Roses Are Red (Edith's Fatal Love Trilogy Book 1)

by Alexis Murrell

  I check the time. Aiden texted me that if I needed him, he would be downstairs in his office. Wrapping myself in my matching robe to hide everything underneath, I make my way down to his office.

  I knock once on his door, and he tells me to come in.

  The whole office is lit from the fireplace, and he’s sitting behind his desk, working on his laptop. I saunter towards him, my heart beating faster with each step I take in his direction. He takes a quick look at me, then does a double-take, stopping everything he’s doing when he sees what I have on.

  “Hey, thank you for my roses,” I say softly.

  He leans back in his chair, keeping his eyes on me. “You’re welcome.”

  I sit on the edge of his desk. “I hope I didn’t interrupt you, but I wanted to come down and see you.”

  “No, you’re fine. I’m glad you came.” He motions for me to come here, opening up his legs for me to have a seat in his lap. I cross my legs, and my robe slides open, exposing my thigh. I grab the edge of my robe to pull it back, but he puts his hand on top of mine, stopping me. He looks back up at me and moves my robe, exposing my thigh again. “Did you need anything?”

  He touches my thigh lightly, moving his hand up and down. I swallow, shifting in his lap to get more comfortable. “No, I just came down here because I wanted to see you.” He nods his head while continuing to touch me. It almost feels like he’s teasing my skin, which makes me squirm in his lap. “I—I have a surprise for you.” It’s hard to get a sentence out with him touching me like this, and it doesn’t help that it’s making me excited too.

  “Mm, what’s the surprise?”

  “It’s underneath my robe.”

  I stand up in front of him.

  “What are you doing?” he asks.

  “I want us to take things to the next level. I’m ready.” I go to remove my robe, but he stops me again, getting up from his seat.

  “Are you sure about this? There’s no rush.” That eases some of my nervousness, hearing him say that. I know he’ll wait until I’m ready, as long as I want. But I don’t want to wait anymore. Even though we haven’t been together that long it feels right between us.

  “Yes.”

  I can see the hunger in his eyes as he touches the side of my neck, gently rubbing before moving down to the knot holding my robe together. The same alarming feeling that I have once felt before comes rushing back to me, causing me to freeze up. I place my hands on his chest, pushing him back. Closing my eyes, I try and brush off this feeling that something isn’t right, and I shouldn’t be doing this. But the feeling just won’t leave me.

  “How was your outing with Nancy?”

  I scrunch up my face and look up at Aiden. I don’t understand how talking about me going out shopping has anything to do with us about to have sex. Maybe he has changed his mind after seeing my hesitation, and now he only wants to talk, and if that’s the case, then I really have messed up this whole night. I got him excited, thinking that I was ready when, I’m not.

  “Just answer the question,” He says, looking into my eyes. I can tell he’s trying to send me a message, but whatever message that is, I’m not understanding. So, I play along and answer his question.

  “It was great. We went to a lot of different stores and bought a couple of things. I made sure not to spend too much.”

  He looks back down at the knot, nods, and slowly pulls on the belt, causing it to unravel and fall. I hold my breath as the feeling I’m having grows stronger, making me uncomfortable. He takes a step closer to me and opens my robe, giving him a peek at my surprise to him.

  I can tell he likes what he sees, because he looks up at me with raised eyebrows. A teasing smile appears on his lips.

  He leans in to whisper in my ear. “Keep talking; I’ll do the rest.”

  That’s when it clicks in my head. He’s trying to distract me because he can tell I’m nervous. Finally, understanding that, I calm down and push aside the unsettling feeling to be in this moment. He smiles at me, seeing that I caught on to what he’s doing. I go back to telling him more of what happened with Nancy and me, our shopping spree.

  “I’m glad you had a great time.”

  I smile at him, happy for the distraction. He grabs the back of my neck and kisses me, mirroring the same hunger that I saw in his eyes. I moan, clinging to him, matching his kiss. I take some steps back and sit upon his desk. Grabbing his shirt, I start unbuttoning it and pushing it off his shoulders.

  Aiden grabs my wrist and pulls back from me. “Are you sure about this? I need to hear you say it again.”

  I link my arms around his neck, pulling him down to me. “Yes, Aiden. I want this, and I want this with you.” I lean in and kiss him on the lips. “I love you.”

  He smiles down at me. “You do?”

  I nod, smiling back at him. “Yes, don’t doubt me. I am ready.”

  “I love you, too.” He runs a finger down the side of my face.

  Tears cloud my eyes as I continue to smile at him. I move in and kiss him hard on the lips; he loves me too. My heart is full, knowing that I finally told him how I truly felt. I know that my heart is safe with him. I don’t know why I sometimes get these alarming feelings, but I won’t let them mess this up for me. What we have is real, I’m not letting this go.

  “Let’s take it over by the fireplace.”

  He picks me up and carries me over there. Setting me down, he grabs some pillows and blankets from the couch, places them on the floor, and then he comes and lays beside me.

  “If you change your mind anytime you let me know. I want you to be comfortable.” He kisses me on the lips, then travels down to my neck and chest.

  Breathing heavily, I put my hands in his hair. “Okay.”

  My eyes fall close, allowing myself to be in this moment with him. I shut off my mind and just feel him. This is everything I’ve ever wanted it to be, and more.

  I’ll never forget this moment, the moment that changed everything between us.

  “GIRL, I DON’T KNOW WHAT you guys are doing over there, but if you cancel on me one more time, we’re going to have a problem.” Nancy puts her face up to the camera. “It’s like you guys can’t be away from each other for just a few hours.”

  I laugh on Skype with Nancy because she’s right. Whenever we try and get together, I end up running late to meet up with her. Or I cancel on her altogether. Lately, I’ve been canceling because Aiden and I have been so wrapped up in each other. We’ve forgotten the outside world.

  Plus, he doesn’t like to be away from me for too long, and I love it.

  “I know, I know. I promise not to cancel on you again.” I laugh, going over to the stove to check and see that the water is boiling. “You know I haven’t forgotten about you.”

  “It sure seems like it, but I’m not even mad at you. Girl, be in love.” I love having her support. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be this happy and this in love. I thought I would never find this kind of love again, but now that I have it, I won’t let it go. “How’s the water coming along? Also, you can go ahead and add in the sauce to the meat.”

  “You know this would have been so much easier if you would have just cooked this for me. Instead, I have you teaching me how to make lasagna through Skype, when you know I can’t cook.”

  My mother is back in town, and tonight is the dinner with her and Aiden. I was hoping that Nancy would be able to come over and help me make her famous lasagna since I told my mother that I would cook. But of course, Nancy couldn’t do it, since she has to finish something for work. So, she’s helping me make it over the computer as she continues to work.

  “We have been over this I don’t know how many times. I need to finish this thing for work; it’s important. I’m still here helping you. It’s just over the computer.” I look back at her, and she’s shrugging her shoulders at me. “Okay, it looks like the water is boiling from where I’m at. Go on and add in the lasagna noodles.”

  I pour in the noodle
s and finish up with the meat. I turn on the oven, setting the temperature that she tells me, and get out the garlic bread.

  “What time is your mother supposed to come?”

  “I told her eight.”

  “I wish that I could’ve come. You plan on telling her everything, your house being on fire, moving in with Aiden, and that you guys are serious?” That’s the part of the dinner I’m dreading. I already know she’s going to ask a million questions, since she’s been gone so long.

  “Yeah, I’m going to tell her everything. I don’t want to, though.” She gives me some more directions to finish the lasagna, and I place it in the oven.

  “It’ll all go fine; she’ll like Aiden.”

  Yeah, we will see.

  The door to the kitchen opens, and Grace walks in. The last time I saw her was two days ago. You would think I would see her a lot more since I’ve been living here. But no, it’s like she tries to avoid me at all costs.

  She walks in and sees me, freezing at the door. It looks like she’s going to walk back out. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were in here. I’ll go.” She turns to leave, but I tell her to stop.

  I look over at Nancy and tell her that I’ll talk to her later, since I have everything else together. All I need to do now is take everything out of the oven and make sure dessert is ready. I rush over to Grace, who looks worried to be in the same room as me, which I don’t understand.

  “Hey, Grace.” I’m trying to be as friendly as possible so that I don’t make her feel uncomfortable. She rubs a hand up and down her arm, looking over at the mess I’ve made.

  I don’t think she’s going to answer me, and then she surprises me and waves.

  “Are you okay? This is the third time I’ve seen you, and you look so afraid. Is it me? Have I done something to scare you?”

  She sighs, “It’s not you.” I give her a look that tells her I’m not convinced. “No, really, it’s not you. It’s just; I try not to mess up and make Mr. Delfino upset. Especially around you, because you mean so much to him.”

  What?

  “What are you talking about? Why would you mess things up and make Aiden upset?” She doesn’t make any sense.

  “You still don’t know, do you?” I shake my head because I really don’t know what she is talking about. She grabs my arm and steps closer to me. I can see the fear in her eyes. “There are some things that you don’t know about him or what goes on in this house. You shouldn’t be with him.”

  “I don’t understand. Tell me what’s going on, and what things don’t I know about Aiden?” I don’t want to think that this woman is crazy, but I’m leaning towards that. I try and pull my arm back from her grip.

  “Mr. Delfino isn’t who you think he is. He will—”

  The door behind her opens, and Aiden walks in. He sees Grace holding onto my arm and me trying to pull away from her. He moves quickly, detaching Grace’s hand from my arm and pulling her towards the door.

  “What did I tell you? Did you not think I was serious?” His voice changes dropping low. I’ve never heard him speak this way before, and it’s starting to scare me.

  Grace begins to shake, and tears roll down her face. Aiden pushes the door open and calls for one of his guards to take her away. One of them comes in and takes her by the arm, and before she leaves, Aiden pulls her back to him, leaning down towards her ear.

  “I’ll deal with you later.”

  She walks out the door, breaking down in tears. I can hear her saying she’s sorry, as the guard keeps pushing her forward.

  Once she’s gone, Aiden turns to me. The kitchen is quiet; you can only hear the timer ticking by the stove for the lasagna.

  I don’t know what to say at the moment; I’m in shock from what just transpired. I open my mouth to say something to Aiden, but nothing comes out. Aiden comes up to me and tilts my chin up to look at him.

  “Don’t worry about Grace; she’s crazy. I’ve been trying to get her help. Whatever she said to you, it’s all a lie.” He leans down and kisses me on the lips.

  I push him back, stepping away from him. “Are you sure? Because it doesn’t seem that way? I mean, she seemed really scared of you, and she told me that I don’t really know you or know what’s going on in this house.”

  “Yes, she’s crazy. Something happened to her years ago, and it changed her forever. She’s scared of everything. I will deal with her; she won’t be a problem in the future.” I think about what he said. If what he’s saying is true, then it would explain why she’s acting that way. “I can see the wheels turning in your head. Don’t worry about her. I’ll handle it.”

  Even though I can’t shake this feeling that something is wrong, I’ll let it go for now, because I have my own problems to deal with tonight. But I really want to find out what’s going on with Grace, and see if I can help Aiden with her. She may just need a girl to talk to about whatever happened to her. I don’t want him to have to deal with this all on his own.

  “All right, I’ll let you handle it.” I kiss him on the lips and go take out the lasagna. “Plus, I need to focus, since we have my mother to deal with. This will be the first time you’re meeting her.”

  The guard who took Grace comes back in the room and whispers in Aiden’s ear. His whole demeanor shifts. Aiden tells me that he’ll be back when my mother arrives and leaves me in the kitchen. I have a feeling he’s going to go deal with Grace, which doesn’t sit well with me. It makes me think that what she said could be true; I may not really know Aiden like, I think.

  “What are you hiding, Aiden?”

  I let go of what happened earlier to focus on my mother, who has arrived.

  “Edith!”

  “Hey, Mom.”

  She shuts her car door and runs up the stairs as I run down, meeting her halfway. We hug each other and say how we’ve missed each other. The longest I’ve been away from my mother is when I went off to college and had classes during the week. Once the weekends hit, I would always go see her and spend time with her if I could. Even when I moved out of the house during the last year of college, I still made sure to see her on some weekends.

  “Wow, Mom, you look good.” I can tell she’s been tanning, so she had to be somewhere on a beach, her favorite place. She’s already looking different, and I love it. There’s a glow about her. “You look different.”

  “Oh, stop, I still look the same.” She rolls her eyes and waves her hand at me, dismissing my comment. “I’ve only been gone for what, three months? It hasn’t been that long.”

  “Yeah, right, that’s long in my book for you to start looking different.” We enter the house, and my mom looks around the room in awe. “You look like you’re finally living your best life, Mom.”

  She stops looking at a painting on the wall and looks over at me. “I know your father would want me to go after my dream and travel like I wanted to.” I can see the sadness in her eyes from mentioning my father, but it disappears when she starts smiling at me.

  I grab her hand and squeeze it, because it really makes my heart happy, hearing her say this. She’s really healing and moving on with her life.

  Aiden comes around the corner and walks over to us.

  “Hello, this must be the lovely Mrs. Davis.” He kisses me on my head and puts out a hand for my mother to shake. She hesitates, looking him up and down, then puts her hand in his, smiling at him. Aiden kisses her hand, then he takes his arm from behind his back, giving my mother and I roses.

  “Thank you,” she says, surprised by the rose.

  I smile at him, taking my rose. “Mom, this is Aiden Delfino, Aiden. This is my mom, Elena Davis.” I’m so nervous about having them meet each other for the first time. I’m hoping everything goes well tonight.

  “Why don’t we go into the dining room to eat?” He sticks his arms out for my mother and me to take. I place my hand on his arm, and my mother does the same.

  He guides us to the dining room, and my mother comments on his home, tel
ling him how she loves how everything looks.

  “Thank you. A lot of the things in this house were passed down in my family, so I kept it all.” He pulls out my mother’s chair for her to sit and pulls out my chair for me to sit down. “Really, this whole house has been in my family for years. I just updated it, changing some things to make it look more modern.”

  “Well, you sure have good taste,” she comments.

  When Aiden takes a seat, one of his staff comes out and pours us some water.

  “Oh, I forgot all about dinner. Let me just go and get our dishes.” Aiden grabs my hand, stopping me from leaving.

  “No, it’s fine. I already have someone getting them for us. You don’t have to worry, go ahead and spend time with your mother.” I sit back down in my seat, grateful that he took care of everything for me.

  My mother grabs her napkin and places it on her lap. I can see a teasing smile appearing on her face even though she’s looking down. She liked Aiden stepping in to help me so that I didn’t have to do anything.

  “So, Mom, how was your trip? I know you had to work, but it was still a vacation.” Our food comes out and is placed in front of us.

  “It was great; I loved traveling over to Paris, England, and Germany. You know I’ve always wanted to travel there.” My mom used to tell me when I was younger that she was going to travel to those three places. She never had a reason why she wanted to travel there; she simply thought they were beautiful places to paint new pictures.

  “Yes, you used to talk about it all the time when I was younger.”

  “Yes, I did.” She turns from me to face Aiden, giving him her full-on attention. It seems like she’s ready to get down to business. “So, Aiden, tell me something about yourself. I don’t know much about you, since my daughter and I haven’t talked much.”