Chasing Shadows (First Wives #3)(33)

An hour and a half later they were at Pug’s, settled in a back booth.

“I think your client would be an idiot not to remodel that house and get as much as he can for it.”

Liam had given her an estimate with a lot of zeros.

“That’s what I came up with. The real estate agent I spoke with is already encouraging the owner to fix the place up.”

“Does he have the capital to do the work?”

Avery thought the question was comical. “There’s enough wealth inside the house to renovate it three times over. If he didn’t have money in the bank, and I’m sure he does, he could wait for the auctions to close to fund the job. I don’t think it’s about money as much as it is painful memories in the house.”

“That’s too bad. It looks like it could have been a great place to grow up.”

“Looks can be deceiving.”

“You say that like you know the feeling.”

“I do. If something happened to my parents tomorrow, I’d hire someone like me to do the work and get rid of that house as soon as I could.”

“That bad?”

“I never measured up to my parents. I didn’t follow the rules as a teenager, bucked the private schools they shoved me into. The therapist they made me see said I was looking for their positive attention. Which as an adult I can completely agree with, but it didn’t work. Eventually all I seemed to do was hurt myself instead of them.”

Liam reached a hand out and covered hers. “I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault.”

“I can’t imagine not having parents who adore their children and shower them with affection.”

“One lunch with my parents and you’ll know what that looks like.”

Liam ran the pad of his thumb over the inside of her palm. “I look forward to it.”

“That wasn’t an invitation.”

He rubbed a little harder. “Sounded like it to me.”

It was distracting . . . this thumb rubbing, hand-holding thing he was doing.

“I already told you I’m not the kind of woman you date.”

He stopped rubbing until she met his eyes.

“And why is that, Avery? Are you afraid the affection you seek won’t be reciprocated, like from your parents?”

His words were uncomfortably accurate.

She pulled her hand out from under his.

Liam’s smile faded. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

One vertebra at a time, Avery’s spine sat taller and her defiant chin came up. “That would have hurt more if there wasn’t a sprinkling of truth.”

“Still wasn’t my place to say it. I’m sorry.”

He looked it.

It was time to make damn sure Liam knew who he was trying to date.

“I was married.”

He kept his eyes focused. “Are you now?”

“No.”

“Then I don’t care.”

“Even my ex-husband will tell you I married him for his money.”

Liam kept silent, eyes straight.

“When we split, I was given five million dollars and my condo.”

“Did your ex end up on the street?”

She smiled, not helping herself. The thought of Bernie on the street, wearing Armani and holding a cardboard sign, made her laugh. “Not hardly.”

“Everyone has a past.”

“I snore.” Which was once true, but after the nose job, not so much.

“Like a trucker. You told me.” Liam sat forward and placed both hands over hers and held them tight. “Now let’s talk about this friend’s wedding.”



It was Liam’s turn to scramble. “You sure you have Cassandra covered for your shift on Saturday?”

Michelle stood in the doorway of his bedroom, watching as he packed for the weekend.

“We’re good.”

Liam zipped up a garment bag carrying a suit. He owned two, one for the occasional wedding or funeral, and the other he used when meeting with the city or client functions required more than a shirt and jeans.

“Is it an outdoor wedding?”

“I have no idea.”

“Do you know the bride or groom?”

“Nope. Friends of Avery’s.”

Michelle crossed her arms over her chest. “How did you end up getting a ticket on the same flight?”

Liam closed the suitcase and zipped it up. “Avery said there were extra seats. I’m guessing that means they’d booked them for people that can’t come.”

“Sounds fancy.”

It did. But he wasn’t backing out now. Not when he’d finally managed to have Avery add him as her plus-one.

He looked at the time and pulled out his phone to order an Uber to the airport.

“I can drive you.”

“This is fine. You’ll get stuck in traffic coming back.”

He gathered his luggage and kissed his sister’s cheek. Out in the living room, Cassandra jumped off the couch to hug his leg. “Bring me back some cake.”

He kissed the top of her head. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Without any more fanfare, his niece peeled herself off his leg and returned to the dolls she was playing with.