Unraveled (Love in Salem, book 2) (25 page)

“I love you, too.  Bye.”  She hung up.

“Man.  You really got it bad.”  Olivia shook her head.  “I always knew you would fall hard.  I mean, you were always prone to get in way over your head with any woman you dated, but this time is different.  You look good in love, big brother.”

“I feel good.  Being with her makes a difference.”

Their food arrived, cutting short any further conversation.  They both had a busy day ahead of them, so they hurried through lunch then walked to Ernestine’s Jewels.  After browsing through the entire selection, Aidan shook his head.

“There are a lot of pretty rings here, but nothing that catches my attention or screams ‘Atayla.’  Maybe I don’t know what makes a good engagement ring.  Did you see anything?”

“No.  You’re right.  I didn’t see anything here that does Tay justice.  Let's head over to
Markland Jewelers.  We should have gone there to begin with.”

Together, they walked out of the store and headed to the other end of the square.   The shopping center was busy.  Like most days, street vendors crowded the sidewalks peddling their wares. 

They had to weave through the masses in order to get to their destination.  With Thanksgiving on the horizon the crowd was thicker than usual, people out gathering the necessities for their Thanksgiving festivities.

A chilly breeze blew by and Aidan pulled the collar up on his jacket.  He had hoped for a warm November like they had last year, but it appeared as though luck had run out.  The weather report this morning had even predicted snow within the next week.

He wondered how Atayla would do surrounded by his crazy family during the holidays.  She did pretty well at Hayden's party, and that was very encouraging.  It wasn’t that she wasn’t capable of social interaction.  She just hadn’t ever learned how to be a part of a family. 

At least not a functional one.

He hadn’t yet had a chance to talk to her about Thanksgiving at his parents’ house.  Hopefully she didn’t have other plans.  He wanted her there with him.  The plan was to propose to her right there in front of his family.

He wasn’t going to tell Olivia that, though.  If she knew then everyone would know by the end of the day.  She never could keep a secret worth a damn.

Aidan held the door to Markland Jewelers open for Olivia to enter.  The bells above the door tinkled, alerting the sales associate to their arrival.  A fashionable woman around the age of forty-five came out of the back and smiled at them.

“Can I help you find something today?”  She asked pleasantly.

“Maybe.  I’m in the market for an engagement ring.”

The woman beamed.  “We have several lovely pieces I could show you.  Do you have anything in particular in mind?”

“Something kind of old fashioned and not too flashy.”  He looked to Olivia.  “Something like Grandma wore.”

Olivia’s eyes brightened as she remembered her Grandmother’s engagement ring.  “That would be perfect for Tay.  It was an amethyst surrounded by a row of little diamonds and then a row of emeralds.  It was so beautiful.”

“Hmm.”  The woman tapped her chin thoughtfully.  “I don’t really have anything like that in the store, but we could get on line and see if anything interests you.  I would be more than happy to order it for you.”

“Let me see what you have here first.  If nothing catches my eye then we can see what you can get for me.”

The three of them perused the display looking at the different designs and discussing the quality of each.  Finally, in the last display, Aidan found what he had been looking for.

“That one.”  He pointed to the sapphire in the corner of the display.

Olivia came over and looked at it.  “It’s perfect!”  She exclaimed.

“Which one?”  The sales woman asked as she stepped behind the display with her key in hand.

“The sapphire and diamonds.”  He pointed at it again.

She pulled the ring out of the display and handed it to Aidan for his inspection.  Aidan and Olivia looked the ring over from every angle.

“This is it.  This is the one I want.  What size is it?”

The sales woman pulled out the ring
sizer and slid the ring on.  “A seven.”

“Perfect.  I’ll take it.”

After he paid for the ring, he walked Olivia back to her car. 

“Where are you headed now?”  She asked.

“Back to the shop.  I still have a few appointments before I can call it a day.  Then I’m taking Atayla out to dinner tonight.”

“Well, have fun.  I’m taking Jordyn and Hayden to The Ultimate Fun Place tonight so Camille and Paxton can have some peace and quiet.  I think Paxton is having as hard a time adjusting as Hayden is.”

“Yeah.  He was talking about it today.  Hayden hasn’t ever had to follow rules, and Paxton has never really spent a lot of time being a dad other than an occasional overnight or play date.  They will adjust in time.”

“I know they will.”  Olivia hugged her brother.  “Congrats.  I’m really happy for you.  I’ll see you later, okay?”

“See you later.”  He shut her car door after she took her seat and watched her drive off.

Later that night he and Atayla sat in the restaurant and ate their dinner completely unaware of the person standing in the shadows seething with anger.  So Atayla had chosen to ignore all the warnings.  Absolute fury reigned as they were watched smiling and laughing, kissing and embracing over the last several days.

Then today, seeing Aidan walk in to that jewelry store and buy that slut a ring.  That was the last straw.  The time to take action had come.

Chapter Twenty-four

Aidan and Atayla had just fallen asleep when the phone jarred them awake.  Disgruntled, Aidan cursed and looked at the clock.  It was two in the morning.

“What the hell?” 

He jumped from the bed and rushed to the phone in the kitchen.  Heart pounding, he grabbed up the phone. 

“Yeah?”

“Mr. Aiello?”

“Yes.”

“This is Scott from Yantis Security.  I’m sorry to disturb you, but we have just received an alert that the security system at Skinz has been triggered.  We have notified the police and they should be arriving on scene shortly.”

“Okay.  Thank you.  I’m on my way there.” 

He hung up the phone before the man could respond.  Aidan turned around and collided with Atayla who was clutching both halves of a robe together in front of her as she hurried behind Aidan to find out why someone would call so late at night.

Aidan caught her as the impact knocked her backwards.  He steadied her then rushed around her to the bedroom.  He was still stark naked since he jumped out of bed and ran to the phone.

“What is it?”  Her voice shook with worry.

“I need to go to the shop.”  He slipped on his boxer briefs and headed towards the dresser.  “Apparently something triggered the security alarm, and I need to find out what is going on.”

The phone rang again as Aidan pulled out a plain white t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants.  Atayla ran to answer the phone as Aidan hastily dressed.

“Hello?”

“This is Lt. Halliday is Mr. Aiello home?”

“He is getting dressed.  This is Atayla Parker.  Can you tell me what is going on?”

“It seems as though someone has broken into Mr. Aiello’s tattoo parlor.  There is quite a bit of damage, and I would appreciate it if he could come down here and take a look around.  Answer some questions.”

Aidan grabbed the phone from her.  As he began speaking to the Officer, Atayla ran to the bedroom and threw on some clothes of her own.  She would be damned if she was going to stay behind and allow Aidan to go through this on his own.

She hurried back out to the kitchen where Aidan had grabbed up his keys and headed towards the garage door.  He stopped and looked at her.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going with you.”

Aidan shook his head.  “Go back to bed, baby doll.  There is no reason for you to be out this time of the night and I have no idea how long this will take.”  He slipped his hand into hers and started to lead her back to the bedroom.  “Come on, I’ll tuck you back in bed.”

She yanked her hand out of his. 

“I’m not a child so stop speaking to me as if I am.”

“Atayla –”

“Don’t Atayla me!”  She spouted angrily.  “If the table was turned there is no way in hell you would let me deal with it on my own!  I am going with you whether you like it or not so you may as well buck up and stop arguing with me.”

Aidan sighed.  “Get your coat.  It’s cold outside.”  He relented, knowing when to wave the white flag.

Atayla return wearing her coat and holding Aidan’s out to him.

“I find it funny that you can lecture me about staying warm when you are about to trot off wearing a t-shirt, sweats, and slides.”

Aidan looked down at his attire. 

“I was in a hurry.”

Rolling her eyes, she opened the door and waved for Aidan to step out into the garage.  They jumped in Aidan’s SUV and sped off, barely clearing the garage door before he pushed the button to close it.

Within minutes they were parking in the lot behind the Sandstone building that housed the Aiello’s businesses.  A portly man strode up to the SUV as they were getting out.

“Mr. Aiello?”

“Yep.”

“Lt. Halliday.”  He shook Aidan’s hand then tipped his hat at Atayla.  “Miss Parker.  You never called me back the other day.  I still have questions to ask you.”

Atayla ignored the angry look Aidan shot her.  “Sorry.  It’s been a busy couple of weeks.”

Lt. Halliday grunted.  “The sooner the better Miss Parker.”  He turned his focus back to Aidan.  “The front window has been broken.  Some of your equipment has been tossed about.  I need you to take a look around and see if anything is missing.”

Aidan nodded.  Hooking his arm around Atayla’s shoulders, he led her to the front of the shop and in through the door.  Apparently the police entered through the smashed out window and unlocked the door for easier entrance.

Glass crunched under his feet as he stepped inside his shop.  Someone had definitely done a number on it.  The customer seating had been ripped, and the stuffing was strewn about the room. 

His service counter had been ransacked.  Luckily he didn’t keep any money in the register.  What wasn’t deposited in the bank after hours was locked inside the safe in the office. 

The work stations had been destroyed.  Equipment was lying in the floor, inks had been spilled.  The stations and seating remained intact, so it appeared whoever did this had been interrupted before they could do more than surface damage.

He had enough supplies in back that they could get back up and running as soon as the place was cleaned and the window was fixed.  New seating wouldn’t be difficult to come by.  He could run by Beverly’s Furniture Gallery after he called his insurance agent in the morning.

“Anything missing?”  Lt. Halliday asked.

“Doesn’t look like it.  The only thing of value that is kept here at night is the equipment.”  He picked up the tattoo machines off of the floor and inspected each of them.  “Other than cleaning them up and replacing a few minor parts there isn’t any significant damage.”

Lt. Halliday wrote in his notebook. 

“Any idea who would have done this?”

Aidan shook his head.  “The guys who work here are all pretty decent.  Most of my employees are relatives and the few who aren’t have worked here from the day I hung out my shingle.  I don’t suspect them, and I know them all well enough to know they don’t have any grudges against them severe enough for all this.”  He waved his hand to encompass the ruins of his shop.

Lt. Halliday glanced at Atayla who had her head down, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

“Maybe they don’t, but that doesn’t mean that someone close to you doesn’t.”

At that comment Atayla began to cry.  Aidan rushed over to her and wrapped her in his arms to comfort her.  He growled at Lt. Halliday.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?  You aren’t suggesting Atayla did this are you?”

“I'm so sorry, Aidan.  I didn’t –”

“Shh.  You didn’t do anything.”  He kissed her softly before glaring at Halliday.

“I'm not saying she is responsible for this.”  He hurried to explain.  “Only that the two cases may be related.  If her ex is indeed involved then it would make sense that he would lash out at you as well.”

“Oh God, Aidan.”  Atayla sobbed.  “This is all my fault.  If I had only –”

“Stop, Atayla!  I will not have you blaming yourself for this.  You understand me?  You are not responsible for what anyone else does.”

“But now your business has been broken into, and you are taking a financial loss.”