Emancipation

fifty two

"Cece, Kev, this is Lillian." He turns to Lillian who smiles at them. "Lil, this is my niece and nephew."

"Oh, you're so adorable," she gushes, bending down a little to their height as she looks at Cece, who I assume is the older one. "I'm so sorry we didn't get you anything. We wanted to get chocolates but by the time I realised that we were already back at the house."

I know she's truly apologetic because she didn't want to show up without having something for the kids, but then I told her it was fine, so she decided she would send them stuff once we're back in the city.

"Hey, please, this one's already on the verge of cavities and I'm sure as long as Liam gets to drink his favourite wine, nothing else matters." Grace assures Lillian who relaxes with her words.

"C'mon, let's all get settled," Liam announces as we move towards the couches.

Lillian steps towards me, her eyes reading my face as she takes my hand and gives it a little squeeze. I don't think she understands how difficult it is for me to stand someone who's into her and thinks they deserve her more than I do, because that's something I consider often — whether I am worthy enough for her or not.

"Let's just get through dinner without a scene." She whispers to me and I nod at her. "Get done with your business talk."

She's right, I need to focus on what I'm here for. When we take a seat, Lillian shifts closer to me and my hand naturally goes to her exposed lower thigh as I give it a gentle squeeze which earns me a warning look, lightening my mood a little as a blush takes over her cheeks.

"You look a little different, is it your hair?" Sam asks, drawing her attention to himself and sucking my happiness away with that.

"Yeah, I just got it today. Wanted to try something new, so." She shrugs, probably not realising how much it actually suits her and how beautiful she looks.

When I saw her for the first after the haircut, I literally froze because it just makes her blue eyes pop out more, I don't know how but it just does. Lillian, anyhow, is gorgeous even if she fails to acknowledge it. The proof is Sam drooling all over her, and I know he isn't the only man in her life to do so. She always plays it down when I ask her why didn't she ever date in school, or even college but I know there were more than a couple of people who asked her out, but she just wasn't into it.

I wake up every morning and thank my damn stars for being a lucky bastard that she happens to love despite my flaws. After Grace gets us both a drink of our choice, Liam looks at me, gesturing to take his lead.

"We'll go get some business out of the way," Liam clears his throat as he stands up and I turn to Lillian.

"I'll be right back," I tell her and she gives me an encouraging smile as she leans forward to place a kiss on my cheek, making me smile.

She's just trying to keep my mood in check, and I can't say it's not working. When my eyes land on Sam, he's noticing our actions and I grin at him tauntingly. See, ass, I'm the one she loves, not you.

Liam leads us to a room at the back, what looks like a study and I gulp down my drink, which makes him raise an eyebrow at me, "You don't seem to like Sam much."

"No offence, but there's not much to like."

He chuckles at my words, "He's young, and probably doesn't understand much about relationships. Excuse his behaviour if he pulls off anything displeasing."

"I don't think I have much choice with Lillian in the same room to keep me in check." I shrug, being honest, making him shake his head at me. "So, you were mentioning increasing the investment, so I suppose the debts are increasing?"