Chapter 208: Liam’s New Start! [FIXED]

Liam pulled up outside the building a little after eleven.

One moving truck was still parked at the curb, its ramp down, a couple of men in work gloves leaning against it with water bottles. Liam frowned slightly as he killed the engine. Priya had been here since before seven. If the trucks were still around, the place probably wasn’t ready yet.

He climbed out of the car, legs still stiff, and looked toward the entrance.

He didn’t have to look for very long.

Priya was already coming through the front doors to meet him.

She stopped halfway down the steps.

For a second, she just stared at him. She’d seen him before, of course. She’d walked him through this very building. But that day he’d had Darren and Keiza beside him, and there’d been an easy, joking looseness to him.

Today, he was alone.

And he carried himself differently. Relaxed, casual, jeans and an open overshirt, but there was a quiet certainty in the way he stood and looked up at the building. Like it was already his.

Priya swallowed and kept walking.

Liam smiled warmly at her. Not a polite smile. A real one.

"Morning," he said.

"Good morning, sir."

"Just Liam, please."

"Liam. Right."

Up close, she looked rough. The dark circles under her eyes were impossible to miss, her ponytail was coming loose, and her face was completely bare. Liam noticed all of it and said none of it. It didn’t matter for anything he needed from her today.

"So," he said, nodding at the building. "How’s it looking?"

"It’s almost ready," Priya said quickly. "There are just a few small things left upstairs. Final touches."

"Can I take a sneak peek?"

She hesitated.

He saw it clearly, the flicker of fear behind her eyes. This was her first job of this size. Everything she’d worked for was on the other side of that door, and in about thirty seconds, she’d find out whether it had been enough.

"Of course," she said finally. "Follow me."

She turned to lead the way, and Liam caught sight of her back.

Her blouse was marked with sweat, the kind of stains that came from being soaked through, drying, and soaking through again. Over and over, for hours.

Liam smiled quietly to himself.

He hadn’t even stepped inside yet, and he could already see how hard she’d worked.

Whatever was in there, she’d clearly given it everything. And even if it wasn’t what he’d pictured, he wasn’t going to scold her for it. He could always adjust things later.

At the door, Priya’s foot caught on the threshold.

She stumbled and grabbed the frame just in time.

"Sorry," she muttered. "I’m fine."

Liam didn’t comment. Something was off with her today. She was wound tight, a nervous wreck. Maybe she wasn’t used to this kind of pressure. Or maybe she was just exhausted.

Either way, he let it go.

Then he finally stepped inside.

And he saw everything.

The curved walnut reception desk with its brushed-brass front. The slate-grey feature wall. The leather armchairs and marble table beside the tall green plants. The warm lighting that made the whole lobby glow. Through the glass at the end of the hall, the long oak conference table gleamed under the light.

Liam stopped in the middle of the lobby and didn’t say anything.

Behind him, Priya clutched her clipboard to her chest. "So... what do you think of the first floor?"

Liam sighed and shook his head slowly.

"I should have known better," he said, sounding deeply disappointed. "Why did I give this job to you..."

Priya’s heart dropped straight into her stomach.

She opened her mouth, but before she could say a word, Liam turned around.

"...because if I had known you’d exceed every expectation I had and make me fall in love with a building, I would’ve given it to someone else."

Priya stared at him.

Then she let out a breath that turned into a laugh halfway through. It was shaky and unsteady, mostly relief.

"You almost gave me a heart attack," she said.

"Thank you, chef," Liam said, grinning.

She laughed harder.

Liam turned back around and simply couldn’t stop talking.

"This desk. This desk. Where did you even find this?"

"North Carolina. A woodworker who only builds about ten a year."

"And the wall? You left space for the name."

"I wasn’t sure what you’d want, so the lettering’s still in the crate."

"Perfect. That’s perfect." He walked into the conference room and ran a hand along the oak table. "This feels like a place where people sign things that matter."

"It’s from Vermont."

"Of course it is."

He took the stairs up to the second floor, ignoring the burn in his thighs.

His office stopped him in the doorway.

The mahogany desk facing the window. The tufted leather chair. Shelves of leather-bound statute books lining an entire wall. The deep navy and burgundy rug.

"Priya," he said quietly. "This is better than Richard Harlan’s office."

"Is that... good?"

"That’s the best compliment I can give."

He eagerly checked the two associate offices next, opening drawers and testing chairs and nodding at the filing cabinets like they’d personally impressed him.

Then he climbed to the third floor.

The break room had a proper espresso machine, a long communal table, and big windows overlooking the street. Framed black-and-white prints of Seattle lined the hallway.

"You got a real espresso machine," Liam said, practically delighted.

"I refuse to work anywhere with instant coffee."

"You and me both."

He walked back down to the lobby slowly, taking it all in one more time.

As he passed the tall mirror propped against the wall, he caught Priya’s reflection standing behind him. She wasn’t nervous anymore. She was smiling so wide it looked like her face might split.

She must have been a nervous wreck, Liam thought. Poor thing couldn’t even sleep.

"The least I can do is make it worth it."

-

The walkthrough was over in less than twenty minutes.

Priya had braced herself for an entire afternoon of it. Hours of Liam pacing every room, questioning every choice, asking her to move the desk two inches left and then two inches back.

Instead, Liam walked back into the lobby, clapped his hands together once, and said, "Okay. I think we’re done."

Priya blinked at him. "Done?"

"Done."

"You don’t want to go through the second floor again? Or check the conference room lighting? I can adjust the—"

"Priya." He smiled. "Are you trying to talk me into finding problems?"

"No, I just..." She hugged the clipboard tighter. "Are you really sure?"

Liam nodded. "I’m sure."

That wasn’t the only reason he wanted to wrap up quickly, though.

She looked like an extra from Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Pale, hollow-eyed, swaying slightly on her feet like she might start doing the zombie dance if someone hit play. The woman needed a bed, not another three hours of walking up and down stairs.

Priya took a breath and flipped to the last page on her clipboard. "Okay. Then for the final invoice, the total comes to—"

"Wait." Liam held up a hand. "Before you tell me. Do you want to play a little game?"

She stared at him. "A... game? I don’t think I have the energy for a game."

"You don’t have to do anything. That’s the fun part." He slid his hands into his pockets. "Instead of you telling me the number, I want to pay based on what I think all of this was worth."

Priya’s stomach tightened. "Oh. Um. Okay. But just so you know, a lot of these pieces were imported, and the shipping alone was—"

"Not just the furniture," Liam said gently. "The time. The labor. The vendors you tracked down across the country. The nights you didn’t sleep." He glanced, very briefly, at the dark circles under her eyes. "The toll you clearly put on your own body to get this done for me."

Priya didn’t know what to say.

Liam pulled out his phone, tapped a few times, and turned the screen toward her.

"There."

Her phone buzzed in her pocket a second later.

She pulled it out slowly, opened the notification, and read it.

Then she read it again.

[Payment received: $350,000.00]

Priya’s mouth fell open.

She did the math without meaning to. Her total had been just under a hundred and forty thousand. That meant more than two hundred thousand dollars in profit. On a single job. Her first job of this size.

"Liam," she said faintly. "This is... this is way too much. My invoice was nowhere near—"

"I know."

"Then why—"

"Because you earned it." He shrugged like it was the simplest thing in the world. "Every inch of this place shows how much you cared. I want to work with you again. Consider this an investment in that."

Priya pressed a hand to her mouth. Her eyes had gone glassy.

"I don’t... thank you," she managed. "Thank you so much."

"Thank you." He nodded toward the door. "Now. Go home."

"Right. Yes." She fumbled for her car keys in her bag.

Liam watched her try to find the right key, miss the keyring entirely, and sway on her feet again.

He sighed.

"Actually, no," he said, plucking the keys gently out of her hand. "I’m not letting you drive yourself home looking like that."

Priya looked up at him, confused. "Then how am I supposed to get home?"

Liam jingled her keys and shrugged.

"I guess I’m taking you home."