Chapter 35 #2
“Yeah,” he calls back, then appears in the doorway. “Fabian was telling me that some on the news are talking about the odd coincidence of two buildings collapsing the same way for the same company. Some are saying it’s a coordinated attack.”
“They can talk all they want,” Kell drawls. “There’s no culprit and no proof.”
“The news is still fresh. Charles will probably have them backtracking before the sun is up,” I reason.
Cassandra’s already looking at Dane’s hand, her brow pinched. She looks at me like she can tell it was my gift.
“Did they do that to his hand?” Portia asks, her eyes wide when she sees it.
I hesitate, tensing at the idea of admitting I’d hurt him.
Silas snorts. “I bet Dane touched Raegan without her permission and she clapped back.” His words snap the tension.
“Fuck off, Silas,” Dane retorts, although there’s no bite.
“Both of you, be quiet so I can concentrate,” Cassandra chides.
“Okay, then fill us in on what happened with the last guy,” Portia whispers.
The shower screeches, making me cringe. It stops once the water shoots out.
Jackson was already asleep when we returned from Cassandra’s apartment after filling everyone in.
Aiden texted he was meeting with Cibrina and would be back later.
Dane was the first to pass out after turning on a movie, with Kellan not far behind.
I don’t know if any of them got much sleep in the car since I’d slept the most between each stop. I won’t be able to sleep until I’ve showered the last day off me, and then maybe I’ll wake them up to join me in bed.
Once the water’s to temperature, I slip inside and stand beneath the hot spray. The water pressure here is great—just like I remember it. I breathe a sigh of relief as it beats against my scalp and neck, then my back when I shift forward.
I stand there for a long time. Long enough that the heat soaks into my skin until I’m warm and languid. So long that the spray begins to itch, and I’m forced to turn.
Opening my eyes, I freeze when I see someone beyond the glass.
“It’s only me,” Aiden’s smooth voice lilts.
I push the glass door open so I can see him better, and a flood of cooler air rushes into the shower, making me shiver.
Aiden is leaning against the sink, one ankle crossed over the other, his hands in his pockets.
He’s wearing a soft, loose shirt that is starting to cling to his chest from the moisture it’s absorbed. “How long have you been there?”
“Some time.”
“Well, can I help you?”
“I was waiting for my turn, but I’m not sure if there’s any hot water left.”
Scoffing, I close the door to block him and the cold air. “Most people wait outside the bathroom.”
“And miss the opportunity to see you?”
The shower door opens and reveals a now-naked Aiden. I don’t move from my spot, blocking his entry. He steps inside anyway, letting his body press against mine to fit, and tugs the door shut.
My nipples are pebbled from the cooler air as they push into his chest, and a different kind of heat surges through my veins at the contact. “I didn’t invite you in,” I admonish, my voice breathy as I stare into his obsidian gaze.
He’s looking at me like he wants to pick me apart. Learn me inside out and then put me back together again. “I’ve been thinking about what happened. What the doctor said.”
My stomach drops. “Why? You said it yourself. He was only trying to distract us.”
Aiden shifts closer, and I’m forced to step back.
“Even if he twisted our fears, there was truth in it. I don’t want to lose anyone else or put them in more danger.
I’ve debated keeping Guild members here for the final fight.
I wonder if it wouldn’t have been better to keep refusing their help.
Even if they hated my decision, they might be alive today.
I argue constantly over the idea of locking you up until Charles is dead. ”
Once my back meets the tile, his thumb and forefinger pinch my chin, locking my eyes with his.
“If you break my trust like that again, I’d hate you.”
“You’d be safe. Alive to hate me.”
“You could never hold me. You know that.”
“I still have the cuffs.”
“That you need to defeat Charles.”
“I’d take the risk for you. I don’t think you fully grasp what lengths I would go to ensure you survive.”
The memory of his unmoving body on mine hits me in the chest, squeezing until it’s hard to breathe. “I do.”
“No. I’d do more than die for you, Raegan. I’d gladly become your villain if it meant you were safe.”
My breath hitches.
He leans close, his lips hovering over mine.
“I love you more than anything. More than the Guild. More than my brothers. More than my own life. More than the world and the people living in it.” His long fingers trail down my neck, down my chest to pause over my racing heart.
Aiden pulls away so we can see each other. “Do you want to know a secret?”
Somehow, I manage a small nod.
“I never wanted to share you.” I open my mouth to argue, but he presses a finger to my lips.
“I was enamored with you the moment we met—before the others even came to the island. Maybe it was because I’d known you first, but when our group formed and I stepped up to lead it, I couldn’t let you go.
Even when I knew they had feelings for you, I couldn’t step back.
I’d rather none of us have you than the possibility that you’d choose someone else.
“And yet, at the first real challenge for your affection, I caved without hesitation. I kissed you first. I knew it was wrong. I’d failed as a leader in that moment, but I didn’t care.
Because when it comes to you, I can’t think straight.
I become so irrational, so crazed that even I don’t know what I’m going to say or do next.
That was warning enough for me to let you go.
I tried, but I hurt you instead. I failed the one person I wanted to protect more than anyone. ”
He cradles my face. “There is no apology, no words that exist to express the regret, the guilt I have for what happened to you because I’d been so selfish.
I’d refused to see what was right in front of me because I’d been so focused on denying everything I felt for you.
If I could go back in time and fix things.
.. kill Gordon before he ever laid eyes on you. ..”
I grasp his arm. “Don’t. I don’t want anything to change. We’re all together now. Gordon is dead. You could lose the Guild. Promise me you won’t try messing with the past, Aiden.”
His eyes search mine as if looking for a hint of doubt.
But he won’t find any. Finally, he nods.
“I can’t promise that I won’t get jealous.
That I won’t steal you away from time to time for myself.
But I promise not to interfere with you and them.
If you want all of us, then that’s exactly who you’ll have.
I’ll give you everything for as long as I live.
So long as it doesn’t put your safety at risk, it’s yours. I’m yours.”
“I want you alive,” I tell him, my voice hardening with how much I need that. “If you throw yourself in front of a bullet for me again, I’m going to find the way to hell to drag your ass back here. And then I’ll put you in those damned cuffs and a locked room to see how you like it.”
My words draw a smirk to his lips. “Accurate for you to assume that’s where I’d be.”
I grab him by the neck and shoulder, yanking him down to kiss me. To fuck me against the tile until all our fears are too tired or weak to haunt us, and we can sleep.