Begin Again novel Chapter 195

Liam called his PR team as soon as he hung up from his parents and summoned them to the penthouse. He'd have to meet with them after the board meeting at 10:00 AM.

It was still way too early to call Linda. She didn't start seeing patients before eight. But it didn't stop him from calling her cellphone.

"Really, Liam, couldn't this wait until I get to the office at least?"

She sounded hopping mad. Not an unreasonable reaction considering most people hate being bombarded with demands and questions first thing in the morning. And that's exactly what he did the minute she picked up.

"No, Linda, it couldn't wait!" He snapped right back at her. "Now, was there a security breach at your office or what? Were your patient files compromised in any way? Was my file compromised?"

There was a long pause on his therapist's end, and Liam could almost see the cogs in her overworked brain moving very slowly.

"Linda!" He growled, demanding some reaction from her.

"Why are you asking this? Of course, there wasn't any breach!"

"Did you see today's headlines?"

She hadn't. But she planned to put him on hold for a moment or two while she caught up on the day's news.

"Do you mind?" She asked.

Liam didn't. Now that his three-week-long business trip had been shelved and he didn't have a 09:00 AM flight to catch, he had a lot of time on his hands.

"Oh, Liam," she murmured when she came back to him three minutes later. "I'm so sorry. I know how you didn't want people to know—"

Liam quickly jumped in before she could drown him with more platitudes. He'd waded through enough of his parents'.

"Now, Linda, is there a chance that my file was compromised?"

His therapist swore up and down that all her electronic files were encrypted and stored on a very costly but reputable cloud service to keep them safe, and the chances of the highly secure servers being hacked were slim to none.

Liam found her words comforting, but he couldn't relax. "What about the notes. The four journals you've kept over the years?"

"You know I lock them away in my cabinet, and only I have access to the key, and I keep it on a chain around my neck and tuck it in my bra—"

"Too much info Linda!" Liam groaned at the mental image she'd created with her words.

"Sorry—" She said, and he found himself relaxing at the sound of the smile in her voice. "I promise you, Liam, the leak didn't come from my side. It has to be someone close to you. Eden—"

"Don't," he gritted his teeth as he warned her softly. "Don't you dare suggest it!"

"Well, she is the only one who knows the reasons for your visits, and that one comment on Dirt's website is too close to the truth—"

"She'd never do that. What reason could she possibly have?" Liam pushed away from the counter and began pacing the length of the kitchen.

He paused in front of the window, struck breathless by the sight unfolding in front of him as the sun rose on the horizon and painted the sky a bright orange-pinkish colour. This was the first time in a long time he had watched the sun rise. He was always at the office around this time, with his nose buried deep in the ever-increasing reports and business proposals—

"—I'm just saying it's possible she unwittingly overshared with someone. One of her friends, maybe." Linda pulled him away from the window, his gut clenching at her words.

No way, Liam shook his head.

Sure, Eden's best friend worked for the very same gossip rag running with his therapy story.

But not his Princess.

She wouldn't.

"Thanks, Linda," he muttered and hung up, not giving her any more room to mess with his head and shake his faith in Eden.

He sat down at the counter, pulled the laptop close to him and opened up his notes app to jot down a very short list of names.

He scratched off the first three: Princess, Matt, Julian.

And he was left with two names—

Aiden fussing in his room through the baby monitor yanked him away from his fact-finding mission, and he raced upstairs to attend to him before he woke Eden up.

He found him in his crib, one foot over the rail as if he was attempting a prison break.

They both paused and stared at each other for what felt like the longest two minutes as Liam held his breath, praying his son wouldn't start screaming like he had last night.

Surprisingly, Aiden waved at him as he dropped his leg from the rail and smiled at him sweetly. "Hello."

"Hi," Liam smiled back as he crossed the room and stopped in front of the cot. "You know you're not supposed to do that, right? And now you're bribing me with your smile!"

Aiden laughed his little head off like he understood everything he'd

said.

Liam hesitated for a second or so before he reached down and scooped him out of the crib. "You remember me, Kool-Aid? I'm your dad."

"Hello," he waved again. "Dad."

"You slept okay?" Liam asked and kissed his hair. Aiden squirmed a little, but he didn't scream like he expected. Tears shimmered brightly in his big eyes, though, and not even two seconds later, his bottom lip trembled, and he broke into soft wails.

"Mom? Brenda?"

"Brenda's not here."

And that was not the answer Aiden wanted to hear. His gentle cries turned into disgruntled screams in a matter of seconds.

"Hush now, baby," he cooed at him gently. "Brenda's not here, but your mom is. Let's go check on her."

Aiden nodded amidst his tearful sighs as Liam carried him to the master bedroom and placed him on the bed beside a still-sleeping Eden. "See, there she is, the most beautiful mom in the world."

Ever so gently, his mini-me kissed Eden on the cheek and patted her hair before turning to him. "She's sleeping!"

"Yeah, she is."

Now that he'd confirmed his mom was still around and hadn't left him, Liam could see a visible change in his son. He was still wary but a little more amiable as he followed him around while he picked up the clothes strewn on the floor and tidied up the room a little.

They were still eating when Dave walked through the front door with an armload of groceries.

"Mr Anderson," his butler screeched excitedly as he dumped the bags on the counter.

His meltdown and the stunt with the barstool earlier was a thing of the past, and Liam knew the forgiveness he'd earned so quickly had everything to do with his mini version sitting beside him.

"So this is the little one. He looks just like you, Sir." Dave said as he hunched down and tried to take Aiden's hand.

Before Liam could warn him not to, Aiden was already on his lap and holding on to his neck for dear life with his little arms, his tiny body shaking violently while he screamed his head off.

"No, Dad!" He wailed on his chest, and Liam spent a very long time assuring him he's safe and Dave wasn't a bad man trying to snatch him away.

"I'm so sorry, Dave," he apologised to the butler when Aiden had calmed down some. "He's still getting used to everything. He's still cautious around me as well, so don't take it to heart."

"Of course, Sir," Dave nodded and returned to the kitchen to pack away the groceries.

"I should warn you," his voice sounded muffled as he called out from inside one of the cupboards. "A few reporters are camping outside the estate in Willow Hills. I asked security to take care of them. But they couldn't because they aren't breaking the law."

"Thanks, Dave," Liam murmured as he rocked Aiden in his arms. The bloodhounds were the least of his problem.

"Dave—"

"Yes, Sir?"

"What do babies eat? We don't have anything for Aiden to eat," he said, a deep frown creasing his forehead. "I mean, I didn't expect to bring him home last night, and I gave him cornflakes right now, but he only drank the milk. Should I go and get something? What do I even get—"

He would have slipped into a full-blown panic if Dave didn't step in and reel him in quickly.

His butler placed his hands at his sides and shook him gently. "Relax, Sir. Babies eat anything their mom's give them. I'm sure the missus will know what to give him when she wakes up."

"But what if he wakes up again before she does? What do I then? What do I feed him."

Dave laughed and shook his head. "He's a baby, not a gremlin. He won't wake up and start demanding food."

Liam knew his words were meant to comfort him, but they left him feeling even more unsettled and made him realise how painfully underprepared and ill-equipped he was for fatherhood. He knew nothing about being a dad, and so far, his experience with babies only extended to the daycare centre at Anderson Logistics. Even then, his contact with the children was very limited.

"If you aren't sure what to do, just ask the missus," Dave offered his pearls of wisdom once again.

"One last thing, what's a 'nemo'?" He asked.

The older man gave him a blank stare and shrugged. "I don't know. Is it important?"

"I think so," Liam nodded. But he'd have to figure it out later. He had to prepare for both the board and PR meetings.

He checked his emails for the agenda notes, and his anger sparked to life again. Even though he'd explained the stuff with his therapy and Ivanov to his parents, both issues were on the high priority list.

"He's out, Sir. Do you want me to take him upstairs?" Dave offered, nodding at Aiden snuggling on his chest.

"That's okay. I'll put him down in a bit." He murmured as he sent one more email to Clara, letting her know he'd attend the meeting virtually.

With work out of the way for the moment, Liam returned upstairs, laid Aiden down in his cot and went to take a shower to begin what he knew was going to be the longest day he's had in a while.