Epilogue
Violet
It turns out, Aiden and I had different definitions of dating. I thought we’d go out to dinner. Go to the movies. And sex. I assumed there’d be sex.
Sex was about the only common element between my idea of dating and Aiden’s. My version of dating included Aiden picking me up at my door, taking me somewhere suitable, and dropping me off at the end of the evening. Simple. Classic.
Aiden’s version varied widely, but it was rarely simple, and it almost always involved my spending the night.
In Winters House. In a hotel room. Sometimes that hotel room was in Paris.
Or London. Once, it was in Tokyo. Tokyo.
Who goes to Tokyo on a date? Apparently, Aiden Winters does.
Before Aiden, I’d only used my passport once, on a short trip to Canada with my mother.
I tried to stay firm on my resolve not to move into Winters House. At first, I compromised with both Aiden and my brother and agreed to stay in Chase’s condo. Chase wanted me there because he had the ridiculous idea that I shouldn’t live alone in the big city.
Cue my eye roll.
Aiden, because he didn’t want me to sign a lease he was sure he could convince me to break. I was too smart to bet against Aiden, and I didn’t really want to move twice, so I’d stayed put.
Night by night, date by date, more of my things had made their way into Aiden’s suite in Winters House.
The first time Mrs. W consulted with me on the grocery list Aunt Amelia had snickered and said, “You might as well just pack your things and move in, Violet. If Aiden doesn’t talk you into it, Helen will. ”
Aunt Amelia was the only one who called Mrs. W by her first name, Helen, and it was a mystery how she got away with it when the two of them didn’t quite get along.
That was just one of the mysteries of the Winters family.
They were a lot to get used to, especially after growing up in such a different household.
In the Westbrook home, quiet obedience was prized.
Not at Winters House. They were loud and argumentative and nosy. And fun. Almost always, they were fun.
Aiden got his way by the end of the summer, but not because I agreed to move out of Chase’s condo.
I was tricked into it. In a way. Chase and Lucas had hit it off.
Maybe it was because they were both outsiders.
Lucas and Riley were already tight, partly because they worked together at Sinclair Security, and Chase fit right in.
He started hanging around Lucas and Charlie’s renovations after work and on weekends, helping out here and there. He’d always loved learning new things. I think after spending all day in front of a computer terminal, Chase liked the chance to work with his hands.
He liked it so much, he ended up falling head over heels for a run-down cottage they’d bought after it went into foreclosure.
The place was a mess, but it was within walking distance of the shops and restaurants on Highland Avenue, was on a decent sized lot, and had an oversized detached garage that could double as a guest house or home office.
Lucas and Charlie planned to have it ready to move into by early fall. Everything was going right on schedule until Chase’s condo sold faster than we’d expected and there was a delay on materials for the new house. Suddenly, Chase and I were homeless.
We moved into Winters House temporarily. Well, temporarily for Chase. By the time his new place was done, we’d been living in Winters House for over a month. All of my things were there. For the first time in years, I felt like I was home.
Even Chase told me to stay put. He’d been showing me around the new house when he’d stopped in the kitchen and said, “You’re not coming, right? You’re going to stay with Winters?”
Relieved that he wasn’t going to argue about it, I said, “I think so. I want to. Why? Do you think I should? Or are you just trying to get rid of me so you can be alone with your new girlfriend?”
He’d scowled before rolling his eyes. “She’s not my girlfriend. Yet.”
He was having a hard time convincing the object of his affection to give him a chance. She was gun shy, but Chase was persistent. My money was on him. No woman could resist my brother for long. He’d win her over. Eventually.
He poked me in the arm. “I don’t need to get rid of you to get the girl.
Any woman who wants to ditch my baby sister isn’t the right one for me.
” Then, more seriously, “You know I always have a place for you. Always. But Winters loves you. He’s going to ask you to marry him.
I don’t know why he hasn’t yet. And I know you don’t want to move out.
Just make it easy and stay where you are. ”
So I did.
Aiden and I were slowly working out a rhythm.
He was who he was. I called him the king of the universe as a joke, but I wasn’t far off.
When I really thought about the number of people who depended on him for their livelihood—not just the employees of Winters, Inc.
, who numbered in the tens of thousands, but the businesses that relied on his company through complex agreements and contracts—the amount of responsibility was mind-boggling.
It was my mission in life to force him to put his crown aside and just be a man.
That didn’t mean we didn’t argue. Constantly.
He tried. He really tried. And he was learning to compromise.
In one of the biggest ironies of my life, I’d landed my dream job and it ended up being with WGC, Winters Gaming Corp.
, the gaming and technology company run by Aiden’s youngest brother Holden and youngest cousin Tate.
Who would have guessed that a tech company would require a snail mail application?
In fact, it was the very application that had led me to the contract hidden in Aiden’s desk and LeAnne Gates.
After that disaster, I’d completely forgotten about the stamped envelope I’d left sitting on Aiden’s desk.
Mrs. W had mailed it and I’d been called in for an interview.
It turned out WGC had issues with corporate espionage.
Their flagship game was a huge seller and competitors would do almost anything to find out what was coming up.
Even for a position like bookkeeper they did their hiring off-site and through an intermediary.
I didn’t know who the job offer came from until I’d signed an ironclad nondisclosure agreement.
When I found out, I’d assumed Aiden was behind it and I’d been furious. He’d been as surprised as me. Holden and Tate were the only ones who had any idea I’d applied for the job, and they knew exactly who I was when they offered it to me.
I hadn’t been sure about taking it. On one hand, the salary and benefits were good, and the flexible hours would let me go back to school part-time.
On the other hand, I wasn’t comfortable accepting favors in the form of employment.
Holden and Tate swore I was the best qualified applicant, but I wasn’t sure I believed them.
In the end, I took the job. I’d been there five months and it was everything I hoped it would be. WGC was laid back, the employees dedicated and passionate, with a sense of humor. Half the time they acted like work was play and it made every day in the office entertaining.
Two days a week I commuted to Athens, an hour away, and attended classes towards my Master’s Degree in Accountancy at the University of Georgia. My compromise was the car and driver Aiden sent with me. I’d insisted I could take the bus. In fact, we’d had a knockdown, drag-out fight about it.
Providing me with a car and driver was a ridiculous waste of money, in my opinion. I could drive myself, but the bus gave me two hours a day to study. Aiden pointed out that I could do that far more comfortably in the spacious backseat of his Bentley.
It was Charlie, the master of fighting with Aiden, who tipped the balance.
We’d been arguing—again—our disagreement getting more heated as the fall semester grew closer, until she pulled me aside and said, using the nickname she’d picked up from Chase, “Vivi, choose your battles. Don’t waste your energy on the car thing.
Let him have his way and fight him on something really worthwhile.
Trust me. It works better if you save your disagreements until you really need them.
Do you want to take the bus that badly?”
“But it’s a waste of money,” I’d protested.
It was one thing when Aiden was with me. Then I didn’t question the private plane or the hotel suites. But this was different. This was just me. I was perfectly fine taking the bus.
Charlie just poked me in the shoulder and laughed.
“Seriously? Not to Aiden. First of all, he’s not even going to blink at what a car and driver costs two days a week.
Second, he’d spend any amount of money to make sure that you’re safe and comfortable.
Let him. It’s just money. He’s got enough of it. ”
So I gave in. Charlie was right. Aiden didn’t love me because I was a pushover. He loved me because I stood up to him, but there was nothing wrong with choosing my battles wisely. And I had to admit, if only to myself, that the Bentley was a whole lot more comfortable than the bus.
Really, after six months, we only had one ongoing issue. We couldn’t settle on a plan for our wedding.
Not that Aiden had asked. Not formally. There was no ring and no date. I wasn’t fishing for one. In my opinion it made more sense to wait at least a full year. Wasn’t that the conventional wisdom? You should be with someone for all four seasons before you commit for life?
I couldn’t help being cautious. I think Aiden worried that I still didn’t trust him, but that wasn’t it.