Page 52 of Push

Liam traveled in circles with rich men—unscrupulous men like Toby’s father—and he’d already called me the jilted wife. He knew my marriage was in tatters. Maybe he’d seen the yard sale ad like the rest of Sydney. Maybe he’d searched for me on the internet like I’d searched for him. I hiked my chin and stared him straight in the eye. Whatever Liam’s reasons were for summoning me back into his life, I wasn’t in the mood to play any of his games.

“Please, Gwen.”

The polite request caught me by surprise. Against all the better judgment screaming at me to run out of the office, I sank into the chair. He followed.

“Cute company name,” I said.

“Wouldn’t our mother be proud? I hated to be the one to prove her wrong about only the scum of the earth growing up on our street, but I was at a loss for a better name.” The corner of his lips twitched. “Haven’t we come a long way from our humble upbringing, clever Gwen? Me, in banking, and you,well…”

I ignored his thinly veiled insult and folded my hands in my lap. “Will your business partner be joining us? Mr. Serrano?”

“Mr. Serrano? How formal.” Another twitch curved his lips. “Unfortunately, Elias is still buried in social awkwardness. Not much has changed since you last saw him. He prefers the company of his spreadsheets and leaves me to handle the personnel.” His sigh was weary. “It’s one of the many burdens I bear for having such a warm and bubbly personality.”

I cracked an uncertain smile. Was Liam attempting to ease the tension tugging our eyes to blank spots on the walls with humor? He wasn’t an open book like Toby. His emotions had always been a closely guarded secret, and he flinched away from any sign of affection. We never knew our father. Our mother had been so cruel to him. I knew it wasn’t his fault, but his cold indifference made me want to pick at my cuticles until nothing was left.

“Liam, why am I here?”

He cocked his head, watching my expression closely. “Do you believe in fate?”

“No.” It seemed like a strange question to ask but an even stranger question to lie about. “Not really.”

He acknowledged my answer with a nod. “I’m a man of numbers…probabilities… Perhaps I was too harsh on that irritating recruiter. I asked for a paralegal to file settlements and keep the regulator off my back, and she found me a renowned lawyer willing to do a job well beneath her. What do you suppose the odds of that are?”

I blinked. Was he expecting me to run the numbers? Give an impossible answer? “I’d say the odds are pretty high considering you asked for me specifically. My brain teaser for you after all this time is, ‘Why’?”

“One must be very selective when hiring staff for a modest family business.”

“Cumberland’s a modest family business?” I barked a laugh. I couldn’t help it. “The hedge fund you’ve built with Elias has assets under management of half a billion dollars.”

Liam’s lips curved into an almost-smile. “When a family has so much money to protect, that’s even more reason to be careful, no?”

“And after all these years, after you walked away and refused to have any contact with me, you think I want to be part of this…family?”

Liam muttered a softtsk. “Clever Gwen, we’re not ready for storytime yet. Today, we’re talking about you.” He leaned back in his chair. “You’re the woman who’s not afraid to go after the mob—or at least, youwere. You planned to prosecute Marcello Morelli and unravel the Bankstown drug cartel. You won cases against child-abusing filth. Everyone said you’d go on to do great things. And yet, here you are… A single mother. Unemployed. Willing to accept nothing but a crumb of your worth.”

My chin lifted. It was a defensive move. He’d sucker-punched me in the stomach with his words, and he knew exactly what he was doing. This was no longer a game. This was war.

My voice was somehow still confident even though humiliation and fury swelled to fill the gaping hole he’d cracked in my chest. “I’m looking for a new opportunity. Even I got tired of prosecuting the worst of society eventually.” Every word was a lie, but I’d told the story so many times, maybe it would ring true. “I wanted to try something different.”

“I see.” Liam’s mouth flattened into a line. “Tell me, did your sudden desire to try something different coincide with your former employer revealing his true colors?”

The lies were so easy. “I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”

“Come now, we’re both intelligent enough to know you didn’t quit your job because you had a sudden change of heart. We also both know your former employer is a renowned misogynistwho’d sell his own daughter to the highest bidder.” He tilted his head slightly, a questioning look in his pale eyes. “Is that why he got rid of you?”

I shook my head.

“Why then?” When I still refused to answer, Liam sighed. “You’re a frustrating woman, but you’re more like me than I thought. I like that you don’t share secrets so easily.”

“And is that why you asked me here? To get your fill of secrets? Is that how you do your business? Trading on favors and lies like the rest of them?”

“I’mnothinglike the rest of them.” Liam almost spat out the words—I’d insulted him—but he quickly regained his composure. “You talked about looking for opportunities. When your name started floating around certain circles, that’s exactly what I saw. The perfect opportunity. I need a corporate counsel.”

I was floored. I knew my worth, but an in-house gig overseeing all the legal work hadn’t been on my radar. “I’m not qualified to do that. I worked in criminal law, not mergers and acquisitions. I have no idea about banking…or…or…insurance.”

“A life for a life, little Gwen. That’s the only insurance you need to understand.”

“Uh…”

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