Begin Again novel Chapter 139

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 shit, she reached up and kissed him hard.

Stunned by the unexpected smooch, for a mind-numbing second, Liam didn't know how to react, amazed even more that he still felt nothing for her. No warmth. No rush of blood to his dick. Nothing.

"Mr Anderson—"

The sound of Eden clearing her throat behind them snapped him out of his inertia. He pulled away from Laura, well aware things were not looking good for him as he turned around to face her.

"Oh, Eden, it's so good to see you again!" His ex smiled sweetly at Eden like they were old friends who hadn't seen each other in years, making no attempt to move away from his side.

The weight of what she had just done hit Liam hard. She had kissed him on purpose. Not because she wanted him or missed him. But to create doubt in Eden and mess with her head.

For the first time in three years, Liam saw her for what she truly was—the viper his cousins had always warned him about—and he wanted to throttle her. But he was above laying his hands on a woman. So he stood there, looking guilty as fuck, and watched the mangled train wreck unfold.

"Laura," Eden returned the smile before turning to him. "I'm sorry to interrupt—"

"You're not interrupting anything, Princess," he murmured, silently pleading with her not to read too much into what she had witnessed. But the anger and hurt he saw shimmering bright in her russet pools told him Laura had succeeded in her mission.

She continued, holding his gaze steadily. "Mr Randolph's ready to make the amendments to the contract, Sir, and he needs you back inside."

"I'm right behind you," Liam said, painfully aware that his perfect night had just gone up in flames. He really should have pushed Laura away when he had the chance. Now he had hurricane Eden to contend with, and it was the last thing he needed, especially after their hot encounter in the restroom.

Eden threw him a slight nod and turned on her heel, but not before she wished Laura a pleasant evening.

As Liam watched her make her way back inside the restaurant, her head held high, her movements graceful, he couldn't help but be proud of her for holding on to her composure, especially in the face of Laura's dirty tricks.

Turning back to his ex when they were alone again, his nostrils flared, he barked. "What the hell was that?"

"I'm sorry, they still don't know we broke up, Li," Laura said, grinning like a Cheshire cat. She wasn't sorry at all.

"You know damn well I'm referring to the kiss. You did that on purpose because you knew Eden was there, and you wanted to mess with her head, right?" Liam said.

He didn't give her room to argue. He pushed her aside once again and headed back inside the restaurant.

When he returned to their table, Randolph was on a long call and Eden was deeply engrossed in another one of Kayla's dramatic recollections.

She tensed up the moment he took his seat beside her, but he still reached for her hand under the table anyway, and she promptly swatted his away.

Unwilling to give up, Liam kept trying until she gave in, and for a little while, he absently played with the charms on her bracelet, thinking about the sun charm representing Aiden's father. And not for the first since Eden told Linda about the origins of the bracelet, he wondered if he's the sun—

"—I'm sorry about that," Randolph cleared his throat as he returned his attention to the table, cutting through Liam's thoughts.

For over an hour, over their Irish coffees, they worked on the contract amendments. There were quite a few clauses that both men were not happy with, and they decided to go back to the drawing board with their respective legal teams before proceeding with the signing.

"I'll wait to hear from your team, Anderson," Randolph said much later outside the restaurant as they shook hands again before he and Kayla vanished inside a sleek white Bentley.

Eden was on her phone, requesting an Uber, when Liam went back inside.

"Cancel it," he told her as he held out his hand to her. "I'll take you home."

"No thanks!" She picked up her clutch and rapidly made her way out of La Famiglia while he settled the bill.

Liam caught up with her outside as she was about to get into the Uber and nicely asked the driver to leave, slamming the door shut before she could slip inside.