Liam's POV
I never expected to see Aria at The Celestial.
For the past few weeks, I had avoided every place where we might cross paths. I told myself it was for her sake, but the truth was less noble—I did not trust myself to stand in front of her and act as if losing her had not hollowed something out of me.
Yet there she was.
"Aria."
Her name left my mouth before I could stop it, low and instinctive.
She did not hear me. Or perhaps she chose not to. Aiden Carter had already guided her into the restaurant, his hand resting lightly at her back with a familiarity that made my jaw tighten.
Beside me, Madison Reynolds paused.
She was the daughter of the Reynolds family, beautiful, well-connected, and exactly the kind of woman my mother believed I should be seen with after the disaster
