by K E Osborn
He walks back out with his jacket. “Thought you would’ve left by now,” he says to Brielle who looks at him strangely.
“It’s not five o’clock yet, Father,” she says.
“Of course it is,” he says, checking his watch; he seems confused when he sees the time.
“I’m going now anyway. Have a good night,” he says nicely, which is so out of character for him. I look at Brielle who watches her father walk to the elevator and leave. I have no idea what just happened. Maybe Aiden’s hits were harder than we thought. He didn’t even look at me, which is weird.
Brielle walks back over to my desk.
“That was weird right?” she asks.
“Yep, it was weird even for Alistair who I think is strange all the time,” I say as the elevator chimes. We both look over and Aiden walks back in. An instant wave of relief floods over me when I see him.
He walks over to us. “Bree, you and I need to talk, but it can wait. Jeni, my office, now,” he says, walking toward his office. I look at Bree who bites her bottom lip and shrugs. I exhale and stand then walk to meet Aiden. He’s standing in the middle of the room one hand in his hair, the other on his hip. I walk in and he turns to face me.
“Shut the door,” he says with no emotion. I gulp and shut it, waiting for the onslaught of yelling that’s about to happen. He walks over to me and I tense up. But he takes me into his arms and embraces me tightly, holding my head to his chest. I instantly relax at his touch and wrap my arms around his waist. I close my eyes and hold on to him as tightly as humanly possible. Thank God, this wasn’t at all what I was expecting from him, but I’m glad. It’s a much better reaction than the anger I was sure I was going to face. He sighs and kisses my head.
“I’m so sorry, baby.”
I lift my head up to look at him. His eyes are glassy and full of regret.
“No, I’m sorry; I should have told you sooner.”
“Yes, you should have, but let’s not dwell on that. I’m sorry I left the way I did. I needed to process and take everything in. I can’t even begin to imagine how you must’ve felt after you lost our baby, knowing it was his fault. I can’t even begin to describe how utterly devastated I am that he did this to you, to us. There are no words,” he says and then he leans down to softly kiss my lips.
“I’ve made a decision.”
I can see whatever it is, he’s not going to sway on it. “Okay?”
“We’re leaving work, so we can be together, just you and me. I know you don’t want us to leave here, Jeni, but I don’t see any other option. I have enough money for us to start a new company, and I have plenty of clients that are loyal and will transfer as they deal solely with me anyway. Plus, I can’t stand to be around him or even in the same proximity as him right now, or ever even.”
I can see that he needs this. That he needs time with me, and I really need some time with him, so I agree. His hand moves down to intertwine his fingers with mine. I look down at his right hand and his knuckles are bruised and bloodied. I wince and bring them up to my lips to kiss. He half smiles and leans in kissing me on the forehead.
“Let’s go home,” he says. We turn and walk out of O’Connell Finance.
CHAPTER 15
The past two days with Aiden have been great; we've slept in, spent a day at the park feeding the birds, and even took a walk on the beach. We needed some quality time together, and it's been nice. I’m not looking forward to today because we’re going to see Dr. Lovatt together. Aiden drives us out of town to the clinic and we make our way inside holding hands. I say hi to Tracey, the receptionist, who smiles at Aiden a little too lovingly for my liking. He doesn’t notice as usual. We sit down and wait.
After about five minutes, I hear some laughter and Dee comes walking out with a patient.
“You’re doing so well, Stacey, keep up the good work. I don’t need to see you for another month,” she says and then looks over to acknowledge me. She gestures with her hand for us to follow her and we stand and walk toward her room.
We make our way into her office and to the sofa.
“Hi, Jeni, it’s so good to see you again. I’m Deanna but you can call me Dee,” she says to Aiden.
“Hi, I’m Aiden, Jeni’s fiancé,” he says sitting on the sofa.
“How have you been, Jeni?” she asks. All I can do is exhale in disappointment. At Alistair, but mainly at myself that I let it get this far. I take a seat, looking at Aiden and he smiles comforting me.
“I’ve been okay. Not great but okay.”
“Well, that’s a step in the right direction, but I want to see you happy again, not just okay.”
“Me too, I want nothing more than for Jeni to be happy, that’s all I’ve ever wanted,” Aiden says. I take his hand and intertwine our fingers. Dee smiles and writes something in her notepad.
“So, tell me what’s been happening since I last saw you with your sister.”
“So much has happened. Where do I start?”
“At the beginning,” she says with a kind smile.
I take in a deep breath. “Well, I finally caved and admitted everything to Aiden that his father was doing to me.”
“Okay, so Aiden how are you dealing with all of this?”
“Not too well. I um… don’t know how to feel toward my father. I hate him so much for everything he’s done to my girl. I can’t believe the lengths he went to, to torment and abuse her when she’s never done anything but be civil toward him. I have a lot of anger issues and they all stem from him. I ended up hitting a client because he was flirting with Jeni, and I think my anger is getting the better of me. I think with everything that’s happened to us, well, I guess I’m starting to feel it. We’re leaving the business, but I know Jeni doesn’t want us to. She has father issues of her own that stem from her father abandoning her, and she has some twisted idea that because I have a father, I should learn to deal with him and try to mend our relationship, but I can’t. Not now. The damage has been done and I can never, ever forgive my father for what he’s done to both of us, but mainly to Jeni. But I do love my job, and I can’t help but be sad at the thought of leaving.”
“Can you work there and not associate with your father?” Dee asks.
“Not really, our offices are next to each other so I would still see him every day. I have no ties to him as father and son, that bond was broken ages ago, and it’s not Jeni’s fault. It’s his.”
“You are correct in that assumption, Aiden. Jeni this is not your fault. Aiden’s father sounds like he destroyed his relationship with Aiden all on his own. You were nothing but nice to him, and he threw that in your face. He’s to blame, Jeni, not you.”
“In my head I know that, but I just can’t help but think: what if I had never came into Aiden’s life? Would his relationship with his father be better than it is now? My answer always comes back as yes.”
“But, Jeni, you can’t live your life with what if’s and maybe’s. Aiden has you in his life and he doesn’t want to change that. Is that right?”
“Of course, without a doubt. I always want you in my life and by my side. And if losing Father has to happen for me to get that, then that’s how it’ll have to be. Don’t you see? I choose you. If he threatens you or abuses you mentally or physically again, and you don’t tell me Jeni—”
“I promise I will tell you. Keeping secrets from you was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I wanted to tell you so many times what was happening, but I could never find the courage. I’m sorry that I didn’t put all my belief in you.”
“Baby, you don’t know how much that hurt me. I felt like you had betrayed me by not telling me the truth. You go on about trust, and I give you mine freely. And after everything we have been through you didn’t trust me enough to tell me. You broke my heart, Jeni. How can I trust you if you don’t trust me enough to tell me everything? We’re getting married and a marriage is based on love, commitment, and trust. If we don’t have that, then we have nothing,”
Aiden says, ripping my heart apart.
“Aiden, I will never forgive myself for not telling you, and to be honest, I don’t really understand what I was thinking. I was scared that you would physically hurt your father to the point of no return and be taken from me again and that your relationship with him would be irrevocably broken because of me. I didn’t want either of those outcomes and now both have happened in a slight variant. But I understand and I do trust you. I trust you implicitly, and I know you only want what’s best for me, and I love you for it. Aiden, I trust you and I know that not telling you was the stupidest mistake I’ve ever made and one I’ll never make again. I’ll tell you everything that happens from now on, and I promise to let you in, always.”
“That’s all I ask, Jeni. I love you so much and I need you to know that I honestly want to make you happy. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“This is good, open and honest communication between you. Jeni, do you feel more confident in yourself and the fact that you won’t be around Aiden’s father in the workplace?”
“I still feel hesitant to be alone with Alistair when it comes to family get-togethers, and the fact that he mentions that he could get Jason, my ex, out on a day or weekend pass scares the hell out of me.”
“Jeni, I did a little background research on Jason after your last visit, and trust me when I say that Jason can’t be released on a day or weekend pass. It would be impossible in his current mental condition. He won’t be able to hurt you again, Jeni, so Alistair’s threats are empty. You have nothing to worry about where Jason is concerned; I can assure you of that unconditionally.”
“So Alistair threatening me with letting Jason out is void, he can’t threaten me with anything anymore because he has no leverage. Oh my God,” I say coming to the realization that Alistair no longer has any power over me. I feel lighter, free even. A smile crosses my face as Aiden looks at me intently.
“Is that why you let him belittle you, because you were afraid of Jason?”
I nod.
“Oh, baby,” he says, and wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me to him.
“I think I can stand up to him now, Aiden. If I have nothing to be scared of, then I have no reason to take his bullshit.”
“That’s right, and you should never take his bullshit. Anything he says to you, you need to tell me.”
“I will, I’m never holding out on you again.” I say as I lean in to kiss his lips softly.
“Well you two are probably the best self-counselors I have ever had. I feel like I should pay you for today’s session,” Dee jokes, and Aiden and I chuckle.
“Thank you so much for the information about Jason, Dee; you have no idea how much that has helped me. It’s weird how in half an hour I can feel completely different about a situation that terrified me and now I feel like I don’t have a care in the world.”
Aiden smiles at me brightly. I know how worried he’s been about me, and probably rightly so. I was acting crazy. Alistair can’t do anything to me now, I won’t let him. I feel elation and excitement that I can walk out of here and start a fresh, new, happier life with Aiden.
***
I wake to the sound of Aiden’s cell ringing; he wakes suddenly and fumbles around eventually finding it.
“Hello,” he says through a yawn.
“Oh really? We could come and see it today?”
“Excellent job, Steve, we’ll be there shortly. Thank you so much,” he says. The mention of Steve, the construction site manager, wakes me right up.
Aiden hangs up and turns to face me.
“Is it ready?” I ask with anticipation.
“It’s ready, baby,” he says, pulling me to him. I kiss him and then jump up quickly. To say I’m excited is an understatement. We get dressed and head straight to the car, not stopping for breakfast.
Driving up the dirt track, through the gates and up the steep hill, we see our new home in the distance surrounded by an immaculate green garden. It looks stunning from the outside, two stories high with pristine white walls and floor to ceiling windows. I grow more excited to see inside the closer we get. We pull up and I quickly jump out of the car and walk around to Aiden who takes my hand and looks at me lovingly.
“This is it. This is our home. This is where I intend spending the rest of my life with you,” he says, leaning down to kiss me.
“Hi, guys,” Steve calls out. Aiden holds out his hand for Steve to shake.
“Hi, Steve. Thank you,” Aiden says.
I’m holding my breath, waiting to see inside.
“Not a problem, Mr. O’Connell. Would you like me to walk you through or would you prefer to be alone?”
“If it’s alright with you, we’ll walk ourselves through,” Aiden says, holding my hand tighter.
“Sure thing,” he says, leading us.
We walk over and see a wooden deck, large enough for an entertaining area. Along the back wall there is a beautiful water feature, a slate wall with three tiered sections of water flowing from within the wall and is backlit in a stunning neon blue. Next to the deck is a large swimming pool also with a waterfall feature and a hot tub. The side door is concertina sliding glass that opens up into the kitchen. We walk up the deck and through the sliding doors. Everything is white, but there is a burgundy accent wall, giving it a splash of color in this pristine room. Opposite the kitchen is the large living room, where the color scheme continues in burgundy and white. I fall in love with it instantly. The photos Aiden showed me don’t do this place justice. Aiden smiles at me when he notices how excited I am. We make our way to the grand staircase; it’s similar to the one at the O’Connell mansion in that separates into two, leading in opposing directions, one to the left and one to the right. We walk up the staircase hand in hand and head into a large spacious room, again white with a burgundy accent wall. We walk in, and I notice it has a separation from the main wall. We walk behind it and it’s a closet the size of my bedroom at Sarah’s. I start to giggle as Aiden walks over to me, taking me in his arms.
“I wanna do naughty things with you in here,” he says as he slowly edges me against the wall. I wrap my arms around his neck and lean in to kiss him. His tongue finds mine and we make out like teenagers for what seems like hours. Eventually we walk back into the room, and I see an en-suite. I head in that direction to see a pristine white bathroom with a two headed shower, a giant spa bath, and a vanity mirror taking up the entire wall above the sink. I shake my head in awe.
“Like it?” Aiden whispers in my ear, cuddling into me from behind.
“Like it? I love it.”
“Our home is amazing, Aiden,” I say while we walk back into the bedroom. I see a door leading outside, and we walk over to it. There’s a balcony big enough to put a table and chair set where we could sit at night overlooking the city below, drink wine, and watch the sun set. It couldn’t be more perfect than this.
We move out of the bedroom and to a smaller room next door. The walls are white with no accent wall.
“No burgundy?” I ask.
“No, I thought we’d leave this room to paint later.”
“Why?”
“It’s the nursery,” he says. “Or at least it will be, eventually.”
I pull him close to me and he kisses me softly. The thought of little Aidens running around makes my heart flutter. We walk back downstairs to the left side of the house and enter a large room for entertaining. We walk into the very back room—Aiden's man cave—it has a built in bar and plenty of room for a pool table. Next to the man cave is a theater room with rows of reclining chairs and a giant screen. Near the front of the house is an office for Aiden.
All in all, the house is fantastic.
“When can we move in?” I ask Aiden who’s checking out his office.
“Today if you want to?”
“Yes! I can’t wait,” I say a little too enthusiastically, making Aiden chuckle.
“Let’s go shopping,” he says.
W
e spend the entire day picking out furniture and Aiden works his magic to have it all delivered this evening. By this time tomorrow, I’ll be in my new, fully furnished home.
We decide to head over to Sarah’s to pack the last of our personal items.
Sarah hugs me tightly.
“I can’t believe your leaving me again,” she says.
“We can see each other all the time, and you can text or call me anytime you want to.”
“I know, but it’s not the same. I was getting used to you being back with me.”
“I want you and Chris to come over for dinner next weekend if you can.”
***
When we arrive at our new house, Aiden and Mike unpack some of our stuff while I make our bed and stock the fridge with some generic supplies that Sarah insisted on giving us before we left. Eventually Mike says good night, leaving us alone in our new home. We stand in the kitchen and hold each other.
“Welcome home, baby,” Aiden says.
“That sounds perfect,” I say, leading him to our bedroom. As we walk up the stairs and over to the balcony, we stand outside; Aiden is holding me from behind, resting his chin on my shoulder. We look out over the cliff, down to the glimmering city lights below. Aiden kisses my neck softly, and I turn in his grip and face him.
“I love our new home.”
“I love you, baby, so much, and I’m glad you love our home.” He slowly moves us back inside and shuts the door with his foot. He pulls me over to the bed and gently lays me down on the mattress.
“And now, Miss Taylor, I’m going to make love to you in our new home,” he says cheekily, kissing me forcefully.
“I like the sound of that.” He pulls off his t-shirt, throwing it to the floor, then walks over to his suitcase and smirks at me. He opens the lid and pulls out our fluffy pink handcuffs.
“Has someone been a bad prisoner again?” I ask.
“Oh so very, very bad,” he says and throws himself at me.
***
I sit up in the bed and pull Aiden up with me, the handcuffs still dangling from my wrist. I fell asleep with them still attached. I laugh as he pulls my hand across and undoes it.