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24|His Pound Of Flesh
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Liam waited anxiously in a room identical to the one Eden sat in for her interview two doors down. He rechecked his Cartier and growled as he pushed the laptop away and began pacing.
Why was it taking so goddamn long to make a mousey librarian sign a piece of paper? It was over an hour already.
He really should have handled this shit himself; he shouldn't have made Gibby go in alone, especially when he knew her thoughts on Eden.
But crashing the interview would have ruined the whole element of surprise, and knowing how Eden left him once, she'd likely bolt again. Assuming, of course, she remembered him.
Liam's anxiety mounted at the thought, and he didn't like the idea that he was so lacklustre in bed, Eden could have easily forgotten him.
"Doesn't matter!" He breathed out a frustrated sigh. What mattered was that he remembered. Every little detail. Every humiliating moment when he couldn't perform. All the accusatory, yet pitiful looks from the nu
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In his office, Liam loosened his tie and rolled up his sleeves, determined to get through the stack of week-long reports piled high on his desk. He was halfway through when his cousins, whom he shared floor space with, came in. Julian arranged himself in the armchair in front of the bookcase and turned on the TV to watch the financial markets' afternoon report. Matthew stretched out his long frame on the black leather mid-century couch, the only piece of relaxing furniture in the room because Liam didn't want time wasters hanging around. They were not good for productivity. People only came to his office to state urgent business and leave; his space wasn't inviting enough for a chit-chat. His cousins were the only two people who often overstayed their welcome. Two minutes in and Liam was already tired of them. "If there's nothing urgent, I'd like to finish this before my date with Laura," he pointed at the stack of folders on his desk.
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Eden was at Anderson Logistics, bright and early Monday morning. Her orientation was scheduled for 10:00 AM, but as usual, she was early. Now that she was familiar with the place, she had a spring in her step as she waltzed inside the building. She stopped to chat with the security guards stationed at the entrance. Jim and Ted were super friendly, and in ten minutes they'd exchanged names, shook hands and shared the company's well-kept secret: all the food Eden should avoid from the canteen menu. It was a shockingly long list, and it left her deeply disappointed. She had high hopes for the staff canteen, especially since all their meals were free. "Is there anything they can cook?" She asked with a laugh, and Jim's very large face wobbled with distaste as he shook his head. Eden moved along when two very lost-looking interview candidates interrupted their chat. She went to the reception to announce her arrival. After making a quick phone call,
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Gibby was waiting for her at reception when they reached the penthouse office. Liam vanished off somewhere, and Eden was relieved he's not her boss. For a second there she was starting to believe he's the Dragon the older woman had warned her of. Gibby led her through a maze of offices and boardrooms and held the door for her as she ushered her inside a cosy four-seater meeting pod. "Please sit, Ms McBride," she waved at one of the empty chairs. "I'm sorry I couldn't meet you earlier. I was trying to get your access ready." Eden smiled, "please call me Eden, and I kept myself entertained. I love the interactive map on the ground floor." "That's Mr Anderson's baby. I believe you've just met him," Gibby chuckled. "He thought it would be an awesome idea to give people a glimpse of what we do here. I must say it's a hit with all our visitors." Of course, Eden thought. No wonder he seemed chuffed with her response earlier when he asked her
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Eden watched the older woman dash down the hall and vanish from view, painfully aware of the thick tension swirling in the room, occasionally drowned out by the sounds of office chatter, phones going off and the keyboards rattling away. She figured she should leave as well while things were still a bit civil between Liam and her, especially if she wanted their future chat about Aiden to happen. But, one glance from him, as if he could read her thoughts and see deep into her soul, fixed her in her chair. He reached for the tray of refreshments Eden had forgotten until now and took one of the brightly decorated styrofoam cups, with a Rise Coffee Shop logo stamped to its side, and the word 'macchiato' scrolled in pretty, feminine-like handwriting on the white lid. They had outlets nationwide, mostly in shopping malls, but Eden remembered seeing one in the food court, on the first floor, when she played with the interactive map. She's a sucker for
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Eden didn't know how she managed to drive home in the emotional state she was in. She couldn't even remember leaving Anderson Logistics. She must have, though, because she only realised she's home when a perturbed Brenda dashed out of the house and ran up to the car. "Is everything okay? Did you forget something?" The sitter asked as she pried open her door and helped her snap off the seat belt. Eden heard her questions, saw her lips move, but she couldn't process. Her mind was too tired to compute, let alone form coherent thoughts and translate them into spoken words. "Did something happen? Are you hurt?" Brenda carried on as she pulled her out of the car and flipped her around a few times, checking for any visible signs of trauma. She paused and frowned when she couldn't see anything wrong. "Say something," Brenda asked. "Are you hurt anywhere?" Eden sighed and touched her chest. Yes, she was hurt, right there, in that place
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Liam was home for hours, but his mind was still in the meeting room, reliving his encounter with Eden. He sat on the edge of the bed and absently twirled the glass of cognac in his hands. To say his plan had unravelled as soon as he saw the shrew was an understatement. He'd acted like an inexperienced schoolboy, jumped her the first chance he got. Not his fucking proudest moment that's for sure. The ring on her finger too had pissed him off greatly, more than he cared to admit, and he couldn't understand why. He loathed her, and the only reason he'd gone through such lengths to get her to sign with Anderson Logistics was so she could fix him and make him whole again. He really shouldn't care that she's married, that she's wearing some other guy's ring. But he did. And it pissed him off— "Aren't you coming to bed?" Laura purred in his neck as she tried once more to take off his shirt. Liam shrugged off her hands, and pushed her away again, wish
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The house was quiet. Dave and the housekeepers had all retired for the night, but Laura was still in his bed. Liam took one look at her and made a beehive for his study. He couldn't bring himself to sleep beside her. Not when he was so confused. Not when his mind was racing with thoughts of Eden in his arms, and his dick grew hard just thinking about her. He turned on his MacBook and tried to work through the agenda notes for tomorrow's board meeting, but his mind kept drifting back to Eden's reasons for leaving him. He tried to think back to that night at Crush two years ago, but he couldn't remember ever mentioning marriage to Eden. He could see why she would jump to that conclusion though. Julian and Matthew had invited a few friends from college for a night out on the town to help him accept his future as Anderson Logistics' CEO. A group of guys at a club and one of them mentioning it's his last night of freedom can easily
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Franco's was everything Eden would never have imagined—well, the exterior at least. As she gaped at the concrete structure, located on the east side of Forrest Creek, the industrial part of the neighbourhood, she thought she might have taken a wrong turn somewhere, but her trusty GPS— with Siri's help, of course—had followed the directions to the T. There's no way she was lost, no way she's at the wrong place. But the flat-roofed, single-story building, with its murky windows and rusty steel door, was—Underwhelming. Disappointing. Not at all what Eden expected from a revered hairstylist. The inside though was a different story, Eden could swear she'd stepped into the grandest hotel in town. The decor was exquisite, the furniture lush, and the service top-notch. As a smiling hostess placed a complimentary mimosa in her hand and showed her to one of the few empty armchairs lining the room, Eden understood why the man charged so much even for a h
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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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Liam headed straight to his study as soon as they got home and spent almost an hour on the phone with his father. Like he'd expected, Clarke was against the meeting and even more disturbed when he brought up the idea of dropping the charges. "Are you insane?" His father barked on his end, and if they were in the same room, Liam knew he would have likely throttled him. "We almost lost you. You almost died! How can you even think about this?" "What other choice do I have, Dad? He's watching Eden. We're getting married in three weeks. I don't want to keep looking over my shoulder. What kind of life will that be for Eden and our children?" "James told you there's a way to handle this. Aleksei and his brother are dogs. They should be put down." "And what will that make us?" Liam asked sadly. "I didn't call to ask for your permission. I was simply informing you the meeting with Andrei is happening." He clicked off before his father could pus
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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
