Chapter 120: Behind the Excuse
The café sat on a quiet corner two streets from Claire’s neighborhood. Large windows, low music, enough space between tables that voices did not carry.
Liam arrived a few minutes early, took a seat near the back, and watched the door.Claire walked in not long after.
She looked clearer than the last time he had seen her. The tight line that usually sat around her eyes had eased.
Her hair was pulled back neatly. When she saw him she gave a small smile and came over, sliding into the chair across from him.
"Hey."
"Hey."
A server came by. Claire ordered tea. For a while they only spoke about ordinary things the short walk from her place, how the café had changed its menu, the weather. Her voice was calmer. The old stiffness between them felt thinner.
After the tea arrived she wrapped both hands around the cup and kept her eyes on it for a second longer than necessary.
"I’ve been answering people again," she said. "Victoria called a few times last week. I finally picked up. We talked for almost an hour. She was worried. I told her I’m okay now. That things have settled."
She glanced up at him as she said it. Her expression was composed. On the surface it sounded like a simple update.
But the way her gaze lingered, the way her shoulders only fully relaxed while she was looking at him, the faint color that rose in her cheeks when their hands rested near each other on the table all of it sat underneath the words.
Liam did not point any of it out. "I’m glad," he said.
Claire nodded and looked back down at her tea. They stayed like that for a while longer, conversation moving in easy, unhurried pieces. When a natural silence settled she checked the time on her phone, then looked at him again.
"Do you need to be somewhere after this?"
"No." She hesitated, fingers tightening slightly around the cup. "Would you mind if we went somewhere quieter? Just to keep talking. This place is fine, but..."
"We can go to my place."Claire’s eyebrows lifted a little. "Your place?"
"It’s quiet." She studied him for a moment, then gave a small nod.
They left the café together. Outside, Liam raised a hand for a taxi. Claire glanced at him but said nothing.
The ride was short. She sat with her bag on her lap, watching the streets change as they moved out of her neighborhood and into a more private stretch of road.
When the taxi finally turned onto a long driveway and the gates opened ahead of them, she sat forward slightly.
The villa came into view.
Claire stepped out of the car slowly. The front courtyard was wide and clean pale stone, carefully kept greenery, a low fountain running without noise.
The house itself stood in quiet lines of dark glass and pale walls, larger than anything she had clearly expected.
She followed Liam inside and stopped just past the entrance.The main living space opened high above them.
Light moved across pale floors. Long glass walls looked out over private grounds. Everything was ordered, expensive, and still.
Claire turned in a slow circle.
"Liam..." Her voice had gone quieter. "I thought you still lived with your mom."He closed the door behind them."I did. For a long time." He kept the explanation simple. "Things changed.
I had some investments that worked out. This place came on the market at the right time."The words were plain enough to be believable.
Claire looked at him for a longer moment, then let her eyes move across the room again. She walked farther in, fingers trailing lightly along the back of a sofa as she passed it.
"It’s beautiful," she said. "It doesn’t even feel like someone actually lives here. It’s too calm."
"That’s the point."She gave a soft, almost disbelieving breath and kept looking around.
After a few minutes she set her bag down on a chair and glanced toward the hallway.
"So." A playful note crept back into her voice.
"Where exactly am I supposed to sleep?"
"Guest room." You have a guest room?
"I have several."
She stared at him for a second, then laughed. "Of course you do." She picked her bag back up. "Show me."Liam turned toward the hallway, and Claire followed, her footsteps echoing faintly against the stone before the hall carpet swallowed the sound.
"It’s beautiful," she said. "It doesn’t even feel like someone actually lives here. It’s too calm."
"That’s the point."
She gave a soft, almost disbelieving breath and kept looking around. After a few minutes she set her bag down on a chair and glanced toward the hallway.
"Would it be alright if I freshened up? The tea left a strange taste." Down the hall. Second door on the right. There are towels.
Claire nodded and disappeared in that direction. A short time later the distant sound of the shower started.
Liam remained in the main room. He poured a glass of water and stood near the glass wall, looking out at the grounds while the water ran.
She was gone longer than a quick rinse required.
When she finally came back, she was barefoot. Her hair was damp and loose around her shoulders.
She was wearing one of his larger dark T-shirts soft, oversized, and long enough to reach the middle of her thighs. Nothing else showed underneath. The neckline had slipped slightly off one shoulder.
Claire stopped a few steps into the room. A faint flush sat on her cheeks, but she did not tug the shirt down or cross her arms. She simply stood there, looking at him.
She had come here saying she wanted to talk. She had explained that she was better, that she could speak to Victoria again, that things had settled. All of that might have been true.
But standing in his living room wearing only his shirt, Claire was no longer hiding the main reason she had wanted to leave the café with him.
Liam set the glass down on the counter and looked at her properly.The quiet between them changed.