White-hot relief surged through Eden's body at the sound of Liam's voice.
"Anderson!" Aleksei turned to Liam and held out his hand for a handshake.
Liam ignored it and clenched his jaw. "Ivanov."
"Fancy seeing you here," Aleksei carried on, sizing Liam up.
"Not sure why you seem surprised," Liam drawled softly, but his face hardened, and his eyes stayed on Eden. "Didn't you pick the venue for this month's game?"
"Well, you know what I mean," Aleksei shrugged.
"No, I don't," Liam said, finally peeling his gaze from her. "What are you doing up here anyway? I thought the game is in the basement?"
Eden's head shot up at his words, and she stared at the two men, amazed by this new piece of information. She didn't even know Crush has a basement.
What else went on down there besides round-robin poker tournaments for billionaires?
She was suddenly curious about Liam's extracurricular activities.
"I saw something
"Are you drunk?" Liam clutched the phone tightly in his hand and shook his head in disbelief as he checked his watch. Two hours. That's how long it's been since he left Eden in the VIP booth, and in that short two hours, she had somehow managed to get shitfaced, even when he told her she shouldn't, even after he had begged her not to be reckless. Now more than ever, Liam was convinced Eden's sole purpose on earth was to torture and torment him. "Why don't you like me?" She asked again, her sobs drowning out her words, and at that moment, with his heart aching at the sound of her tears, he forgot all his anger. "Where are you? I'm coming there right now." His voice was much gentler as he sighed into the phone. "Please like me." Eden hiccuped softly on her end. "I like you so much it hurts. So please like me." Her pleas left him stunned for words. How she could think he doesn't like her when
Liam called Eden as he made his way upstairs and was mighty relieved when Clara picked up. "Where is she?" He demanded. "She's right here, sir; I was about to call a cab for her." "No need, I'll take her home," he said. "Meet me outside; I'll bring the car around." Five minutes later, he pulled up in his Lamborghini, parking as close to the entrance as possible where Clara was doing her best to prop up a blind drunk Eden. Liam stormed out of the car and approached them, scowling at his assistant before picking Eden up and placing her in the front seat. He dumped her bag and shoes in the back and returned to the sidewalk to wait with Clara. "Jeff's almost here," she said, a wide, drunken smile flickering on her lips as she held on to the street lamp. "I'll be okay, so you can go ahead and take Ms McBride home, sir." "And leave you on your own? As wasted as you are?" Liam asked, crossing his arms. Trying to talk sense int
Eden had just returned from the breakroom with a steaming cup of tea—her last for the day—ready to wind down for the afternoon when her office phone rang. After listening for a moment or two at the voice on the other end of the line, she placed the phone back on its stand. She took several shaky breaths to calm herself before she dashed out of her office. Their meeting was bound to happen at some point; she didn't expect it to be so soon, though. How could she possibly look at Liam now when she couldn't even remember a large part of Friday night? She knew she had drunk-called him at some point during her alcohol-fueled binge. A quick check of her call records, while she sipped on Brenda's hangover cure sometime after midday on Saturday, had confirmed that much. As she weaved through the hallways, Eden tried yet again to access what seemed to be her permanently deleted memories. But the only things her foggy mind came up with were Aleks
"Did you miss me?" Liam asked. "Only like one percent," Eden mumbled absently. Her attention was now on the envelope, her eyes shining with joy as she stared at it in wonder like it was a golden ticket to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. Well, in the fashion world, it most certainly was. When Lydia showed off her ticket weeks ago, Eden was insanely envious of her. Since she's now a mom, there are things she had learned she would have to slowly let go of, like attending late-night events. But now, because of a work commitment, she'd get a front-row seat to the best fashion in the country before the general public saw it. Eden was so thrilled she wanted to shout with joy and break into a happy dance. If she wasn't in the CEO's office, she would have. But— She turned to Liam, suspicion clouding her eyes again. Why was she going as his date when he had Clara? "Shouldn't you take Clara or one of the senior as
Dazedly, Eden drifted in front of the screen and watched the news anchor report live from the N1, where three of Anderson Logistics freight trucks, en route to shipping depots in different parts of the country, were engulfed in flames, in what the police had termed a highly sophisticated attack. The reasons for the ambush, though, were still unclear. Within seconds, Liam's office door shot open. Matthew, Julian, and the other senior executives stormed in, along with their PAs, and they all held an impromptu meeting. The room was in stunning chaos for three hours as everyone lost their heads trying to do damage control. Julian was close to tears as they all watched Anderson Logistics' share prices tank on the markets. Matthew had a PR nightmare on his hands. Speculations and rumours about the attack, which was eerily similar to those that had befallen other logistics companies in recent days, were already spreading like wildfire. Every man and
Eden raced back inside the building, planning to sneak in and out of Liam's office to grab her phone. She knocked once and eased inside when she didn't get an answer. Her heart splintered in two when she found Liam on the couch, cradling his face in his hands, his shoulders sagged in defeat. He turned when he heard the door close softly behind her, his gaze darkening when their eyes locked. "I forgot my phone," Eden explained, lingering just inside, feeling like she'd intruded on a private moment. "It's here." Liam held it up in the air, and she dashed over to grab it. When she tried to reach for it, though, he grabbed her instead, and she clumsily fell on his lap. "Mr Anderson," she cried breathlessly, startled by his swift move. "Liam," he groaned, his lips hovering so close to hers she could smell the bourbon on his breath. "Liam," she said, matching his quiet tone. "I don't think I should be here." "
It rained for a week straight following the incident with the burning of the trucks, adding even more gloom to the sadness and depression that had settled over the company soon after Liam had called an emergency meeting to pay tribute to the fallen drivers. It was almost as if the heavens above felt their loss just as fiercely, and they, too, were in mourning. Incidentally, the horrid weather coincided with Gibby's departure from Anderson Logistics. By the third day, when the relentless storm showed no sign of ceasing, all the assistants on the 36th floor began to think that maybe the dark clouds and torrential rains were an omen and a sign that the older woman wasn't meant to leave. Gibby, though, as she told everyone in her farewell speech, firmly believed the rain was a blessing and a clear sign of all the wonderful things that awaited her in her next chapter and retirement. There wasn't a dry eye in the medium-sized private room at La Fami
Over the next few weeks following the burning of the trucks, Liam threw himself into his work with newfound vigour and determination, spurred on by his unyielding guilt and grief over losing three of his drivers. When he wasn't hounding the detectives about the lack of progress on the case, he was permanently on the second floor with the security team, monitoring all their freight trucks all over the country in real-time over a satellite feed. Ellie, the head of the area, was happy to have him on board for the first week but nicely asked him not to return the following week. Her guys worked far better when they were at ease. They couldn't relax with him constantly hovering over their shoulders, barking and growling instructions. With too many fires to put out, Liam didn't want to waste energy arguing with her. There were many ways to skin a cat. He demanded the technology team set up a live feed on his laptop where he could tap in at any time from the comfort