April 2, 2019
Really sad we won't have more Dynasty until the 19th. :( But I have this and your lovely comments to tide me over, haha! Yay!
Fallon couldn't really believe this was happening. Okay, so in some ways, she could. But things were fixed, somehow, at least on a personal level, and that was more than she'd let herself hope for when she went into this. Liam's hands slid across her back, inadvertently bunching up her blouse as they moved, and she sighed her contentment into the kiss.
But she suddenly drew back with a loud gasp of realization.
"What?" Liam asked, freezing like he thought he'd done something wrong.
"We've been so blind!" She shook her head slightly, reaching up as she talked to rub away stray lipstick that had transferred to his skin. "Adam is in communication with Ada somehow. If we can bug his room, maybe we can figure out what she's telling him, and if it's different than what we think she's telling Michael."
Liam laughed softly, brushing her hair back. "All that came to you because of a kiss? I'm impressed!"
She swatted his arm and pursed her lips at him, but turned away to pull out a small mirror from her pocket to fix her own appearance. "No, I just realized we've been wasting an opportunity. We've been trying to do everything through Michael, and that's clearly not working. I didn't think about it because Blake's so happy to have him back, I guess. But Jeff can make something, and we can get... somebody to hide it in his room."
"Well, not you or Kirby."
"No..." Fallon frowned slightly, leaning against her desk to face him as he sank back into his chair. "But maybe you could get Sam to do it. If Michael's actually going to keep protecting me after that, then he wouldn't want her to know I'm not out of the country. So Sam can't let them know, either."
"Okay," Liam nodded, "but what do I tell them I'm there for? CA paperwork or something?"
She hmm'd quietly, her fingers tapping along the edge of her desk. "Maybe you're looking for me. I was supposed to do an interview recently and everything fell apart. It's going to go very badly once that hits the presses. Maybe we say I convinced you somehow to make up some story or do a tell-all about our marriage, in hopes that it would replace the bad press."
"Except you're out of the country, so we can't. And that would explain why the story never breaks."
"Exactly."
A grin, which was just enough of a smirk to make Fallon proud, grew across his cheeks. "You see? When you stop letting yourself overthink, you're excessively clever."
She glanced down, smiling with even greater pride. "Well, it's a start, right? Doesn't mean I'm not still worried about Culhane, though."
"Let's start with getting a bug from Jeff, and I'll take that over straight away. If anything comes through on there, maybe he can even record it. That way, if Adam mentions Culhane, we've got all of them. And if not, we'll talk to my mother again. Mention Ada and see what she does."
"Well, as I understand it based on what Jeff said, she set up the drug thing to ruin Van Kirk Industries. And it sounded like she knew your uncle somehow. So whoever she is, she must've been involved with your family, though maybe under a different name. I can just tell your mother the truth, though. I thought he was cheating on me with her. That'll be much easier to work into a conversation."
"Definitely," he agreed.
Fallon reached behind her to pull out her phone. "All right. Then I'll call Jeff! Can you go by tonight?"
Liam nodded, and she quickly placed th call, grateful when he picked up almost immediately. As she explained what they needed, Liam got his phone out to delete the recording he'd taken. Then he looked through his emails to see if he could wiggle around his upcoming deadlines. Once she finished up and thanked Jeff for agreeing to help them, she pushed off from the desk and walked up to him, leaning over to set her hands on each of his arm rests.
He lifted his gaze from his phone, surprised by her sudden closeness.
"You need to sneak out without Culhane seeing you," she told him as he set his phone in his lap, his hands brushing over her arms. He nodded, but sat forward to kiss at the corner of her mouth before putting his phone away.
"You go first?" He suggested. "Then you can signal or something."
Fallon nodded, standing up and waiting for him to do the same before heading towards the door. But as her hand reached for the handle, she paused and looked over at him as he spoke up.
"Fallon, does this mean we're...?"
She frowned slightly, unsure what to call them, now. She drew in a steadying breath, only to release it on a sigh. "Don't take this the wrong way, Liam. But I'd really like to take things slow this time. Do it right. I don't think I've ever really done that before."
Liam smiled gently, but shrugged. "We never even had a proper date, I don't think. Maybe we should start there."
"Well, our first two attempts were pretty bad," Fallon agreed. "Maybe third time's the charm?" One side of her mouth lifted in the beginnings of a smirk.
He stepped closer, reaching out to her hips to turn her towards him. "Well," he began, watching her hands as they lifted to his shoulder and upper arm. "How about we have dinner to celebrate and go over our plans after I give Sam the bug?"
"Don't jinx it, Liam," she teased, the pair of them smiling at the memory of when he'd first asked. "But that sounds perfect. I'll tell – well... I'll ask – Kirby to give us some space."
"It's probably safer to just tell her," he said, pulling back and taking her hands. "I'll call you."
She squeezed his hands, then let go to slip through the door. When she confirmed that Michael wasn't around, she opened her door again and waved Liam through – grinning to herself after he quickly kissed her cheek on the way out.
Once he was safely around the corner and out of sight, Fallon ducked back into her room and texted Kirby, telling her to call when she had a few minutes.
Anders opened the front door a few moments after the doorbell rang that evening, grateful that whoever it was had waited until after the family had their dinner. Things never seemed to go well whenever the Carrington dinners were interrupted. Or when any meal was interrupted, really.
The door swung towards him, and for a moment, Anders was almost convinced that he was imagining what he saw. Even Kirby showing up and waiting for permission to return would've been more reasonable than Liam showing up uninvited after the obvious fallout that had come from his and Fallon's divorce. Fake divorce? Whatever it was.
Liam looked anxious, which Anders couldn't fault him for, considering where he was. But at the same time, that likely meant bad news for whoever the lad was here to see.
"Liam," Anders greeted warily. "What can I do for you?"
"I'm supposed to meet Fallon for some... interview prep or something? She asked me to do an exclusive with her tomorrow morning."
Anders frowned and shook his head. "She isn't here. She and Kirby are visiting Kirby's mother."
Liam's eyebrows lifted in surprise, and though Anders felt something was off about it, he wasn't sure what it was. "Oh. Well, is Sam around? I heard the two of them were pretty close now, maybe he can fill me in on what's going on?"
The young man's concern seemed quite genuine, and Anders found he was glad to see it. In his opinion, Fallon could've done with someone being more concerned about her, especially lately. "Yes, of course. Come in."
Liam stepped forward enough to Anders to close the door, but didn't go any further, which Anders of course appreciated. At least some guests knew how to be respectful.
When Anders returned with a confused Sam, Liam asked if they could speak privately, saying Fallon had asked for his help.
"Uh, sure," Sam agreed, leading him towards one of the sixteen spare bedrooms the manor was home to, where he shut the door just in case. Sam waited for Liam to sit in an arm chair before opening the floor. "What's wrong with Fallon? Besides, y'know, the usual."
Liam made sure his voice was lowered, and glanced towards the door before diving into his explanation. "You remember Ada?"
"The one that brought Adam back?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "She's the one Michael was working with... The reason Fallon called off the engagement, and the one that got Jeff shot. Well, Michael helped with that, but still." Liam sighed, taking in Sam's eyes as they widened like dinner plates in his attempt to absorb it all. "Michael took a job at Carrington Atlantic, and I overheard him talking to Ada on the phone the other week. Before Adam's party. That's why Fallon came back to CA. To try and catch them."
"... Uh- Okay? So... wait. Why are you here? And why did Fallon and Kirby take off?"
So Michael hadn't told Ada. Good. "They didn't, really. Fallon's still coming to work. She and Kirby are staying at a hotel here in Atlanta, but we're starting to think that Adam might be working with Ada and Michael." Liam ran a hand through his hair, trying to make it as clear as he could. "We don't know if Adam is really who he says he is. But Michael thinks Fallon is pregnant, so it sounds like he's keeping her presence here a secret from them. We need to know if Ada and Adam are planning something behind his back."
Sam shook his head, clearly baffled by it all.
"It's a lot, I know-"
"What does Fallon need me to do?"
Liam blinked in surprise. "Do you think he's up to something?"
Sam shrugged one shoulder. "Fallon has hated Adam from the beginning, but not because of him being Blake's new favorite. Though, that probably can't hurt. But Adam has been in Steven's ear since he arrived, not to mention how creeped out Fallon was by him. Adam's been saying how me and Steven should finally move out. Like how Fallon left. I don't know, it just... It feels like he's trying to get rid of everyone so he can- can revel in the stuff he missed because he was kidnapped, maybe?"
"It's not like he missed out because of Steven or Fallon, though."
"Well, no," Sam agreed. 'But maybe he figures they had their turn already? I could be wrong, but the way he's pushing for it so hard, I just... I've had this weird feeling about it. And I'm not hell bent on staying or anything, but Steven's been through a lot lately, and I don't know if he's ready. Adam keeps telling him that he is, but how would he know?"
"We talked to Jeff, since he's mad at them as well. And he gave us this," Liam explained, pulling out the tiny bug he'd been given after work. "If you can stick this somewhere hard to notice in Adam's room, we can record any conversations he has with Ada, or whoever else. But you have to be careful. If he finds this-"
"Fallon's in for it. I know." Sam reached out and took it, looking at the sticky backing Liam pointed to, which he could remove to place it somewhere. "He spends all his spare time with Steven, or at work with Blake. I'll have time tomorrow morning while they're gone."
"Perfect. Thanks, Sam," Liam said, standing and offering a hand for the other man to shake. "If she wasn't afraid of being followed or caught by Adam, I'm sure she would've come to you herself."
"Yeah," Sam nodded, standing as well. "You should probably get out of here, though. Just in case. Tell her I said hi. And that I'll be careful."
"Will do. And feel free to call any of us if something comes up. It's probably safer than texting."
Sam nodded again, leading Liam towards the door and then out into the hallway when he saw that it was empty, thankfully. It wasn't until they made it down the front staircase that they saw Adam walking through the living room. Liam gave Sam a last nod before opening the front door and heading for his car.
Adam wandered towards Sam, focused on his phone and seeming oblivious to who had just snuck out. Sam strode past him, looking for a snack as if nothing at all was afoot.