Chapter 2 #2
I breathe in Gage’s scent, musk and sweat with a hint of cinnamon from his gum before answering. “The profound loss. The emptiness in every room. The inability to stop looking for him wherever you go.” I figure he might struggle the most with the last one, given it was his job to watch Brodie.
Humming softly, he adjusts his grip and puts some space between us, looking down at me as he replies.
“Pain is not something that simply goes away, princess. It’s like a mark on your body, a painful but permanent reminder that, with time, can lessen.
But a simple brush of the damaged area brings everything back to the surface.
“With the world we live in, we must bury it. We cannot show weakness to those that might want to take advantage.” Gage’s voice trails off, and the quiet surrounds us again.
I know he is right. No good can ever come of breaking down in public, in front of this family.
The gossip mill would never stop. Under the cover of night, alone in my room, is when I can break down again.
In the darkness is where I have always felt closest to him anyway, and that is where his memory feels the strongest.
“Am I interrupting?” A deep voice cuts into the temporary peace I found. Gage instantly tenses and shuts down as he releases me and returns to his position watching over the party.
Aiden is eyeing us from the pathway I originally came from, looking at Gage like he wishes he had his gun in his hand. Aiden never liked my bond with Gage, but his attitude has gotten even more hostile since Brodie died.
Gage remains silent, which leaves me to answer for us, “No, I was checking in with Gage.”
Aiden raises his pierced eyebrow. “Really? And that requires you to be in a man’s arms who is not your fiancé?”
Scoffing, I push back, “Oh, fuck off, Aiden. This may be our engagement party, but I don’t see a ring on this finger.” I throw up my finger to further prove my point. “What are you even doing over here anyway? Shouldn’t you be kissing some elderly ass, or have you finally gotten what you wanted?”
Aiden grabs my lifted arm and steers me back toward the crowd. “You have no idea what I want. You never have.”
“Let go, Aiden. I mean it.” I say with as much vitriol as I can muster.
“Never. You’re mine now, and you better start acting like it.” His possessive growl reignites my anger.
Yanking at my arm to try to loosen his grip is proving utterly useless as he drags me across the garden. “Where are we going?”
“We are rectifying the situation,” he says acidly.
“What—” but I don’t finish before he grabs a flute of champagne off the bar and he clears his throat. “May I please have your attention, everyone? I would like you all to witness this very special moment between my future bride and me.”
A pit starts to form in my stomach. Nothing good can come of Aiden requesting an audience with these people. I see Gage from the corner of my eye, and he is scowling at Aiden. Clearly, he doesn’t think that whatever is about to happen is going to end well either.
Aiden places the glass down and turns to me as he drops to one knee.
And my heart splinters.
No. No. No.
He cannot seriously be doing this right now. A cold sweat breaks out on my skin. Nerves and anger clash inside of me as a blush breaks out on my face. Bile fills the back of my throat.
It was never supposed to be him on his knees before me. It was always supposed to be Brodie. The once perfect vision in my mind, now desecrated by Aiden. I think I am going to be sick.
His gray eyes—so much like the clouds of a storm—are hard and daring as he looks up at me. “Ari, I have watched you from afar our entire lives. Never wanting to hope that one day you would be mine. Because you were always his.” My chest cracks and the sheer force of my grief overwhelms me.
I will never forgive him for this.
“But in his will, Brodie gave you to me.”
I blink away the tears that threaten to fall.
“I know we are at our engagement party,” I can hear a few chuckles from the crowd as he reaches into his pocket, “but I wanted to do this right.” He pulls out a velvet ring box.
And when he opens it, my world shatters completely. Because in the box is a black obsidian ring with a web pattern for the band and a large oval-cut white diamond at the center. My hand goes to my throat where my collar should be. The perfect match.
Fuck, why?
The dam breaks, and the tears I was holding at bay begin falling freely down my face. I have to find the quickest escape. There is no coming back from this.
My entire body shakes as I hold out my left hand and whisper the only answer he will accept, “Yes.”
With that one word, I seal my fate. No longer would I belong to Brodie Araneae.
Forevermore, I am Aiden Araneae’s.
Pocketing the box, he slips the ring on my finger and gives my hand a tight squeeze.
“Brace yourself,” he says quietly under his breath as he stands.
Before I can respond, his lips are on mine. Hard and unrelenting. The taste of my tears cementing my new reality.
He groans softly into the kiss, “Your tears make me so hard, Arianna. It’s a shame you didn’t respond like that the first time.”
“Have you ever had someone kiss you before, brat?” I study his soft lips and wonder if they would feel as harsh as the words he normally sends my way. As he leans down, he whispers, “Let me teach you…”
I touch my lips with my fingers as he turns back to the crowd. The tingling sensation that I thought solely belonged to Brodie’s kiss flares up.
No.
I can’t do this.
And then I do the one thing I promised myself I wouldn’t.
I run.