by Lilly Wilde
I was sitting there stunned by everything Connor just revealed. My mind was trying to put it all together…trying to plug in the pieces of who I thought the Raines were and who the Raines really were. “And Aiden doesn’t know any of this?” I asked.
“He does not.”
“Do you think maybe you should tell him? It could be the remedy to a lot of your issues.”
Connor shook his head. “He doesn’t need to know.”
“But maybe if he did know, he’d understand you a little better—he’d sympathize.”
Connor held up a hand. “Let me stop you right there. I don’t need my son’s sympathy.”
“I didn’t say you needed it, but I think it will go a long way to tear down some of the crap that’s between you. Don’t you and Sienna understand what you’ve done? You’ve perpetuated all of your pain and insecurities. You’ve passed all of that along to your children. And while they may have this strength, confidence, and drive you wanted them to have, they also have issues that could have been avoided.”
“Are you saying you don’t have issues that could have been avoided? I think you do. I would even go as far as to say that one of those issues is the reason you ran off with my grandson, is it not?”
He was just as aggravating as Aiden. That was for damn sure.
“You don’t have to answer that,” he said. “All families have dysfunction, Aria. Some may not recognize it, and some simply deny it, but it’s still there. You try to outrun it…you try to re-purpose it in hopes of creating a story that’s far different than your parents’, but it only results in a transformed type of dysfunction. It’s a cycle that will never be escaped.”
“You really have this all figured out, don’t you?”
“So you don’t approve. I didn’t think you would. Well, Aria, you’re a parent now, and you’ll soon see that sometimes you have to do what you think is best, even when others won’t approve, or when your methods are a bit unorthodox. You take the chance that it’s the right thing, and that’s what I did, and I stand behind all of my decisions.”
Connor didn’t want to ever look at Aiden and see the little boy he used to be, the little boy who’d been abused. The little boy who’d been weak and broken. The way I saw it, this was all about Connor, and it had very little to do with Aiden. This entire family could stand with some counseling, but I knew that was something they’d never all agree to, so I didn’t bother to mention it.
“Okay. Fine. Obviously, Aiden has proven himself, so why not let him go?”
“The stronger and more revered Raine Industries is, the stronger and more revered my son is. And Aiden has the business acumen to take this company to heights unknown.”
“So you think Aiden’s strength is tied into Raine Industries….it’s not.”
Connor didn’t respond.
“And you think Aiden can’t be this person you feel he should be, if he steps away from this company,” I said.
“I didn’t say that, but I will say this much. He certainly won’t garner the respect and power he deserves playing the piano.”
“Do you have any idea how condescending that is? Do you even care?”
Again, he didn’t reply.
“So you don’t want sympathy,” I said. “You’re not looking for approval. Why did you tell me all this?”
“Because I think if you know the why, you’ll be more sensitive to my cause, you’ll not continue to steer Aiden from what I’ve tried to lead him toward all these years.”
“Not that I agree with any of this, but why Aiden? Why not Nicholas or Sloan?” I asked.
“They don’t have what Aiden does. Aiden has a gift, and that gift doesn’t come without responsibility.”
“And that’s the belief you’ve whispered in his ear for years, haven’t you?” I asked.
“He belongs at the helm of this company. He can lead the next generation of Raines to the same power and acclaim he holds. That’s what I want for my family…for all of my family…you included, Aria.”
“If that’s what Aiden wants, he can make the choice himself. It’s not for me to steer him one way or the other, because as you’ve said…Aiden is his own man.”
“Indeed he is, but when it comes to you, the game changes entirely.”
“So he’s his own man, except when it comes to me? If you think that, you don’t know Aiden as well as you think.”
“He’s not the same. He’s not the Aiden he was before meeting you.”
“Is that a bad thing?” I asked.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You’re never going to let him go, are you?” I asked.
Connor looked at me as if I’d just said the most absurd thing in the world. “Would you ever let your son go?” he asked.
My demands…my reasoning meant nothing to Connor. I could see that. He was vested in his belief that Aiden should run this company, no matter the consequences. “I wish you hadn’t told me any of this, and whether you want it or not, you have gained my sympathy. But you’ve also gained even more of my contempt.”
“I’m sorry you see things as you do, Aria, but I trust you will keep this between us.”
I stood to leave, but stopped and looked Connor dead in the eye. “You don’t have to browbeat your children to make them strong. Just give them stability, love, and support, and from there, that’s where they’ll pull their strength.”
I walked away, leaving Connor with a pensive look on his handsome face.
Chapter Eleven
Although Aiden was back in town, I could hardly tell the difference—he was still buried in work. While I had become increasingly resentful, I still hadn’t ended my crusade to find out what was going on. Allison had come up empty, and it was obvious Connor didn’t know what was in the works, but I had a sneaking suspicion that Nicholas did. He’d agreed to meet for lunch—maybe I’d walk away from our date with an idea of what Aiden’s end game was.
* * *
Sitting across from a very charismatic Raine sibling, I was being charmed to no end but I was getting nowhere with my subtle interrogation.
“You know, sometimes when I speak with you or your sisters, I see you, but I swear Aiden’s words are coming out of your mouth,” I said.
“I take that as a compliment,” came Aiden’s voice from behind me.
I rolled my eyes and sighed. What the hell was he doing here? “So you have time to pop in unwanted, but when you have reservations with someone, you can’t seem to break away from work.”
“Nick, you don’t mind if I join you, do you?” Aiden asked his brother.
I turned back toward Nicholas. “You told him about our lunch,” I accused.
“Aria. Look. I don’t want to get involved with whatever is going on between the two of you, and nothing good ever results from keeping Aiden in the dark about something that concerns him. So yes, I told him.”
“Unbelievable,” I said.
“What do you expect? He’s my brother,” Nicholas defended. “And he’s always looked out for me. So I do the same for him.”
“I wasn’t aware that my inviting you to lunch warranted your having to look out for your brother. He’s pretty good at taking care of himself.”
“That he is. But I knew he wouldn’t be a fan of a lunch that was clearly intended as fishing expedition.”
I glanced at Aiden. “So everyone just bows to whatever you want.”
“Not everyone.” Aiden took a seat and stared at me. “So what were you hoping to get out of Nick that you couldn’t get out of me?”
“Hey, bro,” Nicholas said. “I’m going to let you two deal with this.”
With his eyes still locked on mine, Aiden replied, “Thanks, Nick.”
“Don’t mention it,” Nicholas replied and then turned to me. “I’m sorry, Aria. If you ever want to grab lunch just to grab lunch, I’m in.”
I tore my eyes away from Aiden and cast a disapproving look at
his brother. “I’ll make sure I clear it with Master Aiden first.”
Nicholas grinned and glanced at Aiden. “Good luck, bro.” He then leaned down and before I could stop him, he swiftly kissed my cheek and then left us alone.
“You know he likes you, right?”
“He has a funny way of showing it,” I offered in rebuttal. I grabbed my purse, preparing to leave the table.
“What are you doing?” Aiden asked.
“My lunch date left, so I’m following his lead,” I replied.
“Why can’t I be your lunch date?”
“Because I really don’t have the appetite for lies and deception.”
“Stay. Please,” he implored.
I let out a sigh and asked, “What’s in it for me?”
He smirked and replied, “Pleasant conversation.”
“I can get that anywhere.”
“Oh, okay. Well, how about this?” He leaned toward me and lowered his voice. “I just happen to have a pretty decent-sized vehicle parked outside. Once we’re done here, maybe I can convince you to let me escort you to it so I can really eat. Or can you just get that anywhere, also?”
I loosened my grip on my bag. “Well…I could stand to have an orgasm.”
His tongue slid coolly across his bottom lip before he reclined in his seat. “So does that mean I can be your date?”
“Make it two orgasms, and you just may have yourself a deal.”
His eyes slid down the front of my shirt. “Consider it done.”
The arrogant confidence in his sexual prowess was so fucking hot. I watched as his eyes darkened with the salacious hint of seduction, forcing me to relinquish everything else and completely submit to his will. My irritation with the two brothers took a temporary nose-dive as I contemplated the exquisite feel of being spread open and licked by Aiden Raine.
Aiden and I made polite conversation about RPH and Lyric as we started our meal. I was pretty unresponsive during most of our lunch, though—my mind navigating from Aiden’s tongue to Aiden’s secrets.
“Why aren’t you eating?” he asked. “You’ve hardly touched your lunch. And you’re never this quiet.”
And you know why I’m quiet. “I just have a lot of my mind.”
“I hope one of those things is a response to my letter.”
“Maybe.”
“Okay, princess. What’s wrong?”
“How did Connor pull you back into that company?”
He didn’t blink an eye as he spit out his lie. “No one is pulling anyone into anything. You’ve known for some weeks now that I’m helping out my siblings.”
“Don’t lie to me. There’s more to this. The secret meetings, the texts from board members, the late nights at the office, and then Connor’s cryptic messages to me. And if Connor threatened me without so much as blinking an eye, I’m scared to even think of what he said or did to get you back into that company. As a matter of fact, I think you’re back in one-hundred percent, but you’re not willing to tell me. Why? Is he holding something over your head?”
“What?”
“Is he blackmailing you?” I asked.
“What would he possibly have to blackmail me with? Do you really think my father would do something like that?”
After the video and my talk with Connor, I knew there was no limit to what Connor would do to get what he wanted. His way of thinking was totally warped. “I think he’d do just about anything for what he thought was the greater good, and to him the greater good is always Raine Industries.”
“Babe, come on.”
“So you’re going to deny it?” I asked.
“There’s nothing to deny,” he said.
He was flat-out lying to me. “Fine. But I know there’s something more to this, and the longer you keep this from me, the more you and I will bump heads, and that will only create a wall between us. Is that what you want?”
“Oh course not, Aria.” He sighed. “To be honest, I’ve found that I miss the company and that it’s quite possible my resentment of it was due more to the pressure and expectations.”
“So you do want to go back?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You’re not actually saying anything. So just tell me. What is it? What are you doing?”
“Dammit. Don’t you understand this is not me? It’s my father. He’s gotten in your head.”
“Stop it! Just stop it. Stop placing this on Connor. It’s you. He only has power if you give it to him. And you do that every time you enter the ring with him. You are the architect of your own unhappiness. Can’t you see that? Just walk away.”
“Aria, I need you to trust me.”
“Trust you? When you keep me in the dark? You’ve been so strange lately. I look at you sometimes and there’s nothing familiar. Your face and your eyes become so hard. It’s like I’m looking into the crazed irises of an obsessed man. And that scares me.”
“You’re overreacting,” he said, casually.
“And you’re being dishonest.”
“That’s it! Aria, I want this to stop, and I want it to stop now. It’s gone on long enough.”
“If you think I’m going to sit back and—”
“That’s exactly what you’re going to do,” he said, his voice low and firm.
“Are you seriously speaking to me as though I’m your subordinate?”
“You need to trust that whatever I do, it’s for the good of my family—for you, me, and Lyric. Stop second-guessing me, stop snooping through my phone, and stop trying to pull phantom information from my brother. You need to focus on your son, me, and RPH. Not this inconsequential bullshit that only serves to upset you. I’ll handle everything else. Are we clear?”
“Crystal.” Yes, we’re clear as mud, asshole.
He glanced at my half-eaten food and then at me. “I doubt you’ll eat any more than you already have. Let’s get out of here. I want to see if those two orgasms can calm you down.”
As pissed as I was, it wasn’t so much that I’d turn down the pleasure of his mouth between my legs. He tossed some bills on the table, grasped my hand, and led me out of the restaurant.
“Why are you in that?” I asked, when I saw we were headed toward the limo.
“It’s more efficient to have a driver when my agenda involves several out-of-office meetings.”
The chauffeur opened the door, and Aiden told him to take a walk and that he’d call him once we finished our conversation. I slid in with Aiden directly behind me. He didn’t waste any time. He guided me so that I was lying down on the seat, and then his hands were at my waist, unbuttoning my jeans. I lifted my body, enabling him to slide my pants and underwear down my legs. His eyes glided over my body, and a wicked smile met his lips when he yanked my clothes off and dropped them to the floor. He pushed his hand between my thighs and moved his fingers over my sex.
“Mmmm. Already wet,” he murmured. He ran his skilled fingers through my cleft and then spread the moisture over my clit.
Aiden sat back and then hauled me onto his lap, positioning one of my legs on either side of him. He then placed his palm on my chest and guided me back so that my head was in his lap. In the next moment, he grabbed my thighs, pulled me forward, and lifted me up to his mouth. He kissed my lips and then lightly blew his warm breath across my wet center. “You requested two orgasms, right?”
“Uh hmm,” I moaned, desperate for his mouth.
He tenderly caressed my lips and then he tightened his grasp on my thighs and pushed his tongue inside me, his mouth flush with my skin as he licked long and deep inside my pussy.
“Ah. Shit,” I panted. “That feels so…ah…good.”
He lightly probed my ass, and then he eased the tip of his finger through the snug flesh while he teased and toyed with my clit, his tongue flicking rapidly over the erect tissue before pulling it back into his hungry mouth, sucking…hard.
“Ah….” I was
right at the edge of my release, so close to spilling into his mouth and then he released the suction on my clit.
“Who wears the pants in this relationship, princess?” he asked.
Huh? “Oh God, no. Don’t do this,” I panted. “Please.”
His response was to sweep his tongue lightly over my lips. “Answer me, and I won’t,” he taunted.
When I didn’t reply, his mouth was back on me, his shameless tongue spearing viciously into my over-stimulated cleft. My legs betrayed me, trembling as my orgasm rushed to the surface again, hovering at the edge, desperate to be set free, and then Aiden stopped again. My body was his. I was in a sinful paradise, completely at his mercy, and he knew it.
“You. Dammit. You,” I cried.
“I what?” he whispered.
“You wear the pants,” I breathed. I clenched my hands and started pounding his thighs, furious he would suppress what I was desperate to release.
“Good girl,” he said. He pulled me closer to his mouth and then one arm encircled my waist. With his free hand, he placed two fingers on my pussy, spreading me open and tracing his tongue around my clit.
Blood rushed to my head, and I started to lose all concepts of time and place. We were in the front of a restaurant, a chauffeur and patrons mere feet away, but none of that mattered.
He lifted his mouth from my flesh, and then surprised me when he spit on my pussy. Here he was—Aiden Raine, a billionaire, sitting in the back of a stretch limousine, dressed in an insanely expensive suit…a man of great authority and influence, a man who had the reverence of the entire business world, a man who was proper and refined…a man who was being so dirty and raw with me…virtually in public, concealed from the world only by the tinted windows.
“Oh, shit. Oh, Aiden,” I moaned.
He spanked my flesh, as if it were an unruly child, delivering quick stinging blows to the soaking ocean that was my pussy, taking me closer to what I wanted, to what my body ached for. I couldn’t move…he’d completely immobilized me, clutching me tightly as though I were the only sustenance he would ever have, his tongue and lips worshipping my flesh with the slight tinge of desperation. His mouth surrounded my clit, pulling it into his mouth, and then he withdrew and spit on me again, and again, and then he was slapping the sensitive tissue over and over, repeatedly taking me to the brink of orgasm and then quickly snatching it away.
