“How was your week?” Liam asked his mother after they’d sat down at the table. “Pretty fantastic, actually,” Loretta replied. Liam tried to be happy for her, but it hurt that she had been in Melbourne for a couple of weeks and he’d only seen her at Sunday lunch. At least this time Jonathon wasn’t with her. He wanted her to get to know his brother, he really did, he just wanted it on his terms. It felt like she’d forsaken him for Jonathon. In every way Jonathon was better than him; he had more money, he was more famous, he had a bigger company, he had rich and powerful friends, and now he had their mother too. Not to mention Jonathon grew up with the benefit of a father and grandparents. All Liam had was his mother and now he felt like he was losing her too. “Tell me about it,” he managed to choke out before reaching for his water glass. “It’s actually why I wanted to see you today.” Huh. He’d thought she wanted to see him just to, you know, see him. Obviously
Liam turned and stormed out of the restaurant. His chest hurt and he was so angry that he wanted to punch something. No, he wanted to punch someone. He wanted to have it out with Jonathon and trade a few blows. Even better, he wished his father was still alive so he could hit him and yell at him and tell him just how much he fucked up his life. Despite the violence he felt, more than anything, he wanted Mia. He wanted to hold her in his arms and let her soothe the ugly feelings inside him. But he couldn’t go to her. She was at her parents’ house and he wasn’t welcome. Yet another place he didn’t fit. Another family who didn’t want him. He slammed the door of his car and gunned the engine. He had nowhere to go except his empty apartment. He had no one to confide in, no one who would understand, no one who could help him sort through the ugly, messy feelings that had him tied up in knots. He drove home. He might not have somebody waiting for him but he did have a cup
She made her escape and ground her teeth together. Her mother was trying to set her up with one of her friends’ sons. And she was doing it in front of Mia’s brothers. Mia felt sorry for Jason, but it didn’t stop her from being mad. Why was Maria so determined to marry Mia off? It wasn’t like she was a burden on the family. She was financially responsible for herself and had been for the last few years. She worked hard and was taking her first steps toward her career of choice. The very last thing Mia wanted was to settle down and have a family. Okay, sure, she might like the idea of settling down with someone, but she wasn’t ready for marriage and she definitely didn’t want to be with someone who was afraid of his own shadow. She needed someone who could stand up to her brothers and her parents and not be bullied. She needed someone like Liam, who saw her worth and wanted to make sure everyone else saw her worth too. Mia shoved the flowers into one of her mother’s crystal vases and
“Mia! Mia! Get out here now!” Frankie’s loud, angry voice accompanied by heavy pounding on her door woke Mia. She groaned and rolled over, burying her head under the pillow. It was still dark and she’d only just managed to fall asleep. The very last thing she needed was a drunk Frankie on her doorstep. Hopefully, if she kept quiet enough he’d just go away. The pounding on the door came again followed closely by the pounding on the floor from Mrs. Feeney downstairs. Didn’t that woman ever sleep? Or had Frankie’s bellowing woken her? Regardless, she’d need to answer Frankie’s summons or risk being kicked out of the apartment complex. “I’m coming,” she called, throwing the sheets back and slipping her feet into slippers. She yawned as she pulled on the old flannelette shirt she used as a robe over the long t-shirt she wore as pajamas. Mia shuffled to the front door and opened it, but didn’t let Frankie in. “What the heck are you doing, moron? Trying to get me kicked out?” “If t
Frankie stormed out of the apartment, leaving her to crumple into a heap on the floor. How did this happen? Mia finally felt like her life was going in the right direction. She’d finally begun to feel like everything was coming together and the years of study and hard work were about to pay off and then this. One insecure bloody footballer who wanted to save his career more than he cared about the fallout he would create, and her life was crashing and burning before her eyes. Not to mention what damage this would do to the fledgling relationship she had with Liam. Fuck it all to hell.Mia rushed across the office floor to Liam’s closed door and knocked, not even bothering to drop her stuff at her own desk. She knew he was inside, she could practically feel his anger throb through the wooden door between them. As it was, Mia was almost fifteen minutes late to work because she’d been dodging paparazzi all morning on her way to work. It was the first time she actually wished she coul
“Carter, please let me explain,” Mia started as soon as she walked into the conference room where Carter, a stoney-faced Liam, an angry glaring Frankie, and a smug Darius waited. Mia was the last to enter the conference room thanks to the little tête-á-tête she’d had with Liam, which required a quick trip to the bathroom to fix her smudged makeup before showing her face in this meeting. Carter held his hand up to forestall Mia’s explanation. “Sit, Mia,” he said, his tone not giving anything away about how he felt about the current situation. Mia slid into her seat and tried to catch Liam’s eye but he studiously avoided her gaze. Frankie was staring daggers at Darius and Darius was scrolling through his phone ignoring everyone. “Where do I start?” Carter asked as he looked at each of them. “The blog has been gaining traction and has been getting good feedback every week. And now this.” “Carter, please let me explain. Nothing is going on between me and Darius—” “I don’t actual
Carter gave her a Cheshire cat grin. “We have designers knocking down our doors offering their services.” “What’s this year’s theme?” she asked. “Pink,” Carter grinned gleefully. “The money is going to the McGrath Foundation, specifically to their McGrath Breast Care nurses.” Mia’s mind was already running through options for Darius. The pink was only to be an accent color, so he would need to wear a white suit, but there were so many ways to introduce pink into his wardrobe. “The Playbook has an entire table,” Carter went on to say. “So that means all of you, plus the rest of the guys.” “What about dates?” Darius asked. “I can’t turn up stag.” “Well, Mia will obviously be your date,” Carter said. “Frankie, you can bring a date too, and with Peyton as Flynn’s date, that fills the table.” “Are we done here?” Liam said, standing to his feet. “Sure,” Carter said. “I’ll email you the list of designers and you can make appointments to see them this week.” Liam walked out
Yeah, he thought to himself. Why don’t you explain to Carter exactly why you’re pissed off about getting exactly what you wanted? “Increased readership, a higher profile, more money…they were the goal, right?” Carter asked, sitting in the chair opposite Liam’s desk. “Isn’t this exactly what you need to show Jonathon what a big boy you’ve grown into?” “Fuck you,” Liam retorted. “I wanted to earn Jonathon’s respect on my own terms. Instead, you’ve turned us into clickbait.” Liam stilled. “You did this, didn’t you? You had someone following Darius and Mia to what? Catch them in a compromising position?” Carter’s reply was a smug smile. “You are such a fucking arsehole. I thought you were my friend.” “I am your friend. I did this for you.” “No, you fucking did this for your own selfish interests. You screwed me over for your own agenda.” “A rising tide lifts all boats, Liam. What is good for you is good for all of us in the long run. Increased readership translates across th