All day, I’ve thought about Aiden’s offer to go with him out of town. I want to spend more time with him, yet I can’t seem to decide if I want to drop everything and leave, or be more responsible by just staying here.
The time reads five o’clock, and I gather my things to head out.
There’s only one person that can help me with this decision, and I can’t believe I’m calling her.
“Well, well, well, look who decided to get back to me finally. I hope you took charge and contacted the man.”
I roll my eyes because she knows I’m not her. I can’t go and take charge like that. I’m not that type of girl.
“Actually, after you texted me yesterday, he popped up to my house unannounced,” I say with pride.
I can hear her shuffling around on the other end. Whatever she was doing, she’s not doing it anymore.
“Wait, he just showed up at your house?”
“Yup.”
“Oh, you already know that I want all the details,” she says, eager to hear everything. She keeps talking, getting more and more excited. I don’t get any words in until I pull up to my house.
“Nancy!” I almost have to shout on the phone to get her to shut up and allow me to talk. “Look, I called you because I need your help with something. I will tell you all the details about what happened between us later.”
“What do you mean? What happened between you two?”
Here we go.
“Nancy—”
“Did something happen between you?” she speculates.
Sighing, I try to get her attention again. “Nancy, I need to—”
She gasps, pausing for a second before whispering, “Edith, did you guys do it?”
I throw my hands in the air in frustration. “No! The only thing we did was kiss, but this isn’t what I called you for. Now, stop it!”
“Hm, fine! But you better tell me about this kiss,” she says, aggravated. “What do you need?”
Going into my closet, I grab my suitcase and start putting clothes inside of it.
“So, Aiden invited me to go out of town with him for business. I’ve been thinking about all day if I should go or not.”
She doesn’t say anything; I thought she would be screaming at least, and telling me that I better go. I stop packing, because if my best friend isn’t screaming and going crazy, then I was right about not going with him.
“Hello, are you still there?”
She screams on the phone, causing me to remove my phone from my ear.
“Girl, you better go!”
Sighing, I go back to packing again. “Are you sure, Nancy? It’s not moving too fast, is it?”
“Bump this whole ‘moving too fast’ crap. This is your chance for you guys to spend more time together and get to know each other better. From what you told me how busy the man is, this may be the only way you can really get to spend time with him, then take it,” she pauses, then adds. “Plus, I already know you’re starting to fall for him,” she teases.
I ignore that last part because that’s not true; it isn’t, at least right now.
“You really think I should do this?”
“Yes! Go and have fun. Don’t overthink this; just go live, Edith.”
She’s right; I need to loosen up. This trip will be perfect for me. I tell her to hold on while I text Aiden, and I tell him that I want to go. He messages me back instantly, saying that he’s on his way to come and get me.
I bring the phone back up to my ear as I pick up my suitcase, setting it by my front door. “Okay, I’m back. I texted him to let him know that I’m going.”
“Good! Now, make sure you bring me something nice back.”
“I’m not doing that. We aren’t even going to be there long enough for me to get you something.”
“No, you just don’t want to do it because you will be too busy with Aiden,” she laughs.
She’s not lying.
Checking that I have everything, I look out my window and see Aiden’s SUV pull into my driveway.
That was quick.
“He’s here. I have to go. Love you.” I quickly hang up, not even giving her a chance to say anything back. I don’t need her giving me any advice or asking questions.
Moving towards my front door and turning off the lights, I pick up my suitcase and open the door. Aiden’s standing there when I come out, and he takes my bag from me.
“All set?” he asks.
“Yup, I have everything.”
We walk to his car; both of his security guards get out and help us. I recognize both from Delfino’s. One of them takes my suitcase from Aiden, putting it in the back. The other opens the back door for both Aiden and me to get inside.
I get in first and move over so that Aiden can slide in. When we’re both seated, and both guards get in, we take off towards the airport.
Aiden looks over at me and reaches for my hand, intertwining our fingers. He brings the back of his hand to his lips, kissing it, sending butterflies to my stomach.
“You okay?”
I let go of a breath I didn’t even notice I was holding. “Yes, I’m just nervous and excited to go on this trip with you.”
“Well, I’m glad you decided to come. I was already driving over here, hoping that you would call me saying you were coming.”
I give him a teasing smile. “There you go again, being so sure of yourself.”
He looks at me, giving me a cocky smile. “Let’s just say I had a feeling you were going to come.”
I turn away from him, looking out the window to hide my blush.
“So, are you going to tell me where we are going, or am I going to have to guess?”
The car is silent, and I have to turn my head back to Aiden to see if he heard me.
I catch him looking down at our joined hands as his thumb rubs my knuckles. He looks up with a grin on his face.
“It’s a surprise.”
Well, if his surprise is anything like the last one, then I just know I’m going to love it.
WE’VE BEEN FLYING FOR SIX hours, and still haven’t made it to our destination. Aiden told me it would take a while before we got there. I didn’t mind, since we were flying on his private plane. His plane has everything I need to keep me entertained the whole flight. He has two TVs that have plenty of movies on them; some of the films haven’t even come out yet. The stewardess serves us two full-course meals during the flight, and you better believe I stuff my face eating all of it. Naturally, after eating, I grow tired, and that’s when Aiden shows me a bedroom in the back of the plane where I can sleep for the rest of the flight. He stays up front, doing business until we land, so I have the whole bed to myself.
I’m living the life.
“Edith.”
I can feel someone shaking my shoulder, trying to wake me up. I’m still in a deep sleep and only partially register that this isn’t a dream; it’s real.
“Edith, wake up. We’re here.”
Groaning, I roll over and push up the window shade beside me, making sure that our plane has landed, though it seems to be in a place that I’m not familiar with.
At the corner of my eye, I see Aiden walk over to the other two windows and open them. Light pours into the room, shining bright, and my eyes take a minute to adjust before I’m able to see him.
“Aiden?”
“Sorry, I had to wake you.” He reaches for me, wrapping his arms around me. “But we have finally arrived.”
“And where is ‘here,’ exactly?” I ask, peeking out the window, trying to get some sense of our location.
“Home.”
He doesn’t say anything more than that one word.
After he helps me out of bed, we move through the cabin, saying goodbye to the flight attendants as we descend the plane’s stairs. Aiden speaks to some of his security guards, giving me time to look around and try to figure out where we could be.
I know that we aren’t in America, that much I am sure of. However, noth
ing is popping out to me that tells me where we are.
“I see you’re still trying to figure out our location?” he whispers in my ear.
As I look up at him, he gives me a teasing smile. He knows that I am starting to get frustrated. He could just tell me and put me out of my misery, except he won’t.
He puts his hand behind my back and guides me to a helicopter. “Well, yeah, you know, you could tell me, and then I won’t have to play this guessing game anymore.” I stop in my tracks. “Wait, what is this? Are we getting in this thing?”
“Yes, we are. It’s the only way to get to my island.”
He opens the door for me, and I step inside.
Wait, did he say his island?
I turn to him, about to say something, when he hands me some headphones. I put them on, and he points to the mic on his headset.
“You can talk to me through the mic.” He helps me get buckled into my seat, checking that I am secure. “Look, I know you want to know where we are, but give it some time. I promise you’ll figure it out as we pass by some things.” He taps on the window. “Pay attention, and look closely.”
The pilot talks to us through our headphones, announcing that we are about to lift off. I hold on to Aiden’s arm, scared out of my mind, because I have never been in one of these before. He laughs, patting my arm. When we’re far up in the air, he nudges me and nods his head out my window. I look over my shoulder, amazed at what I’m seeing.
There’s a beautiful mountain that we’re passing that has some buildings built into it. As we keep flying, I see a whole town on the mountain, surrounded by water with boats everywhere. This place looks familiar, like I’ve seen them in pictures or movies before. As I continue to look, it dawns on me that we are in Italy. The one place I have always wanted to travel to one day.
I gasp, “Oh my gosh, are we in Italy?” I turn to Aiden, knowing I am correct.
“We are. This is where I’m from, my home.”
I look back out the window, watching the town. We circle around, allowing me a chance to see everything, then the pilot turns away, flying in the opposite direction of the town.
My mind is blown away from the fact that Aiden would bring me here, and we haven’t even known each other that long. This touches my heart, seeing him open up like this, and it offers me some insight into who Aiden Delfino actually is and where he came from.
We fly across the ocean to an island, where Aiden tells me he was raised prior to moving to America.
“This is where you lived as a kid? I don’t believe this,” I say in disbelief, stepping out of the helicopter.
I wish my parents had raised me on an island; this is paradise.
He takes my hand and leads me to a trail. “My father was a private man. He didn’t like it when people got into his business. So, he bought an island away from nosy people, secluded so that he could do whatever he wanted.”
We follow the path that’s supposed to take us to the house hidden away behind all these trees.
“I was homeschooled for most of my life before starting college. Whenever I finished my schooling, I would go on different adventures here on the island. Seeing what else I could find on this island that no one else has found,” he tells me. He helps me move through the forest, pointing out areas he used to camp in during his adventures. “Over there is where I would stay most nights after I’d finished exploring. My mom hated it, because she could never find me; my father, on the other hand, didn’t mind as long as I checked in with him frequently.”
“It sounds like you had a great time as a child.”
He grins a huge smile. “I did.”
“Are your parents still alive?
He shakes his head. “No, they aren’t.”
He doesn’t tell me what happened to them. He just continues to guide me until his house comes into view. Walking through the gates, I look up at the house, which is enormous that you can definitely get lost in it. I let go of Aiden’s hand, walking ahead of him. This house has everything you need: a basketball and tennis court, a pool, and an outside theater, and that’s just the outside of the house.
“Let’s go in, and I will give you a mini-tour.”
He shows me certain parts of the house, but not all of it because he has a meeting to go too. So, he saves my room to be shown last.
“This is me?” I walk into a beautiful room that looks like another master bedroom.
“I didn’t think you would want to stay in my room with me, so I gave you your own room.” Aiden brings in my bag, placing it on my bed.
“Thank you.” I reach up on my tippy toes and kiss him on the cheek.
We move over to the sliding doors, opening them as we watch the sun begin to set. I grab Aiden’s hand, pulling him closer to me so that I can wrap my arms around his waist. I place my chin on his chest, looking up at him. He runs a finger down the side of my face, then leans down to kiss my forehead. Moving from my forehead, he kisses my nose, rubbing his against mine after. I close my eyes, holding onto him tighter; this feels too good, too tempting. He moves down from my nose to my lips, brushing over them lightly, teasing me. He never increases the pressure, only giving me light kisses. Eventually, I get frustrated enough and grab the sides of his face, pressing my full lips to his. He takes that cue to deepen on our kiss making me want more.
He takes that moment to break away from me. “We don’t want to get too carried away, remember?” At this very moment, I’m starting to hate myself for telling him that I wanted to take things slow. “Don’t get mad; I think it’s great that we’re taking things slow. It gives us more time to get to know each other before taking things to the next level.” He wraps me back up into his arms. “I have to go, and I won’t be back until late. So, I’ll see you tomorrow morning, and we can spend the day together.”
My heart drops upon hearing that I won’t see him for the rest of the night. “Can I go with you?”
He shakes his head. “Not to this meeting. But don’t worry; tomorrow, I will make it up to you by spending the whole day with you. Plus, this is a perfect time for you to finish your project. I believe Amos pushed back your deadline since you were going with me this weekend for business.” He winks at me.
I knew he had something to do with Amos extending my deadline out of nowhere. I hadn’t made up my mind yet if I was going on this trip, and Amos came to me, telling me he was extending my deadline until Monday.
“You sneaky man. Thank you for that.”
He gives me another kiss. “Tomorrow we can go sightseeing, and I will show you all my favorite places, okay?” I give him a nod. “See you in the morning.”
When I wake up the next day, warm light pours into my room, and the smell of bacon and eggs filling the air gets me out of my bed. Going into the bathroom, I quickly brush my teeth and pin my hair up, making myself look presentable this morning. After double-checking in the mirror, I head out, following the lingering smell of breakfast food.
I enter the kitchen, running into Aiden, who’s standing over the stove cooking breakfast; but that’s not what catches my breath. I move back so that he doesn’t notice me looking at him.
I knew Aiden was built from the way his suits were fitted on him, outlining his body. But it’s nothing like actually having the chance to see him like this—shirtless and barefoot, wearing only pants. Watching him cook, I can see his muscles bulging and jumping as he moves around the kitchen.
“Are you going to stand there all morning looking at me, or are you going to come in?”
Oh, no.
I begin to panic; he caught me, and now I don’t know what to do. I move further behind the wall, trying to hide.
I can hear him setting a pot down, turning off the stove, and walking over towards me. I hurry around the wall, running into him.
“There you go again,” he laughs, pulling me into a hug.
“What? You ran into me this time.” I smile up at him.
He pulls back from me. “Is that right?
”
Ignoring him, I move towards the table, taking a seat. “You never told me that you could cook.”
Laughing, he goes back to finish cooking breakfast.
His back is turned towards me, and biting my lip, I admire the view. “There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me, but you’ll soon learn them,” he says quietly.
Catching the way he says that, a weird feeling passes through me.
Deep in thought, I stare into space, trying to figure out what this feeling means. Aiden walks over, placing our plates on the table, then goes back to grab two coffee mugs. “What things do you want me to learn?”
Handing over my mug, he pours me a cup of coffee. “Everything. I want us to be able to be open and honest with each other, which is why I brought you here.”
To hear him declare this eases my mind. I push away that feeling that came over me and reach across the tables, taking his hand in mine and giving it a squeeze. “I want the same thing, and know that I won’t judge you. Whatever you tell me, good or bad, I will accept you.” I rub his hand, giving him a teasing smile. “Just make sure you do the same for me.”
“Don’t worry, I accept all of you,” he teases back, moving his eyebrows up and down.
Both of us laugh, moving on to enjoy our breakfast.
“What’s on the agenda for today?” I ask, taking a bite of my food. “Maybe you could show me your favorite spot on the island.”
“Actually, that sounds like a great idea.” He checks his phone, typing up a message. “Okay, I told everyone that I would be busy today. You have me all to yourself. I will show you this one area on the island that I always loved to go to, then we can head into town. I want to give you a tour.”
We finish eating, and I run off to get dressed. I pull on some shorts with a plain white shirt and put my hair into a ponytail. I meet Aiden outside by the pool, and find that we’re both wearing similar outfits.
“I see that we’re matching,” he comments.
I gaze down at my clothes. “I guess great minds think alike.”
He grins from ear to ear, strolling towards me.
“I couldn’t agree more.” He holds up a hat in his hand, placing it on my head. “It’s going to be sunny; I thought you could use one of my hats for our adventure. I have one, too.” He shows me his own hat, putting it on too.
Roses Are Red (Edith's Fatal Love Trilogy Book 1) Page 7
