Aiden ~ Melanie Moreland

by Moreland, Melanie

  She took it from me, and I didn’t fail to notice the slight tremor to her fingers. I tugged her chair closer to me, knowing I made her feel safe. It was the least I could do. I waited until she nibbled at the sweet dough, then I addressed everyone.

  “I’m going to Cami’s to have the locks changed. Reid will find out what he can about this Louisa girl. Then we’ll make a plan.”

  Cami swallowed a bite. “I’m going with you.”

  I knew she needed some clothes, so I agreed. “Fine.”

  “I’ll stay once you’re done.” Cami didn’t look up as she spoke.

  Everyone appeared startled at her announcement, but they remained silent.

  “The fuck you will,” I hissed. “You’re not staying alone in that apartment.”

  “Once you change the locks, it’ll be fine. I’m not going to inconvenience Bentley and Emmy anymore.”

  “You aren’t an inconvenience,” Bentley interjected. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as needed. Aiden is right. You shouldn’t be alone.”

  She shook her head, stubborn and proud. “I won’t let her mess up my life. I have classes and a job to go to. I’ll be careful where I go and what I do. If she wanted to hurt me, she’s had lots of opportunity. It’s obvious she wants my attention.”

  “Is that your professional opinion?” I snapped.

  “If she can’t get into my apartment, she’ll approach me at school or someplace. She’s not going to harm me.”

  “You don’t know that. We have no idea what’s going on with her.”

  “Well, if you are worried about it, then it’s even more imperative I go home. I won’t put Emmy or Bentley in danger.”

  “They aren’t her target. You are.”

  “She dislikes Emmy. I’m not risking it.”

  “It’s not your decision to make.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  I stood, tugged her from her chair, and led her to the kitchen. She scowled at me, her green eyes a myriad of emotions. The strongest of which was fear.

  “You are not staying on your own.”

  “Then I’ll tell Dee to come home.”

  “That’s a totally stupid idea. Bring her home, so both of you are in danger.”

  She swallowed and licked her lips. I tried not to notice the way her tongue ran along the edge of her plump mouth.

  “I’ll be fine on my own.”

  “Not happening.”

  “If she approaches me, I’ll yell or something.”

  I crouched at the knees, bringing us to eye level. Restrained anger made my voice rough. “She won’t get that chance. You’ll be escorted wherever you need to go. Frank can drive you.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Frank is not at your disposal, Aiden. I am not Emmy. He drives her places because she is part of Bentley’s life. A part of his world. I’m just the friend. I won’t ask that of him, so forget it. Change the locks. Add a camera if you want, and I won’t open the door unless I know who is there.”

  Our gazes locked, and I knew she wasn’t going to back down. However, I still saw the fear in her eyes and felt the tremors in her body. She was serious about making sure no one else was hurt because of her and determined to follow through with her crazy idea. In her mind, she didn’t want to bother anyone or cause any trouble. She really thought she would go home, and everyone would go about their lives and forget about her situation because the lock had been changed and she’d be on alert.

  Not on my fucking watch.

  I crossed my arms. “Fine. You’re coming home with me. I’ll protect you.”

  Her eyes widened. “Absolutely not.”

  I stepped closer until we were almost touching. She refused to back down, glaring up at me. Her bravado and fierceness made me want to yank her into my arms and hold her until she broke down. “You can come to your apartment with me, pack some clothes, then you’re coming back to my place. You’re staying with me.”

  She started to shake her head, and I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck, stopping her.

  “Until this is done, you are stuck with me, Camilla Wilson. End of discussion. Do you understand?”

  Her eyes widened at the use of her full name. I knew she disliked it, thinking it too formal, but it got her attention. I thought it was pretty, but I kept that to myself. I continued to speak.

  “Your sister and best friend have asked me to take care of you, and I promised them I would. I don’t fucking break my promises, so stop fighting me. We’re doing this my way.”

  “I’m not sitting around your loft and letting my life float by.”

  “You don’t have to. You can keep doing everything you do now, except I’ll be around. Until we find Louisa and figure out what the hell is going on, that is how it’s going to be.”

  “What about your job? I’m sure Bentley isn’t going to be happy.”

  “I’m a fucking VP, Sunshine. I haven’t taken a day of vacation in three years. I think I’m due.”

  I watched her give in. Relief flooded her body, her eyes became damp, and her shoulders sagged. I knew I was making the right decision. No one would protect her the way I could.

  “Okay,” Cami acquiesced. “But quit with the Camilla. It’s Cami.”

  “I like Sunshine,” I insisted. “But piss me off again, and it’s Camilla. Really piss me off, and you’ll be Camilla Marie.”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  “Try me.”

  “Whatever, Aiden Joseph Callaghan,” she muttered, petulant. “Bossy man.”

  “Boss of you right now,” I responded.

  She ignored me.

  We returned to the dining room, and Cami headed for the stairs. “I’m going to go have a shower.”

  Emmy stood. “I’ll find you something to wear home.”

  They left, and we sat silently for a minute.

  “So I need some personal time.”

  “We heard,” Maddox drawled. “I think it’s closer to four years since you took some time off, if I remember correctly.”

  “You could have just as easily convinced her to stay here with us,” Bentley mused. “Or we could have given Simon and Joe the task of watching over her. They’d be a good choice.”

  “I’m not having them watch over her. That’s my job,” I snapped.

  They exchanged a look.

  Bentley cocked his head. “Can you handle that?”

  I focused my gaze outside. “I have no fucking clue, but I know I have to do this for her.”

  Maddox chuckled as he lifted his mug. “This should be illuminating.”

  Bentley snorted. “In many ways.”

  I didn’t respond.

  They were right.

  Cami was silent on the drive to her place, her head bowed and her eyes shut as I maneuvered us through the heavy traffic. She could have been asleep, except for the constant movement of her fingers playing with the edge of a scarf around her neck.

  We pulled up by her building, and I parked the car. There was no mistaking the nervous tremor going through her. “Hey,” I called quietly. “I’ll be right there with you, Sunshine. No one is gonna get close.”

  She nodded, still not speaking.

  I left her in the car and rounded the back, my gaze scanning the area, alert. I opened her door, held out my hand, and tugged her from the seat. I kept her close until we got to her door. We entered the apartment, and she hesitated, unsure what to do. I asked to see her boots and studied the soles. As I suspected, they weren’t torn.

  “These were cut with a knife. A sharp one. Emmy’s looked exactly like these.”

  “Do you think Louisa cut hers too?”

  I shrugged. “Easy enough to do. The boots are on racks in the hall. Someone might have interrupted her while she was cutting Emmy’s. She sliced both of yours, though.”

  “I don’t understand why.”

  “I think she’s jealous of Emmy and mad at you. Her actions are like an angry, petulant child. She lashes out. The day I met her, I thought sh
e was all over the place emotionally.” I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “I wish I had paid more attention.”

  I set down the boots. “Sit down while I do a walk-through.”

  “Couldn’t I come with you?”

  Her voice sounded so stressed, I held out my hand. She gripped it tightly. Each room looked undisturbed and she began to relax. She grimaced at the occasional glimpse of the fingerprint powder on various surfaces. In her room, she shook her head. “He went crazy in here.”

  “We were able to isolate you and Dee for the most part. In here, though, he got a lot of prints.”

  “Now that we know it’s her, do we need fingerprints?”

  “We might. There could be a trial, Cami. We would need to place her here. Beyond the fact that she’d been here before.”

  She looked horrified. “I don’t want a trial. I think maybe she’s mentally unstable, but not a criminal.”

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

  There was a knock at the door. “That will be the locksmith. Pack some clothes, and I’ll help him.”

  “Okay.”

  Aiden

  THE LOCKSMITH WAS fast, and Cami had watched him work from the sofa after she packed a bag. I made sure to have a lock on the handle and a heavy-duty deadbolt installed, each with their own key. Once he was done and gone, I gave Cami a new set of keys, hung a set for Dee beside the door, and pocketed the third set. I wanted to talk to her super about a new front door lock, an industrial one, not easily broken, but I decided to wait a couple of days. I didn’t want to leave Cami alone in the apartment while I did that.

  We left the apartment, the door shut firmly behind us, the locks engaged. We stopped to get some groceries since I wasn’t sure what I had on hand in the kitchen.

  “Do you like to cook?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “Dee is better than I am, but I can make a few good things. Emmy taught me.”

  “Oh, yeah? Like?”

  “Pancakes,” she stated. “I make great pancakes.”

  “I love pancakes. I can make bacon. I use the convection oven. It’s crispy, just the way I like it.”

  She smiled. “Breakfast for dinner?”

  “Perfect.”

  It felt strange to have her in my space, yet not unpleasant. We worked well as a team, moving around the rarely used kitchen.

  “You’re very different from Bentley, aren’t you?” she observed as she mixed up the batter, looking around the large space.

  I laughed and slid the pan of bacon into the oven. “As we discussed before, Bentley is used to the finer things in life. I like it simpler.” My loft was spacious and open, the ceilings soaring to twenty feet with huge windows. Overhead beams and floors made of wide oak timbers gave it a rugged look. The only walls were for the bathroom and massive bedroom, and they were all unadorned. The rest of the space was open-concept, a living and entertainment area on one side, the long kitchen with a polished concrete counter that separated the area, and my workout corner. Unpretentious and uncluttered, just the way I liked it. I didn’t need a dining room, an office, or a lot of furniture. I had learned to like high thread-count sheets and thick towels, but otherwise, I kept things simple. I glanced at Cami. “Too sparse for your taste?”

  “No, it suits you.” She tested the griddle I’d insisted on buying at the store. “I like it,” she added. Unable to resist, I wrapped my arm around her waist for a quick hug.

  “Good. Because you’re stuck here with me until I say otherwise.”

  She turned away, but I saw the flush on her cheeks.

  She was right. She made awesome pancakes, and I ate eight, along with a plate of bacon. I had been afraid I wouldn’t be able to get her to eat, but the longer she was in my company, the more she began to relax. She ate the two pancakes I slid onto her plate and a couple slices of bacon. At least it was something.

  She was quiet most of the night, and I’d heard her crying when she spoke with Dee. As they talked, I kept myself busy working out to give her some privacy. When she was done, she looked exhausted. I decided we both needed an early night and grabbed some extra pillows and blankets, telling her to take the bed.

  Cami passed a weary hand over her face. “I’m not taking your bed, Aiden. I’m fine on the sofa. Don’t give me the ‘I promised your sister to look after you,’ thing again either. Dee would agree with me. I fit way better on the sofa than you do.”

  “I’ve slept on that sofa many nights. It’s perfectly comfortable,” I insisted. I was worried she was going to pass out right in front of me; she looked pale and drained. I needed her to stop arguing and to accept the care I wanted to give her.

  She smiled and took the bedding I had in my arms. “Good. If it’s that comfortable, then I’ll sleep well.”

  “Jesus, you are frustrating.”

  “Hello, pot,” she muttered.

  I chuckled since she had me there. We were both stubborn.

  I was about to argue with her, then changed my mind. She was stressed enough.

  “Why don’t you have a bath?” I knew she loved to soak in the tub. “Mine is big with jets, and I’ve never used it.”

  “Not a bath guy?”

  “No. It was here when I bought the place. Part of the design.”

  “I’d like that.”

  I headed to the bathroom, started the water going, and grabbed some towels. “I don’t have any stuff—girlie stuff—for the tub,” I told her.

  “It’s fine. A nice soak will be great. The jets should feel good.”

  I turned on the small radio, letting the music fill the room. I caught sight of her in the mirror, the slight haze on the glass making her look even sexier than usual. I headed to the door fast before I did or said anything I regretted.

  “Call me if you need me.”

  “Okay.”

  I left her, pulled the door shut, and went to call Reid.

  “Hey,” he answered. “I just emailed you everything I found. I got her address, cell number, even her shoe size if you want, which I might add, is not the same as Cami wears. There’s no incidents listed on her school records. Her grades are average. She misses a lot of days, though. I did some digging, and there are some blank spots in her history. In fact, quite a few of them. I’m going to do some more searching tonight.”

  “Her family?”

  “Divorced. Bounced between her parents. Looks like the father pays all the bills.”

  “No siblings?”

  “She had an older sister named Jessie. She died five years ago.”

  “How?”

  “She drowned.”

  “Hmmm.”

  “Think that’s relevant?”

  “It could be.”

  “Okay, I’ll keep digging. My dinner is here.”

  “What’s on the menu? Pizza? Sushi? Thai?”

  “I got a bucket of wings and some cold beers with my name on them. And on the TV? Dude, I’m spoiled for choice. Baseball, hockey, basketball. All that and permission to do some hacking? It’s a fucking banner night in Reid Matthews’s world.”

  “Okay, my man. Let me know what you find. No matter what time it is.”

  “Will do.”

  I hung up with a grin. The kid always made me smile.

  I entered the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of open wine, and poured a glass. At the door to the bathroom, I knocked, waiting for Cami to tell me to come in.

  “I brought you a glass of wine,” I explained as I went in, freezing in place.

  The room was steamy and smelled of my soap. Cami was sitting in the tub, her knees drawn up to her chest, the swells of her breasts visible. Her skin glistened with moisture. She had her hair tied up on the top of her head, long pieces escaping and hanging down her neck. The small group of freckles at the base of her neck was a beacon, and I kept staring at them.

  She held out her hand for the glass. “Thank you.”

  “Yeah,” I sputtered, unsure why my brain no longer worked. “No problem. I, u
h, thought you’d like it while you were in the tub.”

  “I would,” she agreed.

  “Okay.”

  “May I have it?”

  I looked down, seeing I was still holding the glass. “Right. Sorry.” I stepped forward, handing her the glass, trying not to stare but finding it impossible. She was a siren. My pants felt uncomfortably tight, and I realized why my brain wasn’t working. All the blood was pooled in my cock. Regardless of what else was happening, the bottom line was I wanted her. Despite everything I said, how I acted, there was no denying that fact.

  “Aiden?” she asked, her brow furrowed. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  I wanted to drag her from the tub. Fuck her on the floor, then carry her to my bed and do it all over again. Help her forget today and the stress of the recent events.

  But I couldn’t take advantage of her that way.

  “Nothing. Sorry I interrupted. You’re taking my bed by the way. I’m not arguing about it anymore.” I backed away, shutting the door behind me with a little more energy than necessary. I had to force myself to pull my hand off the doorknob and walk away, my dick screaming at me to turn around.

  How was I going to handle this for the next few days?

  “Illuminating,” Maddox had said.

  Fucking right.

  After Cami was settled in my room, I had a shower. A cold one. I dragged on some sweats and towel-dried my hair. As I went past my bedroom, I looked in to make sure she was all right. Cami was leaning against the headboard, her knees drawn up the way they had been in the tub. Her Kindle was open, but she wasn’t reading.

  “Okay, Sunshine?”

  She offered me a wan smile, but I could see something was wrong. I entered the room and sat on the edge of the bed. “What’s wrong?”

  “I feel . . . odd.”

  “It’s nerves.” I rubbed her leg. “You’re perfectly safe here.”