Chapter 68
I had been a frantic day. Three meetings consecutively. My lunch hour was all but our of the window, besides it was not even over yet. I leaned
c’in my chair and closed my eyes. Just then the door swung open with enough force to snap me out of my brief reprieve.
T
muntered Jesus” straightening up I wasn’t expecting anyone, lequt of all Freya, who hadn’t mentioned coming to see me. But there she was, standing in the doorway
whining Seeing her was always a welcome distraction. Just what I could ask for after the kind of tiring day I was having Нет presence
of grounding me, of pulling me out of my head. But the look on her face made my stomach twist. Something was wrong
“Hey I stood up, already rounding my desk to get to her. “What’s wrong!”
She hesitated, her mouth opening and closing in an apparent struggle for the words. That hesitation alone set my nerves on edge.
I placed my hands pently on her shoulders, my brow dipping in concern. “What happened” I tried again, softer this time. My mind was running through a million different possibilities.
“Cittian called” She finally said, her voice barely above a whisper. “He said he wanted to meet. He he knew there was something about your past that you haven’t shared with him but you have told me
The air seemed to thicken around me as if now was a distinct moment. I stilled. The tension settled into my body like a second skin. I had a guess as to where this conversation was headed, and none of it was good.
(‘m sorry” Freya said, her eyes darting away from mine. “I told him.”
All I could do was stare at her, the words hanging in the air like a cold dead weight. “I swear I tried.” She continued, her voice trembling. “I repeatedly told him that he should talk to you, but he was persistent and-”
“What did you tell him?” My words came out colder than I intended, and Freya visibly flinched.
“Aiden, 1—”
“Freya” My voice was sharper this time, enough to snap her out of her hesitation. “What did you tell him?”
CVCA 1
Her eyes welled up with tears, but she didn’t look away this time. “That your mother was an addict. She said quietly. “And that she wasn’t eve mother to you
My jaw clenched so tightly it hurt. “What else?”
She hesitated again, and my patience, which was hanging by a thread, threatened to snap any moment.
“I told him you ended up in the hospital because of her. She admitted, her voice was close to soft whisper now. Her face clouded over with concern. “He drove off, and. I’m not sure he should be driving with how upset he was.”
The room suddenly felt too small, too suffocating. My chest felt tight as I pulled out my phone and hit his number. He rang once before going to
“Fuck” I swear under my breath, dialing again. Same result.
“He’s not answering the bloody phone” I said, frustration welling up and spilling into my voice. 1 pinched the bridge of my nose, exhaling slowly in a desperate attempt to keep my anger in check.
“I’m sorry” she said again, her voice barely above a whisper.
“You shouldn’t have fucking said anything? I snapped back, words sharp and cutting. I didn’t care.
I know, and Im sorry
“Are you?” I snapped, the acid starting to seep into my voice. “Or are you happy that you popped the bubble he was under?”
Her eyes broadened in shock and her head jerked back, forcefully. “No. That was not
my
y intention, I swear”
“Thope not” I said sharply
“Нетане у
cause you just stripped something huge from him.”
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Chapter s
“I’m sorry I’m so sorry” She repeated, her voice cracking
I couldn’t look at her anymore. I turned away and stuffed my fists into my sides, glaring through the window at a city skyline smeared by my
frustration and mult
I whispered more to myself “I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have shared anything with you”
“Go away. Freya” I cut her off my voice firm. “I need to look for my brother while hoping that he hasn’t wrapped his car around some pole. So just
ood there for a moment, as if she wanted to say something else, but I didn’t give her the chance. I grabbed my jacket and my focus already shifting to finding Cillian
stormed
past her.
The elevator seemed to crawl down as cach second felt like forever. I was going through a tornado in my head, over and over, echoing Freya’s words. My mom is an addict. She isn’t a mother to you. You have been hospitalized because of her.
I’d spent years hiding those memories. Christ, Cillian. He’d been too young to remember most of it and I had worked so damn hard to shield him from the worst of it. To protect him from the truth.
But now he knew. And I had no idea what that knowledge was doing to him.
I stepped out into the cool night air, my phone pressed tightly to my ear. Dialed his number again. Voicemail. Again.
Think Aiden. Where would be go!
Some memory forced its way to the forefront. Cillian, at his age, standing on the edge of the pier after one particularly vicious argument with me. It was always where he’d retreated when he needed to clear his head, to be alone.
1 must have had a feeling that he was there.
I got into my car and threw my jacket on to the passenger seat. I started the engine. My knuckles were steering wheel
Driving to the pier I did not notion, I wasn’t really paying attention at all.
going white from how tightly I gripped the
I did finally arrive, where I saw his car parked in a drunken slant toward the far edge of the parking lot. Relief swept through me, but it was quickly replaced
i grawing sense of unease.
I stepped out of my car and scanned around to see if I could locate him. And then I saw him, standing at the far edge of the pier, his hands showed deep into his pockets, his shoulders slumped.
“Gilan” I called across the still water, my voice carrying beyond it
He did not turn around
1 approached slowly, my feet making elep–like noise on the wooden planks.
“I know you’re spent 1 aid when faced within range “But we need to talk”
