ADELINE’S POV

“I think we should go to the police.”

Liam says, placing his little cup of coffee gently on the table. His hands shaking, courtesy of his coffee ad***tion.

I’ve told him a hundred times not to drink so much coffee, and he has told me a hundred times that if he doesn’t, then he won’t be able to function.

And then I tell him it’s not a good thing to not be able to function without coffee and he just brushes me off anyway. I swear I’ve never met anyone as stubborn as Liam is.

I’ve known him my entire life and he’s still as hardheaded as he was when he was a kid. We were always getting into trouble because Liam loved doing things that he was not supposed to. Which is ironic since he’s a well-renowned lawyer nowadays.

Liam has never lost a single case. I guess you could say Liam and I are perfect.

Our families are very close and Liam and I ended up becoming like brother and sister. We’ve been inseparable ever since we were kids.

“Yeah…No.” I shake my head as I play with my salad, looking down at the greeneries mixing together in the green bowl. I haven’t taken a single bite since we got here. It’s my lunch break, and I need all the energy I can get because I have a new patient coming in, and I didn’t have any breakfast this morning.

“Why Addie? They left your favorite flower at your doorstep. That’s a stalker and potential serial killer behavior. Do you have any idea how many people have gone missing in this exact same way?” He asks me, taking another sip of his black coffee.

I have no idea how he drinks that thing without any milk and only two cubes of sugar.

“Drinking black coffee is the real serial killer behavior, Liam. How do you even do that?” I lean back against my chair and fold my arms against my chest.

Liam frowns. “You’re deflecting.” He says, squinting his eyes.

“I am not.” I groan, letting out a sigh as I push myself forward to continue playing with my food.

“It was just Dain. I know he said he didn’t do it, but he’s a liar and a manipulator. Not many people know my address, Liam. I live in a very secluded area. Besides, I can defend myself pretty well, and unless I know I’m in real danger, I don’t think I want to call the police.” I explain.

Obviously, he won’t let this go, which is why I’m recalculating my actions right now. I shouldn’t have told him. Now, I’ll just make him worry. But that’s the problem. I tell Liam everything and I don’t think I can keep anything away from him.

“I’m coming over for a few days.” Liam suddenly blurts out, and my eyes fly open. Not because he wants to sleep over. It won’t be the first time Liam is staying over for a few days, but he’s currently working on a very important case right now and the last thing I’ll do is distract him and become a burden. I’m a big woman, and although it’s a cute offer, I do not need a babysitter.

“You don’t have to do that. Nope. Forget it. You and I know that I am very capable of protecting myself. Plus, you seem very busy these days, and my house is far from your workplace. I can’t inconvenience you like that. So, forget it.” I say dismissively, but Liam just raises a brow at me in disobedience.

“I’m serious Liam.” I groan.

“Like that’s going to stop me.” He smirks.

I frown as he finishes his coffee in one gulp, loosens his tie a bit, and leans forwards, placing his two hands on the table in the way he does whenever he gets serious.

“Okay, let’s look at it this way. I haven’t slept over in what? Six months? I miss my best friend, and I wanna have a movie night with you.” He pouts. He fucking pouts.

“Also, I’m taking a break from the office for a week to work on this case from home and if I need to communicate with any of my colleagues or my clients, I can just email them.” He leans back.

“Problem solved.” He grins, revealing dimples.

“You’re just using me to try and get over Naomi.” I roll my eyes. “I can’t believe you two broke up again. You need to fix up your act and stop breaking that poor girl’s heart.” I tease.

“Again, you’re deflecting,” Liam says as I glance at the time on my phone. I have ten minutes to get back to the office so I can rest for fifteen minutes before my new patient arrives and I get drowned in someone else’s life issues. I love my job, but sometimes I just hate it, you know. It can be depressing.

“Fine,” I say, standing up and grabbing my purse. “I’m leaving.” I get up from my seat and walk towards him to plant a kiss on his cheek.

“Don’t drink any more coffee,” I order before disappearing out of the little shop. Once I get into my car, I sit for a few minutes in the driver’s seat, taking deep breaths before driving off to the office.

I wonder what my new patient will be like. I wonder if he’s just as messed up as the rest of them.

I didn’t sense anything wrong with the email he sent me asking for my services. You can usually tell from the way a person writes that they in fact do need a therapist. But this person’s email was perfect, articulate and very well punctuated, which makes me intrigued and scared at the same time.

My patients are always very messed-up people. People who have been through so much that they get stuck and have no way out. I think there’s always a root to every problem, and most of the time, it all starts and ends with your own self.

My job is to make these people discover that problem and face it head-on.

In my office, I keep looking at the clock. His email said he would be here at three p.m. I leave work at five p.m., so we have two hours to go over introductions and whatnot.

I hope he’s punctual because nothing pisses me off more than when a person is late. Unless it’s an emergency, there’s no excuse for wasting another person’s time.

It’s five minutes to the meeting time and my personal assistant notifies me of my new patient’s presence.

“Thank you, Victoria. Please show him to my office.” I say, thanking the heavens silently that he has a sense of punctuality. Just in time, my door opens, and my personal assistant, Victoria, walks in with what I reckon is a Greek god.

“That’ll be all Victoria, thank you.” I dismiss her and I am now left in my office, alone with my patient. It takes a second for me to realize I have to offer him a seat and I slap myself mentally, taking myself out of the trance this man just put me in.

“Mr. Russo, is it?” I say putting on my best smile. I stand up and shake his hand, going into full professional mode and offering him a seat.