All of Me? The Trust Me? Trilogy (7 page)

I move the footstool under his legs, and he drops them down.

“It’s too high,” he complains.

“Sorry, Alistair, but the stool isn’t adjustable, I can’t make it go any lower.”

“Well, what fucking good are you then?”
he yells, and kicks the stool at me.

I flinch and sigh as Aiden walks back in with a drink. My heart is racing with fear just being in the same room as Alistair, but I need to make sure Aiden doesn’t notice, so I roll my eyes.

“What are you yelling about?” Aiden asks exasperated.

“Your bitch is useless and—”

Aiden cuts him off. He gives him a cold look as his nostrils flare and his fists clench. “Father, we’re here to help you. We’re the only ones you have left in your life, and you’re skating on very thin ice. I will not repeat myself,
do not
talk to Jeni like that. Show her some respect or we’ll leave you here on your own to fend for yourself.
Do you understand me?
”

Alistair scowls at me, his jaw clenches, and he sighs loudly. He looks angered and the hair on the back of my neck stands up at the look he gives me when Aiden turns around. It’s pure evil. “Fine, but if she does anything wrong, I’m going to say something,” Alistair says.

“Whatever. Father just be civil, or I promise we’ll leave right now.”

“You sound like your mother.”

“Maybe if you’d listened to Mom, she would be here telling you herself.”

Alistair falls silent and places his head in his hands. I think he misses Callie.At the mere mention of her, he turns from an angry man into a defeated mess, although I’m sure he would deny it.

“I need to go make some calls and let the family and the people at work know what’s happened. I’ll be right back,” Aiden says, walking out, leaving Alistair and I alone in the living room.

“Alistair, I know you don’t like me, but Aiden and I are getting married and I’d love nothing more than for us to be at least civil for Aiden’s sake. I would really like to mend whatever is broken between us.”

He leans in closely and whispers. “Listen here you little bitch, like I keep telling Aiden, you’re nothing but a worthless whore. Aiden is stupid to think that you’re the love of his life. There’s no such thing, only convenience. He’s being primed to run my company, and when he does, he’ll be as ruthless and hard hitting as me. So get used to this abuse, girlie, cause it’s going to keep coming for the rest of your life if you marry my son. Like father like son and don’t you forget it.”

My mouth opens in shock, and I take a few steps back. I’m speechless. I can’t say a word.

“That’s right, keep your little mouth shut and everything will be fine. Aiden will marry you, and then I can watch you suffer; knowing your life will be miserable. Nothing will give me greater pleasure than to watch you suffer under Aiden’s ruthless hand.”

I shake my head and run out, tears threatening to fall as I feel completely belittled and a little shaken by what he said. How could he say those things to me? I haven’t done anything to him, but he hates me with such a fiery passion.
Why does he think Aiden will turn out like him if he takes over the company?

I storm out the front door and run down the driveway. I stop and stand, gazing up at the night sky. I wonder what my life will be like with Aiden. So many possibilities run through my head. Then I think,
isn’t this exactly what Alistair wants?
He wants me to doubt his son and our relationship. He desperately wants me to break it off with Aiden. I know he wants me gone and out of their lives forever. I’m not going to let him win that easily.

Arms wrap around my waist and I look back to see Aiden. He kisses my cheek as he looks up at the stars with me.

“Don’t let him get to you. That’s what he wants, and he does it well. He’s done it to me throughout my entire life, baby.”

“I find it hard when I know he hates me as much as he does. I want to try to at least be civil to each other, but he won’t hear of it.”

“He’s not worth your anguish; please try to ignore him for me?”

“I’m trying, really I am.”

We stand in the moonlight holding each other. I turn and put my arms around his waist and then he kisses me passionately.

***

We wake to Alistair yelling, “Aiden… Aiden…
Aiden
.”

Aiden slowly rises from his childhood bed and kisses me on the forehead. He rolls out and walks to his father’s room. I glance at the clock and can’t believe he woke us up at six-thirty on a Saturday morning, Urgh. I make my way down the hall to Alistair’s room where Aiden is helping his father into a shirt.

“You a
fucking
pervert now?” Alistair calls out.

I overt my eyes and cringe.
Yeah, Alistair, I think you’re so sexy, and I can’t keep my eyes off of you.
Gross! Even though I know it’s wrong, inwardly I’m jumping up and down inside. He looks pathetic—his skin is pale and wrinkled, and his man boobs make me want to laugh.

“Father, keep it up and you know what’ll happen,” Aiden says, his shoulders tensing as a bored look crosses his face.

“What, Aiden? You’ll leave? Then leave! I don’t need you or that little tramp here in
my
house anyway.”

I watch Aiden put his father’s shirt down on the bed.

“You know what Father? I
am
going to leave. You can’t even manage to put on a shirt by yourself. I hope you enjoy doing everything on your own. Jeni, let’s go,” Aiden says sternly.

“You can’t leave me here like this, you ungrateful ingrate, after everything I’ve done for you.”

“Father, you did this to yourself. There’s no one to blame but you. Jeni, c’mon.” He takes my hand and we walk down the staircase to the front door.

“Aiden!”
Alistair yells.

Aiden slams the door hard, and we walk to the Aston Martin.

“Are you sure we should be leaving him here on his own? He can’t do anything for himself.”

Aiden opens my door. “I know we can’t. I’ll send Marissa over to care for him, but until she gets here he can sweat it out on his own and see what it’s like to have no one. I’ve had enough of him treating you this way, and I don’t want to hear any more of his caustic tone,” he says raising his voice.

We drive in an awkward silence and there is a feeling of tension in the air. I’m feeling disheartened and Aiden’s silence only serves to heighten my emotions. I turn to look at Aiden, his brows are furrowed and his hands on the steering wheel are clenched so tightly that his knuckles are turning white.

When we arrive home, we walk quietly to our room, trying not to wake Sarah and Chris. Aiden is still silent as we take off our clothes and crawl in bed together. The fact that he is touching me, puts my mind at ease as he cuddles into my back stroking my arm.

“I love you, Jeni, more than anything in this world, you know that, right?” he whispers in my ear.

I feel instant relief wash over me. He finally says something, and it couldn’t have been more perfect. I close my eyes and smile, taking his hand in mine and holding it to my chest.

“I know, babe, and I love you, too,” I say, bringing his hand up to my lips and kissing it. He cuddles into me further, and with our love confessed and tensions eased, we both drift off to sleep.

CHAPTER 5

I’m awake, relaxing in bed in the arms of my man, thinking about last night and how badly it could have gone. I suddenly hear the sound of Sarah shrieking.
What the hell?
I sit up in bed along with Aiden who looks back at me with the same confused stare. I start to panic.
Why would Sarah scream like that?
I get up and throw on my robe, and Aiden puts on a pair of boxer shorts. We quickly make our way to the kitchen to see Chris chasing Sarah around the kitchen with a snail. I feel instant relief as I figure out that her shriek was from nothing sinister but more from something silly.

We both laugh as Sarah screams, running as fast as she can around the kitchen island to get away from Chris and the snail, who are in hot pursuit of her.

“Chris, get it away from me. It’s disgusting,” she says with a stern look on her pale face.

“Nah, babe, I’m gonna cook it up and eat it. They’re a delicacy you know.” He stops at the sink with Sarah on the other side while they stare each other down.

“You know they don’t taste that bad,” Aiden says, adding to the conversation.

“See, babe, they taste good,” Chris calls out.

“Anything that comes from a dirty garden can’t taste good.”

“Sarah, you know fruits and vegetables come from a dirty garden, especially those strawberries that you love so much,” Chris says, raising his eyebrows up and down insinuatingly. Sarah blushes.
Hmm, I wonder what that story is?

“Oh yeah…” Sarah says, turning bright red.

Chris moves around the counter towards her, and she shrieks again.

“Chris Starke, I swear to God if you come near me with that slimy thing, I will never open my legs for you again. Do you hear me? Not even for that
thing
you do with those strawberries,” she says, pointing at him and pursing her lips together like she’s really angry.

We laugh at Sarah’s reaction, along with Chris who brings the snail up into his line of sight.

“Looks like you get to live another day, little buddy. I can’t go on without Sarah and her strawberries.” Chris laughs and we watch him as he takes the snail back outside and pop it on a plant.

We walk into the now safe kitchen and put on the kettle. I look at Sarah and hold in my laugh as I watch her check out my man. When Sarah looks over to me, I can’t hold in my amusement at the expression on her face, and I let out a small laugh. She has a look of appreciation mixed with guilt.

“What’s so funny?” Aiden asks. His forehead is crinkled in confusion as he looks between Sarah and me.

Sara looks at me and gives me a
don’t you dare
glare.

I smirk at her. “Oh...umm...nothing really. Sarah’s just admiring your assets,” I say, smirking at her. Sarah scoffs at me as Aiden chuckles and looks down with a grin at his bare chest.

“I was not. Shut up, Jeni! Aiden, you’re terrible to look at. I mean, really, who wants to see a godlike creature standing in their kitchen at this hour of the morning anyway? Especially when I have my own god to look at? Even if the bastard chases me with freaking snails. So, no I was not ogling you, Aiden, I would never do such a thing. Jeni, you’re a big fat liar,” she says with a smirk.

“Yeah, I think you’re the big fat liar here, Sarah. I think I might tell Chris that you’ve been sizing me up,” Aiden says, calling her bluff, which only makes me laugh harder.

“Shut up, you would not!”

“No I wouldn’t. Chris is my buddy, and I wouldn’t want him to know that his chick is more in love with my body than his. That’s just not being a good friend.”

“You’re an idiot, stop teasing me. I’m a fragile, delicate flower, Aiden, I can be broken easily,” she says, making me laugh again at her ridiculous statement.

“Yeah, you’re about as delicate as a raging rhino,” I say, making Aiden chuckle. Sarah frowns at me.

“Right. That’s enough of that. I’ve thought about some ideas for the invitations if you want to see them?” Sarah says as Aiden makes the coffee.

I rub my forehead in confusion. “What invitations?”

“For the wedding, duh.” She taps on her forehead, walks to the buffet, and pulls out some paper designs. I look at Aiden and he winks at me. I try not to laugh. I can’t believe Sarah has started the wedding planning already.

“You know we haven’t even picked a date yet,” I say, trying to placate her.

She huffs. “Well, hurry up. You need to pick a date so we can get organized. When do you want it?”

I look at her confused. “When do I want it?”

She sighs, exasperated. “Yes, summer, spring? This year, next year? When, Jeni, when?” she says, making frustrated gestures with her hands and slightly bouncing on the spot.

I look at Aiden again who smirks and walks outside to join Chris, leaving me to fend for myself.
Thanks for the support, babe!

I shrug as I look back at Sarah. “I don’t know. We need to discuss it. It’s also Aiden’s decision, not just mine.”

Sarah scoffs at me. “Oh bull
crap
. It’s your day; you can have it whenever you want.”

I shake my head in uncertainty; I don’t want to make any decisions without Aiden. “I don’t know. How long does it take to plan a wedding anyway?”

Sarah looks at me like I’ve given her a challenge, her eyes are squinting and her lips are pursed like she is deep in thought.

“We can have it in, let’s see,” She starts counting on her fingers. “Its April now so how about September?”

My heart thuds as a sudden feeling of excitement washes over me “What? You want me to get married in five months?”

She nods frantically. “Aiden,” she calls out. “September wedding alright with you?” she asks when he walks through the door.

He looks at me, his gorgeous blue eyes glistening brightly as he smiles so wide I’m sure his cheeks must be hurting. “The sooner Jeni is my wife, the happier I’ll be,” he says, making me feel nothing but love and worship from him. It makes my pulse flutter.

“Aww, you two are so cute. Now go away, we need to talk girl stuff.” She pushes Aiden back toward the door. He laughs and walks outside to be with Chris. I don’t know if I can concentrate. I’m buzzing with excitement at the thought of becoming Mrs. Aiden O’Connell.

“What date in September? The Saturday’s you can have are the seventh, fourteenth, twenty first and the twenty eighth. Now pick one,” Sarah says flipping through her diary.

“How about the fourteenth?”

“September fourteenth it is.
Aiden
,” she calls out. My heart jumps into my throat at the thought of a possible wedding date. I hear Aiden laugh as he comes back inside, looking at Sarah with a smirk.

“Yes, Sarah, what can I do for you?” Aiden says as he raises his eyebrows at her.

“We have decided that September fourteenth is your official wedding day.”