LIAM WANTED TO KNOW what the hell was going on. All afternoon, Cecily ignored his texts and phone calls. Sure, she’d been distant and odd that morning, but now, as he stood on her porch, ringing her buzzer and finding no answer, he was beginning to think something was very, very wrong. He glanced up at her window, and saw her cat, Tripp, in the window, flicking his tail and looking serene. Though her cat wasn’t likely to tell him if something was wrong. He had a flash of a million dire emergencies. Cecily fainting and hitting her head. Cecily getting hit by a car on her way home. All of them, somehow, with Cecily on the ground, unresponsive.
He tamped down the panic. She was probably fine. She was probably just mad at him. But why? He’d proposed. He thought she’d been happy about that. As he glanced at her door, wondering if he should try to get in somehow, check to make sure she wasn’t sprawled on her apartment floor, his phone rang. He yanked it out of his back jean pocket but was disappointed to see Wilder calling. He thought about sending it to voice mail, but then thought this couldn’t be a coincidence.
“Hello?” he answered, tentative.
“Cecily really loves you,” Wilder said without preamble.
“Well, no shit,” Liam grumbled, but he wasn’t feeling the love right at this moment as he glanced at Tripp in her window. Where was she? Deliberately ignoring him? Or hurt and needing him in an ER somewhere?
“She came by today.”
All the warning lights in Liam’s brain clicked on at once. “And?”
“And she tried to convince me not to give you the money for her surgery.”
“What?” What the hell? “Did you listen to her?”
“I did. I told her I’d do as she asked.”
Liam felt a sliver of ice slice through his belly. “You can’t do that.”
“Well, I can,” Wilder pointed out. And here it was, Liam thought. One more time Wilder would disappoint him, one more time Wilder would fail him when he needed him most. Wilder took a deep breath on the other end of the line. “But, I won’t.”
“Wait. I don’t understand.”
“If you come back to the family, you’ll be eligible for your inheritance.”
“What inheritance? I thought you stole it.”
“I’m the trustee. Your money is still there, Liam. I tried to tell you before. You didn’t want to listen because you hated that I was in charge.”
“Maybe that was true. Or maybe I just hated what money did to this family.” Liam had never wanted to listen to anything Wilder had to say. Liam also knew he’d spent years punishing his brother for a crime that maybe his brother hadn’t committed.
“I get it. I do. Money can corrupt people. I told Cecily you’d be a millionaire, if you came back to the family.”
“And?” Liam felt his stomach twist a little. Even now part of him worried she’d change her mind. Like so many other women he knew, that the money would make a difference.
“And she told me she wasn’t interested. She just wanted to make sure that you didn’t sacrifice your principles because of her. That’s why she doesn’t want the money.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Liam sputtered. But then again, it did sound like Cecily. “I’d do anything so she could get this surgery.”
“About that,” Wilder said, voice turning somber. “She’s really worried it might not work. She’s worried that she’s going to die and break your heart. She doesn’t want to do that to you.”
“She doesn’t get to decide what I risk,” Liam said.
“You might want to tell her that.” For the first time in a very long time, Liam felt like Wilder was the older brother he always hoped he would be. That maybe he’d been wrong. Maybe there was more to Wilder than just greed. “Oh, and Cecily is a good woman. A very good woman. You’ve done well there.” He paused. “And just so you know, I’m proud of you, brother.”
He stood stock-still on the sidewalk outside Cecily’s apartment, processing what he just heard. His half brother was proud of him. He’d never known until right at that moment that his half brother’s approval had even been something he’d wanted. But, he realized he did. Somewhere, deep inside him, Wilder’s approval still mattered. Even though he’d spent years trying to convince himself it didn’t.
“You are?”
“Yes. You struck out. Made something of yourself. Supported yourself on your own terms. I’m proud of you. Dad would be, too.”
He felt emotion well up in his throat. “Thanks,” he said, meaning it. Maybe there was hope after all that they could be true brothers again. Or, short of that, not enemies.
“Listen, I’ve been thinking,” Wilder said. “Why don’t I just give you your shares of the company, to do with what you will?”
Liam’s guard went up. “What’s the catch?”
“None,” Wilder said. “You don’t have to come to Thanksgiving. You don’t have to be a part of the family if you don’t want to. Hell, you can give the entire sum to your mother if you’d like. I won’t stop you.”
Liam couldn’t have been more shocked. Wilder had spent years scheming to keep money out of his mother’s hands.
“I’ve been talking to Harley, and...” Wilder paused. “She’s made me see that the tough love act I’ve been doing with you was all wrong. All I ever wanted was for you to come back to the family. I thought this was the way to do it, by being strict with your inheritance, by giving you ultimatums. But I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
Liam checked the sky, half expecting to see pigs fly. Wilder was apologizing? Really?
“Why are you doing this?”
“Look, Harley has taught me a lot. And I know the kind of love I have with Harley is the kind of love you have with Cecily. I’m not going to stand in the way of that.”
Liam suddenly felt full of gratitude, and felt, for the first time, he might actually really be understood, really seen by his brother.
“What do you think I should do? About Cecily?” he asked, the question surprising even himself. Was Liam truly asking Wilder for advice?
Wilder paused, seeming to be surprised himself.
“Cecily is just scared,” Wilder said after recovering. “I would be, too. She’s worried none of it will work out, so she’s deciding that it’s safer not to try. She doesn’t want to face the possibility of death and the possibility that she’s made you give up too much.”
“That’s crazy,” Liam said.
“I know. But it’s just human. Right?”
“I guess.”
“She thinks she’s doing the right thing by leaving. But if I were you, though, I’d not let her go.”
“I don’t plan on it,” Liam said.
Liam decided to camp out on Cecily’s stoop. There was nothing else to do. Eventually, she’d have to come home, or leave, if she was hidden inside. During that time, waiting, he thought of all the million things he was going to say to convince her she shouldn’t be scared. That risking the surgery was the right thing to do, regardless of how it turned out. Eventually, she did come walking down the sidewalk, grocery bag in hand. She froze as she saw him, slowing her steps to her stoop.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, eyes darting around as if he’d materialized from nowhere.
“Looking for you,” he said. “You’re not returning my calls.”
“I know. I—” She hesitated, lowering her long lashes.
“You told Wilder not to give me the money for the surgery. Why?” He took a step closer. She grasped her grocery bag a little tighter.
“Because I can’t let you risk everything for me. This surgery is a long shot. It probably won’t even work.”
“We don’t know that.”
“You’re too optimistic,” she said, hurt in her eyes. “None of this could work, and then what? You’re indebted to Wilder for the rest of your life? You have no independence and you’re dragged right back into the family you swore would never own you?” She set down her bag on the sidewalk. “I can’t let you do that. Not for me.”
“You don’t get to decide that,” he said. “Besides, I think I might have been wrong about Wilder.”
“Really?” Now he had her attention.
“Yeah. I mean, I’m still not sure I trust him, but he told me about your meeting. And seemed to really be rooting for us. And I don’t think that has anything to do with the company or profits. He told me he’d give me shares of the company with no strings. I could do what I want with them.”
Cecily gaped. “What are you going to do?”
“Take the money. To help you.”
“No. I don’t want you to sacrifice for me. Not like this.”
“It’s not a sacrifice. If anything, I realize that maybe I do want some contact with the family. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe spending some holidays with them wouldn’t be the end of the world.”
Cecily blinked fast, processing the information. “Really?”
“Yes. And I know you’re scared.” Liam pulled Cecily into his arms and she went, her mind still whirling. “I know this is terrifying. But I want you to have this surgery. I want you to try. For me.” He hugged her tight. “I know it’s scary. I know it might not work out, but isn’t our love worth risking this for?”
“Yes, but—” Cecily pulled back a little.
“I want all the time I can get with you,” Liam said. “And if that’s just a few months, then that’s okay. I’d rather spend a few months with you than never having known you at all.”
“But what if it shortens our time together?”
“Then we’ll just take advantage of the time we do have,” he said.
Tears sprung to Cecily’s eyes. “I love you so very much,” she said, voice breaking.
“And I love you,” Liam said. “So, please tell me this means you’ll do this surgery.”
“Yes,” she said, sniffling and wiping her eyes. “Yes, I will.”
“Good,” he said. “Now, let’s figure out how we’re going to get to Tokyo.”
“Traveling is on my bucket list,” she said, grinning. “Any chance we could go through London and Paris on the way?”
“Considering they’re in the exact opposite direction of Tokyo?” Liam pretended to think. Cecily gave him a playful punch. He laughed. “That could be arranged. If...”
“If what?”
“If you marry me,” Liam said. Liam kneeled in front of her, and Cecily dropped her grocery bag.
Cecily felt all the air leave her lungs. Could she do this? Could she take this risk? She felt fear rising in her and knew she feared losing him. But she also realized in that moment that if she walked away now, she was giving up too soon.
“Yes. I will,” she said, not even quite believing her own answer. Yet, in her heart, she knew it was the only one that made any sense in a world that too often didn’t.
“Then Paris and London it is,” Liam said. “Anything my fiancée wants, my fiancée will get.” And he rose then to his full height, pulled her into his arms and covered her lips with his.