed. But after tossing and turning for two hours, she kicked off the covers and rifled through her linen cupboards for a pillow and a light blanket. As much as she wasn't thrilled to have Liam over, she hadn't forgotten her manners. After all, he's Aiden's father, and she had to make him comfortable, she reasoned as she headed back to the living room. Making h
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Like clockwork and still mildly inebriated, Liam's brain nudged him awake sometime after 3:00 AM. But unlike all the other times in the past, when he'd jolt out of sleep, ready to tackle his day, today he woke up parched and convinced he had been dead for more than a century. Every part of his body ached, plus he had a banger of a headache. He groaned as he opened his eyes and saw luscious brown hair fanned out over his arm. Eden. His hell. His paradise. Why was she in his house, again? Did he drunk call her? And did she come to him? Left the lawyer for him? He remembered chatting to her on the phone and her giving him sass, but after that? "You're awake," Eden stirred and turned to him, squinting up at him. Christ, even in the dark, she was beautiful. And her eyes were all the more mesmerising when they were not hidden behind her glasses. "Are you hungover?" She mumbled sleepily and nestled clos
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Liam was locked away in back-to-back meetings for a large part of his day, so he didn't get a chance to see Eden. But, he sent her countless reminders about their dinner with Vic Randolph, the founder and CEO of Lusso. By the time he left Anderson Logistics, after his last meeting with an out of town client had gone on longer than he had wanted, the building was already half empty. Eden, too, was long gone, even though he'd expressly asked her to stay behind so he could brief her on Randolph's wife. As he made his way to the car waiting for him at the entrance, Liam asked Clara to contact Eden and make sure she was at the venue at the very least. His assistant tried a few times, but Eden's phone went unanswered. "I can't reach her, Sir." Clara wore a frightened expression on her face as she turned to him, her shoulders slumped in defeat. "I figured as much," Liam drawled and firmly glued his eyes on her, refusing to let her off. He pai
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The five of them crowded around the window and stared at the line of dark luxury cars parked on the curb. Eden counted four, including Liam's. She couldn't understand why he had to make a dramatic appearance again today and bring his security detail. She was already the talk of the neighbourhood because of his stunt last night. Curious neighbours had stopped by during the day to ask Brenda if they'd had a celebrity guest. "Does he always travel with so much security?" Lydia asked. "Well, if you were a billionaire, I don't think you'd want to fly solo. Not when there's a very real chance you could get nabbed at any time and be held for ransom," Cassandra said, saving Eden the trouble of having to explain that her baby's father wasn't a very nice guy and had pissed off a lot of people, including the Ivanov twins and Rock Castle's underworld. "Do you think he'll come back? He sounded mad as fuck!" Sienna nudged her shoulder and chewed on her thumb, her e
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They spent almost an hour at Nicci's going through their formal dress collection. Eden would have been done in five minutes if she was on her own, but Liam wasn't satisfied with any of the dresses she tried on. She eventually settled on a black ruched racer-front neck midi dress and paired it with Jimmie Choo heels and a matching clutch big enough to house her phone, keys and lipstick. By the time Liam walked into the changing room, Eden was all dressed up and ready to strike her first business deal. Their eyes collided in the mirror and held ever so briefly before his gaze lazily caressed her from head to toe, a small smirk pulling at his lips. "What are you doing here?" Eden asked as she turned back from the mirror to scowl at him, wishing she could kick herself for blushing like a schoolgirl at the hint of approval she saw in his eyes. "How did they even allow you in?" Wordlessly, Liam crossed the small space and kissed her, his han
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The owner of Lusso, Vic Randolph and his wife Kayla were already seated and nursing their martinis when Liam strolled into La Famiglia with Eden at his side, her hand firmly in his. The two men got down to business as soon as the introductions and pleasantries were out of the way. Eden played the role of hostess to perfection, going over and beyond to be attentive to Randolph's wife as she catered to her every whim and need. Kayla Randolph was a pretty little thing and half the man's age, but with enough plastic on her face and body to fill a landfill. Liam liked her, though. She was affable and well mannered. Not at all like a lot of the trophy wives he had met in the past. Every time he looked up from his discussion with the owner of Lusso, he'd find Eden and Kayla deeply engrossed in their conversation, and he'd smile a little, pleased to see he'd made the right decision by bringing her along. They were around the same age, had similar inte
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Five minutes later, when Liam left the restroom with Eden's lacy panties safely tucked in his pocket, he ran straight into Laura and her entourage of lawyers and accountants. He'd met them a few times, went out to dinner and a show with them once or twice, too. But he couldn't say he liked any of them. "Li!" Laura ran straight into his arms, but he held them stiffly at his sides, refusing to open them up for her. "Play along and pretend you're happy to see me," she said under her breath. "They don't know we broke up." "Not my problem," he replied, matching her smile as he pushed her away. Laura turned to her friends and asked them to excuse her, promising to catch up with them in a bit. The friendly mask she'd worn just seconds ago came off the minute they were alone, and she went off at him, hissing viciously like a venomous snake. "Really, Liam, you couldn't do me this one favour?" Before he could remind her he didn't owe her
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[Six Months Later]... After months of preparations, Eden's weeklong exhibition at Fugue was a smashing success. She even managed to sell two of her paintings. But with all the smiling and pandering she had done to Rock Castle's uber-rich, she would not have expected anything less. So when Saturday rolled around, the only thing she wanted to do was to crash on the couch and put up her feet. Not a lot for a girl to ask. But she wasn't destined to enjoy the little things in life. Having tried every trick in the book to get her to give up her spot on the couch and leave the house with him, Liam finally let the cat out of the bag. Her friends had tasked him with the sacred job of dropping her off at Heat for a surprise baby shower. Eden didn't want to go anywhere, but she would never hear the end of it if she didn't show up. So she threw on a pair of black leggings—the only thing in her closet that still fit her— and Liam's denim
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As Liam watched Eden slowly make her way to him, he was overcome with emotion. The whole day he had tried to keep it together, and he had lost track of the number of times his cousins had had to stop him from running to her guest suite to see her. And now that she was here, and they were so close to the start of their next chapter, hard as he tried to blink away his tears, Liam couldn't. He choked back a sob, unable to believe how lucky he was. He had never seen that many brides before, but Eden took the number one spot from the few that he had. She looked incredible in her dress, a vision of grace and elegance and beauty, exactly how he imagined a real-life princess would look. But then again, she was his Princess, his hell, his paradise, and her slow progress down the aisle wasn't working for him. He crossed the room in few quick strides, and in a heartbeat, he had her in his embrace as he kissed her fiercely, much to everyone's surprise and cheers.
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Wedding fever hit town as soon as the press release about Eden and Liam's impending nuptials went out. For days the announcement, posted on Anderson Logistics website and all the company's socials, was the number #1 trending topic on all social media platforms. The internet was in disbelief. Thousands of Liam's adoring fans couldn't accept that the day they had dreaded was finally upon them, and the Three-Month Prince was officially off the market. Well, almost off the market. Like most people who have an unhealthy obsession with their idols, they had to share their outrage and sadness with strangers on the internet. Overnight, Eden became the villainess, the woman who had ruined all their fantasies, and they couldn't understand why, out of all the beauties in the universe ready to fall at his feet, Liam would choose her. She had to have used some kind of witchcraft or love spell on him, they said. And when Sienna's exposé on t
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The botanical gardens were in the northern part of Rock Castle, and on a good day, it would have taken them under ten minutes to get there from Van Holt Industries. But, it took them almost twice as long because, by the time they left the doctor's rooms, every man and his dog was out and about, running their morning errands. By the time they arrived, the place was almost packed to capacity. Everywhere they turned, they were greeted by people on their picnic blankets with their wicker baskets; others were on camping chairs under big shady umbrellas, already sipping beers and turning sausages and steaks on their braai stands even though it wasn't even 10:00 AM yet. "Look at this place," Eden murmured, her eyes flitting everywhere. "We can't let Aiden out of our sight. I don't want a repeat of the aquarium. What if Aleksei is here?" "He's in jail, remember?" Liam reminded her as he lifted her chin. "He can't hurt us." "But his brother is around—"
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Liam never thought he'd survive two weeks in hospital. But he did. With lots of patience, tons of reports and proposals to keep him sane and an endless supply of meds to ease his pain. Before he knew it, the dreaded family fun day, months in the making, finally snuck upon them. However, Anderson Logistics' big day coincided with his hospital release and their first check-up with Dr Emily. Eden was highly strung, anxious out of her wits when she came to pick him up. "There's so much to do today," she wrung her hands as they watched James scoop Aiden up and grab Liam's travel bag. It was amazing how much stuff he had managed to collect over the past couple of weeks. His duffel bag was now heavier than it was when Eden first dropped it off. "Tell me what's wrong," Liam said as he wheeled himself around the room and paused in front of her. He didn't need the wheelchair now, but he found it very comfortable, way better than sitting on the stiff bed. "So, what's wrong?" he pulled her do
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The thought of spending an indefinite amount of time in the hospital did not please Liam at all, so as soon as they returned to his ward after their brisk walk, he tried every trick in the book to get Eden to speak to the doctors and get them to discharge him. But she refused to do his dirty work, much to his dismay. He thought she would want him home as soon as possible. "Whose side are you on?" He glared at her. "Yours, of course. I don't want to take any chances, you know," she said as she helped him up on the bed. Their son was now sitting on the floor, craning his neck at the blank TV screen in the corner and sipping his boxed juice. Liam had never met a kid who loved TV as much as Aiden, and he wondered if it was normal. Maybe spending all that time with Brenda during the day wasn't such a good thing. Maybe he needed to start going to school to get his mind stimulated. "I'm someone's fiancée now, you know, and I need the groom pr
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Later that evening, when Eden walked into Liam's ward with Aiden in her arms, she was surprised to find him clean-shaven and fully clothed in joggers, sneakers and a hoodie as if he was ready to go somewhere. "Dad!" Aiden shrieked with joy as soon as he saw his father rolling around the room in a wheelchair. Liam roared right back at him, his voice thundering through the room as he opened his arms. "Kool-Aid!" Eden set their son down, and he ran to his father. Liam scooped him up despite his visible agony but yelped out in pain when he tried to throw him up in the air. Eden was instantly at his side, worry dancing in her eyes, the travel bag in her hands falling at her feet with a dull thud. Aiden, too, look just as concerned. "I'm okay," Liam assured them, but the anguish on his face told a different story. "Why are you even out of bed?" Eden scolded him, much to Aiden's disapproval. "Mom, no!" He shook his hea
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Eden looked up, startled out of her mind to see his eyes were open. "Liam!" She was instantly on her feet and kissing him on the lips as she sobbed so loud she thought she'd wake the patients in the neighbouring rooms. "Oh my God, it's true. You're awake! I was starting to think they lied." "If you keep crying, I might just pass out again!" He growled and patted the empty spot on the bed. "Come here!" She sank beside him, and he drew her closer and placed his hand on her tummy. "How's my little warrior?" Eden burst into tears again at his words. "You heard everything I said that night?" "Of course I did," he smiled tearfully as well. "I may have been dying, but I'm not deaf, you know." "And you're not angry?" "Why would I be angry?" Liam asked. "Because you just found out about Aiden and now—" "Now our family will be complete," he pulled her down, and she nestled in his arms, careful not to touch his wound. "I l
