Xander tried to grin lazily but it didn’t reach his eyes as he shifted his gaze toward his twin. There was a fire in Xander’s expression which caused Aiden’s body to stiffen. Don’t do it, Xander!
“Get the fuck out of my house!” Charles roared, raising his fist menacingly. “I have no use for a criminal under my roof! Stealing from the neighbors! Next thing I know, you’ll be robbing banks and murdering people!”
Suddenly, Xander’s face went blank and Aiden’s stomach dropped as he realized what was happening.
Charles’ thoughts were forced out of his own body and Xander took over. But instead of simply knocking his father unconscious as he always did, the older twin directed Charles to do something he had never done before.
Charles spun abruptly and walked toward the counter, picking up a knife from the block. He stared at it for a long moment before raising it high, aiming the downward arc toward his abdomen.
“XANDER NO!” Aiden screamed as he recognized what his father was about to do under Xander’s control.
Charles froze, before turning his head to grin lazily at Aiden.
“Why not?” he asked. “He doesn’t deserve to live. Neither of them does.”
Aiden’s blood was ice in his veins as he watched his brother’s lazy smile slowly appear on his father’s face.
“You can’t do this,” he begged. “Think of Sarah. She’ll never recover from this.”
Charles/Xander laughed derisively. The display was terrifying when you knew that Charles’ psyche wasn’t present in his body at all. The laugh even sounded like Xander’s.
“I’m doing us all a favor,” he snapped. “The last thing we need is these assholes around. We can take care of Sarah.”
“We’ll all be sent into foster care,” Aiden tried to reason. “We’re not old enough to take care of Sarah. Come on, Xander. Just knock him out like always.”
Xander snorted.
“And just like always, he’ll get back up and do it all over again,” Xander growled. “Then what?”
“Then we’ll deal with it then,” he promised. “We’ve gotten this far together.”
“I’m going back to juvie tomorrow,” he reminded Aiden. “Who’s going to take care of you and Sarah – since you’ve conveniently forgotten how to use your abilities?”
Aiden bristled.
“Xander, I’ll protect Sarah,” he promised. “Another way. You can’t do this. You’re not a killer.”
But even as he said it, he wasn’t really sure how accurate his words were. Lately Xander seemed to push more and more boundaries. He was angry and resentful at the world and he acted on it by performing small felonies. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he seemed to take a certain amount of satisfaction when he was caught and his parents were told what had happened. Aiden couldn’t understand what made his brother do it.
Xander scoffed – through Charles’ body. I’ll never get used to that, Aiden thought.
“You’re weak! What happened to you?” the older twin demanded. “You used to care about Sarah and about me. Now you only care about yourself.”
“You’re the one who continues to get arrested,” Aiden retorted, an uncharacteristic anger mounting within him. “Our powers have brought nothing but trouble to us.”
“Speak for yourself,” Xander spat. “I’m offering us a way out of this. You sit by and allow this to happen over and over. He can kill himself and no one will be the wiser.”
“You’ll know! And so will I,” Aiden yelled, his face red with fury. “Stop and think about what you’re doing!”
They glared at one another for a moment and Charles raised the butcher knife again.
Aiden gaped as the blade came down, swiftly. Arcing through the air almost gracefully. In his panic, Aiden reached out to stop his brother from acting.
The knife stopped in mid-air, hovering, suspended, and Charles’ angry eyes pinned Aiden, his expression changing to one of shock.
“What are you doing? How are you doing that!” Xander gasped, his eyes swinging accusingly toward his twin. But Aiden didn’t have an answer. Somehow, he had managed to block his brother from stabbing Charles. Was he able to project now too? Since when? He had never shown any signs of having that ability before.
“How are you doing that?” Xander screeched, trying to fight him off. But there was no contest.
Easily, Aiden cast his brother back into his own body, the blade clattering to the kitchen floor as Charles gasped a deep breath into his chest. Xander stood gaping at him from his own body.
The twins stared at one another, neither fully understanding what had happened, but there was no time to discuss it.
Charles was lunging for Xander again.
Get him outside and do something! Or I swear to God, I will kill him. Xander screamed silently as he jumped out of Charles’ reach. But Aiden couldn’t do it.
After what had happened during the snowstorm that fateful day, Aiden could not bring himself to do it, to use his abilities.
Knock him unconscious! Aiden growled back. You don’t have to kill him. Just reclaim his body and do what you always do!
A chair flew over and Xander dodged another blow, but he still managed to give his brother a scathing look.
I am already responsible for one death, Xander. I’m not going to claim another life. Not when you can just knock him out.
Like a deranged monkey, Charles leapt onto the table and flew onto Xander’s back, as Aiden watched in horror. The noises emanating from Charles were unlike anything Aiden had ever heard and for the first time, he wondered if he had made a mistake in letting him live.
Aiden made the decision to act, his need to protect his brother overwhelming his hesitation to use his abilities. But his brother moved at precisely the same moment.
Xander spun, tossing his father into the far wall, stopping only to cast Aiden one last baleful look before he overtook Charles’ body again.
Suddenly, the older man fell forward onto his face, unconscious.
“Thanks, brother,” Xander hissed sarcastically when he was certain Charles was out. “I hope for your sake, that these two don’t kill Sarah while I’m locked up. If they do, it will be completely on you. You know I’m right.”
“They won’t!” Aiden retorted, horrified at the idea. “I won’t let anything happen to her.”
“You almost let him kill your flesh and blood, your fucking twin. I doubt you’ll give a shit if they do anything to Sarah.”
Xander did not give Aiden a chance to respond, spinning to rush from the house.
In his wake, Aiden stood, consumed by guilt and worry.
I would do anything to protect Sarah, he told himself.
But he could not get the image of his dead classmate out of his mind.
6 Years Later
“Aiden, you have a call on line three.”
“Thanks, Bri.”
He turned away from the computer and snatched up the line.
“Aiden Van Hoyt.”
“Mr. Van Hoyt, this is Detective Keyes of the Rockville Police Department.”
A sizzling bolt of alarm flooded through his body.
“What has he done this time?” Aiden asked without thinking, falling back against the soft leather of his high back swivel chair, a headache beginning to form behind his eyes.
“Could you come to Rockville, sir? I’m afraid I have some troubling news for you.”
Aiden cleared his throat.
“Whatever Xander has done – “
“It’s about your parents, sir.”
The wind was knocked out of Aiden’s chest and he closed his sea green eyes.
“What happened?” he sighed. “Car accident?”
Charles was drunk driving again, I bet. Oh my God -
“No, Mr. Van Hoyt, they – “
“Where is my sister?” he demanded suddenly. “Was Sarah with them?”
In his panic, he had risen from his chair, his pulse racing dangerously.
&
nbsp; “Mr. Van Hoyt, you need to come to the police station on West Montgomery as soon as possible. When can we expect you?”
“Just tell me what happened! And tell me where my sister is!”
“Sir, your parents have been murdered…and your sister is being held for questioning.”
Aiden’s mouth fell open and he began to shake his head in denial.
“No,” he muttered. “No, she didn’t do this.”
“Sir, please, it will be much better if we can do this in person.”
“I’ll be there as soon as possible. It’ll take me an hour to drive there,” he said flatly, slamming down the phone onto his maple desk. His pulse was racing erratically as he tried to reach out to his brother.
Where the hell are you? He demanded. You have to come home!
There was a derisive snort in his head.
What the hell is home? The place where Charles and Lisa live? Xander laughed mirthlessly. No thanks.
They’ve been murdered, Aiden told him, grabbing his keys from inside the top drawer of his desk. And they are holding Sarah for questioning.
An ominous silence filled Aiden’s ears.
Xander, did you hear me? Meet me back in Rockville.
There was no response and Aiden’s blood suddenly ran even colder. Oh my God, could it be? Aiden’s mind started turning over probabilities, the scenarios building quickly.
Goddamn it. Sarah didn’t kill our parents, he realized. Xander did and now he’s going to let her take the fall.
Anger filled him as he glanced at the photograph on his desk.
Jamie smiled at him brilliantly from the silver frame, her cheek pressed up to Audrey’s chubby infant face.
I have to protect Sarah and I owe it to Xander to help, but at what cost?
Part I
Chapter One
Present Day
“Don’t pull up to the front!” Audrey ordered with typical eight-year old sass. “Right here is fine.”
Aiden cast her a sidelong look, wondering when she had gotten to an age where she was embarrassed by her father.
It wasn’t a new thing, not really, but it didn’t get any easier to take.
“Dad!” she groaned as he ignored her request and continued toward the drop off in front of Bethesda Elementary School.
“What?” Aiden asked. “Do you see anyone else dropping their kids off three blocks away?”
“I thought you were always the one saying that being different is not necessarily a bad thing,” she retorted, pulling her bag out of the backseat before she reached for the door.
We can’t win. The next generation is always smarter than us.
“Uh, are you going to give me a kiss?” he asked, trying to keep the exasperation from his voice.
She groaned as if he had demanded a kidney, her peaches and cream complexion melting into an expression of disdain and for a fleeting moment, Aiden was reminded of Xander.
Xander, who was still in prison for the murders of Charles and Lisa.
She sighed deeply as she placed a prefectural kiss on his cheek before disappearing up the walkway toward the school.
A strange pang filled his gut as he watched her go, a bittersweet experience as he realized how fast she was growing up.
She looks like Jamie and acts like Xander. Beauty and ruthlessness in one innocent package. I am so screwed.
Someone behind him honked and Aiden waved apologetically before pulling away from his spot on the curb.
A light rain was falling over the town as he merged onto I-95.
Traffic had slowed to a standstill, a fact which never ceased to amaze Aiden.
It’s water sprinkling over the streets. I don’t understand how this causes everyone to lose control of their common sense and their cars.
Of course, not everyone was Aiden Van Hoyt.
He pressed the screen on his dashboard, activating his Bluetooth and called the office.
“Quick Accounting.”
“Hi, Eileen. It’s me.”
“You’re stuck in traffic?” she asked automatically, and he chuckled. His receptionist knew him too well.
“I just dropped Audrey off at school,” he explained. “But traffic is crawling.”
Eileen chuckled lightly.
“You know you probably won’t even be late,” she replied. “And even if you are – “
“Yes, yes, I know. I own the company. I just thought I would let you know,” he laughed, feeling chastised.
“Duly noted, Aiden,” she placated. “Your morning is pretty clear anyway. Maybe you should take the day off and go see a movie or something.”
He snorted aloud, and she laughed.
Aiden Van Hoyt taking a day off for no good reason? Highly unlikely.
He was nothing if not thorough and scheduled. Men like Aiden did not simply play hooky, CEO or not.
Eileen was more than likely right; he probably would not be late. Still, he didn’t want anyone worrying about him.
Does anyone really worry about you? He asked himself and the answer churned his stomach slightly.
His daughter was eight now, the days of curling up in his lap and spontaneous hugs a thing of the past.
Since Jamie had died, Audrey’s attitude had reflected the grief in the worst ways possible and even after two years, she showed no signs of rising over the rebellion nature which had taken a hold of her.
At least once a week he found himself in the principal’s office, apologizing to someone’s mother or a teacher for something Audrey had said or done.
The problem was, her fury was brilliant, not randomly acted out in punches or kicks. More implied, than actual.
She seemed to be a pool of slowly increasing anger and resentment, and Aiden had no way of knowing when it was going to spill over.
“She needs more discipline,” Principal Bellajoy explained. “She feels she is above reprimand and can get away with anything. That sort of thing starts at home.”
“She lost her mother,” Aiden replied with as much patience as he could muster. “It’s a difficult transition at any age. But she was only six when it happened…”
The woman’s face did not lose its stoniness.
“I have all the sympathy in the world for her plight,” Mrs. Bellajoy said icily. “But I am afraid I have no tolerance for children disrupting the classroom.”
“I’ll talk to her,” he sighed but the answer was never good enough.
“I’m afraid whatever it is you claim to be doing has no affect on Audrey,” the principal declared, and Aiden felt himself growing angry.
Is she suggesting I don’t discipline my daughter? He wondered but even as he got defensive, he tried to remember the last time he had actually punished Audrey for anything, instead of just ‘talking’ to her.
You can’t punish a child in mourning, he told himself, shaking his head. But Aiden wondered if that was the real reason.
He pushed the unbidden thought of his abusive parents out of his mind and focused on the slow-moving interstate, gritting his teeth.
It’s been a good week so far, he reminded himself. No calls from the principal’s office.
The drive from Bethesda to Baltimore was just over forty minutes in regular traffic but it took Aiden an hour that day.
But he still wasn’t late, and Eileen’s beam confirmed it as he wandered into the lush and elegantly decorated office on St. Paul Street.
“Good morning,” the receptionist chirped as he entered. “I have a message for you.”
He arched an eyebrow with polite interest.
“Oh?”
She handed him a handwritten note on a yellow piece of memo paper.
“Sarah.”
Alarm raced through him.
“Is she all right?” he demanded, and she nodded, but Aiden could see her blue eyes had clouded over lightly.
“She says she is,” Eileen reiterated. “But she sounded a little sad.”
Aiden bit on his lower lip, his mossy eyes me
eting Eileen’s.
“Yeah, I bet she’s sad,” he muttered. “I’ll call her.”
Guilt flooded him as she nodded and returned to her computer screen.
Fuck.
Gulping back his shame, Aiden continued into his office, flipping on the recessed lighting as he slipped off his jacket and hung it on the back of the chair.
He pulled open the folded message and exhaled slowly, reaching for the phone on his desk.
“Hi,” he said when an older, male voice came on the line. “It’s Aiden Van Hoyt. Do you have a minute to talk?”
“Yes, Mr. Van Hoyt. I’m glad you called.”
“I know I haven’t been around to visit her much lately, but – “
“I understand you are also going through a very trying time right now,” Dr. Cruthers interrupted. “I have no interested in burdening you further, but I thought that you and I should discuss your sister’s care.”
“I thought we had,” he replied shortly. “I don’t care what it costs. I want her to have round-the-clock care.”
Dr. Cruthers exhaled deeply.
“Mr. Van Hoyt, it is not so simple anymore,” he explained. “Your sister is regressing rapidly, and I think it’s time to look into other avenues.”
Aiden felt his spine fuse.
“What do you mean ‘regressing’?” he asked, his voice a strangled whisper.
“Well…she has delusions, things she thinks are memories of childhood. Now I understand that there was a lot of trauma for a young child to endure but – “
“What is she saying?” he insisted, his face flushing as he sensed what the psychiatrist was about to say next.
Dr. Cruthers chuckled in embarrassment.
“I’m sure you know that she has always held you in such high esteem, and while I expect some…less than sensical utterances from her about you, lately she has been speaking about your brother also.”
Of course she has. Because Xander can’t just stay out of our lives even when he keeps his distance.
Aiden forced a laugh.
“I can only imagine,” he replied. “Like what?”
He hoped he did not sound as apprehensive as he felt, but he tried to reassure himself that no one would ever take his sister seriously, no matter what she said.
HARD Series Box Set: Bad boys with powers Page 36
