Invidious Betrayal

by Shea Swain

  Aria didn’t protest as Ian took her hand and quickly pulled her through the long passageway. They reached the end and turned onto a quiet residential street lined with beautiful brownstones. Every so often Ian would look up at the corner street sign, then glance at his watch and increase their pace. She did her best to keep up, stumbling a couple times, but Ian was there to right her.

  He didn’t say where they were going, and she didn’t ask. They were moving away from those men, and that was enough for her. They finally descended into the subway station, where Aria took her first true breath of relief since waking this morning.

  She tried to pay attention to where they were heading, but her mind kept taking her back to the café. The man’s voice played and replayed in her head the entire time as she sat quietly beside Ian on the subway train. When Ian stood and took her hand, she was half-aware of her surroundings, and half-locked inside the memory of the hell she’d experienced. She was grateful she had been blindfolded; there were no images of last night to review, but she knew she would never forget the sounds, smells, and pain of her ordeal.

  “Aria,” Ian held out his hand, “we’re here.”

  Her head snapped up and she looked to him, then to the large, arched entryway to a condo complex. How had she allowed herself to zone out the entire way here?

  Nodding, Aria gave Ian a small smile as she entered before him. She knew he was worried and despite zoning out, she could feel his eyes whenever they were on her. When Ian wasn’t checking out their surroundings, his gaze was on her. She was ashamed to admit that she had mixed feelings about his level of concern. On one hand, she didn’t want it, on the other; she knew that she needed it.

  Ian led Aria past a small flower garden, around a corner, and under some stairs to unit 105G. He glanced over his shoulder a couple of times to make sure she was with him, aware of the here and now. She’d seemed to be out of it since they’d left the café, but he figured that it was common for victims of the type of trauma she had experienced. He hated to leave Aria at the mercy of her thoughts, but he didn’t want to intrude, especially if she was thinking about her assault. Besides, he felt guilty—if it wasn’t for him, the events of last night would have never happened to her.

  It took a few jingles of the rarely used key he kept on his key ring and a bit of shoulder strength to push the door open.

  “Whose place is this?” Aria asked him.

  Ian motioned for her to go in first, then he closed the door behind them and placed his keys and backpack on the high table in the small foyer. “It belongs to a good friend of mine. He travels a lot, so we’ll be alone. No one knows he and I are friends, so no one will look for us here.”

  Ian did a quick glance around the condo as if for the first time. It was small. The kitchen could barely fit two people at the same time, the decorations were general, and there was nothing that screamed home, but that never bothered him. The place was spotless, the furniture and appliances still held that brand-new look to them, and he had privacy here. Even though it looked like the model condo that realtors showed potential buyers, it was one of the few places Ian actually felt at home in.

  He entered the small galley kitchen, watching Aria over the breakfast bar as she slowly took in her surroundings. Ian opened the refrigerator and took out two bottles of water. He unsealed the lid on one and placed it on the bar for Aria, then he opened the other and downed it. While he drank, he continued to watch her as she reached between two backless barstools, picked the bottled water up and twisted the top to close it, then sat the water back down.

  Yeah, he got it. She should be leery of accepting drinks from anyone, including him. Ian tried not to be offended because trust had to be earned.

  Aria’s eyes moved over the flat television that sat on a basic wooden stand, then to the two bookcases filled with Blu-ray discs, DVDs, and video games. Slowly, she lowered herself on the sofa, but said nothing.

  Ian moved from the kitchen and through the living room until he came to the entryway to a hall that led to the bedrooms. “We can stay here until we figure things out. There’s a bathroom down that hall; the first door on your right. If you keep going, you’ll find two rooms. You can have the master bedroom. There’s a bathroom inside, so you won’t have to share with me.” He picked up the remote control from the television stand and placed it on the coffee table within her reach. “The place has been empty for a while, so I’ll go grocery shopping in the morning.” He opened a few windows. “We’ll order take-out tonight. Menus are in the kitchen drawer. I’ll eat anything, so you choose.”

  “All right,” she said quietly.

  He glanced at his watch then went and grabbed his backpack from the foyer. “I’m going to take a quick shower. Will you be all right while-”

  “I’ll be fine.” Aria cut him off. She picked up the remote and turned on the television.

  “You should call someone to let them know you’re okay.” Ian pointed to the phone on the coffee table. Aria nodded, but didn’t move.

  Ian watched her while she stared at the television. Her eyes were glued to the screen, but Aria didn’t seem like she was watching the program. She was inside her head again and probably didn’t even realize he was still in the room. Ian sighed as he moved down the hall toward the bathroom. He wondered what her life was like before all this. Had Aria been happy, free spirited, maybe even in love? Ian didn’t know the answers to those questions, but he knew he wanted to get her out of this mess, so she would have every opportunity to attain all of those things.

  When he finished in the bathroom, he found Aria in the same place he’d left her. She was just hanging up the phone. She sat on the sofa with her knees pulled to her chest and her chin rested on them. Ian heard enough to know she had called home and had spoken to her mother. That comforted him.

  “I know everything sucks right now, but we’re going to get you through this.”

  Aria eyes lifted. “Why are you helping me?” Her voice was muffled due to her resting her chin on her knees.

  Ian sat at the far end of the sofa, leaving the middle cushion between them free. “I just want to do the right thing, keep you safe. It would be easier if you let me take you to the hospital and call the cops.”

  Aria pulled her bottom lip into her mouth. “I can’t,” she sighed. The cut on her lip must have hurt because she grimaced, then let her newly moistened lip free.

  Ian took a deep breath. Aria’s strength was unparalleled as far as he was concerned and her beauty affected him deeper than any woman he’d ever come across. He’d touched and tasted her but that hadn’t dulled his fascination. In short, Ian felt he must exercise extra control of his body when he was around her.

  Only her.

  It had taken him by surprise when the waitress kissed him—both times—but he’d felt nothing. The earth didn’t tremble, the stars hadn’t sparkled brighter, and his heart hadn’t stopped. But when his lips had touched Aria’s…

  Ian forced the inappropriate thought from his mind. He didn’t want to think of the events of that night as anything but wrong. Only a first-class asshole would think about touching her again so he focused on her words.

  “Would you have admitted the part you played if I had gone to the hospital?”

  “Yes,” Ian said with no hesitation. “I would have.”

  Aria sighed. “Then you would have gotten in trouble.”

  Ian shook his head, not believing what he was hearing. “So you were protecting me?”

  “Not entirely.” Aria closed her eyes and sighed. “My dad is kind of a cop. Well, he’s the sheriff of Land’s End Township, Pennsylvania, and he never cared for Gail. He’s sort of verbal about it, too. My dad’s verbal about a lot of things.” She chuckled but there was no humor behind it. “I went with her yesterday even though he wasn’t happy about it.”

  “So you refuse to get medical attention because your dad was right about your so-called friend.”

  “If you say it like that, then it s
ounds dumb, but you don’t understand.” Aria opened her eyes, but she didn’t look at him. “My dad is very protective of me.” She sat up and nervously rubbed her hands over her knees. “Do you know why I went with Gail in the first place?”

  “Why?” Ian asked, hoping he didn’t sound as eager as he felt for the morsel of information.

  Aria took a deep breath then exhaled. “Guys in my town don’t treat me the way they do the other girls. My first kiss when I was ten was identical to the one I had at Glen Howard’s party last month. Neither had the passion a kiss should. I later found out that my dad had been intimidating them all, all of the guys I knew. The word around town is, ‘don’t ask Aria Cole out on a date unless you plan on marrying her.’ I wanted to go somewhere he doesn’t have any control. Guess I got what I was looking for, huh?”

  “Don’t say that. Don’t you ever say that,” Ian said, through clenched teeth. Anger was something Ian felt was useless; most emotions were, so it surprised him that he was so angry—had been on an emotional rollercoaster since meeting her—that he wanted the men who hurt her to suffer severely. “You didn’t deserve what happened to you. And your dad would be more concerned with your health than saying ‘I told you so.’”

  “That’s not the only thing I’m worried about,” Aria admitted. “My dad was raised on old-school justice. Instead of an eye for an eye, my dad takes two. He wouldn’t rest until all of you were dead or suffering daily. Because there’s little evidence of what happened, he’d take your punishment into his own hands. He wouldn’t care about your circumstances, the why or who set you up, and he wouldn’t care what happens to him when he was done. He would hunt you all down and kill you one at a time until one of you killed him. I can’t let him risk his life or our family because I was stupid.” She hung her head. “My dad can never find out what happened to me.”

  Ian said nothing for a moment as he soaked in what Aria said. He couldn’t say he was surprised, he would respond the same if she were his daughter. He finally nodded. “I understand, but I don’t agree that this should just get swept away. After what was done to you, and my part in it, the least I can do is respect your wishes.” By the way she stiffened; Ian knew he’d said something wrong.

  “Please let’s not do this. I don’t think I can take another apology from you. I just want to forget it all happened.”

  Ian knew that she may never accept his apology and that made him feel like shit, but he deserved more than just a feeling of regret. He should answer for what happened.

  Shifting in his seat, he realized the silence in the room felt forced. They both needed a distraction and Ian knew food was the answer. It was getting late and neither of them ate much at lunch. They could both use some dinner.

  “Why do you keep looking at your watch?”

  He looked over to see Aria’s beautiful brown eyes on him. He took a deep breath before speaking, to get a hold on how her attention made him feel. “Back at the café and bank I was timing how long it would take my uncle’s men to get to us. The tech he’s using to trace the call is pretty high-end because they got to us pretty quickly. For them to go directly to the bank though…it means my accounts are being watched as well.”

  “Your uncle can trace calls without a court order? Who are you people?”

  “My family is well-connected, in more ways than one.” Ian got to his feet, deciding not to elaborate. “A second ago, I just looked at my watch to get the time. We need to eat. Hungry?”

  The cool breeze from the partially opened car window stroked Aria’s face as she rested her head against the passenger door to stare up into the Sunday morning sky. It was relaxing. She’d never thought of the wind as anything other than being breezy or cold. Truth was she’d never thought of any of the things she now thought of, but she’d heard that life-changing events often altered your perception.

  The grey-blue sky seemed to welcome the yellow orange glow of the rising sun. The puffy white clouds were breathtakingly beautiful as they patiently waited for the day to begin, and it had never occurred to her before. The way the tree tops bent in the wind was just as lovely. Everything was different now; Aria saw everything in an altered light. Life seemed so much simpler before, but she hadn’t appreciated its simplicity.

  Now...well now she wanted to appreciate every second of life, only she wasn’t sure she could get past the pain that threatened to overtake everything in her head. Even the simplest thoughts or actions were capable of triggering what those animals had done to her. And sleeping—she couldn’t shut her eyes without reliving every moment of torture. It was a mistake to even try to sleep when she was at the condo with Ian. It didn’t help that he had been asleep in the bedroom across from the one she was in.

  She’d told herself that once she got back to her life, that if she left all reminders of that night behind, she could just forget and be herself again. That was why she’d gotten out of that unfamiliar bed at three a.m. and called her mother. Before that, she’d called information. Using the city from the menu they’d ordered from, she got the number to a local cab company and asked to be driven to the local shopping center. It’s funny what the eyes see even if you’re not paying attention.

  “You all right, baby?”

  “Mom…I’m fine.” Aria responded without looking in her mother’s direction. Every time her mother looked upon her face it prompted another round of questions. Questions Aria would only answer with lies.

  “I still don’t understand why you didn’t call as soon as you were able.”

  Guess it didn’t matter if her mother saw the bruises or not. She was Mrs. Sheriff Cole, and would resume her line of questioning until satisfied. “I called as soon I as could. I was dog-tired and sore from almost being trampled to death. I lost my purse in the mayhem and to be honest, I didn’t want to hear Dad’s lecture about overcrowded venues and the greedy promoters that book them.” Aria grimaced at the sour taste of her lie. “At least not until my head stopped pounding.”

  For the rest of the ride Aria pretended to sleep, waking right before her mother pulled their car onto their parking pad.

  “Well, I suggest you get some rest because your father has been preparing his lecture. In fact, he’s probably at work right now working on it.”

  Great! Aria moved through the main floor of her house quickly, making a dash to her room before her mother could think of something else to ask her. She closed her door, fell onto her bed, and shut her eyes. She hoped she’d done the right thing by leaving Ian. After they’d eaten, he asked if she needed anything. Of course she’d said no.

  He’d set her up in one of the bedrooms. He’d cleaned up their mess from dinner, then she heard him go to his room. Ian had fallen asleep almost immediately, and was practically dead to the world when she peeked through his opened bedroom door. He must have been exhausted.

  It had taken Aria another hour to build up the confidence to leave without telling him after she’d thought up an excuse for her appearance to feed her parents. She’d figured it would take her mother about an hour to arrive in the area, so Aria had taken a few hundred dollars from Ian’s backpack then called a cab to meet her in the front of the complex.

  Her story…it was simple. She and Gail, the bitch from hell, were in a small club listening to an up-and-coming band when a fight broke out. In the commotion she’d been hit, pushed to the ground, and trampled before some guy came to her rescue. In the confusion, she’d lost her purse. It was plausible and it explained the state she was in.

  Aria rolled over in her bed and focused on the blades of her ceiling fan as they spun. She was home, a place she thought she’d never see again. Only, being here didn’t feel like she thought it would. There was no relief, no happiness, and no chasm to swallow her nightmares. Being home only solidified her fears. Would Sal find her here? Would her father find out what really happened? And thinking about her situation from a medical standpoint was even more frightening.

  Then there was the little nagging th
ought in the back of her mind. Ian.

  What were Sal and those men planning regarding him now and how was his uncle involved? Aria was pretty sure those guys hadn’t intended to hurt him, but did they still feel that way since Ian had taken her?

  Regret washed over her then. Had she done the right thing by leaving him? Ian had been a part of the awful things that happened to her and even though he was unaware what was happening she still felt some anger toward him, but she didn’t want to see him get hurt, or even killed. From what little time she’d been around him, Aria got the sense that he was a good person, but she would never truly know. What she did know was that she couldn’t stop thinking about Ian Howl.

  VINCENT STEPPED OUT OF HIS chauffeured car and headed for the tall building that dwarfed all the other buildings around it. It was his name on the huge, black granite stone that he strode past. It was a name that was synonymous with wealth, influence, technology, and government. His name would father a new era in science.

  He walked through the large, glass doors which two of his security guards held open, and made his way to the elevators with Jasper, his right hand man, following close behind.

  Jasper stepped around Vincent and glanced inside as he reached to push the elevator button for the lowest floor, then he allowed Vincent to enter. Jasper stepped inside but neither of them spoke. When the elevator reached the basement floor, the doors opened into a wide hall of white walls. He and Jasper walked straight ahead, each ignoring the long hallways to their left and right. They continued forward, passing the reception area that was modestly decorated until they reached a set of oversized black doors with metal handles. Vincent glanced at two of Jasper’s men who stood on either side of his office doors then to his secretary.

  “Morning, Mr. Howl,” David said, handing the unopened mail to him. “Sir.” David nodded to Jasper. As usual, Jasper didn’t acknowledge his secretary.