26. Aiden
Aiden
S he’s visibly shaken with tears making a desperate escape down her cheeks.
I hurry to her, unable to pull my eyes away. I check her over from top to bottom until she lets out a breathy, forced laugh.
“I’m being ridiculous.” She pushes her glasses up and swipes the tears. “That’s what’s wrong. I freaked myself out.”
“With what?” I ask.
“I thought…I thought someone was following me.”
She glances over her shoulder.
“What? Are you sure?” I lead her over to the chair and make her sit. “Talk to me, Gilli.”
“It’s all in my head,” she says. I’m not convinced. “I never caught anyone staring or watching. It was just a feeling, but a strong one.” She tries to shrug it off. “I just freaked. I’m okay now.”
“Does this have something to do with your cam girl work?” I blurt out.
She flinches and glances up sharply. Startled. I’m right . Why didn’t I put it together sooner? Anyone with an online presence like hers opens themselves up to a world of dangers whether they mean well or not.
Or whether they take precautions or not.
My mind flashes back to the other day when she asked to use the laptop and I give myself a mental kick. Of course. It’s adding up now, and I’ve been too distracted by my little head to understand properly in my big one.
“It’s nothing against you, Aiden, but this is something I have to deal with on my own. Besides, you see too much already. I don’t want to get you in trouble. You know about my side gig. That’s all. It’s not your problem.”
“Bullshit.” I take her hand in mine, trying to impart calm but she’s still trembling. Despite how she’s attempting to brush this off, it’s bothering her. A lot. “What if I want to make it my problem? Have you ever thought about that?”
“I don’t see why you would.”
My eyes go wide. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
At least she’s not pushing me away.
A soft wind rushes along the lakeshore and pulls baby fine hair free. Gilli is achingly vulnerable.
I hurt one woman. Can I make up for it by helping this one?
“I don’t understand why any of you are being so nice to me. No, scratch that. I know why Soren took a break from his bullshit, but you and Tase, you guys have been decent without expecting anything in return. Why?”
“Do you want us to be transactional? Would you feel better knowing we want something from you, so we’ve acted accordingly?”
It’s fucked up, but not unheard of.
She shrugs. “It’s usually the way things work. It’s not right. It’s just easier.”
Does she expect Soren to be the same now that they fucked? Probably not, because he was shitty to her before. I’m the one who’s interested in seeing how this will play out between them. Will he let go of his vendetta, though? I’m invested enough to wonder.
“Maybe it’s worked that way with the assholes you’ve dated in the past.” I pause, waiting for her to correct me, and when she doesn’t I know I’m right. “But that’s not how I work. And Tase is a good man. It’s not how he operates, either.”
“I’m sorry.” She shakes her head. “I’m not trying to insult you.”
She curls in on herself and I squeeze her knuckles. Come back to me .
“You’re shaken up, and it’s understandable to feel like you can’t find your footing. I’ve fucking been there. But I care about you, Gilli. So whatever it takes to make sure you never have that expression on your face again, I’ll do it.”
She laces our fingers together. “You’re too much.”
“Or am I just enough?” I joke.
“You’re better off without me.”
“You know, you keep saying that, but you have no idea what I’m better off doing unless you give me a chance.” I lean in to force her to look at me. “Who hurt you?”
Whoever they are, I’ll make sure they stop breathing. I’ve never been violent before but now it feels like the only option.
Her eyes go glassy. “Someone I’m afraid of. He’s hurt other people.”
“Whoever it is, if I ever get my hands on them, they’re dead.”
She shivers but this time it’s for a different reason. I know it.
“You’re not afraid of getting hurt? If you cross paths with these people because of me, I’ll never forgive myself. They’re bad news. And the police didn’t give a shit when I called.”
“I’ve already been hurt. What’s one more injury? Besides, there are three of us and however many of them. I’m sure we’ll be fine. Now, who is coming for you? I need to know who I’m up against,” I insist.
If this is the way to show her I’m not going anywhere, then I’ll take it. Because damn it, I’m here to stay. These feelings are new, different, but we deserve to take this to the end and see where we land.
“I’m not sure how many there are,” she finally admits, chewing on her lower lip. “A man sent me threats, online. And then two men broke into my apartment. No. Three. Three of them.”
My gut twists.
“What the fuck did you say?”
I stiffen. Neither of us heard his approach, but when we turn around, there’s Soren, staring hard at both of us. He clenches the fishing pole in hand hard enough to snap it.
If she still isn’t in the mood for honesty, my gut tells me she’s about to be pushed into it. Because whatever Soren overheard, he isn’t going to let it drop.
He stomps toward us and pulls up another chair, dropping into it like his knees have been taken out and tossing the rod.
“Talk.”
A single word of pure demand.
Gilli opens her mouth but then snaps it shut before anything squeaks out.
Tension mounts and turns the air thick. I have to do something to lighten this mood. “How about I make dinner and we have a nice sit down. Do we need to get Tase over here, too?”
Whatever feelings she has, the three of us are connected, and I know it for sure when tears flood her eyes again. I track a single one winding down her cheek.
“No, Tase has plans tonight.” There’s more she wants to say but she swallows it down.
“I’m starving,” Soren barks out. “We eat, she talks. That’s how this is going to go. ”
He’s just as worried as I am and he wasn’t here to see Gilli when she first got home. Ashen, strained, terrified. Whether the threat was in her head or not, it deeply affected her.
I whip up a quick pasta salad and set it in the middle of the table like Susie Fucking Homemaker.
My appetite is gone.
Soren is the only one who wolfs down his meal while we both wait for her to settle.
She flutters, her eyes haunted and her tawny skin pale. “How much did you overhear?” she asks Soren finally.
He swallows, flicking his gaze up to hers, although he’s still crouched over his plate like a caveman. It’s how he processes things. He goes into himself, and although he listens to everything, it takes him a minute to internalize it before he speaks.
“Just start at the beginning and go from there,” he urges.
So she does.
There’s no room for us to be awkward together.
Not once she starts her story About the cam girl work and the threat she received, the money in her account.
How she tried to block the bastard, only for his men to break into her apartment in the middle of the night.
How she came here to the cabin thinking it would be her chance to hide out while she puzzles out how to survive.
“I never wanted to involve any of you,” she insists. “I didn’t know anyone would be here at the cabin.”
“Well, we are.”
“ Soren .” I shoot him a warning look.
“He’s right, you are.” She bobs her head. “And I’ve been dancing around it because I’m stupid and I should have gone to the police in Baltimore when I first had the chance.”
“But you tried to call. Using my cell phone,” Soren clarifies for my benefit.
Her hands rise and fall like torn bird wings. “I did, and the local sheriff here blew me off. Pretty sure he was about to tell me I was in hysterics but then chose to hang up.”
“Useless motherfuckers,” I mutter.
Soren grabs another helping of salad.
Some people deal with stress by shutting down and blocking out the rest of the world. Isolation. That’s where I go when I need comfort. It’s so hard to let people in when the risk of them seeing the real you is so high.
Easier, I’ve always found, to retreat.
Soren only goes quiet while he processes. Otherwise he’s the kind to blaze in with his sword drawn and cut down the problem before it becomes a problem.
We’re too late for that now.
He eyes Gilli over his plate. “The police aren’t going to help you unless they think it’s a real threat and you give them evidence. You said someone followed you today?”
She dips her chin, her hands hidden on her lap. “I thought so, but when I turned around, there was no one. Only tourists.”
“Could you be imagining things?”
“Okay, Mr. Insensitive.” She automatically shifts into defense mode.
“I’m sorry, I’m not trying to be a dick this time.” They scowl at each other. “I’m just trying to understand the situation.”
“If she says she was followed, then I’m sure she was. The dudes are probably good at tailing their marks.” I lift my beer bottle to my lips.
Soren might not be worried, but I am. It’s a little freaky to think that dangerous people might have followed her to our town.
“I don’t want us making a big deal out of it before it becomes one. Gilli will stay here, and in the morning, we’ll do our own research,” he says to me. “See if we can figure out who is hiding behind the username. Is Solome still doing his private investigating shit? ”
“As far as I know,” I say with a shrug. “I haven’t kept up with him since college.”
“We’ll give him a call, too.”
Soren pushes away from the table, staring at Gillian. They lock eyes and something tangible passes between them. For a beat, they’re the only two people in the room. Nothing and no one exists outside of them.
I take it as my cue to get the hell gone.
If those two need a reprise of their performance last night, I’d rather not stick around to see it. And the way she’s looking at him leaves me with little doubt who she’ll choose, if any of us, to warm her bed tonight.
“I’ll clean up,” I announce gruffly.
“But you made dinner,” Gilli protests.
“This barely counts as dinner and we know it.” Besides, my stomach is turned inside out.
She was right to run, and smart, to come here. Out of all the places she could go, I doubt someone is going to go to the trouble to research her threadbare family connections and check out their real estate.
But what if they did? What if they did take the time to research and this seriously bad dude is in Holly Brook as we speak?
Helping her isn’t an issue. I meant what I said earlier—if anyone tries to hurt her, they’ll die. It’s that simple.
Gilli doesn't deserve to be the target of some psychopath who thinks he’s entitled to things at others’ expense. Money buys a lot but not the right to cause pain.
I’m done in the kitchen and Soren is nowhere to be seen. Neither is Gilli. Both their doors are closed and my heart lurches before settling into a resentfully level rhythm.
I flip off the lights, heading toward my room when a throat clears.
Soft, insistent, feminine.
I turn and there’s Gilli in the open doorway to her room, wearing a baggy nightshirt and skimpy sleep shorts. Salivation, check. Immediate half chub, check.
My brain goes right to the fantasy of those long legs wrapped around me, of how those two long braids on either side of her head will feel in my fists.
“Will you snuggle with me?” she asks sweetly.
“What’s the matter? Soren not the snuggling type?” I know for a fact he’s not.
“I want you .”
My heart stutters. The statement shoots straight down and curls around the frantically beating organ.
How the fuck do I say no to her?
Quick answer: I don’t.
So I crook a finger. “My room or nothing, sweetheart.”
She pauses for only a moment before she follows me across the hall.