ADELINE'S POV
"Thank you guys for helping me with the preparations. Means a lot." I say as I sit at my kitchen island with Liam and Naomi. We spent the entire day rearranging my house and going shopping for everything I would need to host a dinner once my parents are here. My mom does not tolerate a disorganized house and she likes when things look a certain way.
My house isn't particularly disorganized but I decided to rearrange a few things so it may look more pleasing to my mom. I know, I shouldn't have to rearrange my entire house for my parents considering they don't even live here but they're very complicated people, and Liam understands that.
"We're always here to help you, Addie." Liam says before biting into a cupcake. "I was hoping we would get to do this with Dante though. It's a shame he couldn't be here."
Liam comments and Naomi clears he throat nervously at the exact moment that I roll my eyes. Liam doesn't trust Dante and I understand that, but I need him to trust me instead.
"I told you Liam. He's out of New York for a business trip." I say and Liam gently drops his cupcake before looking up at me.
"Okay but what business trip Adeline? We know he works online, but what exactly does he do? And who is he meeting with?" he questions and I furrow my brows because honestly, I don't have the answer to his questions. But that's not enough reason to suspect Dante. I haven't known the guy for that long so he doesn't seriously expect me to know every single detail about his life.
"Liam. I've known the guy for like three days. Of course, he's not just going to share his personal life with me so easily."
I explain and stand up, filling my glass with some orange juice. Naomi looks from me to Liam and then repeats, as we talk, in silence. Biting into her cupcake without interrupting this awkward conversation Liam just initiated.
"Yeah Addie. I know that and I get it really. But don't you think it's weird that he knows a lot about you but you haven't the slightest clue who this guy is? I trust you Addie, but it's him I don't trust." Liam insists.
"Maybe he's just a very private person but he seems to care about Addie enough. Maybe he'll open up with time. Just give him the benefit of the doubt Liam." Naomi comes to my defense and I spare her a sweet smile before looking back at Liam.
"Besides, you'll get to know him better during the dinner party once my parents are here. You can bond with him all you want then." I say and take back my seat with a sigh. Liam lets out a small laugh and I raise my brows at him in curiosity.
"What?" I ask.
"I just can't wait to see the look on your parents' faces when they find out you actually have a boyfriend and you invited him to the dinner party. It'll be a huge scandal I swear to God." He laughs and shakes his head and he gulps his orange juice. He's so annoying.
"I'm glad you're finding amusement in my troubles best friend." I say with a roll of my eyes, but he just laughs even more.
"Your parents surely will understand Addie. They'll just have to back off once they see you and Dante are serious enough that you brought him to the dinner party. They'll have to let the contract marriage go then." Naomi says in an attempt to console me.
My parents haven't seen Liam in a long time so they're expecting to see him at dinner once they arrive and since Naomi and Liam are together, I invited her too. It was just supposed to be my parents, Liam, Naomi and I. But what my parents don't know is that Dante will be there too and yeah, they'll be pissed off but I don't care.
"Hey Liam. What happened to that girl who accused your client of assault? Ricardo Mel? The one who was killed? You haven't mentioned her in a while. Did they blame her for the murder?" I ask, genuinely curious. Liam was really worried that they were going to blame her for it.
He was ready to take up her case and prove her innocence but he just suddenly upped and let it go. I know Liam is still sad about what happened to his client but I think it's safe to talk about it with him now.
"Oh about that." He looks to me with a worried expression. "I told her I would help her, but then she just disappeared. Straight off the radar and that didn't help the fact that she was the prime suspect. We haven't been able to find her since. Now, the police are more than convinced she had something to do with my client's murder."
"What do you mean she disappeared? Like just vanished into thin air? Surely they have a lead or something. They can't just let her go cause for all we know she might have had something to do with the murder and now she's out lose. What if she kills someone else?" I push myself towards the table, leaning my elbows on it as I notice a haunting look wash over Liam's face.
"You know I kind of hope they don't find her. I looked further into Ricardo Mel and I'm starting to believe he really did all those horrible things she accused him of. And she wasn't the first, she was just the first person who had enough courage to go up against him, and I can't believe I was so willing to defend him in court. I don't want to sound like a monster, but whoever killed hm did us a favor."
Liam says and Naomi and I look a him with a worried look on his face. This is the first time I've seen Liam say anything of the such against one of his clients, and Liam is usually a very good judge of character. If he thinks this Ricardo Mel guy who was killed was actually a horrible person then it must be true.
Besides the girl who was going up against him had a lot to lose in case her law suit didn't go as planned so if she was going up against him, then she must have been telling the truth. It would have been better if she didn't run away though. How does one girl just conveniently disappear from the police force?
She must have had helped and my guess if the real killer, the person who actually killed Ricardo Mel had pity on her and helped her out. That's the only reasonable explanation. I'm just glad that Liam didn't get hurt in the course of all this drama.
"We're just glad you're okay Liam." Naomi says and places her hand on Liam's. She's really good for him. She brings out the best in Liam and I'm happy for both of them. He smiles at her and all what I see between them in this moment is love.
I once felt a thing like that for Dain. I was ready to build a life with him despite my parents not accepting him. I was ready to settle down and give him every single part of me. Then he broke my heart to pieces and I thought I would never experience love again.
"Does anyone want to watch a movie to lighten the mood?" Naomi asks excitedly and I look over to Liam wit a raise of my brows. It makes me realize I haven't watched a movie in so long and I'm craving it actually.
"What?" He asks with a mouthful of cake. He's so cute it makes me giggle softly.
"Every time we're supposed to watch a movie together, you fall asleep." I say.
"Right. He's so annoying. He always picks the movie and then he ends up passing out like thirty minutes after." Naomi says agreeing with me.
"Now you two are just ganging up on me." Liam says with a pout. "I'm not going to fall asleep." He says putting his right hand to his chest and closing his eyes in a dramatic manner.
"Hundred dollars says you sleep before an hour into the movie." Naomi smirks, folding her arms across her chest.
"Deal." Liam boasts.
Literally forty-five minutes into the movie, Liam is snoring, his lead laid peacefully on Naomi's lap.
"He so owes both of us a hundred dollars each." Naomi says, making both of us chuckle lightly as we watch Liam sleep.