The Personal Delivery
Liam stood in the middle of his executive office, staring at the sleek, unopened box of the latest iPhone resting on his mahogany desk. He had spent the morning in back-to-back meetings, but his mind was still in that hospital room, hearing Eliana's voice thank him for "seeing" her. He knew her phone had been crushed in the accident—he had seen the mangled remains of the cheap plastic device in her bag—and the thought of her being disconnected, unable to call for help or check on her mother, sat like a stone in his chest.
David walked in, holding a stack of contracts that needed signatures. He stopped when he saw the small, expensive box on the desk. "A gift?" David asked, his eyebrows shooting up. "Is that for Sandra? It's a bit... modest for her, don't you think? She usually expects jewelry or a deed to a house."
"It's not for Sandra," Liam said shortly, his eyes never leaving the box. "It's for Eliana. Her phone was destroyed last night."
David's expression shifted from curiosity to genuine shock. He set the contracts down slowly. "The waitress. Right. Well, I can have one of the junior drivers drop it off at her apartment. Or I can go myself if you want to make sure it reaches her hands."
"No," Liam said, reaching out and picking up the box. He slid it into the pocket of his charcoal blazer. "She is at the hospital and I will deliver it myself."
The silence that followed was heavy. David stared at Liam as if he were seeing a total stranger. "Hospital,what happened to her "he asked looking curious
"She was hit by Sam yesterday evening and was admitted in the hospital,so I have to see and make sure she is fine "he replied thou.
"Oh I see,but I can still help you deliver the phone and some compensation if there is any need of it "David's replied
"No David let me handle this myself "he said
In all the years they had been friends—through university, through the rise of Sterling Holdings, through the countless socialites who had tried to trap him—Liam Sterling had never, not once, delivered a gift to a woman personally. He was the man who sent flowers via assistants and jewelry via couriers. He was the man who didn't "do" errands.
"You're going to drive to the mainland? In the middle of a Thursday afternoon?" David asked, his voice laced with disbelief. "Liam, you have a board meeting in two hours. You don't do deliveries. That's what staff is for.""I can still do it my self
"This isn't staff business, David," Liam replied, his voice low and firm. He headed for the door, his stride purposeful.
David watched him go, a sense of dread pooling in his stomach. "He's gone," David whispered to the empty room. "The Iceman is officially melted." He looked at the contracts Liam had left unsigned and sighed. Liam wasn't just chasing a girl anymore; he was dismantling the very wall he had built to protect himself from people like Sandra and her father. And in the world they lived in, a man without a wall was a man with a target on his back.