Chapter 70
Cillian’s phone went straight to voicemail for the fourth time. I could feel my stomach knotting with anxiousness. I hurled my phone onto the bed. my hands shaking somewhat. Aiden wasn’t answering either. Panic slid its way into my chest, coiling tightly. I’d tried Aiden’s phone several times. and on the few attempts at response, he’d tumed it off, and my mind, quite the overactive creature was conjuring images I didn’t want to entertain
The last time I spoke to Aiden was in his offer, and that conversation had been tense. No, tense was an understatement. It had been awful actually He had snapped at me and said that he shouldn’t have told me his past, how I felt like an intruder in his life.
Well, it was my mistake. He trusted me with the secret and I couldn’t manage to keep my mouth shut. How the fuck did I screw this up so bad?
I paced the length of the bedroom, my phone clutched in my hand. Every time I could re–dial his number. I steeled myself for the possibility that he’d answer, only to have my stomach drop when it went straight into voicemail again.
He’s fine.” I told myself to keep my heart somewhat calm. “He’s just angry, and he’s probably ignoring me.” That thought may have been quite far from reassuring, but the alternatives my anxious mind dished up didn’t sound any better.
It was only when Gia called out softly, “Mommy?” that my head snapped back into reality. She stood in the doorway of our bedroom holding her favorite stuffed rabbit in her arms, keeping her sleepy eyes on me and rubbing her fat fingers over its ear again and again.
“Where is Daddy?” she asked, climbing up onto the bed with all the confidence of a child who believed her parents could fix anything.
I swallowed the lump of worry in my throat and smiled at her as reassuring as I could manage to appear. “I think he might be running late” I said. smoothing her hair back gently.
Her mouth twisted into a pour, and her little shoulders sagged. Gia loved Aiden’s bedtime stories. It was their ritual.
“You need to get some sleep now” I said, keeping my voice soft. “Come on, I’ll tuck you in
As I walked Gu to her room, my heart ached, my small hand in hers. I couldn’t let her see my worry. But every minute was like an eternity without hearing anything from Aiden
AIDEN
I groaned as sunlight slapped me across the face like a sledgehammer. It was blindingly bright, and for a second or so, I didn’t know where I was My head pounded like someone was taking a jackhammer to my skull.
Where the fuck was 1!
I blinked against the light, slowly taking in my surroundings. A sleek living room, cityscape visible through floor–to–ceiling windows. Recognition hit me – Gillian’s penthouse.
Vivid images began creeping into my head, jarring fragments of last night. I had started out with one drink in order to calm the nerves; things quickly got out of hand, turning into double digits–shea whiskey, Oh, so much whiskey.
I massaged my temples in the hope that the pain would recede from thudding in my head.
Fuck My head hurts. I croaked, my voice raspy
“Yeah. Drinking a whole boule of whiskey does that to you” Cillian replied dryly, lounging on the couch like he hadn’t been as shitfaced as me the night before.
I saw my plane on the table. Dead. Of course.
“Give me v
me your charger” 1 grumbled.
Cillian muttered something under his breath before disappearing into his bedroom. He returned with a charger and his phone in hand.
As I plugged in my phone, guilt began to creep in. I hadn’t called Freya last night. I hadn’t let her know I wasn’t coming home. My phone had died,
sure, but that was no excuse.
Cillian was scrolling through his phone. “I have so many missed calls from Freya,” he said, casual but pointed
My chest tightened. Of course, she’d tried to reach him when she couldn’t reach me. I felt like a complete aniole. “She couldn’t reach me,” I
1/2
Fat’s Check–in
Chapter 20
muttered, my voice lowe
Obban snorted. “You didn’t tell her you weren’t going home?
The guilt in my stomach churned harder. “We didn’t talk after yesterday afternoon”
Cilluns eyes flicked to me, curious now. “Why? Did you fight
with
her?”
I didn’t respond right away, but his gaze didn’t waver.
You did” He muttered, half amused, half exasperated. “What did you say?
I hesitated, the words tasting bitter even in my thoughts. “I snapped at her” I finally admitted.
Cillian’s brow lifted, silently urging me to continue.
on to my own face
“And I asked her to go away” The confession felt like a slap to my
“Why His incredulity was palpable.
1 sighed, running a hand through my hair. “You know why”
He shook his head, unconvinced. “Dude, it was me. I basically trapped her to tell me the truth”
The brightness of morning light also brought a strong dose of brutal reality. I had an idiot moment, to put it mildly. I’d let my temper run wild and now I’d hurt Freya–whom I couldn’t even imagine living without.
“I went overboard. I admitted, letting the weight of my actions settle on my chest. “She’s probably mad at me right now.”
Cillian snorted again his tone teasing but laced with truth. “You messed up by asking her to leave. You didn’t go home last night. And you didn’t take her calls. She’s more than just furious. I’m sure she’s packing a bag as we speak.
His words are provocative in nature, but they hit me like a brick in my stomach. The thought of losing her, waking up every morning beside her. was too much.
No. Not that
I pulled out my phone and jacket and marched to the elevator. I heard Cillian’s sarcastic remark behind me, which sent me closer to mayhem: “Pussy whipped
Maybe I was. Maybe I had been wrapped around Freya’s finger since the day I met her. But I didn’t care. The thought of losing her was not acceptable.
I wouldn’t let her.
Id go home, apologize, beg if I have to and if that did not work, I would probably lock her up in my room. But I wouldn’t let her leave me.
