Amelie
I remained frozen in my bed unable to move out of fear. After a while, the sirens stopped and almost immediately I could hear deep male voices discussing downstairs. Amongst them was a familiar voice I despised, Casmir Hardwood, he was here just as Liam had predicted.
I couldn't make out what they were saying, and being in the dark was driving me crazy. It wasn't my intention to yield to the overwhelming curiosity building up in me. But before I could force myself to sit put, I was already at the corner of the staircase, stressing my auditory senses beyond their capabilities.
This was definitely a bad Idea, sooner or later I would make a mistake that could prejudice the entire concept of me being hidden. My mind screamed that I returned to my original hiding spot, but I was too invested in the conversation to listen.
"I'm sorry, but you cannot arrest my client without a warrant." An unfamiliar voice argued. I suspected he was Liam's lawyer, but I had failed to catch a glimpse of him when he entered the house.
I knew stealing and falsifying private documents was a serious crime, but I hadn't expected it to escalate this quickly. Wearily, I tried extending my neck to get a better angle of the situation. From where I hid, I could barely see the hem of the police officer standing next to Casmir. I was confident that with a glimpse of their facial expressions, I could make out which way this case was going to end. Once I got what I wanted, I would hastily return to my room.
"Your client hired an actor to impersonate Mr Casmir's lawyer. Essentially, he lied in court and to the law." The head officer returned. I gasped inwardly, now I was genuinely scared for Liam. But for some reason I felt as though he was going to come out of this unscathed. He was Liam Hardwood after all.
I leaned in further, and this time it was a bad idea. My hand slipped from the railings, and I lost my balance. Luckily, I was able to get a hold on myself before I could begin rolling down the stairs, but at the same time got all attention pulled towards myself.
My eyes darted towards Liam's direction immediately, and in his eyes were dull lights of disappointment and rage. "Why don't you ever listen to me?!" They yelled.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and quickly cooked up an expression of surprise, which was not fooling anybody. Running back to my room now would only make things more awkward, so I decided to meet the visitors instead.
"Amelie, long time no see." Casmir said as he stretched his arm out for a handshake. I turned towards Liam for an opinion and got one almost instantly. The sharp death gaze he gave me was no indication of pleasantness. If I took this handshake, Liam would definitely kill me.
"Hello Casmir..." I drawled out while taking a step backwards. I smiled lazily in response to the grim look in Casmir's eyes and furthered my backward steps. He clearly was not a fan of getting disrespected.
"Who is this?" The chief officer inquired from Liam who sat silent the entire time.
"That should be none of your concern. If you have nothing more to say I suggest you begin to take your leave." His dark eyes twinkled with rage. "Get back to your room Amelie."
I had to hand it over to Liam, his audacious nature was not limited to me only. Even when faced with numerous accusations and charges, he still had the nerve to speak to an officer of the law as though he was a mere pest. And as for me, I was still indecisive of whether I should return to my room or not, mostly for two reasons.
One, I wanted to be caught up with everything in Liam's life. I wanted to know him even more, and possibly share his problems with him. And secondly, I didn't want to appear helpless in front of these people, especially not Casmir. He had a record of picking on weak women, and I wanted him to know that I was different from the woman he knew years ago.
"She's my brother's ex wife, possibly his reason for being in London." Casmir deciphered. "Planning to get married and have a baby with your first lover, even when you're yet to end things with your second? I admire you greatly, my elder brother."
My eyes darted towards Anna who had her eyes buried in a document. She appeared unfazed by everything happening around her, and paid no attention to Casmir's taunts.
Liam on the other hand was not so calm. Before I could lift my eyes from Anna, he had crossed the distance between him and Casmir and had a fist in the air ready to strike.
He was stopped mid action by his lawyer who went ahead to explain that physical assault might actually get him arrested. Liam was oozing hate and rage. If not for the law, he would have gone wild on Casmir. But Casmir's smirk never left his face for once. He was doing everything intentionally, egging Liam on with his every action just to get him arrested. As always, he was a despicable little brat.
"We'll take our leave now and return once we've secured a warrant." He turned to me, took quick steps towards me and took my hand before I could react. Then slowly, he lifted my hand and planted a cold kiss at the back of my palms.
That instant, memories of my past came flooding back into my brain. A past I so desperately wanted to forget. I was fidgeting before I knew it, and only regained myself when Liam's hand grabbed Casmir's and roughly pulled him away from me.
"Get out!" He yelled at his younger brother who merely smiled before turning towards the exit. Once they were gone, Liam dismissed his lawyer and Anna with a single glance, and once again we were left alone.
"I'm...I.. I'm.. sorry.." I apologized. Liam didn't listen, his hand rose into the air, and in the next second I was pinned to the wall.
"You're hurting me.."
"Shut up!" He seethed. I froze at those and only then did he let me go. "Pack your bags, you're leaving the city this instant."