Chapter Twenty-Four #2
“And yet Aiden spent the weekend with you,” Annalise said. “He took you out to dinner. He brought you home.”
“He did,” I said. “I think the real question is, do you trust his judgment? Do you think Aiden is susceptible to the manipulation of a woman? Or anyone for that matter?”
The three Winters women looked at me, nonplussed. I took another sip and set the glass down on the island. From the other room, I heard Gage accuse Aiden of thinking with his dick, and I decided enough was enough.
“I’ll make this easy for you. I met Aiden under false pretenses.
My intentions were good, but I lied. I thought he’d done something to hurt someone I love, and I was trying to set it right.
He knows the truth now and he doesn’t care.
I’m not interested in Winters, Inc. I’m not interested in the family fortune.
The only thing I’m interested in is Aiden.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think it’s time I go home. ”
No one stopped me as I strode from the kitchen. I came up behind Aiden and laid my hand on his back, leaning into him as I rose up on my toes. “Take me home Aiden. Don’t fight with your cousin.”
Immediately he stopped yelling at Gage and turned to look down at me. Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear he said quietly, “I won’t let him talk about you that way.”
“Do you agree with him? Do you think I’m a scheming whore out to take you for everything you have?” I asked, equally quietly.
“Of course, not,” Aiden spit out. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“No, don’t you be ridiculous. The only person I care about is you.
You’re not going to change his mind tonight.
And I don’t want our lovely evening to end like this.
If you really want to fight, why don’t you take me home and kiss me in front of my brother?
Then we can both watch his head explode before he tries to kill you. ”
That surprised a laugh out of Aiden. He tugged on a strand of my hair, smiling down at me, the anger drained from his face, his eyes warm.
“Or maybe,” he said in a low rumble, “I’ll get us a hotel room and we can order up some chocolate cake. Eat it in bed.”
“That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.”
Without another word to his gathered family, Aiden took my hand and pulled me to the garage.
As we drove out of Buckhead, Aiden said, “I don’t know why I thought it was such a good idea to have the whole family under one roof. I should kick them all out and then I can fuck you in every room of the house.”
Heat swept through me at the thought of breaking in Winters House, room by room. It was a huge house. That was a lot of sex. Sex with Aiden. I pressed my knees together and tried not to squirm in my seat.
“I’m sorry about my family. Was Charlie grilling you?”
“She was fine. More curious than anything.” I thought about the considering look in Annalise’s eyes. Charlie’s pointed questions. “They love you. They’re just looking out for you.”
Aiden grunted in the back of his throat. His aggravation made me smile. “They’re annoying. I have no idea where they got the idea that they can tell me what to do.”
At that, I burst out laughing. He sounded so disgruntled, like a petulant child. He looked at me from the corner of his eye. “What’s so funny?”
“You,” I managed through my giggles. “You’re so used to being the master of the universe, arranging everyone like pieces on a chess board, and you don’t know what to do when they won’t obey.”
“Hm. I don’t think I’m the master of the universe,” he argued, spurring another round of giggles.
“Right,” I said. “Sure you don’t. Didn’t you tell me you fired your own sister to keep her from working too much? Is that the only time you’ve made decisions for them without asking what they want?”
“You make it sound like it’s a bad thing,” Aiden said. “I’m looking out for them. I’m the head of the family. It’s my job.”
“I know,” I said, reaching across the center console to rest my hand on his arm. He dropped his hand from the steering wheel and closed it over mine. “And now they’re looking out for you. They love you,” I said again. “They want to protect you.”
“From you?” he asked, raising an eyebrow as if I was no threat.
“Well, you did marry Elizabeth,” I pointed out. “Maybe they’re just putting me through the wringer in self-defense. They don’t want to be stuck with Elizabeth 2.0.”
“There is that,” he agreed. “But you shouldn’t have to deal with Gage’s bad attitude, or the rest of them interrogating you.”
“Aiden, it’s fine. I appreciate you looking out for me. No one really has, you know. I’ve always only had Chase. It means a lot that you want to protect me from your family, but I don’t want you to. I have to win them over on my own.”
“You shouldn’t have to win them over at all.”
“No?” I tugged my hand from his and turned in my seat to face him. “Are we together? Or are we just having sex until we burn out?”
Aiden pulled to a stop in front of the attendant at the Hotel Intercontinental and raised a finger to tell him to wait. His eyes caught mine, dark and deadly serious. “We’re together. I’ve told you, this is more than sex.”
“Then you have to give them time, Aiden. You can’t make them like me. Either they will, or they won’t. And if we’re good together and you’re happy, they’ll see that. In the meantime, I can handle them. Even Gage.”
Aiden’s eyes warmed, and he leaned in to press his lips to mine.
“I don’t deserve you,” he said.
“Maybe not, but I’m not letting you go.”
“Works for me.”
He opened his door, signaling the attendant to open mine, and passed over the keys before we made our way to the front desk. A few minutes later we were cruising up in the elevator to the Ambassador’s Suite. Not long after that, the promised slice of chocolate cake arrived.
Aiden brought it straight to bed, though he didn’t bother with a fork. While I watched with wide eyes, naked beneath the smooth sheets, Aiden swiped one finger through the thick frosting, painted it across my nipple and sucked it off.
I didn’t end up getting much of the cake, but I got my fill of Aiden. And orgasms.
Chocolate, Aiden, and orgasms. I couldn’t imagine anything better. His family, my brother—none of it mattered. When I was with Aiden, everything else melted away until it was just us. Just Aiden and me. Exactly the way I wanted it.