LOGINAmanda's house hit Liam like a wave the second we stepped through the door, noise coming from three directions at once, a dog barking somewhere upstairs, Zoe's voice cutting over all of it."You're here," Zoe announced, appearing in the hallway like she'd been waiting behind the door the entire time. "Mom said you might not come.""I said he might get held up at work," Amanda called from the kitchen. "Different thing entirely."Liam stood very still in the entryway, a bottle of wine held slightly out in front of him like an offering he wasn't sure would be accepted."Thank you for having me," he said, formal in a way that made Zoe tilt her head at him like he was a strange new species."Do you always talk like that?" Zoe asked."Zoe," Amanda warned, appearing behind her with a dish towel over one shoulder."It's a fair question," Liam said, surprising all of us. "I don't have a good answer for it."Zoe seemed to accept this as a reasonable response and grabbed his hand without asking
I met Amanda at our usual coffee place, the one near her house with the mismatched chairs and the window that never quite closed all the way, already rehearsing in my head how I'd bring up Liam without making it sound like a headline.She beat me to it before I'd even taken off my jacket."So," Amanda said, sliding a coffee across the table toward me before I'd even sat down. "You and Liam. Official official."I stopped halfway into my chair. "How do you already know that?""Zoe," Amanda said, entirely unbothered, like this was the most obvious thing in the world. "She saw a photo on my phone from some office party thing. Cake, balloons, a man with his hand on your back looking very pleased with himself. She asked why you looked so happy in it, and I didn't have a good answer for her.""That was supposed to be a private celebration.""Nina, nothing with a betting pool attached is private," Amanda said, laughing into her cup. "Half the building probably has that photo saved somewhere b
I called Elena on a Sunday afternoon, mostly to hear her voice and complain about the weather, nothing more serious than that."Tell me something good," Elena said, the sound of Italy behind her, dishes clinking somewhere in her kitchen. "I need a distraction. Marco's been rearranging the pantry for two hours.""That sounds important.""He alphabetized the spices, Nina. There is nothing important happening here."I laughed, sitting down on the couch with my knees pulled up, the phone warm against my ear."How's work?" Elena asked. "Still surviving Liam Ashford and his impossible schedule?"There it was, an easy opening if I wanted one."Actually," I said, "we're serious now. Officially. There was paperwork."Silence on the other end, just long enough to make me nervous."Paperwork," Elena repeated."HR disclosure. Conflict of interest forms. It was very romantic.""Nina." Her voice had changed completely, warm and a little unsteady. "You're telling me this like it's a footnote.""I'm
We turned our phones off for most of Saturday, an actual agreement made the night before, sealed with a handshake Liam had insisted on for no reason other than to make me laugh."No Sophie Marsh," he said, setting his phone face down on the counter."No board members," I added."No gala planning.""No Drew," I said, doing the same with mine."Especially no Drew," Liam agreed, sliding my phone a few inches further away from me, as if distance alone might keep the world out for a day.We spent the morning at the diner where I used to work, the one Kevin had once run before everything with him fell apart. The new owner had repainted the booths a cheerful yellow that made the whole place feel like it belonged to someone else entirely now, though the smell of the coffee was exactly the same."You used to bring me coffee here," Liam said, sliding into the booth across from me. "Before any of this started. Before I even knew your last name.""You used to overtip out of guilt," I said. "I alw
Ralph turned the laptop the rest of the way around so we could see the whole screen, not just the corner of it."Sophie Marsh," he read aloud. "Personal email, but I traced the device it usually connects from. Company wifi. Fourth floor."I stared at the name, waiting for it to mean something, and then it did."That's Camilla's old assistant," I said slowly.Liam went very still beside me. "She works for the board now. One of the members brought her over after Camilla left.""So she still has access to things," Amy said quietly. "And still has a reason not to like you.""This could be Drew," Ralph said. "Using her because nobody would think to look at her.""Or it's just her," Amy said. "People don't always need someone else's reasons."Liam picked up his own phone, already dialing before he'd finished speaking. "Patricia needs to hear this tonight, not tomorrow."Patricia answered on the second ring, and even through the speaker I could hear her sit up straighter once Liam explained
I found Liam in the kitchen when I got home, and instead of saying anything, I just handed him my phone.He read the message slowly, his thumb pausing over the screen like he wanted to read it twice before he let himself react."When did this come in?" he asked, setting the phone down on the counter between us instead of keeping it in his hand."Right after the reassignment. In the stairwell."He was quiet for a moment, and I watched him do something I wasn't used to seeing from him. He waited."What do you want to do?" Liam asked finally.I looked at him, surprised. "You're not going to tell me what you think first?""I used to," he admitted. "I'm trying not to anymore. You asked me for that. I'm listening."Something in my chest loosened, small and quiet, the kind of relief that didn't need to announce itself."I want to figure out who sent it," I said. "Before anything else happens.""Then we figure it out."We called Ralph and Amy that same evening, no official meeting, just the f
The familiar vibration of my phone pulled me out of the first peaceful sleep I had had in days. It danced on the wooden nightstand, clashing with the smooth melodies of Frank Sinatra's voice drifting somewhere nearby. It all felt like I was in a dreamland but with someone banging on my head to wak
LATER THAT DAY“What do you mean you can’t make it?” I asked, knowing fully well I wanted her to hear the disappointment in my voice.On the other end, Amanda sighed. “Nina, I’m so sorry. Kayla had homework. I sat down to help her and completely lost track of time. I should’ve called earlier to let
The loud movement downstairs dragged me the hell out of sleep.At first, I thought I was dreaming when I kept hearing voices and strange sounds in my head. The sounds came muffled through the wooden floors, persistent enough to keep tugging at my consciousness until I finally decided to open my eye
“Wait a minute. Isn’t that the boss’s wife sitting right there?”My ears heard those words despite the loud music playing while I sat still with my glass of champagne in my hand. Honestly, it took a lot for me not to turn my head in their direction.I sat alone at one of the VIP tables watching cam







