Chapter 125

Mia

I dismissed the thought of my brother and Matt from my mind and headed into the bathroom to shower. When I was done, dressed in a lovely loose, long-sleeved blouse and trousers, my makeup lightly done, since my bruised skin was still too sensitive, I headed out the door.

I found Savannah sitting on my bed, waiting for me.

“Hey,” I said. “Sorry, I think I might have overslept a little.”

Savannah chuckled. “No worries. I did that this morning as well. I was so tired.”

I nodded. Of course, her having found out about my kidnapping had really scared her, and the whole situation must have exhausted her. Now that I was safe and sound, everything had just kind of caught up to her. I didn’t miss the dark circles under her eyes, either.

I was so moved by the fact that she had been so good to me, especially since we had only been friends for a short time, that I gave her a tight hug again. “Thank you for coming all the way here and helping out.”

“It’s fine, Mia,” Savannah said. “You’re my friend, after all.”

I chuckled. “Yes, and I’d do the same for you. You know, be there for you. So if anything happened to you or if you need help, just tell me, all right?”

Savannah chuckled as she nodded in agreement. I must have looked so adamant. “All right. Thanks, Mia.”

A moment later, we left the bedroom together and headed downstairs. When we entered the living area, a loud cheer went up, and I chuckled in delight. Everyone was there: James, Aria, Scott, Eric, Matt, William, and my brother Andy. Not to mention Ms. Lane the housekeeper as well as the cook and housemaids. Of course, there were Sammy and Alfie as well, barking loudly in greeting.

The night was a blur, with lots of laughter and drinking and food. I would say the welcome home party planned by Aria was indeed a success, and to be honest, I had never felt so happy and had so much fun in my life.

It was around half past eleven that evening when Aria, Savannah, and I were about to head upstairs to begin our girls-only slumber party in Aria’s bedroom.

Ms. Lane appeared at the door and announced, “Mr. Maxwell is here.”

I didn’t miss the fact that her voice was a little shaky, which surprised me.

Mr. Maxwell? Suddenly, it hit me. She meant Liam Maxwell, James’ father. I started panicking, and apparently, I wasn’t alone.

Eric swore loudly, “Fuck!”

Suddenly, the man I had heard so much about, the powerful man who had fathered three hot, amazing sons appeared at the door like a king making his grand entrance.

Liam Maxwell—a striking man with silver fox hair, angular face, sharp eyes, and tall, lean body in an expensive Italian suit—strolled into the room as everyone watched.

“Grandpa!” Aria shrieked cheerfully, breaking the ice of silence that had only descended moments before.

The man chuckled in delight as he opened his arms wide for his granddaughter. Aria excitedly ran to him, and Liam lifted her up. Then he kissed her on the cheeks, and she returned those kisses on his wrinkled cheeks, too.

“So how are you doing, my love?” he asked, his eyes twinkling.

“I’m good, Grandpa,” Aria said, grinning from ear to ear. “I’ve missed you so much. You haven’t been to visit for ages.”

The man chuckled again. “Grandpa has work to do,” he said. “Sorry about that, sweetheart.”

Aria giggled. “You’re forgiven ’cause you’re here now.” She kissed him on the cheek again.

Liam said, “You know what? I have presents for you.”

Aria asked excitedly, “Really? Yay!”

Liam nodded. “From Japan.”

Aria said, “Can we go and get them now? Can we, Grandpa? Can we, please?”

Liam nodded as he put her down. “Eric.” He turned to his youngest son. “Why don’t you help bring in the presents.”

“Yeah.” Eric turned to Aria. “Come on, darling.” Hand in hand, uncle and niece left the room.

I thought about going after them to help since I knew there’d be quite a haul, based upon the last time Aria had received presents from both Scott and Eric. It must have been a Maxwell thing to lavish Aria, the only girl in the family, with gifts. But then James caught my wrist, stopping me from moving an inch.

I was a little confused, but then I realized Liam was standing right in front of me. If I were to move, I would have bumped into him.

I raised my eyes to look at the great man. Up close, he was indeed intimidating. Tall, lean, dark features, and definitely a Maxwell. I noted he had those Prussian-blue eyes, which James had inherited.

“So you’re Mia Donovan,” he said, his gaze scrutinizing me, which made my heart race. Maybe just a little.

I nodded. “Hi,” I said. “And you must be Mr. Liam Maxwell.”

He cocked his head to one side and said, “Yes, I am.”

I smiled brightly, my heart now calming. “That explains why you look just like James. You behave just like him, too. Very intimidating upon first meeting.”

Suddenly, Scott burst out laughing, and I wondered why. When I looked at James beside me, he too was grinning as if he found something rather amusing. And of course, Matt and William did the same. Savannah looked worried.

I licked my lips and then asked no one in particular, “Did I say something wrong?”

Liam said, “So I look like my son, eh?”

That was when I realized I’d phrased it wrong. But instead of apologizing and rephrasing the words or explaining my meaning, I said, “But you do.”

With a dark look in his eyes, Liam leaned forward, his face so close I could feel the warmth of his breath fanning my skin. I was surprised I didn’t even flinch or, worse, scramble away like a mouse being chased by a cat. Instead, I just stood there and stared at him. Perhaps it was because he looked so much like James that he didn’t scare me, despite his intimidating demeanor.

“You’re not scared of me?”

I shook my head. “No.”

He seemed displeased at my answer and even asked, “Why the hell not?”

I licked my lower lip and gently pushed my hair behind my ear. “Because James is here with me, and he won’t let you hurt me.” God, I sounded confident, didn’t I?

Scott chuckled in amusement.

Liam shifted his gaze to James beside me. The two men locked eyes for a moment, which kind of freaked me out because I thought they were going to start some sort of father versus son fight, considering neither seemed to be backing away or showing any sign of forfeit.

But then Liam returned his attention to me and suddenly touched me, his fingers about my chin. He tilted my face up a little and inspected me thoroughly. “Yet you have bruises all over your face.”

I knew what he meant and said, “Well, what happened to my face didn’t really have anything to do with James. The man responsible was from my past, and he—”

“He’s dead now,” James said darkly.

Liam said, “I see. Did you make sure the bastard got what he deserved?”

James nodded.

“You’ve been through quite a bit, haven’t you, young lady?” Suddenly, Liam leaned even closer and kissed me on the forehead, which surprised me. I then felt the tense atmosphere dissipating around us.

Before he moved away, he said, “If James upsets you, come to me, and I’ll make sure to give him a good beating.” He even winked.

I was stunned, of course.

Liam then moved over to James, and the two men hugged.

“Dad,” James said. “So I’ve heard you’ve been messing around in Japan. What the hell is going on?”

Liam chuckled. “You’ll find out soon enough,” he said before moving on to hug Scott, too. Then he greeted Matt and William and, of course, the nervous Savannah.

By then, Eric and Aria had returned, along with Ms. Lane and two other maids, arms loaded with presents. I wasn’t surprised. They dumped the various boxes in the middle of the room, and Aria excitedly started unwrapping them. There were many soft toys, along with cute dresses, costumes, and figurines.

Twenty minutes later, after Aria thanked her grandfather profusely, we girls headed up the stairs for the night, taking along her presents, leaving the men to socialize and talk business.