27. Aiden
AIDEN
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
Aiden slid the thick stack of paperwork into a case, then checked his mobile.
Dammit.
He was already heading out later for the airport than he wanted to be.
Worse still, Isla hadn’t called the night before.
And the tone of her texts had shifted since he’d messaged her to let her know he wouldn’t be able to leave yet again.
Almost as though Lola somehow knew he had plans for the weekend, she and her team had insisted on meeting all day yesterday and then this morning to finish reviewing a few items.
Instead of spending the weekend with the only woman he wanted, he’d spent it across a boardroom table from his ex, going over numbers and facts and figures until a migraine pounded at his temples, and his eyes burned with exhaustion.
He downed the rest of the coffee he’d grabbed this morning, wrinkling his nose, and glanced at Lola. “This has been productive. Thanks for your time this morning,” he said, as though somehow she was the one doing him a favor.
Lola stretched her shoulders back, graceful in her tailored dress as she stood. “I’ll walk you to the lobby.”
It was the last thing he wanted, but everything in the past few days had been an exercise in patience.
They were so close to the finish line on the Ipolymer deal that now he had to be wise.
He wasn’t here for himself—but for the company.
“Thank you,” he said with a curt smile as he nodded his goodbyes to her team.
He held the door to the office open for her, and they went through it, walking side by side. When he’d taken this job back from Mason earlier in the week, he’d been filled with regret and hesitation. Working with Lola was a challenge he hadn’t relished.
Yet she’d been on her best behavior. The whole thing had gone more smoothly than expected, with their every exchange polite.
Or maybe it was easier now because of Isla.
Any hold Lola had on him before was now gone, evaporated completely.
That included her ability to get under his skin as easily, too.
Each time he checked his phone and found a waiting message from Isla, it brought a feeling of eagerness that he hadn’t felt in ages.
“You see?” Lola said as they arrived at the lift and pressed the button for it. “We’re capable of working together. We make a great team, Aiden. No need to send Mason.”
Discussing the deal out of the office and away from others didn’t feel entirely safe. He gave her a polite smile as the lift dinged. “I’m glad of it.”
She followed him inside the lift, then selected the button for the lobby. “Where are you heading now?”
“The airport. I have a flight to Nashville that leaves in an hour and forty-five minutes.” Hopefully, traffic in the city wouldn’t be as brutal on a Sunday morning.
“Oh, I love Nashville. It’s a fun town. Are you visiting Quinn?”
The thought of his brother made Aiden’s fingers curl into his palms. “No.” He didn’t particularly want to expand on the subject, but he added, “There’s a film production I’ve invested in. I’m going to check on it.”
“Oh, the one with Isla Scott?” Lola gave him a knowing look.
What in the hell? How did she know about it?
She caught his expression and smiled. “We still have a lot of mutuals, Aiden. Don’t forget, my father is friendly with Frank Scott.
They golf together and go to the same tournaments.
He saw him at the Masters last week and mentioned Isla was filming something you’d funded.
So I asked Callum about it when I called to RSVP for their party.
Frank invited us when we were in Georgia. ”
His pulse speeded. Called Callum.
Holy fuck.
The speed with which the lift dropped to the lobby made him dizzy—or was that Lola’s words? His mouth dried as the lift slowed and stopped, the doors opening.
“Yes,” he said, forcing a calm he didn’t feel. “That’s what we were meeting about in Vegas.” He left the lift, then turned to face her in the lobby.
“I assumed,” she said with a catlike smile. “So I told Callum about how I’d run into you both there. Funny, he seemed to think you hadn’t seen each other.”
Oh shite.
He shrugged it off, pretending he couldn’t hear his pulse in his ears. “I’ve barely seen Callum the last few weeks or been in London.”
“Yes, he did say that.” Then Lola crossed her arms. “But, you know, I got to thinking about how the whole thing just looked... off . So I did a little digging of my own. Did you know that Las Vegas marriage records are open to the public, Aiden?”
He stiffened, his grip on his bag tighter now.
Bloody. Fucking. Hell.
His eyes bored into hers, and the look of smug satisfaction made his blood boil with fury.
“I guess you aren’t completely opposed to marrying, after all.” Her voice hardened.
“That’s my private business,” Aiden snapped coldly.
She tilted her head. “You’d think her own brother would know?—”
“Don’t you dare tell me you shared that information.”
Her lips pursed. “Don’t worry, Aiden, your sordid little secret is safe with me.
For now.” She took a step closer. “Because it is sordid, isn’t it?
The head of Camden Enterprises marries a floozy actress in what can only have been a charming Vegas ceremony.
Prenup? Doubtful. Sounds like a man who makes sound decisions.
Not to mention you’re clearly screwing your best friend’s sister. Trustworthy lot.”
“What do you want, Lola?” Sweat formed on the back of his neck.
She shrugged. “To humiliate you, Aiden, the way you’ve humiliated me.
But the truth is, it’s not worth it. You had your chance.
.. chances to keep me, and you threw me away.
You chose an actress over me. You’re a fool.
I thought I still loved you, but you clearly don’t return those feelings, and right now, I can’t say I’m sorry. ”
His mind raced for the right response.
No matter what he said, he might piss her off further. If he told her the marriage was fake and meaningless, that would only hurt her because he’d denied her that when they had been in a relationship. And it might hurt Isla, somehow, if it got back to her.
But telling Lola that he had moved on? That he’d found someone who he genuinely cared about and interested him? That was just as dangerous.
“I don’t know what you want me to say here,” he said at last, feeling foolish and unprepared. She’d thrown this at him in a well-planned, conniving sneak attack.
“I guess there’s really nothing to say. Anyway, the person I feel sorry for here is Callum.
Maybe Isla a little, too, because she’s probably infatuated.
Doesn’t know how easily your affection can turn to cold disinterest. When it comes down to it, you’re incapable of genuine anything .
Clearly not friendship or love. You’re just going to break her heart—like you did mine—and lose your best friend in the process. ”
She stepped back, letting her guard down for a moment.
She broke eye contact and blinked quickly as though tears threatened.
“But don’t think I won’t get a good laugh when this all blows up in your face, Aiden, because I will.
And you deserve everything that’s coming to you.
It turns out I don’t need to destroy you, Aiden. You’ll do that on your own.”
“Lola—” he started, but she turned and strode away, heels clicking in the vast, empty lobby.
He palmed his face, trying to think. If he went after her and tried to fix this, he’d miss his flight to Nashville.
Maybe there wasn’t anything to fix.
But the fact that she knew left him unsettled. Deeply.
Somehow, the ripple effect of this kept widening, stretching into places and moments he hadn’t expected. Like with Quinn.
The ground beneath him felt shakier than ever.
End it. Own your mistakes with Callum.
Get ahold of this before it destroys everything.
Clicking through his mobile, he tapped on a text thread between Isla and him.
He was about to type up another message about how he wouldn’t make it today when he paused, glancing up at a selfie she’d sent the night before of her in front of an old Austin Healy, like the one his father owned and taken them for drives in on warm summer nights when they were children.
The fact that she’d remembered had made him smile.
She wasn’t just another woman.
She was.. . her. The woman. The only thing his heart wanted.
Closing the text, he clicked over to a ride-share app and opened it instead, then requested a drive to the airport.
Lola was wrong.
He’d never hurt Isla. He wouldn’t just protect her, he’d choose her. Every damn time.
Because that was what Isla deserved. Even if he didn’t know how to approach talking to Callum. Even if their marriage was hanging over his head like a cloud—something they still needed to figure out how to deal with now that they’d decided to be together—he’d stick by his choice.
Isla Scott was his.