Chapter 38
Elliot
Anger rolled through me and the only thinking holding me together was the brown eyed woman in my arms that needed my comfort and grace.
When Aria told me that she had gone through something traumatic, a few things had come to mind, but nothing would have prepared me for what she told me.
Never would I have thought that the cartel would have been involved in whatever she had went through, but now that I know, I want nothing more than to rage.
Rage against the fuckers that did that to her.
Rage against Leo and Santos for even having any association with Aria and exposing her to the terror that can come with knowing them.
Rage against myself because if I had gotten in contact with Aria after Vegas, if I had used the information my brother had gotten me, then I could have been there for her or better yet, she wouldn’t have been in Austin when those fuckers went to her apartment.
There is rage and it’s running deep and I fucking hate it.
I know that the men that attacked Aria are probably already taken care of, possibly tortured for what they did, but the unhinged part of me wants to go to wherever they are buried, take them out of the ground and burn their bones into a crips.
I’m hopeful they a are feeling all the pain they have inflicted on others in the pits of hell.
The urge to hit something and anger take over and not a second later my fist goes through one of the walls in my office.
My hand throbs when I pull it out and blood forms in small droplets at my knuckles, but I don’t care.
I want to pummel someone, what to punch their face in until its unrecognizable, preferably that someone being whoever hurt Aria.
I wonder if I can drag her fucker of an ex down into the Muertos cement basement and watch as life leaves his eyes.
I give no fucks how psychotic that makes me sound or if actually doing it could land me in jail. As long as Aria gets retribution for what was done to her, I will happily serve whatever sentence comes my way.
Not wanting to put another hole through my walls, I head down the hall to the laundry room.
Grayson has officially gone back to his place, but he left behind all the first aid things that Aria and Sophia requested, which ended up in the laundry room.
Thank fuck Aria is asleep, otherwise she would scold me for punching something and making myself bleed.
After she told me everything and broke down in my arms, she looked exhausted. So, after I made her ear what I hadn’t burnt of breakfast, I told her to go back to bed.
I had checked on her about ten minutes ago after cleaning up the kitchen and she was sound asleep.
Hopefully the sound my fist made when it hit the wall didn’t wake her.
I clean up the scrapes to the best of my abilities, definitely not as good as my nurse girlfriend would have done it, but it passes.
The word girlfriend circles in my mind. It’s been four months since Aria walked off the elevator and became a fixture in my life, I never want to get rid of. It’s been a short, and fucking quick amount of time, but she’s here and she’s mine. In every single way.
Four months it took to for me to get what I wanted, and now I’m going to try to keep it.
She talked to a nobody about the cartel, that will no doubt have consequences.
Leo Morales is not only the head of a cartel, he is also a family man and he will do everything in his power to make sure that family is safe.
Even from his wife’s best friend. The second he finds out that Aria spoke, he’s going to step into action.
He won’t hurt her physically, I know that for a fact, but he will hurt her by keeping Serena away from her. He will take her best friend and not think twice about it.
I know what Serena is to Aria, she’s told me in so many ways that Serena is her family, her sister, and if she is no longer in her life, she will be devastated.
She’ll have you.
Yeah, I will be at her side every step of the way, even when she tells me to leave her, I will be there, but I won’t be able to be what Serena is. She will lose a big piece of her being that I never will be able to replace.
My mind shouldn’t move away from the current situation, but I start to think about my friendship with Ethan.
We had met around ten. I was put into a school into a charter school for rich kids about a few weeks after Dad left us in Chicago and Ethan was in my class and was one of the first kids that invited me to play with them at lunch.
School wasn’t the only thing we had in common, his dad also worked at Lane Enterprises.
Most kids ran away from me because of my last name, but he didn’t give two shits.
And when he came to me to ask if I was okay if he wanted to date my sister, I told him yes. I was okay with it. More than okay. He was to me for years what Serena is to Aria. I wanted him to be happy. I wanted my sister to be happy.
But a year into their relationship, they broke up. I was more than okay with being a neutral party, of still having my best friend and being a brother. Then I heard what he did.
Not only did he break her heart, he shattered it.
Neutrality went out the window after that and dropped Ethan as a friend.
Even if I think my sister is a cold-hearted bitch sometimes, she came first and I don’t regret it.
Though I’ve never been able to replace that friendship.
Sometimes I do wonder… What if we were still friends?
I survived losing a friend, would Aria?
I don’t have to think about it. She wouldn’t. She’s strong but not strong enough for that.
With a sigh, I drop my head to my chest and lean against the washing mashing. So many scenarios circulate in my mind and very few of them come out with Aria not getting hurt.
I made her the promise that we will fix this, but something in me is telling me I won’t be able to achieve it.
Aria needs to come clean. Leo needs to know that someone close to him was associated to Harrison and he has to hear it directly from the source. It can’t be from a file or from a random stranger, it has to come from Aria.
Not over a phone.
Not over a screen.
In person.
Given the circumstances, he may be inclined to come to Chicago, if asked to. There’s someone threating to take him away from his and getting them out of harm’s way will be his number one priority. Hell, from what Aria told me, Serena mentioned a trip up here that has yet to happen.
But I know Leo.
While he would want his family out of harm’s way, he wouldn’t leave his men in Texas when someone is looking into them and could strike at any moment.
Aria will have to go to Texas.
My head hangs. As much as I don’t want Aria walking into the lion’s den, not knowing how Leo will react when she tells him what she did, it has to be done.
With a plan somewhat set, I head back to the office to grab my phone.
Hopefully once all of this is done, Aria can live her life without a cloud filled with guilt hovering over her head. A life where she can be happy with me at her side.
Once the phone is in my hand, all it takes is two seconds to dial Leo Morales’ number and nearly fifteen for him to answer.
“Were you able to get your hands on information?” Is what comes through from the other side instead of a greeting.
A sigh leaves my body. “Yes, I have it. But it’s better if I deliver it to you in person.”
There’s a pause. “And why would you do that?”
“Some of the information is a bit sensitive and I would rather give it to you in person versus just sending the file over.”
Leo doesn’t skip a beat. “When?”
I do mental math before speaking. “I could be in Austin in a little over four hours.”
“I’ll send you an address of where to meet.”
With that the call is ends and I can’t help but to feel a pounding headache coming on.
Information.
All Leo fucking wanted was information and somehow a simple request turned into an endless shit storm with so many damn puzzle pieces flying around. I could have sat on this for a few days, avoided the pieces coming my way for longer, it has to be done now. No more waiting.
“Fuck.”
Dropping the phone on the desk, I head to my bedroom upstairs.
I find Aria still asleep in the middle of the bed; my pillow cradled in her arms. She looks peaceful, almost as if the demons waiting for us in the real world don’t exist.
If it was anything else, I would let her sleep. Unfortunately, today we don’t have that luxury.
“Baby?” I place a hand on her shoulder and nudge her awake. It takes a few tries, but eventually her beautiful eyes, filled with questions, meet mine. I don’t waste time. “We should get dressed.”
“Why?” Aria asks, pushing herself up onto a sitting position. Her arms still very much wrapped around the pillow as she holds it to her body.
I answer as I make my way to the walk-in closet. “Because we have a flight to catch to Austin.”
The sounds of her shuffling of the bed meets my ears, but I don’t turn to look at her.
I fucked up with telling Leo that I would be going to Austin, I know I did.
I should have consulted Aria before the suggestion was even a thought.
I should have given her time, and for her to decide when to come clean.
Talking to Leo about what she did, should have been her choice, and I took it away from her.
“Why the fuck are we flying to Austin?” The question comes out through clenched teeth and filled with anger.
I try to keep my own anger at bay when I turn to look at her. “Because I told Leo that I would take him the information that he requested. We need to tell Leo your connection with Harrison. We need to put an end to all of this.”
Aria scoffs. “We? You mean I need to tell Leo. I’m the one that needs to come clean. There’s no we in this scenario.”
Her hands ball into fists and for a second I think she’s going to punch me. Before I’m able to give her a response, she continues.
“Why would go to Leo without talking to me first? When and where I tell the truth, voice my indiscretions, should have been my choice, not yours.”
“I know that.” Now it’s me speaking through clenched teeth.
“Then why the hell would you tell Leo we are going to Austin?” I see tears starting to form in her eyes, but even the sight of them isn’t enough to keep my anger at bay.
Instead of being calm, instead of being reasonable, I blow.
“Because this affects me too and the sooner the fucker you call an ex-boyfriend is dealt with, the fucking better.”
There’s not even a pause in her response. “How the hell does this affect you?”
The words are out of my mouth before I can think. “Because you’re not the only one with secrets! Harrison sought out help in bringing down the Cartel and the person he went to happens to be my mother. But the cartel doesn’t know that fact and I would rather keep it that way.”
Silence fills the room and from where I stand, I can see a million questions swimming in Aria’s eyes. Before she has the time to voice them, I speak.
“Get dressed. We need to get going.”
I turn away from her, grabbing the first shirt I see.
The closet fills with a painful silence. One that I don’t know if we will come back from.