25. Aiden #2
Instinct took over, and he barreled forward, heading straight toward Quinn. Mason leaped in the way, grabbing him by the shoulders and pushing back. “Hold on, hold on, steady now.”
Quinn flexed his hand, shaking it. “I want you out, Aiden. Now.”
Footsteps sounded, then Elle hurried into the room, Tara on her hip.
“What in the hell is going on out here?” she asked with a frazzled look as she reached Quinn’s side.
The sight of her, though, was enough to cool Aiden’s temper.
He pulled back from Mason, yanking himself free from his grip, then straightened his rumpled shirt. His cheek stung like hell.
“He’s been fooling around with Isla, and I want him out,” Quinn said, his face red.
“Oh.” Elle grimaced and looked down at her bare feet. She didn’t glance at Aiden, then set a hand on Quinn’s forearm. “They are adults, Q.”
Quinn scowled at her, studying her for a moment before his brows lifted. “You knew, didn’t you? Oh my God. My own wife knew and didn’t tell me.”
This time, Elle met Aiden’s eyes, and she gave him an apologetic look. “I just found out last night. I was going to say something, but it wasn’t my place. And anyway, he’s family, Q. I don’t think we need to be kicking your brother out of our house.”
Quinn’s eyes narrowed on Aiden, his eyes hard. “He knows what he said. Knows what he’s done. And don’t expect me to keep your damn secrets.”
The words hung between them, final and absolute. Quinn’s face was harder than Aiden had ever seen it. But his hands were still shaking.
Then he turned and walked away.
“Happy with yourself?” Aiden muttered to Mason. “You see what happens when you don’t keep your damn mouth shut?”
Mason had the decency to look chagrinned, at least. “We’ll figure this out?—”
“I don’t need any more of your help. Not here.
And not with the Ipolymer deal, either. I can’t fire you because it would only cause me more issues that aren’t worth it, but I won’t be putting something so critical in the hands of someone I clearly can’t trust.” He nodded his head at Elle, then leaned over and gave his sweet niece a kiss on the cheek.
“Thanks for your hospitality, Elle. I’ll see you in London in a few weeks. ”
He fled out of the room before he could say anything else he might regret. His jaw clenched, his stomach sick, acid burning in his throat. He’d had fights with Quinn before—plenty of them—but this time, he didn’t feel so certain that he was in the right.
What he’d said to Quinn had been awful, even if it was true.
His temper had gotten the better of him, and now the mess he’d created had only gotten worse.
He packed quickly, regret churning with anger as he repeated his conversation with Quinn over and over again. None of it surprised him. He’d known his brother would be mad. Maybe not this mad—mad enough to kick him out of his house—but he couldn’t entirely say he blamed him either.
A soft tap at the door drew his attention as he zipped his bag shut. “Come in,” he called.
The door opened, and Isla stepped inside, closing the door behind her. Her eyes were filled with worry. They grew wider as they settled on his cheek, then she rushed toward him.
He folded her in his arms, holding her close. “I’m so sorry,” she breathed into his chest.
“Don’t be,” he said, resting his chin against the top of her head. God, she smells good. That sweet scent of her shampoo that was so strangely intoxicating. Her. “They didn’t kick you out, did they?”
“No, no, nothing like that. But I’m going to leave anyway. I can stay with Kyle?—”
“You don’t have to do that,” Aiden said, pulling back and lifting her chin with his thumb and forefinger. “They love you.”
“I’m so embarrassed,” she admitted, tearing her gaze from him.
He forced her to look at him. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. We hardly did anything, to begin with.”
“I told Elle that. But I don’t think that’s what Mason and Quinn believe.”
Beneath that mournful expression and the flush of pink on her cheeks, anger flickered in her eyes.
“I love them, but I’m not a fucking family secret,” she muttered. “They don’t get to decide what I do with my life.”
Aiden traced a thumb along her cheekbone. “No, they don’t.”
“Good,” she said, standing straighter. “Yet somehow, here we are. With everyone weighing in about what we’re doing like it’s their business.”
“You’re right. They shouldn’t have a say.”
She lifted her chin. “Then stop letting them.”
He stared at her for one long, hard moment.
How had he reached this point? He’d relished his independence as a youth. In being the one who was different from the rest.
Until it had bitten him in the arse, and he’d found himself alone and the outcast of his family.
But what had trying to work his way back into their good graces gotten him? A miserable existence and an eighty-hour workweek.
And it had almost cost him Isla.
He exhaled slowly. “Done.”
Something shifted in her eyes. Like he’d passed a test he hadn’t even known he’d been taking. Maybe she didn’t even know it’d been one. But the look in her eyes was a mixture of relief. . .and want. Happiness.
“I don’t care what any of them think,” Aiden said, then dropped a kiss to her lips. Although he wasn’t sure exactly how or when it happened, Isla Scott had become everything he wanted. He couldn’t imagine going another moment without claiming her.
I can’t frame my answers around what Callum thinks either. “Even Callum. Fuck it. I want you, Isla. And I don’t care who or what it costs me.”
She slid her arms around his neck, then kissed him, eyes closing tightly.
He returned her kiss, which was warm and sweet, filled with unfulfilled longing.
Then he pulled away and traced his fingertips gently against her jaw.
“I’m going to New York for a few days as I have a business deal I have to work on.
I’d invite you, but I won’t really be around to spend time with you.
But the show goes to Paris, Tennessee this weekend, right? ”
Isla nodded, giving him a curious look.
“Then I’ll be there. Wherever you are, Isla. I’ll be there.”