Page 23

“W hen you said you moved office, I didn’t know you had a whole fucking ODI building, Liam,” I whispered as we rode the elevator up to the top floor of the ritzy new structure in downtown Jersey City.

“You didn’t ask,” he replied, and shrugged.

He was watching me with a smirk on his handsome face, and I wanted to kick him. He wore a suit as usual. This one was navy blue with a lighter blue shirt beneath it. It looked fantastic on him, of course.

His hair was combed back, and his beard was trimmed to perfection. Liam was just so damn handsome. Sometimes I lost track of time just staring at him. He didn’t seem to notice, or if he did, he never said anything, which was considerate of him.

But I imagined my husband was used to females gawking at him.

Anyway, I’d opted for a slightly less formal look. I had on an ankle length tweed skirt with an ivory blouse tucked into the high waistband, the top two buttons open.

I liked neutral tones. They went well with my coloring. I hardly wore skirts, but I liked this one, especially in the fall.

Typically, I reserved color for accents, like my bag and shoes, which today were a deep purple.

They matched the cross front wrap I wore in lieu of a coat.

Still, I felt underdressed and worried whether I should have gone with one of my suits.

“Why are you fidgeting, Sweetheart? You’re not nervous,” he scoffed like he couldn’t believe it.

But maybe that was because this was easy for him. He was a man.

Tall, handsome, with an innate aura that bespoke of his intelligence and authority.

Liam commanded attention when he walked into the room, and I sincerely doubted anyone ever questioned his right to be there.

I, on the other hand, was a woman, so right off the bat I had to deal with bullshit misogynists.

Plus, I carried too much weight around the middle, which some thought meant I was dumb or lazy.

Whatever.

Last, I was my father’s daughter. Throughout my whole life, people had expected less of me because they assumed whatever I wanted was handed to me all because of my last name.

Speaking of which.

“Um, I saw this on the table in the hallway,” I said, reaching into my bag and holding up the packet with a license, passport, and other materials with my name written as Michaela Rosa Volkov O’Doyle .

“Yeah. I meant to give that to you last night, but I, uh, got distracted,” he murmured.

Liam did that thing where he dragged his thumb over his bottom lip while looking me over from head to toe.

Like he covets me.

Like he was staking his claim with just a glance.

Fuck. Me. That is so hot.

My pulse sped up, and I dropped the packet.

“So, I guess you want me to have your name?”

“You’re my wife. My name is yours now, Sweetheart,” he replied.

Every time he called me that, it was like I needed to change my panties.

I mean, really.

The way he said it with a hint of Boston in his tone.

“I kept your father’s name there for you, too. No hyphen though.”

Thoughtful.

I nodded my thanks. He dipped his chin, accepting it. At least, I thought that was what the gesture meant.

And why is that so hot?

He hummed deep in his throat. Like he could see what I was thinking. Like he knew how badly I wanted to press myself to him. I was caught in his glittering emerald gaze, swaying dangerously close to him.

The elevator pinged, and the doors opened. But Liam blocked the exit and grabbed my hand.

“Forgot this too. Sorry it took so long.”

I felt him slide something cold onto my ring finger, and I nodded, thinking it was the diamond his sister bought me.

Maybe I would replace it with something else.

I hated that she was the one who orchestrated this thing between us. Especially because, well, I was catching feelings against my better judgement.

“Come on. I’ll walk you to your office.”

I nodded and allowed him to lead the way. We passed several open door offices where Liam’s employees called out a greeting or nodded their hellos.

“We’re pretty casual about formalities,” he explained.

“Good morning,” an older woman with a lilting Irish accent greeted us and held out two mugs of coffee.

I smiled and accepted mine, thankful to see a drop of cream had been added. Just the way I liked it.

“Thank you,” I said and smiled.

“Morning, Mrs. Finely,” Liam said and his smile for her was genuine. “Allow me to introduce my wife.”

My cheeks heated as the woman congratulated us, and I smiled as she gave Liam his messages.

“Come on,” he said a moment later, and opened the door to an enormous office space with two big desks and a partition in the middle.

“If either of us has a call we need privacy for, we can open this,” he explained and pointed at a desk I assumed was for me.

“You want me to work here? With you?” I asked, stunned.

“Yeah, well, I mean, I don’t spend that much time in here, and I doubt you will either with everything you have to do. I moved your team to the west half of this floor, so you don’t have to go very far, though. Unless you want to go to the lab. That’s on eleven.”

He looked so goddamn adorable, I didn’t even bother trying to hide my smile.

“Get to work, Sweetheart, or I’ll have to dock your pay,” he said, mock frowning.

I grinned, grabbing his lapel and pulling him down for a quick kiss. Just then, someone swung the door open despite Mrs. Finley shouting at them not to go inside.

“Do you know who I am?” the woman scoffed, and immediately my hackles rose.

Liam lifted his head, and this time his frown was real. I made to step back, but he tightened his hold on my waist, not allowing my retreat.

“Am I interrupting?” the strange woman said.

She was beautiful. Tall and thin with smooth skin and perfect makeup.

“You must have missed my assistant, Miss Chen. Surely, she told you not to just come in,” Liam said, and he sounded pissed.

“Yes, well, I thought you would want to know everything from yesterday’s delivery has been unpacked and there was a problem with two of the crates. Perhaps that’s best discussed alone where we can go over them slower this time,” she said, her gaze flitting over my husband in a way that was far too familiar for my liking.

This bitch.

Inside, I was seething, but I forced my expression to remain impassive.

“I’ll be right there, you can wait outside,” Liam said, his voice harder than I’d ever heard it.

Again, I tried to step away from him. Not wanting to give this woman any impression, but he wouldn’t loosen his grip.

“Liam,” I whispered.

“Before you go, Miss Chen, allow me to introduce my wife.”

“Your wife!”

Okay, so it probably shouldn’t have made me giddy to see Miss Chen react with surprise to that statement, but it did.

I schooled my face to not show a thing.

But inside, I was exploding with feeling. Both pride and relief soared through me that Liam didn’t rush through an explanation or try to hide our relationship.

Seemed like our marriage was going to be very public knowledge in the office before the nine AM press release went out.

“Yes, Michaela O’Doyle. My wife. She is also a partner at ODI, so anything you have to tell me you can say in front of her.”

“Yes, sir,” Miss Chen murmured, her lips drawn into a straight line.

Ooh. She is very unhappy.

“One more thing. Don’t ever come bursting into our office again. Mrs. Finley is out there for a reason. Is that understood?”

“Yes. Of course,” she said and gave a slight bow, storming out of our joint office with a huff.

“Sorry about that, Sweetheart,” Liam said, turning back to me.

“It’s fine. I imagine a few people will be shocked by my sudden appearance.”

“Indeed. I set up a meeting for you in five minutes with Connor Callahan, he runs the security firm I hired to take care of ODI’s needs. You will need access to our system, and he’s going to set you up. Will you be alright?”

“Of course,” I replied, donning a professional tone.

I knew the drill. With this level of tech, ODI would need top-notch security. Not unlike Volkov Industries.

Liam dropped his hands from my waist, and I missed their warmth immediately.

But I understood this was work time now.

There would be plenty of time to play.

Later. Back home. In our bed.