Damon Kingsley, Theo’s older cousin, had been a family friend for years, and he’d been another one of those key people to come through for me after my parents had died. I considered his words. The only problem was, Damon had no idea what I was dealing with because the Kingsleys werenew money. He wasn’t from my world, where things were run more quiet and powerful, where there were decade-old agreements practically drawn up inblood. He didn’t know how deep the old-money conflicts ran. It was a fucking nightmare. One I intended to avoid at all costs.
“I’m going to head back and shower.” I told Liam. “Meet you for lunch?”
“Yeah... see you there.” He grumbled and didn’t look up.
I paused. “What’s up?” He looked up at the ceiling in exasperation, phone in hand, and I caught Gina’s name on his text screen. “Everything going okay with the Mrs?” I asked.
“Not exactly.”
“Want to talk about it?” I stretched my shoulder, rotating it in a slow, wide circle.
“I don’t know if there’s going to be anything to talk about soon.” A wary look passed over his expression.
“What’s going on?” I asked genuinely concerned. They’d been on the road to marriage for sometime now, though I supposed if he hadn’t popped the question, maybe there was a good reason for it.
His phone rang, and Gina’s contact card popped up. “I’ve gotta take this,” Liam shot me an apologetic look.
“Do your thing. See you at lunch.”
At the lounge inside the Vandenbergh Hotel, I dug into my usual Cobb salad with extra steak and extra shrimp, all while my heart broke for my best friend—because Liam looked so defeated, so hopeless, as he explained that him and Gina were on the verge of breaking up. He was already on his third drink, words growing less articulated by the minute, as he desperately struggled not to fall apart.
“I don’t know, I feel like I’m slowly losing her.She’sbusy with work,I’mbusy with work, and the long distance is taking its toll—it was just supposed to be temporary, but it’s not. We started down two separate paths without even realizing it, and I have no idea how the hellto find my way back.”
“Maybe you’ve both grown into different people.” I said quietly. “A lot has changed for you both since college.”
“Maybe, but we’re great together.”Liam pushed the food around on his plate, voice nearly breaking. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this—we were supposed to—I was gonna—” He shook his head and threw his fork down in disgust. “I was waiting until she moved back, because that’s what we’d discussed, but now she’s not moving back, and I’ve hadthisfucking thing sitting in my sock drawer forthree years.” He reached into the pocket of his suit jacket, and my shoulders sagged as he softly seta ring boxon the table.
I stared at that little velvet box, knowing whatever laid inside was a sparkly representation of Liam’s hopes and dreams.
Liam pinched the bridge of his nose as his voice caught. “It doesn’t even matter. I can’t give her what she wants—what sheneeds, and at the end of the day, I just want her to be happy. Even if that doesn’t include me anymore.” He sighed heavily, eyes shuttered. “But I waited because she asked me to.”
“I’m so sorry, Liam.” I murmured.
He loosed a heavy breath, jaw flexing for a long moment before he finally murmured, “I’m sorry, we don’t have to talk about this anymore.”
I desperately wished there was something I could do for him, but there wasn’t. “Don’t be sorry, I wish you would have talked to me about this sooner, especially after the year you’ve had. How are you doing with all that?” I asked cautiously, knowing there was never a good time to bring these things up.
“It fucking sucks. I can hardly sleep. My father is God knows where these days. Work is a fucking nightmare. I’ve hardly had time to slow down and process everything.” He huffed a heavy sigh. “It’s just been one thing after another, but I’m hanging in there, really I am. It’s Sara I’m worried about. She’s back at school, and I hardly ever hear from her—after what happened in the spring, I’m just worried about her all the damn time.”
I shook my head knowing he was right, Sara was an expert atkeeping everyone at arm’s length, and she’d onlybarelystarted opening up to me again—even in the midst of his heartbreak, Liam was still taking care of everyone else, but I sensed he was changing the subject, so I let him.
“Have you seen her lately?” I asked casually, trying my best to keep my tone even. “Sara?”
“No, but she’ll be in town on Sunday.”
“Any reason in particular?” I quickly realized he had no idea about her art show tomorrow, and in light of everything, that fucking sucked. “It’s not winter break yet.”
He shrugged. “Same as you and me, I guess. Sometimes you just need to be home.”
Shit, why hadn’t Sara told him about her exhibition? The only reasonIknew was because Sloane had texted me, and thank God she had. It was Sara’s first completed series since losing her mother, and her first ever gallery showing. It was a huge accomplishment, and I was extremely proud of her for it.
I stabbed at a piece of steak, wondering if I should say something to Liam, becauseI knewhe’d want to be there for her, but the last thing I wanted was to betray Sara’s trust. Not to mention Liam would be hurt if it came from me anyway.What a mess.
I hoped maybe she was planning to tell him when she got here, but I honestly doubted it. So I bit my tongue and said nothing, knowingIwas already showing up uninvited. There was a good chance that was going to blow up in my face anyway.
After lunch, I drove home, dropping Liam off at his family manor, and we ended up playing video games until the early hours of the morning. The more we talked, I could tell Liam was still holding on for dear life, even though his relationship was clearly at an end. I knew the timing of this impending breakup couldn’t have come at a worse time for him. Losing his mom, working on his restaurant on top of his other responsibilities, attempting tomaintain a long distance relationship, it was a lot by anyone’s standards.
“I’m just gonna sleep down here.” Liam said, half asleep on the couch already, and I realized that was his way of saying goodnight. It’d taken all night, but he’d basically polished off the entire fifth of whisky by himself. Now the empty bottle was shoved between the couch cushions next to him, as he slung an arm over his eyes, hiding the damp on his cheeks.
