“Mom, why aren’t you going to work today?”
“Um… Mr. Serman said that I should take a few extra days off this week for my wedding, but uh….”
“Dad forced him to not let you go to office, right?”
I nervously diverted my eyes with a silent prayer for a change in subject. Liam was honestly much to perceptive for me to handle sometimes.
But he paid no mind to my awkward demeanor and simply continued to hop along the sidewalk, happily swinging our intertwined hands back and forth. “Dad made a good decision. I like spending time with mom.”
My heart practically melted at his innocent confession. “I like spending time with you too.”
He beamed with delight as we rounded the corner and finally arrived at a little shop tucked away in the middle of downtown.
The bell rang as we opened up the door to Achilles’s personal tailor’s workshop. The wall were lined with all sorts of luxurious fabrics and several half-made suits hanging on mannequins all around the floor.
An elderly man immediately hopped up from his seat in the back of the shop at the sound, eyes widening as we filed in along with a hoard of bodyguards behind me.
I smiled nervously at the elderly man, feeling quite guilty for being the cause of the cramming of a ridiculous number of bodies in his shop. Achilles had refused to let out of the house by myself without a hoard of bodyguards and instructed Watson in particular to stay close to me in case anything happened.
I knew that he was just being cautious, but it was also taking everything in me not to break down from being followed by a bunch of strange men. The only thing holding me together was Liam’s radiating happiness.
Luckily, the little tailor didn’t seem to mind it too much because he quickly forgot about the crowd of bulky men standing behind me and happily greeted us,”It’s Signore Cordova’s little boy. Your papi told me you were coming to get a new suit made for you today!”
Ruffling Liam’s hair with the warm aura of an old grandpa, he then looked up to me with soft crinkles around his eyes. “Ah, you must be his amore. I didn’t get to see you the last time I came over to help tweak an old suit for the little one, but you are definitely even prettier than he described.”
I flushed in embaressment. “A-Achilles just thinks t-too much of me. Y-you don’t have to agree with him just because he said it, sir.”
He waved off my statement. “Just call me Angelo, piccolo.”
I nodded obediently as I watched him waddle around his shop, picking up different books of fabrics and designs here and there. I stepped forward worriedly when he nearly tipped over with armful of scrolls, “Angelo, please don’t hurt yourself. I could help you if you would like. I don’t have anything to do right now anyway.”
“I’m fine, piccolo. I’ve been making the suits for the Cordova men since signore’s papi first came of age.” He patted my hand reassuringly and looked up, seemingly in search for someone before suddenly calling out, “Marmocchio! What are you doing just standing there? Get the signorina a chair to sit on.”
“Yes, nonno…”
My eyes widened in surprise when I saw Watson step out and respectfully guide me toward the back of the shop where an array of velvet plush sofas lined the walls. “A-Angelo is your grandpa?”
He nodded sheepishly. “I’m sorry if he comes off a bit erratic, but he is truly good at his job.”
I glanced over at the pair worriedly. Liam was standing on a pedastal with his arms held out as Angelo took his measurements without pausing from whatever story he was telling Liam. Would Liam be alright? He was never one to get along well with extroverted people like Mrs. Cordova who was sitting at the top as example A.
Watson handed me a glass of water and reassured, “They will be alright. Just relax, madam.”
I sighed and nodded reluctantly in understanding as I gratefully accept the glass from him. I sipped my water slowly as I watched the two interact from across the room.
Glancing up at Watson who was standing rigidly next to me from behind the couch, I offered, “W-Would you like to sit down? I-I think we might be here for alright.”
“It’s quite alright, madam. There’s no need to be worried about me. I’m just doing my job,” he politely declined with a comforting smile.
I fidgeted with my fingers and nodded solemnly as I curled up in my seat. “I-I just thought that it would be alright b-because w-we already have so many guards standing o-outside today.”
A moment of silence passed over before I heard a soft sigh and a felt a big divot to the left of me. I immediately perked up and looked up at Watson’s curiously as he leaned back against the sofa while maintaining a good two feet of space between us.
He explained, “Mr. Cordova has a lot of enemies, so we can never be too careful. He is very protective of you and does not want you to be caught in the crossfire.”
I nodded understandingly. The idea wasn’t a complete surprise to me, considering how notorious Achilles was in the business world. I guess it just never hit me that I would soon become, or already am, apart of that world.
“Please don’t be sad, madam,” Watson flustered. “Mr. Cordova would surely have our heads if he knew we accidently upset you. Just know that we would do everything in our power to keep you safe. Almost all of us have known Mr. Cordova since his adolesence, so we are just happy to see him focusing on something besides work for once.”
I quickly wiped my eyes with the back of my sleeves before any unnecessary tears could fall. “You all must like Achilles very much…”
Watson nodded eagerly in agreement. “Of course, madam. Although he is cold and can be quite harsh at time, he always treats the people who work for him very well.” His eyes drifted over to his grandpa. “Liam resembles him quite a bit in that way. Although they both tend to distance themselves from others, they would do anything for the people that they love.”
My chest warmed at his words.
I had always worried about how Achilles and Liam got along with others. They both seemed so estranged from the rest of the world that I was worried that they would not have anyone on their sides, but it eased my heart to know that so many people cared for them even if they didn’t realize it yet.
“Mom! I’m done!”
I quickly snapped out my thought, catching his little body before he slammed into my knees.
Liam grinned up at me with his little arms barely wrapping around me, “Can we go visit dad now?”
“Of course, honey.” I ruffled his hair lovingly.
Liam happily followed me with his hands intertwined with my own as I made my way over to Angelo to talk about the next steps. As Angelo and I lightly argued about the amount of compensation for his work, the door chimed without either of us noticing.
But a tight squeeze to my fingers was more than enough to draw me out of my conversation, making me look down at Liam curiously. His body had gone completely rigid at his stared wide-eyes at the new comer, a tall woman who looked several years older than me with dark hair cut to her shoulders.
Trying to draw him out of his thoughts, I gently placed my hand against his cheek and softly called out, “Liam, honey? Is everything alright?”
He flinched at the sound of his name and quickly tore his gaze away from the woman. He nodded timidly as he shifted closer to my leg.
I raised an eyebrow, not expecting such an odd reaction from him.
“Ah, Mrs. Albedo! Are you here to pick up your husband’s suit? I have it right here!”
I looked up at the sound of Angelo’s voice and glanced over at said woman. She had an icy aura surrounding her as she stood blankly next to us in front of the counter.
As Angelo darted off into the back of the shop, the lady looked at me from the corner of her eye and softly greeted, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. You look just like your pictures in the papers from Mr. Cordova’s dramatic engagement announcement.”
Trying very hard control my stutter when speaking to strangers as to not come off as uneducated, I nodded and politely replied, “Thank you, Mrs. Albedo. M-may I ask how you know Achilles? I don’t w-work in the same company as him, so please forgive me if I-I’m a bit unknowledgeable.”
I bit the inside of my cheek as she silently eyed me for a moment before finally answering, “My family has been a part Cordova Industries’ board for several centuries. Though we may not be as high ranking as the other families, I’m sure we will continue to grow as my son takes over the head position and will become a great aid for you in the future.”
Even though she wasn’t doing anything particularly odd, something about her sent chills down my spine.
I nodded and pulled Liam closer to me, instinctively hiding him behind me. He was even more tense than I was and didn’t resist in the slightest as his fingers tightened against the hem of my coat.
Luckily, the conversation was cut short as Angelo came flying back in with a suit in hand. Completely oblivious to the atmosphere, Angelo cheerfully chatted with Mrs. Albedo before waving her off.
The tightness in my chest dissipated once she left the shop.
Taking Liam into my hands, I quickly said my goodbyes to Angelo and asked Watson to take us to Achilles’s office.
Leaving without another word, I climbed onto the car, holding Liam in a comforting manner in my lap. Liam was completely frozen stiff in fear, but Watson knew better than to say anything.
I knew that something about that lady sent chills down my spine, but Liam seemed to be more afraid of her than simply meeting an odd stranger. Plus, that lady kept eyeing him oddly from the corner of her eye whenever she thought I wasn’t watching.
Liam was hiding his face inside my coat the entire time, almost as if he had known her from somewhere else before…
I preceded my lips into a thin line at the thought. Did they run into each other before at Achilles’s office before or was it something more than that?
Liam had gone so stiff and silent that I couldn’t bring myself to ask him.
It pained me to see him in such a state.
When we arrived at Achilles’s building, I quietly gathered Liam into my arms with little no resistance, even though he was usually so adamant about being a “big boy” and walking by himself.
Watson’s eyes widened slightly when he opened the door. “Madam, would you like me to help you carry him? He must be-”
I quickly shook my head, silencing him with a single glance that said it all.
He nodded understandingly, opting to opening all the doors up to Achilles’s office for me instead.
A few of Achilles’s employees looked over at us in curiously, but knew better than to stare after catching a glimpse of the tall man behind me.
My chest tightened with every stare of a stranger and each shaky breath coming out the little body draped over my shoulder. It felt like everything was slowly closing on me, becoming increasingly overstimulating with each passing second.
I had always thought that I was a strong person. Though I might not have been physically strong or fearless around strangers, I had always been able to at least pull myself together to take of care everything by myself, including Liam. But at this moment, I felt like I could collapse at any second and the only thing keeping me together was the strong instinct to keep my little one safe.
Yet, all it took was a single glimpse of Achilles’s broad figure standing in front of me for all my walls to come crashing down.