by Kent, Rina
“He didn’t save him to hurt him,” Aiden says. “Besides, think about it. All of Agnus’ motives lead back to Ethan. I say he’d never hurt him.”
“How do you know that?”
He grins, a sadism so deep ignites in his cloudy eyes. “I know my kind when I meet one.”
“Your… kind?”
“Agnus and I are the same. We don’t mind creating anarchy if it gets us what we want.”
“So he’s planning anarchy?”
“He already did with that fire.”
“This only means he’s unstoppable.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Am I unstoppable, sweetheart?”
“You are.”
“How about when it comes to you?”
“You still are… sometimes. I mean, I know you care about me, but that doesn’t mean you’re politically correct.”
“And I’ll never be.” He dismisses ever so casually. “In your mind, do I want to hurt or protect you?”
“Protect me.” I don’t even think about it.
Aiden might’ve wanted to hurt me at the beginning, but that’s changed. He doesn’t want to inflict pain on me anymore — except during sex sometimes, but that’s part of our foreplay.
Aiden is my number one protector now, and I can admit it out loud.
“Agnus is like me,” he emphasises every word. “He’s just like me.”
The realisation hits me like an eruption of a volcano. “He wants to protect my dad.”
“Exactly.”
I gasp. “Do you think he has feelings for him? Is he... gay?”
“Could be. Could be not.”
“I mean I didn’t notice anything between him and Dad, but…” I trail off, raking my head for any suspicious moments but come up with nothing — at least from the outside looking in.
“He could only care about being his right hand and best friend,” Aiden says. “With people like Agnus, you’ll never know unless he says it out loud.”
I ponder on his words. Now that I think about it, Agnus took Knox and Teal in because Dad asked him to. He saved and watched me from afar because he knows how much I mean to Dad.
All his actions lead back to my father’s well-being.
Well, all except for locking me in a basement with no way out.
That reality of things hits me hard when Aiden pulls and pushes the door with no result.
We’re trapped.
34
Ethan
When I think back on my life, I’m left with the bitter feeling that I accomplished nothing.
It doesn’t even have anything to do with the nine years I spent sleeping while the world moved on around me.
I dreamt a lot about normal family life during those years. About Abby’s angelic smile, Eli’s laughs, and Elsa’s giggles.
Little things. Impossible things.
Because the truth of the matter is, Agnus was right. I started a family with a mentally unstable woman, and I was too smitten to think straight.
I started a family with a woman who shouldn’t have given birth.
Elsa will never know this, but it was because of Abby’s neglect that Eli drowned. She removed his swimming jacket and asked him to go into the water. She told him to be free.
She confessed all that to me at his funeral.
Perhaps that’s why Abby lost all her bearings after his death.
Her notion of freedom is different than any of us.
Abby was damaged since a young age. She was broken but smiled. She was innocent but wanted to be wild.
She was different, and that’s exactly why I was attracted to her. I was a moth drawn to a flame that eventually burned me.
If I could redo the past, I would lock Abby away the second Elsa was born. I would’ve followed the therapist’s recommendation and kept her away from children.
The truth of the matter is, I was selfish, and there’s no way to fix my selfishness now.
That’s why it feels like I accomplished nothing in my forty-four-years-old life. Business ventures and economic success don’t count. I couldn’t even protect my employees from the fire ten years ago.
However, as I stare at Teal and hear her words, I can’t help the smile that breaks across my face. I might not have accomplished much, but I at least saved her and Knox. They’re the best thing that happened to my life after Elsa.
And Agnus.
I let Teal finish talking. She’s speaking fast, skipping over words, and blurting out what’s inside her.
Teal isn’t talkative, but when she does speak, she doesn’t know how to stop. I let her get on with it, because if I interrupt her flow, she’ll lose her chain of thoughts.
“You don’t have to do that,” I tell her once she’s finished. “I’ll find another way.”
“No.” She stomps her foot while standing up. “I’m in, Dad. I made my decision.”
“Think more carefully about it, Teal.”
“I have. That’s why I’m talking to you. I want to do this.”
“Do what?” Knox barges in, dropping on the armrest of Teal’s chair.
I shake my head. The kid is a headache. He’s so lively and energetic, it drives me bonkers sometimes.
He always goes around saying he wants to be my best son, threatening both Elsa and Teal so they don’t step the line. He already is, I just don’t tell him that so he doesn’t lose his energy.
Knox has an infuriating habit of losing interest once he gets what he wants.
“What are you gonna do, T?” He pulls on his sister’s strands. “Don’t tell me Dad agreed to let you pierce your belly button.”
“Pierce your belly button?” I stare at her.
She elbows Knox, cheeks flushing.
“Uh-Oh. You didn’t know that?” He grins at me. “Forget I said anything.”
“Piercing your skin is off the table, Teal,” I tell her in my stern voice.
They still suffer trauma from sharp objects, Teal more than Knox. She puts on a brave façade, but I won’t let her go on with that idea.
“Screw you, Knox.” She glares at him and he merely lifts a shoulder.
“Where’s Elsa?” I ask her. “We need to tell her about your decision.”
“Ah, she went out yesterday evening.” Knox offers.
“Went out?” I thought she was in her room all this time. That’s why I didn’t want to disturb her.
“Aiden King took her away in his car.” Knox waggles his brows. “I saw them when I was flirting with the neighbour. Eh, I mean greeting the neighbour.”
Aiden King took her.
My muscles tense. Where could he have taken her for the entire night?
I call her. No answer.
Fuck.
“Do you have his friends’ numbers?” I ask Knox.
“One second.” He takes out his phone and types something in it then puts it to his ear. “Hey Ro, have you seen Aiden?”
Silence.
“I see, I see. Hide well. Talk to you later, mate.” He hangs up and faces me. “None of them have seen him. He’s not picking up either. Ronan said he’s hiding in his home because Aiden will come for his head any second now.”
This is bad.
If Aiden is not picking up either, this could mean two things.
They ran away.
Or they were taken.
I scratch my chin, thinking about the possibilities. Despite the fact that Aiden’s character is too infuriatingly similar to Jonathan’s, he wouldn’t hurt Elsa. Not with the amount of care and possessiveness I’ve seen in his eyes in my office.
And Elsa wouldn’t leave without informing me first.
This leaves one option: something happened to them. With or without consent.
Bloody hell.
I scroll through my phone and find the one name I didn’t want to contact until the day I die.
Our friendship morphed into a rivalry for a reason. Both of us hate losing and do everything in our power to become number one.
But fate has a fu
nny way of messing with our lives.
I hit his number. He answers after two rings, “Are you ready to admit defeat?”
“We have a problem, Jonathan.”
35
Elsa
We sit in here for what seems like days.
According to Aiden’s watch, it’s only been one day.
We’ve been here for exactly thirty-five hours and counting.
We did all. We tried the door, we screamed — or more like, I screamed. However, there was no sign anyone would come to help.
There was a reason why Ma chose this place. It’s on the far eastern side, no one wanders here, and I’m pretty sure it conceals sounds somehow.
My energy has been waning over the past hours. We have nothing aside from water from the tap.
No food. No blankets. Just like ten years ago.
It’s not cold per se, but a slight tremor has been going through my limbs since the door closed behind Agnus.
There’s a tightness in my chest, suffocating and bruising. Now that I think about it, I flew out of the house without taking my meds the moment Aiden texted me.
Please don’t act up now, heart. It’s super bad timing.
Aiden’s sitting, his back against the wall as I nestle between his long, powerful legs. My back rests against his chest and my head lies on his hard shoulder.
It’s weird how such a hard muscle can be so comforting.
“Maybe he won’t come back for us,” I whisper into the silence. “Maybe he decided it’s better if I’m out of the way?”
“He will.”
“How do you know that? What if he has an accident and dies and no one will come for us?”
“Now you’re being dramatic, sweetheart.”
“It’s a possibility.”
I lift my head and watch him closely; his neutral expression and undisturbed eyes. How can he be so calm about this? While I’ve been losing hope, shaking, and pacing, he’s been sitting here as if we’re on a picnic or something.
Granted, he’s more cool-headed than me, but this is a life or death situation. My head’s crowding with horrific images about how they’ll find our corpses months from now, decayed and stinking.
Tears fill my eyes. I don’t want to die. Not now.
Not when I’m ready to overcome my trauma. Not when I’m finally getting control over my life.
“Hey.” Aiden’s lean fingers cradle my face and stroke my trembling chin.
“I can’t stop thinking about dying.”
“Then let’s occupy that head of yours with something else.” He grins, and my aching heart flutters with sparks.
“Like what?”
“Since you’re a curious little kitten, I’ll let you ask me any question you like.”
My eyes widen. “Any question?”
He nods.
Whoa. That’s some commitment for the devil.
I straighten so my back is propped up against his bent knee. “And you’ll answer them all.”
We need to get that straight, because ‘you can ask me any question’ in Aiden’s manipulative words can also mean he’ll choose not to answer.
His grin widens as if he can read my mind. “And I’ll answer them on one condition.”
Of course.
I huff. “What?”
“You’ll remove a piece of clothing for every question I answer.”
“Hey! That’s not fair.”
He lifts a shoulder. “Take it or leave it.”
I should’ve known the deal would end up playing in his favour.
My jacket lies on his lap. I try to retrieve it. I need all the clothes I can get.
Aiden snatches it away. “This was already off. It doesn’t count.”
Dickhead.
Since my underwear is already somewhere in his pocket from the earlier sixty-nine, that only leaves me with three pieces of clothing; my shirt, my skirt, and my bra.
Three items, three questions.
I glare at him.
The arsehole must’ve thought this through.
Still, I’ll play. He’s right. I need to get my head off the dark thoughts swirling inside it.
My mind crowds with all the questions I wanted to ask, but he always deflected his way out of them. The first one is easy.
“Do you miss Alicia?” I ask.
He appears deep in thought for a second. “Sometimes, I walk inside the house and wonder how it would feel if she was there, but then I recall she’d still be married to Jonathan because she was so helplessly in love with him, and I stop wondering.”
That’s interesting.
Aiden’s lack of empathy is like being in a logical, emotionless state of mind twenty-four seven. That state of mind even forbids him from missing his mother properly because he thinks she would’ve suffered if she lived her life as Jonathan’s wife.
“Take the shirt off,” he orders in that delicious deep tone. “And make it sexy.”
With a sigh, I unbutton my shirt. I don’t really know how to make it sexy, so I just do it without rush, slowly revealing the swell of my breasts covered by the simple cotton bra.
Aiden watches me the entire time with a dark, predatory gleam. His head tilts to the side to get a better view.
My nipples harden under his scrutiny, throbbing for attention.
Not now.
I let the shirt fall to the floor, ready for the next question. I’ve been burning to ask it since the time I heard about it.
“Who was the girl you and Cole had a threesome with?”
He raises an eyebrow. “Let me guess, Astor said he walked in on our ‘kinky shit’.”
I frown. “You know.”
“Typical Astor running his mouth about something he saw when high. Nash and I never had a threesome. Neither of us is the sharing type.”
“But Ronan said he saw you.”
“The fucker was so high that he got her hair colour wrong. Astor saw me fiddle with the ropes and he thought I was binding her when I was actually unbinding her and saving her from Nash’s crazy kink. See? I can be a gentleman when I want to ruin something.”
Aiden and Cole never had a threesome. I was being all green with jealousy over an imaginary person.
“Who was she, anyway?” I ask.
He smirks. “Nash’s damnation.”
Nash’s damnation.
Interesting. I wonder why Aiden worded it that way.
“Now,” his voice deepens with perverse lust. “Take the bra and skirt off.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Why both? I only asked one question.”
“Two, actually.” He grins with mischief. “You asked who’s the girl I had a threesome with and then even after confirming I didn’t fuck her, you still asked who is she.”
Damn it.
I should’ve known Aiden will set me a trap somewhere.
“A deal is a deal, sweetheart. Your curiosity is adorable.”
“Oh, shut up.” With a huff, I unclip my bra and let it fall to my side.
Aiden’s eyes feast on me like I’m his favourite meal, the one he’ll have before a death row.
I shimmy out of my skirt next and kneel naked in front of him.
For long seconds, Aiden just watches me. His brows draw together over darkened eyes as if he’s a predator sampling his prey.
“Hmm.” He reaches a finger and traces it over my hardened nipple. “Are you cold, sweetheart?”
Even if I were, his touch is making me all tingly and warm.
“No,” I say.
“Then I shouldn’t warm you up, huh?”
Ugh. Is there a way to take back my words?
“Aiden…”
“Hmm, sweetheart?” He twirls both my nipples between his fingers, twisting, and torturing them.
A zap of pleasure shoots to my core until I’m almost sure he can see my pussy glistening with arousal.
He pinches my nipple hard. I throw my head back in a whimper.
“I’m waiting.” His voi
ce turns husky with lust. “Was there something you wanted to say?”
I meet his eyes reluctantly, pleading for him to take me already. “I… I…”
“What do you want?” He leans over and sucks a nipple into his mouth. His tongue laps around the peak, licking and twirling.
My stomach flutters with a thousand butterflies.
“Say you want me.” He speaks against my soft flesh, his stubble tickling my skin.
“I want you.” The words come out in a tortuous breath.
I was always such a mess when he teased my breasts. They’re throbbing and aching, but I still want more.
I want all of him. The good and the bad and the ugly.
He drags his pullover over his head, messing up the black strands. I barely register the emptiness on my sore nipples before he goes back to sucking on them, torturing them with his tongue, lips and teeth.
At the same time, he yanks down both his jeans and boxers. The thickness of his cock nestles at my thigh, hot and ready.
“What else do you want, sweetheart?”
I’m distracted by the perfection of his cock and the tautness of his abs. Those hard, powerful muscles of his arms and thighs can snap me in two if he chooses to.
Maybe I would’ve believed that a few months ago, but not now. I trust Aiden now.
I trust he won’t hurt me.
I trust he’ll bring the world to its knees for me.
“I want to be your queen.”
“You already are.” He grunts against my skin, and I briefly close my eyes at the sensation.
My fingers trace along his forearm and arrow tattoo. The one I’m sure he got for me. It’s a reminder of our past on his skin. Just like his scars and mine.
Proof we both survived.
We’re survivors.
“What else do you want?” he murmurs, fluttering kisses all over the curve of my breasts, the hardness of my nipple, and the softness of my tummy.
It’s barely enough.
Scratch that. It’s not enough.
I want to feel his raw strength right now. I want to get lost in him and his intensity; it’s the only thing I have.
“Fuck me, Aiden.” My words end on a moan when he thrusts two fingers inside me. I’m so wet, he barely finds any resistance.
“Hmm. I love it when you’re soaked for me, sweetheart.” He kisses his way up to my ear then nibbles on the shell. “I love that you’re mine. Now, say it.”
