Aiden (A Next Generation Carter Brother Novel Book 2)

by Lisa Helen Gray

  Reid stands up, crossing his arms over his chest. “Look, we get you’re hurting, we do. But tone it the fuck down. When Jaxon says you don’t need to watch it, you really don’t. It’s not Cartoon fucking Network. What is on there is sick. If you want to listen to a little boy scream while he’s being burned alive, have at it. If you want to watch video after video of the shit they did to your girl, see the enjoyment on their faces while they did it, then go ahead. If you want to listen to her virginity being taken, then a whole school laughing at her while it’s played for them, go for it. But I’m telling you; you can’t erase it. We’ve been trying to for the last two hours and nothing is working. So, shut the fuck up and sit down.”

  I stagger backwards, my eyes widening at the phone. I clutch my chest, feeling it tighten. I can’t breathe. It has everything on it.

  Everything.

  Beau steadies me, but I push him away from me, scanning the room until my gaze lands on Hayden. “You!”

  “Me?” she asks, pointing at her chest.

  I reach over, pulling her up. “You’re coming with me. I need you to kick some arse.”

  Her eyes turn hard. “I’d be happy to.”

  “I’ll come too,” Hope says, and even though the girl can’t fight, I know she’d do it for me.

  “Me too, although I’ll probably get my arse handed to me,” Charlotte says, standing up.

  “Family outing, then,” Ciara pipes in.

  “I’d stop them before they could hit you back. I just can’t hit them,” I say, even though I desperately want to strangle the life out of them. But I’m afraid if I go alone, that’s exactly what I’ll do.

  They can’t get away with this.

  “Aiden, you can’t,” Beau says, trying to block me.

  I square up to him, shoving him, but he doesn’t budge. “Don’t fucking stop me, Beau. You heard what they did to her from them,” I say, pointing to the Hayes brothers before thumping my chest. “I’ve heard first-hand what she went through, and she still played it down. They aren’t getting away with this. They aren’t going to sit in a cosy fucking prison cell and not feel what it’s like to get hit back.”

  He pushes me back, his face reddening in anger. “I’m a fucking copper, Aiden. You need to remember that before you say that shit to me.”

  “We’ve been sat with a police officer all this time and you didn’t fucking say anything?” Isaac hisses.

  Beau and I aim our glares at him. “Shut the fuck up!”

  He holds his hands up, sitting back down. “Alrighty then.”

  I narrow my eyes at Beau. “Have you seen her?”

  He looks puzzled by my question. “Who?”

  “Bailey.”

  His expression changes, pity shining in his eyes. “No, I haven’t.”

  “Then you don’t understand,” I whisper, feeling tears well. “She is bruised all over. There’s not an inch of skin that isn’t black and blue. She’s lucky—really fucking lucky. She has two fractured ribs and a ruptured spleen. The rest, as they’ve said, is superficial. It will heal. But it doesn’t change the fact that they did that to her. They probably would have left her alone if it hadn’t been for me getting Liam to look into her and her family. I wanted to destroy her, take everything she holds dear. And look where it got us.” I growl, feeling restless. “If we hadn’t discovered her dad skimming money from his new company and fixing his taxes, then he wouldn’t have been arrested and she wouldn’t have done what she did. I need to do something.”

  He places his hand on my shoulder, fixing me with a level gaze. I don’t flinch or shrug him away. “I know this is hard, trust me,” he says, and his eyes briefly meet Faith’s over my shoulder. “But going to find those girls is not going to help Bailey one single bit. They could use anything you do to get out of charges or get a lesser sentence. Trust me. And believe me when I tell you it will not help that girl lying in a hospital bed. This isn’t anyone’s fault but there’s. It’s that simple. They chose to react that way, not you.”

  “And you have Sunday to think about,” Faith says, coming up beside me.

  I scrub my face, feeling defeated. “They can’t get away with this.”

  “And they won’t,” Beau assures me.

  “Who’s fucking arse are we kicking?” Uncle Max booms from the doorway.

  We all groan, everyone going their seats.

  And people wonder why I’m the way I am.

  *** *** ***

  Four hours later and the door to the waiting area bursts open. I’d gone back in to see Bailey after surgery, and by then, the police had come and gone for more statements and to fill us in. When Mum said Harlow had brought Sunday to see me, I came back out into the waiting area.

  I put Sunday back into her pushchair and look up to find Mum out of breath. She chose to stay by Bailey’s side in case there was any news.

  “She’s awake. She’s awake!”

  I rush over to the door, nearly tripping over my over feet to get to her. I don’t stop for Mum, only shout a request for someone to take care of Sunday. I push past her and down the hallway to Bailey’s room.

  Her eyes meet mine when I walk in, and a single tear rolls down her battered cheek. I notice her gran has placed her hearing aid in. I know they were worried about further injuries to her ears, but most of the damage is on her face and body.

  “Bailey,” I croak out hoarsely.

  I walk over to her, and Bella rises from the chair. “We’ll give you two a moment.”

  I don’t pay them any attention. I only have eyes for my woman.

  “You’re awake.” She goes to open her mouth but winces in pain. I take her hand gently, not applying any pressure in case I hurt her. “Shush, the doctor explained you might not be able to talk for a while because of the swelling to your jaw. It should go down in a few days.” She blinks up at me, her eyes watering before more tears drop down her cheeks. I want to brush them away, but fear stops me. “They got them, Bailey. They got them.”

  Her eye with the least amount of swelling widens slightly, and her fingers clench around my hand. I chuckle, but it’s forced. “We found some evidence—well, Jaxon Hayes did. They handed it to the police,” I explain, rubbing the back of my neck. “But they reopened all investigations and charged them an hour ago with everything they did to you. They filled us in on everything.”

  Her eye twitches, and I can tell she’s surprised. I’ve been unsure whether to tell her the rest until she’s better. But I know if it was me, I would want to know. I also know Bailey, and news like this… she’d want to know about it. She’d never forgive me for keeping it from her.

  Her hand twitches in mine. “There’s something else,” I tell her, watching as she becomes more focused. “They’re being charged with the murder of your mum, dad, and brother. They found video footage. They were all picked up trying to leave town two hours ago. The police have them, baby. It’s over.”

  Her eyes clench shut as she struggles to control her emotions. It doesn’t work. Her face crumples with despair as a sob tears through her chest. The animalistic sound she makes as she cries for her parents, for the long-awaited justice, is my undoing. I can’t hold back anymore. Hearing the broken sounds coming from her body is gut-wrenching, and it tears my soul apart, so I move forward, doing my best to comfort her without hurting her further.

  I hold her head in my hands, bringing my lips to her ear. “Shh, it’s over, Bailey. I’ve got you. I love you. I love you so goddamn much.”

  Her hands find my waist, and, using all her strength, she clings to me, soaking up my comfort as tremors rake through her body. I let the anguish roll through her, knowing she has to get it out. I also know this must be hurting her physically. And as hard as she tries to restrain herself, the sobs break out harder every minute.

  She lets it all out, and I take it from her. It’s now mine to bear, and mine to destroy.

  Nothing and no one will hurt her again.

  I won’t let them.
r />   They’ll have to kill me first.

  And a Carter is hard to take down. Trust me, many people have tried—and failed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  BAILEY

  SIX WEEKS LATER

  My hand seeks out Aiden’s when everyone begins to file back into the courtroom. It won’t be long until they bring in Marie, Eva, Naomi and Amy from the detention cells beneath the courts. Beau had explained the whole process in detail, including what would happen during the court proceedings; the evidence, the testimonies, and then today—the sentencing.

  It didn’t make any of this any easier to deal with. Nothing could have prepared me for it.

  Seeing them again after the attack made it all come flooding back. The bathroom, thinking I was going to die, the sheer terror I felt. Memories of waking up in the hospital bed, seeing my grandparents and Teagan, the agony I felt when it registered what had happened to me and that every inch of my body hurt.

  It was suffocating. I couldn’t breathe, and I hated being so close to them—even if they did have guards. Whether those guards were to keep them safe or us safe, it was left unsaid. I know Aiden had to be restrained himself by Maddox and Landon the first time whilst his dad calmed him down.

  In the brief glance I made their way, I felt fear, then anger, and then finally relief at seeing them where they belonged.

  I scan the room as everyone takes their seats. My heart fills with warmth at the Carter’s and my grandparents surrounding me, here to show their love and support. I was even shocked to find some of the Hayes brothers here. After they had given their testimonies, I presumed that would be the last of it. I hadn’t yet had the chance to thank them for saving me that day. I’m hoping today I can catch them before they disappear.

  My eyes water at the memory of how hard the past six weeks had been. I’m still recovering now, but at the beginning it had been incredibly difficult. A week of my stay in hospital, I had found out that although I didn’t suffer any more damage to my hearing, I was no longer eligible for the operation due to the all swelling both internally and externally. I could wait, get my hopes up one more time, or live with my disability. I’m choosing to live with my hearing aid. It no longer bothers me, and I’d rather have it than lose my hearing altogether, which could happen if I went ahead with the procedure now.

  Aiden and his family have been there for me since day one. Not only had his mum not left my side for the first four days, but she continued to visit every day until I was released. I really enjoyed my time with her, getting to know her better without her son stopping conversations when they got to be embarrassing—on his part. In some ways it felt like my mum was there with me. She had treated me as if I was her own daughter.

  Aiden had been overbearing at times, refusing to the leave the hospital altogether. I think the nurses felt pity for what happened to me. In the end, they caved and got me my own room, so he could stay with me without disturbing anyone or making the other patients uncomfortable.

  By the time he got out his brooding faze, the other patients on my floor loved him. We even heard the nurses fighting over who was going to attend to me, just so they could see him.

  It would be pathetic, yet… I couldn’t blame them.

  He wasn’t quite back to his cheerful, fun-loving self, but he was healing too. I could see the toll from what happened was playing on his mind, no matter how hard he tried to play it off.

  My grandparents smothered me like always; this time going further than they ever had before. While I was in hospital for two weeks, they had completely renovated the upstairs bedrooms and moved Aiden in.

  Yes, they moved him in. He seemed gleeful and smug about the whole thing, saying it would be pointless keeping his apartment next door when he wasn’t leaving me again, anyway. He didn’t leave room for argument.

  Not that I wanted to argue. I found I liked having him and Sunday around. It was peaceful.

  I returned home to my bedroom having a new fixture. It was like Narnia had landed in there. They had knocked through the wall, fitting a door that lead to the guest room. A guest room which is now a nursery. A beautiful, bright pink, sparkly nursery with thousands of fairies and stars hanging all over the place.

  Sunday was going to be a spoiled child. When Mary had found out what they were doing, she started to contribute, buying everything her eyes landed on. Then, not wanting to be outdone, Maverick and Teagan started taking stuff over, giving the nursery a little touch from them. The room had everything a child would need until she reached her teens. They had thought of everything.

  I was never alone once when I returned home, for which I was grateful. Even though I knew those girls were in prison pending trial, every noise made me jumpy.

  I was still processing everything I had been told. I hadn’t been convinced anything would be done, and a part of me fears they’ll still get away with it, but then Beau started making some calls. He got the trial pushed forward, so I would settle back into a routine. Turned out, he knew a judge, who knew another a judge, and together, we had a date set.

  The past few days have been emotionally draining, not only on me but everyone around me. I haven’t slept much and eating just made me want to vomit.

  The worst day was when they started screening the evidence, playing the videos and showing the pictures to the jury. The second Marie’s evil laughter echoed through the room, I bolted. I knew the first video they were showing was going to be the day they murdered my family. Staying would have broken me all over again, and already, I was barely hanging on. Deep down, I knew they started that fire, but a part of me never wanted to believe it. The guilt that it had been my fault consumed me. It wasn’t even five seconds into the video before I ran. I had known I would never sleep again if I watched it. The court seemed to understand and didn’t question my reasons for rushing from the room.

  Today, I’m not leaving. Today, I want to look into their eyes and watch as their lives gets taken away from them, just like they stole my parent’s and brother’s lives from them. I want to watch when they realise their rich families have no chance of getting them off. Although none of their family are here, it doesn’t mean they haven’t been given the best representation they could get. I have no idea why their families didn’t make it—I don’t really care. They deserve to stand there alone for what they did. Maybe now they’ll have an inkling of what it felt like to be me when I was alone and afraid.

  I squeeze Aiden’s hand tighter when I feel them walk into the room. I don’t even have to look their way to know they’re approaching the defendant box. I can sense their hatred and anger; it’s rolling off them in waves. But I ignore them, leaning closer to Aiden, who had tensed at the sight of them, too.

  “It won’t be long now, baby. I promise,” he whispers from the corner of his mouth.

  “I’m scared,” I admit. My gran, hearing me, takes my free hand in hers, holding on for dear life.

  “No need to be scared; we’ve got you.”

  Maddox leans forward, resting his arms on the back of my chair. “Want me to cheer you up? I could flash the judge; he needs to crack a smile.”

  Even with the distressing ache inside of me, I manage to crack a smile. He’s been doing this a lot. It was worse at beginning because he didn’t know how to deal with his emotions—or so I’d guessed. He used comedy as a shield to mask what he was really feeling, which was anger.

  Now, I just think he likes winding Aiden up.

  “Shut the fuck up, Maddox,” Aiden grouches on a resigned sigh.

  Maddox tsks at Aiden. “You’re no fun anymore, Aiden. Such a pity,” he says mockingly, before I feel his gaze on me. “He’s jealous because you think I’m hotter,” he whispers loudly. “When you need me, call me.” He pauses, and I can sense him grinning. “Hey, isn’t that a song?”

  Aiden quickly turns around in his chair, knocking Maddox back. The usher glances over at us with a curious eye. I begin to fret over being kicked out, but after a few moments, he t
urns back to the front of the room.

  “If you don’t shut the fuck up, I’m going to get you kicked out,” Aiden hisses, leaning back in his chair.

  Maddox gasps. “You wouldn’t?”

  Aiden smirks. “Try me,” he says, then his attention flicks to the door at the back of the room, the one in which the judge is now stepping out of. “Behave.”

  With that warning, Maddox sighs, but not before whispering, “Call me when he’s gone home.”

  He holds his hands up in surrender when Aiden turns his furious gaze at him, silently warning him not to push any further.

  My lips twitch, but all amusement vanishes when the judge stands up. I flinch in my seat, and Aiden takes my hand, kissing it.

  Feeling my gaze on him, he looks at me, his expression softening in understanding. My eyes begin to water. I’m trembling, fearing what the outcome will be. Even with the damning evidence, I’ve been petrified that they’ll get away with what they’ve done. Again. Aiden knows that, having held me after each and every one of my nightmares.

  “Has the jury reached a decision?”

  The foreman acting as a spokesman for the jury stands, straightening down his tie as he nods. “We have reached a unanimous decision, Your Honour.”

  This is it, this is the moment I’ve been waiting for. Gran leans in closer, wrapping a supportive arm around my waist. A part of my heart breaks at the sound of her hitched breath. Sometimes I forget I’m not the only one who lost them. My grandparents lost a daughter, a grandson, and son-in-law. And it wasn’t until this moment that I realised how selfish I’ve been.

  My attention turns back to the judge, listening to the rest of the charges he’s listing off, even charges from previous years where there wasn’t enough evidence for it to go to court.

  “On the charge, S.18 grievous bodily harm, do you find the defendants guilty, or not guilty.”

  I hold my breath, sitting on the edge of my seat.

  “We, the jury, find the defendants guilty.”