Chapter 319: Chapter 57
As Rayne and Liam stepped out of the apartnt building through the back entrance avoiding the front where a few dia people still waited, they were greeted by the serene glow of the full moon hanging high in the night sky. A balmy breeze swept their hair back.
The street was bathed in the soft illumination of streetlights, casting long shadows and creating a peaceful atmosphere. Despite the late hour, a few sirens wailed in the distance, and the occasional car humd by, breaking the otherwise quiet atmosphere.
Rayne walked ahead, her thoughts swirling with anxiety about the impending conversation she was about to have with Liam. She knew whatever he planned to talk about wasn’t going to be pleasant because she’d been at fault for not telling him about her pregnancy back then, and she was ready to face the consequences. However, what she wasn’t ready to face was their past together.
Rayne’s mind was so preoccupied that she didn’t notice the uneven curb in her path. Just as she was about to stumble, a strong arm wrapped around her waist, steadying her.
"Be careful," Liam whispered, his deep, resounding voice close to her ear stirring sothing deep in her heart that had remained inactive for years. The sudden sound of her heart skipping a beat startled her into moving quickly away from his hold.
With a warm flush on her cheeks, she cleared her throat. "Thank you," she muttered, her voice barely above a whisper as she hurried toward the restaurant entrance, trying to shake off the unexpected mont of intimacy with the father of her son, who she’d decided wanted nothing with her but to play his role as their son’s father.
Liam watched her for a mont, a hint of a smile playing on his lips, before following her into the restaurant. By the ti he was inside, she was nowhere in sight. However, he was imdiately struck by the restaurant’s elegance.
And he couldn’t help but admire the sitting. The entrance opened into a grand lobby with a high ceiling and a stunning chandelier that cast a warm glow over the polished marble floor.
To the right, a stylish bar with sleek stools invited patrons for a drink, while to the left, a cozy lounge area with plush armchairs and a grand piano exuded sophistication. He could see a sweeping staircase leading to the upper floors, where large windows allowed the moonlight and the streetlights to flood in, highlighting the tasteful decor of rich wood, soft fabrics, and modern art pieces.
The dining area was spacious yet intimate, with well-spaced tables set with fine china and crystal glassware. Soft hum of conversation from the staff could be heard in the background, and he heard Rayne’s voice speaking to them.
Instead of going after her voice to find her, he allowed his legs to take him around as he’d never been to any of the Wallace restaurant even in the past, and the reason was because he disliked Jason and wanted to avoid Rayne as much as possible.
But now, he allowed himself move around. He walked into a Polish hallway where on its walls were a display of photographs of all of the Wallace descendants who’d owned the restaurants before Rayne’s father, and then when he reached Rayne’s photograph at the last roll, he stopped.
Below all the photographs, there were glass golden shelves that held the display of the awards every descendants of the Wallace’s had won for the restaurant.
And below Rayne’s photograph, there were a few displayed as well. Based on the awards and a few paper articles, not only had she managed to maintain the restaurant’s reputation, she’d also enhanced it.
When he ca to the last, most-recent item, he felt an inappropriate twinge of pride, which he imdiately reclassified as re admiration, that Rayne had just been nad the country’s Restauranteur of the Year.
"You’re here," ca Rayne’s surprised voice from the hallway that made him turned his head towards her direction.
After her shower earlier at ho, she’d changed into a pair of dark jogger pants and a soft cashre sweater that was the sa green as her eyes, with an open cowl-neck that threatened to bare one shoulder.
With her long red hair falling in wavy curls around her shoulders and her hips swaying gently as she walked towards him from the beginning of the hallway, she looked feminine, poised, and sexy at the sa ti.
Liam tipped his head toward the article in the glass and said, "I rember when you were terrified you wouldn’t be able to keep this place open, but look what you’ve accomplished."
"I made a ss of everything the first few months, and I would have given up back then if it hadn’t been for Ethan. I needed to make a success of the business for his sake, because I want him to have a good future with nothing to worry about."
As she spoke, she led him to the restaurant’s elegant lounge area, where only the VIP’s with reservation got to sit there. She switched on the light, and llow lights illuminated a stylish lounge that imdiately impressed Liam enough to make him pause to admire it.
The lounge was a haven of luxury and comfort, with plush, deep-seated sofas and armchairs upholstered in rich, velvety fabrics.
The walls were adorned with tasteful art pieces, and a soft, ambient glow from the llow lights added to the sophisticated atmosphere. Small, polished tables were arranged with perfect precision, offering a sense of privacy and exclusivity. The air was filled with a subtle scent of fresh flowers, making the place cozy and inviting.
"I’ve asked a waiter to bring our als to us in here," she explained, walking toward the bar at the lounge area.
Liam suddenly rembered the way she’d looked presiding over a candlelit table in a villa by the sea. Now as he watched her, he understood why she’d seed so sure of herself and self-possessed that night.
From beneath her lashes, Rayne watched him studying the room. This day had begun as the worst of her life, and it was ending as one of the very best, because no matter what he said to her now, it couldn’t offset the fact that he was going to be a part of Ethan’s life.
He took off his jacket and tie, draped them over the back of a barstool, and loosened the top buttons of his white shirt.
The minute he put his jacket over the chair, her mind flashed to the night in the villa on the island when he’d left his jacket over a chair and forgotten it there when he left abruptly.
Her stomach knotted at the mory, and painful questions popped into her mind, questions she didn’t want to ask, with answers she didn’t need to hear and probably wouldn’t believe if she did after he’d insulted her at the banquet that night years ago.
Obviously, the best thing to do, for both their sakes, was to avoid any discussion, any reminders, and any recriminations about the past.
She was prepared to let him vent his anger at her for not telling him about Ethan, but everything else was off limits. At least for the imdiate future.
Rayne resolved to stick to that decision tonight, and to make Liam stick to it. And if that wasn’t possible, then she would make light of their past and persuade him to follow suit.
Anticipating that his answer to her next question would be yes, Rayne stepped behind the bar. "Would you like a drink?"
"Yes," Liam said, watching her in the mirror.
He liked whiskey or white wine, Rayne rembered, and automatically reached for the best bottle on the shelf; then she jerked her hand down and in a belated attempt to stick to her own decision not to act like she rembered anything about the past, she glanced over her shoulder at him, and politely inquired, "What would you like to have?"
His gaze pinned her. "You know the answer to that."
Rayne turned back to the shelves of liquor. "Apparently, you still prefer whiskey," she concluded wryly.
"And you’re still very beautiful."
Rayne’s hand froze on the whiskey bottle; then she took it carefully down and reached for a glass. "I wasn’t aware that you thought I was beautiful before."
"The hell you weren’t."
Rayne knew she wasn’t beautiful; at best, her coloring might qualify her looks as striking. And except for an indirect reference to her legs the night they went to the casino, Liam had never comnted on her appearance.
No, that wasn’t true at all, she rembered. In bed, he’d lavished her with whispered praise while he stroked and touched her breast and drove—
Rayne ntally put her foot down, pushed all those thoughts away, and added ice to his glass. She finished making his drink and poured a glass of red wine for herself; then she turned around, glasses in hand. "Let’s talk about Ethan," she said with an overbright smile.
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