"When I got to my house, the ear beating began about how I defied him and ran off with Lucca's killer. It was nonstop. I worked to make that boutique what it was, but it was financed by my father and so was my home, so he took all that away from me. I believed that you'd killed Lucca even when you told me that your club had sent someone else because that was just too damn convenient. Stuff like that only happens in the movies, and since my life has never been that scripted, the whole scenario seemed ridiculous."
"What made you change your mind? I got your text. The one where you cursed me and my dick to diseased pussy for life or something like that." He wanted to know what made her contact him, but also he wanted to put a smile on her face. She looked like she hadn't laughed in weeks, and he wanted to be the one to break the spell.
"I was just so angry at you. Earlier that day, my father had told me that you'd set up a meeting with him to bargain over my bracelet. He said that you wanted the money for it before you'd give it back. Then he told me he gave you two hundred thousand for it and he would give you the other two hundred thousand when you returned it, but you never came back, but you sold it for half a million dollars to someone he knew. He said you were seen out partying and using all that money on booze, drugs, and sex." She was watching him closely like she was going to be able to tell from his reaction what was real and what wasn't.
It was hard to listen to what she'd been told without getting upset, but he could do it. They were talking, and he'd be able to tell him her side when he calmed down. He stood up from the couch and walked over to the window.
"I can tell you want to say something." She'd come behind him and wrapped her arms around him. He didn't know what to say, and he didn't want to bash her father, but it was going to have to happen if he wanted her to know the truth.
"I did set up a meeting with your father because I wanted to see you. It was hard trying to figure out where your father is, but when I stalked your house a few days and your boutique I could tell that you were nowhere to be found. That worried me. I didn't think your father would do away with you, but I have known parents that have offed their kids for less." He turned in her arms and wrapped his arms around her while she looked up into his face.
"My father wouldn't kill me." Lorna's face said she believed that, but Aidan didn't know the man well enough to know that at the time or now.
"Have you been locked away? Out on the street, you said you only had a few minutes by yourself before they were coming to get you." He didn't like the expression on her face. Her father may not kill her physically, but he was smothering her emotionally. If she wasn't able to go around on her own steam at the ripe age of 27, then he was no better than an abductor.
"I wouldn't call it locked away." She unlocked her arm from around him and turned to go, but he held her hand so she couldn't get far. They'd been apart for so long, and he didn't know how much longer they'd be together, but for now he wanted to touch her … lick her … suck her and bite her. They hadn't gotten to that part, but his body was still zinging from their time in the alley.
"Then what would you call it?"
"He thinks he's protecting me." She said looking a bit uncomfortable.
"From what … or should I say from who?"
"If you said who, you'd be more correct. I think he is afraid that if he lets me out of his sight, you'll find me and kill me too."
"Baby, your father knows I didn't kill Lucca. There is no way he would have let me leave his place of business if he did. The men who escorted me out wanted a piece of me like you wouldn't believe, and I was hoping that he would tell them to rough me up a bit because I wanted a good fight."
"My father also thought that I told you where to find him. I never agreed or disagreed, but I wondered that too."
"It took a lot of money and some time to get the information, and after that, I still didn't know that he'd see me. When I got the appointment, I was sure that was going to be my last day on this earth."
"Then why did you go?" She honestly looked puzzled.
"Because I wanted to make sure that you were okay. I asked him if I could return your bracelet to you and have a few words face to face. I didn't want him to put you on the phone. I wanted to see you. Also knowing that there is little honor among criminals, I didn't know what he would have told you if I just handed him the piece."
"So you still have it?" She asked him like it was hard for her to believe his story, and he could understand that.
He let go of her hand so he could reach into his pocket and pull out her beautifully sparkling pink diamond bracelet. She held her arm out so he could put it on, and she looked so pleased to have it back where it was supposed to be.
"That's a great way to answer the question." She held her hand up like she'd missed her bracelet, and he was happy that he had it to return to her.
"If you thought that I'd killed Lucca and your father agreed and persecuted you for it, what changed your mind?"
The smile that had been on Lorna's face slipped off her face like an icicle that dropped to the ground in the thaw.
"I'd been drinking the night I texted you. I didn't even know I was writing you until my youngest brother woke me up and wanted to talk to me. He's always been the sneaky one of the bunch. I don't know that's because it's in his nature or because he's young and no one tells him anything so he has to do his own intel, but it really works for him." She looked up like she didn't know he was still hanging on her every word.
He nodded so she could continue.
"He told me that Papa was getting blackmailed by someone, and he was thinking of paying the man. I don't have a lot of honest people around me, but Frankie is the salt of the earth. Also he has no filter, so what you see is what you get. He's not for a lot of bullshit, so I don't think the family business would be for him, but that's for him to work out later."
"Someone is blackmailing the kingpin?" It took a lot to shock Aidan because he'd been around for a long time, and the shit pile could get deep when you were dealing with high ranking criminals. "For what?"
"There is a tape of what happened in that warehouse, and it's not matching the story he's telling everyone." She looked at him like she wanted him to say something or like she thought he'd be upset, but the truth was he was happier than he could ever be. There was no way he would have been able to convince anyone that what he said was true. It reminded him of the good little Sunday school boy that had ransacked the room when the teacher had gone and then he'd blamed Aidan. There was no way that anyone believed that he didn't do that, and the punishment he'd received from his then foster father had taught him a good lesson.
No one trusts the unknown person, and he was always the unknown.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Lorna was torn. Aidan deserved to hear the truth about what had gone on, but she wanted to strip him down and suck on his cock so bad it was like a compulsion. He was still as hot as she remembered, even more so when she thought about all he'd gone through to help her and find her.
He stood there still like he wanted to know the information but didn't want to pump her, so she just offered it.
"He's telling everyone that the President of the Undertakers pulled the trigger when he knows that it was Leon who ordered the hit. Supposedly there was something going on between Leon and Lucca that the man didn't want public. There are all types of speculation, but since Lucca isn't alive to tell the tale, the answers will stay within Leon's control." She didn't like the things people were saying about her cousin especially since he couldn't defend himself, but there was nothing to be done.
"So the Undertakers are hassling him?" His face was all squinted up as he tried to figure out what was going on.
"No, it's another group that want us to do business with them. I'll admit it seems like a shaky way to start a business venture, but what do I know? I just like to sell pretty dresses so I can get a discount." She wanted to lighten up the mood like he tried to do earlier, but he was more difficult to shake than she was apparently.
"The Devil's Stepbrothers are in town now working on getting a feel for what business would be easiest to jump into. This place is like a mecca for crime." He brought her back to his arms and rubbed her back.
"That's the truth that I know." She was talking about his facts, and his hands continued rubbing up and down in a calming but arousing way. This is what she'd missed when she wasn't with him … this is what had made her feel so guilty. She needed him when she was mourning Lucca, but that was so ridiculous because she had been told that Aidan was the one who killed him. The pain of wanting him but not having him at such a hard time was even more heartbreaking. That her father knew that and still told her a lie would have to be dealt with later. It was more important that she find out where Aidan was mentally than to worry about her father.