by K. L. Ramsey
“Allison’s not supposed to have them. She didn’t let Aiden know she was going to get the girls.” Every one of Zara’s red flags were flapping in the wind and she worried the worst.
“Well, Mrs. Bentley is still the girls’ mother and Mr. Bentley hasn’t removed her from the list of possible people allowed to pick the girls up. You’ll have to talk to him about that, but we had no reason to keep her from her daughters.” The teacher looked her up and down as if mentally sizing her up and then turned on her heel to go back to cleaning up the classroom, effectively dismissing her.
Zara pulled her cell from her bag on the way out of the school. She needed to tell Aiden that Allison had the girls. A part of her hoped he knew about it but had forgotten to tell her, but deep down she knew something was wrong.
“Rose,” Zara shouted into the phone before Rose had a chance to even get the company name out. “Allison picked the girls up from school today. She took them,” Zara choked back her sob with her last statement. She needed to keep her calm or she’d be no good to anyone, especially not the girls.
“What?” Rose questioned. “Hold on, let me grab Aiden,” Rose said and put the call on hold.
Within seconds, Aiden was on the other end of the call. “Zara, tell me where you are,” he ordered.
“I’m standing outside the girls’ school,” she said.
“Get in the fucking SUV and stay there. I’m on my way. Allison has kidnapped the girls and I have my team on it,” Aiden said.
This time, she didn’t hide her sob. “Oh my God, Aiden. How do you know she took them?” she asked. Zara looked around the parking lot as if making sure she wasn’t being watched.
“She left a note with her mother. She visited Connie this morning and when she took a nap, Allison was gone. She left a note saying she wouldn’t sit back and let me be happy with someone else. It said she wouldn’t let the girls be raised by any woman but herself.” Aiden’s voice cracked and it was nearly her undoing.
“I’m so sorry, Aiden. This is all my fault—I was late picking them up,” she sobbed.
“Where the hell were you, Zara?” he growled.
“I wasn’t feeling well and ran to the doctor,” she admitted. “I’m going to go to your house to see if maybe she’s there.” It was worth a shot. Allison might have had a change of heart and decide to take them back home.
“No,” Aiden barked. “If she’s there and you show up, she could be provoked to anger. I don’t want her to lose her temper around the girls or you. Get in your car and stay put.” Zara could tell he wasn’t in the mood to be questioned.
“Fine,” she agreed. “But find them, Aiden,” she begged.
“I will honey, don’t worry about that,” he promised and ended the call. Zara didn’t care if she was sitting in the middle of the girls’ school parking lot or the fact that any reporter could come along and take her picture. She covered her face and this time, she didn’t muffle her sob. If she would have just waited to go to the doctor, she wouldn’t have been late to pick up the girls and they never would have gone with Allison. She worried they would never see Lucy or Laney again and the thought of Aiden losing his girls tore her heart apart. Zara was sure he’d never forgive her.
She knew if she sat in the parking lot and obeyed Aiden’s orders she might be risking losing the girls forever. Zara was closer to the house than Aiden was and with traffic this late in the day, she’d be able to beat him there by almost thirty minutes. That was precious time they might not get back and she knew she had to at least try to look for them.
“I’m sorry, Aiden,” she whispered and put the car in drive. Zara was going to go back to the house and hopefully, she’d find Allison and the girls there and she wouldn’t let her take them anywhere if she could help it.
Zara pulled into the driveway and parked behind the white car she assumed to be Allison’s. “Got you,” she whispered. She thought about calling Aiden, but she didn’t have time to argue with him about whether or not she should go in. She already knew what his answer would be, so she decided to text him instead.
At the house and her car is here. Going in.
Zara sent the text and turned off her phone and tossed it into her purse, not wanting to take the chance Aiden would call her back to talk her out of going into the house. If the girls were in there, nothing would stop her from getting to them.
The front door was open and Zara stuck her head in, worried she was too late. It was unusually quiet; too quiet for both girls to be home. “Come all the way in—Zara is it?” A tall, thin woman stood in the corner of the family room with her arms crossed over her chest. Zara knew from the pictures Aiden kept in the girls’ rooms that she was Allison; though she looked thinner than her pictures portrayed her to be and with the dark circles under her eyes, she didn’t look like herself much at all.
“Where are the girls?” Zara asked.
“Do you mean MY girls?” Allison shouted. “My girls are safely tucked away so you and I can have a little chat.”
Zara wasn’t sure if she was relieved or worried the girls weren’t at the house. That meant she and Allison were all alone and Aiden had warned that might not end well for her. “You knew I’d come here looking for them, didn’t you?” Zara questioned.
“Yep,” Allison said, seeming almost proud of herself. “You are predictable. Poor Aiden. I know he likes things a little spicy and you must completely bore him,” Allison taunted. Zara refused to answer, not wanting to give in to the woman’s provoking jabs. She didn’t owe Aiden’s ex-wife any explanation.
“What do you want?” Zara asked.
“Well, that’s a simple question. I’ll give you a very simple answer. I want for you to leave,” Allison spat.
“Why now? You’ve been gone for almost a year and you and Aiden aren’t even married anymore,” Zara said. She knew she was poking the bear so to speak, but she couldn’t help herself.
“I’ve heard all about you, Zara. You’re disgusting the way you swooped in here to take my husband and girls. The media had you pegged from the beginning—you’re a homewrecker, nothing more. Once I realized what you were doing here, I had to step up and save my family. You left me no choice.”
“So, this is a selfless act on your part and has nothing to do with the fact that you look like you’ve been living on the streets and most likely hooked on either drugs or booze,” Zara spat. She was done letting everyone think she was a homewrecker. She met Aiden after his divorce was final and she wasn’t about to stand there and let Allison spew lies about her. Connie had hinted to her she was afraid her daughter was caught up with the wrong people and possibly hooked on drugs. She said Allison’s boyfriend had kicked her out when she ran out of money and she had shown up a few times at Connie’s begging for cash.
“How dare you,” Allison yelled. “You have no right to judge me. You, along with your self-righteous attitude, can go fuck yourself. I’ve been through hell since leaving here and I’m ready for my life back. You’ll just have to step aside, sweetheart because I’m taking back what’s mine and that includes Aiden.” Zara barked out her laugh and took a step towards Allison.
“You don’t get to come waltzing back in here to demand your life back, Allison. You walked away from the best man I’ve ever met and your daughters deserved more from their mother. How could you just throw them all away? No, you won’t be taking anyone back—it’s too late for any of that,” Zara said. She turned to leave, knowing she had said everything she needed to. Allison would never concede and they had reached a stalemate. She’d never convince Allison she wasn’t right for Aiden and the girls and really, why would she bother?
“Stop,” Allison shouted. “Stop or I’ll shoot.” Zara’s blood ran cold at the sound of the gun cocking and she slowly turned to find Allison holding a handgun that was pointed right at her. “You stupid bitch,” Allison yelled. “You are making me do this, aren’t you?”
Zara held up her hands, not wanting to give Allison any rea
son to pull the trigger. “I’m not making you do anything, Allison,” she said. “Please just let me go and no one will know I saw you here. No one will know we even had this conversation,” she begged.
“I’m supposed to just let you walk out of here and then what?” Allison asked. That was a good question. Zara wouldn’t let Allison take the girls—Aiden would never forgive her. But, she needed her to believe she would.
“You let me go and then you can pick up the girls and disappear. I’m sure I can convince Aiden they are better off with you. It will give you a fresh start and I know they miss you,” Zara lied.
“They do?” the woman questioned. Zara almost felt bad for lying to her; Allison looked so hopeful when she mentioned the girls.
“Of course they do,” she said. “You’re their mother.”
“That’s right, I am,” Allison shouted. “And you’re trying to take that all away from me. You’re just a low- rent whore,” she yelled.
Zara could feel her hot tears streaming down her face blurring the world around her. She noticed movement out on the patio and her eyes must have given her away. Allison turned, training her gun on the French doors that led to the outside space. “Who’s there?” she yelled. Zara wasn’t sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her or not, but she could have sworn she saw Aiden pass by the window and she knew if he barged in on the two of them, it would only piss Allison off further. It was now or never and she had to take her chance. Zara turned and ran towards the open door, knowing if she could make it just a few more steps, she would be clear of Allison’s threat and hopefully be able to warn Aiden his ex was armed and dangerous.
The shot rang out and Zara wasn’t sure who was shouting—a woman or a man—they both sounded the same. The ringing in her ears was almost as painful as the searing, hot, pain that ran down her thigh and into her left leg. She was falling and there was nothing she could do to stop it, but instead of hitting the ground she looked up to see Aiden’s intense blue eyes looking back at her. He had caught her and she was sure he always would.
Zara, baby, stay with me,” Aiden ordered. She wanted to tell him she would stay with him for the rest of her life if he’d ask her to, but when she opened her mouth to speak, no words came out. The world around her seem like a dream and the last thing she remembered hearing was a woman’s voice screaming Aiden’s name. Just before her world faded to black, she realized that woman was her and she was sure she had just looked at the man she loved for the very last time—Aiden.
Aiden
After Aiden got off the phone with Zara, Connie called him to tell him Allison had doubled back to drop the girls off at her house and said something about finding Zara. She mentioned having to set her straight and Connie worried her daughter was about to do something stupid. She was sure Allison was on something and he knew if given the chance, she’d hurt Zara. He couldn’t let that happen. Corbin was with him and they headed for Aiden’s house, believing Allison would look for Zara there first.
Zara texted she had found Allison’s car in his driveway and he panicked. Aiden knew it was a trap, but he couldn’t reach Zara to tell her what was happening. He called in his security team and he and Corbin decided not to wait for back- up. There was no way he’d let Allison hurt Zara—she was his whole world.
Peeking in the patio windows hadn’t afforded much insight as to what was going on inside his home, but judging by the way Zara stood with her hands in the air, Allison had a gun pointed at her. Aiden motioned to Corbin he was going around the house and through the front door and his friend agreed to take care of his ex-wife. He knew Corbin would get some secret personal satisfaction taking Allison down and that was fine with him. All he could think about was getting to Zara and keeping her safe, at any cost. But he was too late. By the time he reached the front door, Aiden found Zara running towards him and just before she got to him, Allison shot her in the thigh. Zara stumbled towards him and fell into his arms screaming his name and he felt completely helpless. She passed out and he removed his belt, making a tourniquet for Zara’s leg to help stop the bleeding.
Aiden heard a commotion in the house and from the sounds of Allison’s protest, Corbin had secured her and the gun. “You good out there, Aiden?” Corbin shouted. He emerged from the house dragging Allison along with him, her gun in his other hand.
“Fuck,” Corbin swore, looking at Zara.
“She shot Zara,” Aiden choked. Corbin slipped the gun into the waistband of his pants and pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket.
“Don’t worry man, I’ll get help here before you know it. Just keep pressure on the wound,” Corbin ordered. Aiden felt as if his world was moving in slow motion as he sat on the ground holding Zara against his body. There was blood everywhere and he worried she had already lost too much.
“Why, Allison?” he shouted. She stood next to Corbin, her arms pinned behind her back by his friend, looking down on him as if he had some nerve asking her why she’d shot Zara.
“You had no right being with her,” she answered. “She wasn’t good for my daughters or you.”
“You don’t get to decide that anymore, Allison,” he yelled. “You divorced me. You’re the one who chose to leave us. Zara came into our lives and took care of the girls. She loved me without questioning who I am or telling me there is something wrong with me for what I liked.”
“You’re a pervert, Aiden. I wouldn’t give in to your disgusting needs so you pushed me away. Maybe you were with her this whole time, who knows. But you stopped wanting me the day I told you I wouldn’t play your disgusting kinky games,” Allison said. She looked down her nose at him with a self-righteous look on her smug face and he wanted to tell her she was wrong but he wasn’t sure he could. Allison and he grew apart towards the end of their marriage and even though he didn’t turn to anyone else, as she had, he did push her away.
“You’re not right about everything, Allison. In fact you’ve twisted a few of the facts around. You were the one who cheated in our relationship. What was I supposed to do, look the other way while you dated other men? Our marriage was one of convenience for you, wasn’t it Allison? You married me because you were pregnant and then you got too comfortable to leave. My only fault was not seeing it sooner. I let things go on for too long and when you left I was angry at myself because I felt as if I let the girls down. But you know what really ate me up with guilt?” He paused, as if waiting for her to answer but he really didn’t care if she did or not.
“I felt relieved you finally left me,” he whispered. “I beat myself up over that for so long but now I see I shouldn’t have.”
Corbin ended his call, “They’ll be here in less than five minutes now. I’ll meet our security team with Alli here.”
Allison thrashed and bucked, trying to get free from his hold and Corbin seemed to be enjoying the fact she couldn’t. “Not going to happen, sweetheart,” Corbin growled.
“You can’t hold me against my will,” she complained. “Aiden and I are talking.”
“You’re done talking, Alli,” Corbin said. He turned to Aiden, “Man, she’s high and no amount of reasoning will get through to her. She shot the woman you love, Aiden.”
Aiden knew Corbin was right. The woman who stood before him now wasn’t the same woman who he fell in love with all those years ago. He could see that now. “Take her,” he spat. “We’re done talking.”
“No,” She screamed, panicked. “You can’t do this, Aiden. She deserved it. She’s nothing. You can’t love her.” Corbin pulled her along down Aiden’s driveway, leaving him alone with Zara to wait for the ambulance to get there.
“She’s wrong,” he whispered to Zara. “I do love you—more than anything. Please be okay, baby.”
Aiden felt about ready to go out of his mind. It had been two days of hospitals, doctors, and nurses giving him polite stares and endless worry Zara wasn’t going to wake up. He was allowed to ride with her to the hospital on the ambulance, but when they got her into the
emergency room, they took her from him and he wasn’t allowed to see much of her. A few of the nice nurses bent the rules and let him into Zara’s room but he wasn’t always so lucky. No one would give him any answers and it was starting to piss him off. All the doctors would tell him was she was doing well, was stable and still hadn’t woken up from surgery. They asked if Zara had any family they could call and according to Avalon, she didn’t. He knew her parents had died when she was just a girl, but hearing Zara had been completely alone in the world made his heart hurt. She was lucky to have Ava in her life but he wondered just how lucky she’d consider herself to have Aiden as part of it. He was the one who dragged her into his mess. He was the one who asked her to keep their relationship a secret, as if she was someone he was embarrassed of. He was the one who put her in danger, not realizing just how messed up his ex-wife was.
The local authorities had arrested Allison and were holding her without bail, since she was considered a flight risk. They had sent her to a local rehab facility and Aiden hoped she’d get the help she needed. Allison wouldn’t be a part of their lives again but he had loved her and she gave him two precious girls. If Lucy and Laney decided to know their mother when they were older he wouldn’t stop them, but he just hoped Allison would be clean for such an occasion. He would never want his girls to see their mother like she was the day she broke into his house and tried to kill Zara. She wasn’t the same woman he remembered and he knew the drugs had changed her. He was just not ready for how much of her they had taken; she was just a shell of her former self and that made Aiden sad for her.
Corbin and Rose had been stopping by daily to check on Zara. Corbin had picked up the slack around the office because there was no way Aiden was going to leave Zara, if he could help it. He had made sure the girls got to where they needed to go and had spent just enough time at home to shower and change. Other than that, he had taken up residence in the hospital waiting room and prayed someone would give him some good news.
