Divorced Heiress Married Her Brother’s Friend

Chapter 4 A Late Night Visitor

SOPHIA’S POV

Once I had confirmed I was fully dressed, I opened the door again. Liam stood there, his expression clearly mocking.

"Sophia, although it’s been a while since we last met, you didn’t have to be so enthusiastic."

I...my tongue seemed to be bitten by a kitten.

I felt my face flush with embarrassment after my gawking, sputtering for words as I tried to recover from the shock of finding Liam in front of my apartment. He leaned towards me with a flirty smile, leaving me undecided on pushing him away or slamming the door in his face. Again.

He drank in the sight of me with an appreciative glint in that one gaze. "I don’t see a reason why your ex-husband would leave you for industrial beauty when all I see is the real deal, standing before me in all her natural glory."

I quickly made a decision and it was to push him away before he leaned any further. "Why are you here?"

He raised the boxes of food up to my view. "I brought these for you. I know you haven’t had a chance to stock up in your new apartment."

I could not hide my surprise at how he knew such details but the gnawing thought that he came for something else entirely refused to budge from the back of my head. "Thank you for the food but I’m skeptic about what your intent really is. What exactly do you want?"

He opened his mouth to reply but Cynthia had opened the door wide and now it was no secret to her that Liam stood on the front porch.

She wiggled her fingers, a flirty smile on her face. "Hi, handsome! What are you doing standing there, looking like my dinner for tonight?"

I rolled my eyes at her words. Very typical of her.

He moved his attention straight behind me as he chuckled. "Hi, Cynthia. Didn’t see you there."

"I was not expecting you here." Cynthia tossed a look in my direction to give me a conspiratorial wink. "I suppose she knows."

What the hell was she even driving at?

"Hi." His voice lulled me back in with the gentlest croon. The playful façade was gone and in its place was an intense look.

I think I found my tongue. "Hey." I took a deft swipe of my tongue over my lips which I discovered to my horror was chapped. "What are you doing here?"

He seemed to have caught my actions but in a flash, he reverted his gaze back to my eyes, his glazing over. "I take it you have forgotten the things I said to you earlier tonight."

Memories of the club came rushing back and a heat pooled low in my southside when I remembered how deliciously intoxicating he smelled standing close. As if on cue, the signature scent of his fragrance filtered free into the air.

I took a sharp intake of breath, taking one step back to fight the riotous emotions within. "I do. Does that include stalking me?"

The corner of his lips cracked a small smile. "I made a promise to you and to your brother, that I would be in charge of your welfare from now henceforth. That includes everything that concerns you."

"Including my apartment?"

"Most especially your apartment."

"That has to be the most hilarious joke I have ever heard." Even when my tone lacked mirth, I laughed regardless. He couldn’t possibly mean those words. That was psycho behavior.

"I don’t like to waste my words on jokes, Sophia." He stated in a crisp voice, placing emphasis on pronouncing each syllable of my name. "If it were a joke, I wouldn’t be here at an odd hour, bringing you food."

I fought the urge to shiver when my name rolled off his tongue like a symphonious melody. I looked back towards Cynthia out of impulse, making sure she was not watching.

Oh, she was and was loving every second of making me uncomfortable. A dull ache began in the back of my neck. I could not resist putting my fingers in that spot to knead the weariness there.

"You know, why don’t you come in, Liam?" Cynthia chirped as she bounded towards the entrance, planting herself right next to me, looking between me and him.

His expression morphed into a smile with the sides of his eyes crinkling as he declined her invitation, much to my relief. "I don’t think that is a good idea. You both look like you were enjoying a really good girl time and I have nothing meaningful to input except food."

"Says who?" Cynthia inquired with a teasing smile in my direction.

Bitch, if you don’t behave!

My facial expression, however, screamed the opposite. "Cynthia, I think what he means is he has other better things to do than while away time with us. Isn’t that so, Liam?" I asked, forcing a sunny smile at him.

Liam nodded, his gorgeous mop of hair bouncing with his action. "You’re right. Besides, I figured since you and I are neighbors, we would run into each other plenty times in the future."

This revelation knocked the air out of my lungs as I sputtered for words, "N-Neighbours?"

"That is my cue to leave then." Cynthia announced cheerily, walking back in to grab her purse lying on the couch. She came back to the door. "You have each other’s company now. What’s even better? You’re neighbors."

She made to slip between us but I held her wrist in a tight grip, the thought of being alone with Liam sending a delicious thrill and a bundle of nerves through my marrows. All at once.

"You cant- you just got here. We also planned to do other things." I bit the words between clenched teeth, hoping to God that she got the memo.

A mischievous glint crossed her eyes indicating she took the hint. "Great! We can do it tomorrow. Right now, I need some hormonal nourishment. Some dee-jaying right on that spot, you get it? Ciao!"

Did she?

She was gone in the blink of an eye. God, I couldn’t stay in the same room with a man who had just seen me naked, especially when his face could easily confuse me. I didn’t want to continue exposing my weaknesses first thing in the morning. I immediately told Liam that I wanted to eat breakfast alone.

Liam didn’t argue with me, but cooperatively handed the box to my blushing face. "Here. If you need my help, with anything, I’ll come right over."

After saying that, he winked at my chest, and I immediately understood his insinuation. My face turned red again, and I promptly slammed the door shut.

And then I was alone. I finally relaxed. My stomach immediately protested - damn it, I remembered this was my first meal in the past two days. I couldn’t starve to death, I still needed strength to fight Maxwell.

I went to the kitchen and heated up the food in the microwave. Liam had ordered an Italian special which oddly was a meal I indulged in as my comfort meal. Setting the timer for two minutes, I made my way out and into the living room.

At least he got that part right.

Just as I settled on the couch, my phone pinged with a message notification. It indicated a message from Liam. I had almost forgotten about the number he typed on it at the club.

"How are you enjoying your dinner? I hope it is up to your taste." The message read.

"Yes, thank you." I paused, then continued, "I appreciate your efforts but I need you to understand that I do not need anyone to babysit me. Neither you, nor Julian. As you know, I am an adult, a divorced one at that. I’ll respect it if you stayed away from my business."

I hit the send button. Yes, I did sound rude but it was better to place certain boundaries now before things went overboard.

My heart squeezed painfully in my chest as my mind wandered unbidden to the scenes leading up to this point. Dedicating my all into my marriage, only to watch it crumble before my eyes.

Perhaps, Liam thought I was fast losing my mind due to the brutal blow Maxwell dealt me. Perhaps that was his drive to ensure my safety and keep tabs on my whereabouts.

I began typing again. "If you think me pathetic and suicidal, there’s no point staying because I am not. I am not a helpless babe to be fawned over at the slightest discomfort. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself." If I could not protect my marriage, then I could at least save the remaining shreds of my dignity.

I didn’t want his pathetic show of pity. It was just one more divorced couple not the end of my life.

His reply came in, momentarily distracting me.

"If that’s what you think, then you’re wrong. I came here because I saw your resilience even in the face of a storm. I saw your strength. I admit these are partly due to your family, your father, but even without your father’s surname, you’re still so remarkable. Plus..."

"Plus what?" I typed quickly on the screen.

"Plus...after what I saw this morning, (wow) you’re simply incomparable."

"That’s why I’m here, a beautiful divorced woman, I can’t imagine how much harassment she must get from men..."

My eyes scanned every perfect word in the text, absorbing them, because they gave me new hope. However, as a thought emerged in my mind, my gaze gradually faded.

"Do you also count yourself amongst those predatory men?" I found myself typing. My fingers hovered over the send button but I hesitated with second thoughts.

I feared what his reaction would be. What was I even thinking, assuming such insane thoughts about him? Liam had been my brother’s friend since forever and insinuating that he was a predator was highly offensive to my ears even.

Maybe I should just...

The loud ping of the microwave reverberated throughout the air, rudely sending me into a spiral of shock. I placed a hand to my chest to calm my racing heart only to go into another shock when I realized to my greatest mortification that the message had been sent to Liam.

How?

"s**t!" I swore, battling to delete it before it got delivered to him. "s**t! s**t!"

In a moment of panic, I switched off my phone. My heart slammed hard against my ribs. What if he had seen it?

"God, no."