Aiden ~ Melanie Moreland

by Melanie Moreland

  “The news seemed to set you off. I was simply wondering.”

  I wished he would just talk to me. Yell. Anything. Despite what he said, I knew Bentley’s engagement had spooked him, reminding him we were getting too close. What I saw as progress, he saw as unacceptable. He had been so good, looking after me, taking time off and spending it with me. We had amazing chemistry, and I loved talking with him, listening to his thought process. He was kind, generous, with a mischievous boyishness about him that made me laugh. However, he was damaged. He couldn’t see how much he loved or was loved. Every time the light flickered, he was quick to extinguish it, refusing to admit it was possible. He had so much to give, but he was too afraid to try.

  Even for me.

  He dragged a hand through his hair. “It was hardly news since I knew it was going to happen soon. I have a lot on my mind. It’s not all fun and games, Cami.”

  “I am aware of that.”

  “I have this meeting today. Maddox is sick. Bentley is worried about Reid, so I need to make sure he behaves. I’m still worried about you. Bent is nervous over Emmy because of this crazy chick, even though it seems to be over. It’s all on me.” He grabbed a belt, threading it through his waistband. “Don’t turn this into something about us.”

  “I wasn’t doing that.”

  He turned his back, the tension evident in the set of his shoulders. I felt terrible, knowing how much he was handling. I reached out, placing my hand on his shoulder. He froze, and I stepped behind him, leaning into his back. He didn’t move, and I carefully slid my arm around him. With a sigh, he wrapped his hand around mine and spoke quietly.

  “I’m sorry, Cami. I can’t be what you need, and I know it hurts you.”

  “You don’t have to worry about me, Aiden.” I swallowed, tamping down my emotions. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Cami, it’s not . . . I can’t—”

  I closed my eyes, dreading what he was about to say. “No, Aiden. You don’t have to say anything.” I withdrew my hand. “I have to finish packing.”

  He didn’t turn around.

  The car pulled up, and Aiden took my bag, sliding it into the trunk. Knowing it was the last moment alone with him, I grabbed his hand.

  “Thank you, Aiden, for everything.” I squeezed his fingers. “We’re good, okay?”

  His eyes were tormented. Without a word, he pulled me in for a hug, his massive arms caging me in. I felt safe there.

  He stood back. “If you need something, call me. Day or night.”

  “I will.”

  I slid into the car, meeting Emmy’s sad gaze. I shook my head slightly. If she said anything, I was going to burst into tears. Instead, I turned to Reid who was standing outside with Bentley. “You clean up nice.”

  He preened, tugging at his collar. “I know.”

  Everyone chuckled, and I pulled the door shut. They all climbed into Aiden’s car and drove away. Frank pulled away from the curb smoothly and followed. My eyes stayed on Aiden’s car until they disappeared around the corner.

  I needed the day to be over.

  I frowned as I scanned through the strange files. I didn’t understand. Where was my presentation folder? I checked again, cursing under my breath.

  “What is it?” Emmy asked.

  “My stuff is missing.” I yanked out the USB drive, studying it. “Shit.”

  “What?”

  “This is the wrong drive. It’s one of Aiden’s. I must have left mine at his place.” I checked my watch. “Damn it, they’ll already be in their meeting.”

  “Don’t you have a key?”

  “No,” I said despondently. “I left it this morning.”

  “Oh.”

  “Do you have another copy?”

  “Yes. At home.” I stood. “I have to go get it.”

  “You can’t!”

  “Why? I can grab a cab and be there in ten minutes, get the drive, and be back long before my class starts.”

  She looked around, nervous. “But Louisa . . .”

  “She’s gone,” I said impatiently. “One of the girls in our group told me this morning Louisa had even sent her files on the project and told her she was taking a break. It’s over. We can all move on.”

  “Aiden wouldn’t like this, Cami.”

  “He has no say in the matter.”

  “I’m coming with you.”

  “No. You have class in a few minutes. I’ll be back soon.”

  “Cami—”

  “I don’t have time to argue. I’m going.” I hurried to my locker and grabbed my coat. I dreaded going back to the apartment, but I had no choice, and I’d only be there for a few minutes. Outside, I hailed a cab and jumped in. Feeling guilty, I called Aiden, and his voice mail picked up. I hesitated, then left him a message, knowing, no matter what, he would be furious I had left the school grounds. Yet, if I didn’t tell him, it would make it worse. I forced myself to sound chipper.

  “Hey, everything is fine, but I brought the wrong drive, and I have to go home and get another one. I am heading there now and going straight back to the school. Don’t worry. I just wanted you to know.”

  At the apartment, I asked the cab driver to wait. He didn’t look happy, but I paid the fare, and he agreed to wait five minutes.

  “If you’re not back, I am leaving,” he snapped rudely.

  “I will be,” I assured him.

  I hurried upstairs, letting myself into the apartment. Silence surrounded me, but I felt uneasy. I hesitated in the doorway, giving myself a pep talk. The door was double-locked. Louisa no longer had a key. The spare set for Dee was still hanging on the hook where Aiden had left them. Everything was okay.

  “Get a grip,” I murmured.

  I rushed down the hall, snapped on the light, and headed to the dresser, locating the drive in the small basket. I huffed out a sigh of relief, just as the scent hit me. Once again, the overpowering fragrance of my perfume was in the air.

  I looked in the mirror, gasping in shock at the sight on my bed.

  Louisa, wearing one of my hoodies and sweat pants, stared at me. In her hands, she held a knife.

  Scattered around her were streaks of bright fabric. My favorite umbrella was in ribbons, cut into shreds and discarded. The bright colors were tangled and unrecognizable, the images destroyed by her blade.

  My blood went cold.

  Cami

  MYRIAD EMOTIONS AND thoughts flittered through my brain. Fear and dread settled into my chest. A paralyzing lethargy poured over my body, making escape impossible. The fact that I should have listened to Aiden or let Emmy come with me drifted into my mind. Minutes passed as we stared at each other, and with a sinking heart, I realized the cab driver would leave any second, and I would be stuck here, with Louisa.

  Alone.

  No one would know, until it was too late.

  I thought of the self-defense moves Aiden had shown me. They had never included disarming someone with a knife. I swallowed and cleared my dry throat.

  “Louisa. We’ve been looking for you. We’ve all been worried.”

  She tilted her head as if unable to comprehend my words. Her voice was robotic. “I’ve been here.”

  “This-this whole time?”

  “Your sister’s closet is very deep. It’s a great place to sit and wait behind her clothes. Her soup is good. Even cold.”

  I wanted to weep. Aiden had looked in Dee’s room. So had the police. I hadn’t even thought to tell them how far back the closet went, and it wasn’t something easily noticed. All you saw were Dee’s clothes lined up, neat and in order and undisturbed.

  “I thought you went home with your mom.”

  She laughed, the sound brittle. “Like she cares. She left me a message and said she heard I was misbehaving again. She said I needed to stop it or she would cut off my monthly allowance and put me back in the hospital.” She shook her head. “You all are so anxious to get me to go away, so I decided to play your game. I told her I would come on my own, an
d I even called the school and pretended to be her, and Mr. Hob bought it.” She changed her voice. “Of course, I do a wicked imitation of my unfeeling mother.” Her eyes glittered. “I knew you had to come home soon.”

  “What do you want?”

  She moved, more ribbons of fabric falling from her lap. She ignored my question. “Take off your coat.” She stepped closer. “You aren’t leaving.”

  I hesitated, and she jerked her arm, the knife flashing. “Now.”

  I dropped my coat to the floor, knowing my phone was in my pocket. It was always on vibrate during the school day, and I felt it buzz against my feet. I wondered if it was Emmy checking on me and if she would call the police when I didn’t answer.

  “You don’t take care of your things, Cami. You don’t deserve to have them.” She waved her arm. “All your nice things and I had to straighten them for you.” She narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t even say thank you.”

  “I-I didn’t know it was you. That-that was very kind of you. Thank you.”

  She shook her head. “You don’t appreciate it. You have never appreciated anything I did. I even tried to give you a push in the right direction.” Her mouth twisted into an evil smile. “Still, you didn’t learn.”

  I gaped at her. “That was you? You pushed me down the stairs?”

  “Technically, I shoved that Jen girl. She fell into you, so I didn’t touch you. In the chaos, no one noticed me.” She grimaced. “No one ever notices me.”

  I felt ill.

  “You showed no appreciation for anything. Not the notes, going for coffee, or my friendship. Even loaning you sneakers when your feet were wet or coming all this way to see you.” The knife in her hand caught the light as she clenched her fist, the sight terrifying me all over again.

  “Did you cut them?” I asked. “My boots?”

  “You deserved it,” she confirmed. “You were rude.”

  “You took my umbrella.”

  “You left your umbrella by the lockers. Discarded.”

  Now I remembered. It had rained, and I left it dripping there so it didn’t get my locker wet. The sun was out when school finished, and I had forgotten it. But I hadn’t discarded it.

  She wrinkled her nose, as if laughing at a private joke. “It was fun sometimes moving things around so you couldn’t find them. Making you look for them.” She grinned, her lips twisted and evil. “Making you frown for a change.”

  Despite my terror, she made me angry. “That was a shitty thing to do. Mess with my head like that.”

  She scowled, not caring. “Just paying you back.”

  I wanted to scream at her and ask her what she was paying me back for, but I was too scared of her answer.

  “My scarf and cuff were here, in my room.”

  “I liked them. You had spare keys by the door, and I took one.” She shrugged as if that was acceptable. She wanted them, so she took them.

  “You could have asked if you could borrow them.”

  “So you could say no again? You kept saying no to me!” Her voice rose with each sentence. “You barely noticed me. You have time for everyone else. Emmy, the project group. Work. Your sister. Aiden.” She scoffed. “But me, you ignored, no matter what I did. You didn’t even get it when I changed my hair!”

  “I’m sorry,” I offered, confused and unsure what else to do. “You’re right. I was a bad friend. I just get busy, Louisa, and I forget. You know what it’s like. Between school and responsibilities, you just forget. I-I didn’t mean to ignore you.”

  She scowled, and I kept talking.

  “Why don’t I make us coffee now, and we can talk. I-I know about your sister, Jessie, and I’m sorry. We could talk about her if you want?”

  Her voice rose even louder. “I don’t want to talk about her. We were so close, then she left me and I was alone!”

  I realized hearing her sister’s name upset her, and I quickly tried something else. “Okay,” I soothed. “Maybe watch a movie and relax. That would be fun, wouldn’t it? Just hang for the day?” I babbled, trying to figure out my next step, my phone buzzing like crazy at my feet. I needed to stall and keep her mind off whatever plan she had. I needed to distract her.

  She paused, the knife turning in her hand. The closer she came, the stronger the scent of my perfume grew. She had doused herself in it to cover the stench of her unwashed body. And, no doubt, to smell like me. But it wasn’t pleasant on her. Instead, it was sickly sweet and rancid.

  “You can have a shower, and I’ll get you fresh clothes while the coffee is brewing. I’ll change into something comfy too.” I edged toward the door, praying she didn’t notice.

  “How stupid do you think I am?” she asked, her voice suddenly dripping with rage.

  “I-I don’t think you’re stupid at all. I was just offering—”

  “You think you’re so much better than me. That you’re too good to be my friend,” she spat, moving between me and the door.

  “No,” I protested. “That’s not true, Louisa.”

  “Hanging with rich people who pretend they care about you. You think Aiden is going to love you? He likes to fuck you, but that’s all. I saw the way he looked at me. He’d be just as happy to fuck me. He’s not in love with you. You are pathetic. Worse than me.”

  I knew she was crazy and spouting bullshit. Still, her words struck a nerve.

  “I know,” I stated. “I know he isn’t in love with me.” I passed a weary hand over my face. “Tell me what you want, Louisa. Just tell me.”

  “I want you to like me,” she screamed, stepping forward. “I want you to be my friend and care about me!”

  I regarded her sadly, her words reminding me of what I wanted from someone else.

  “You can’t make someone love you, Louisa. I’m sorry.”

  It happened in slow motion. One moment, she was staring at me, livid and shaking. Her arm lifted, and I knew any second, I would feel the pain of that knife. I prepared to defend myself, trying hard to recall what Aiden had taught me, and fighting against the panic that threatened to engulf me instead.

  The next moment, there was the thundering of footsteps, and Aiden appeared, catching us both off guard. Louisa recovered, pointing the knife at him. I gasped, terrified she would strike in his direction and he would be hurt. He moved fast, and in seconds, the knife sailed through the air and Louisa spun away, a crumpled, sobbing heap on the floor across the room.

  I met Aiden’s horrified gaze. His chest was heaving, his body shaking as he reached out to me.

  “I’m okay,” I managed to get out.

  He wrapped his hands around my arms, pushing me toward the door. “The police are on their way. Go sit in the living room.”

  My gaze skittered to Louisa. Her body shook with the force of her sobs. Despite everything, I felt a strong, abiding sorrow as I looked at her. Inadvertently or not, I was part of the reason she was in this position.

  “Sunshine.”

  I tore my eyes away from Louisa and looked at him.

  “Let me handle this. Go.”

  Numb, I stumbled away.

  I slumped into the armchair, my shaking legs unable to hold me upright. My mind raced with everything that had occurred recently, and especially today. I dropped my head into my hands, remembering Louisa’s garbled words. The way she spat them at me and the fear she instilled as she went on about how hard she had tried to get my attention. How much she wanted to be my friend.

  Shame washed over me as I realized I had acted no better toward Aiden than she had with me. I had tried to push him into liking me more, wanting me the way I wanted him. It was time to stop. He was never going to change, and I needed to accept that. To accept him as a great person, someone who was part of Emmy’s life and with whom I would have to interact for a long time. I would never do anything that would force her to have to choose between us, so I needed to change my behavior.

  I lifted my head, feeling weak and weary. Aiden shook the officers’ hands and let them out of th
e apartment. They had taken Louisa away, and I had given my statement to the police. Aiden shut the door, his hand resting on the wood. His wide shoulders slumped, and I was certain he was as exhausted and emotionally drained as I was feeling.

  He sighed and straightened, crossing the room and sitting on the chair opposite me. He kept his voice low and gentle, as if speaking to a frightened animal.

  “Are you all right, Cami?”

  I wanted to fling myself into his arms and tell him no. To explain how terrified I had felt, more so than I had ever been in my life—right up until the moment he had disarmed Louisa and I knew he wasn’t going to be hurt. I couldn’t bear the thought of him injured because of me.

  Instead, I only nodded. “I’m fine.”

  “What do you need?”

  Inside, I screamed, “You!”

  However, again, I repeated myself. “I’m fine. Really.” I swallowed. “How . . . ?” The word hung in the air.

  “Emmy phoned Bentley. She told him you had come here, and I heard your message. I had my phone on vibrate because of the meeting, but I saw your number and checked the message. Bentley had forgotten to turn his off, and when he saw her number, he answered. I was already on my feet when he told me to go. I drove here like a madman. I kept phoning, but you didn’t pick up. I knew something was wrong. I called the police, frantic. I beat them here.” He shook his head and closed his eyes, his hands shaking. “Seeing her in front of you with a knife is an image I will never get out of my head. I can’t even think about what might have happened if I had been a few minutes later . . .” His voice trailed off, and he opened his eyes, his gaze tormented.

  “I don’t think she would have hurt me.”

  “You’re wrong. She wasn’t thinking,” he snapped. “Her mind wasn’t processing reality anymore, and right and wrong didn’t exist. Rage, the grief over her sister, and her hatred had taken over, Cami. She finally snapped.”

  I didn’t want him drowning in any more guilt. He already carried enough around. “Then you got here in time, and you saved me, Aiden. Thank you.”

  “She was here the whole time. Waiting. I missed it.”

  “She was smart.” I stroked his clenched hands. “Stop blaming yourself. I’m not.”