Chapter 7
CHAPTER
SEVEN
ARI
FOUR DAYS AFTER brODIE’S DEATH
Blood stains your soul before death takes its first breath.
Death is an overwhelming feeling that, once it touches you, can never be erased. It is a constant presence that lingers in your body, trying to suffocate you and take you with it.
Loss began to steal my breath when he took his last. And that feeling of constantly gasping for air has not left me for the last four days.
Four days without him.
How am I supposed to make it an entire lifetime?
Aiden sits across from me—stoic and cold.
Not looking at me or anyone else in the family.
He sits and stares off at the wall of bookcases, a glass of whiskey resting idly in his hand.
We’re gathered in Anthony’s office for the reading of Brodie’s will, alongside the highest-ranking members of The Order, including the most prominent of the council: Vivian, Adrian, Cole, Ryder, and Ashton.
The voting members. People who can make quick decisions if need be.
When the dead heir of The Order has a secret will, people are going to show up.
My presence was requested by Nico, Brodie’s personal lawyer. Someone no one knew about before he showed up to the funeral, briefcase in hand, to discuss a date and time for this meeting.
I am not sure why Brodie would have needed his own personal lawyer, outside of the ones The Order had on retainer, but whatever his reasoning, it wasn’t good. Worry eats away at me as we wait. Anxiety slithers just beneath my skin, waiting to envelop me whole.
Aside from the funeral, I have not left my bedroom since he was killed. It was a miracle I was sitting upright, given I spent half my time hunched over a toilet.
The door opening grabs my attention as a tall man strides in. This must be Nico. Very few people have the arrogance to just stride into a room full of members of The Order, but Nico doesn’t seem to give a shit.
He looks relatively young, maybe a few years older than us, with raven dark black hair and a prominent silver streak above his eye.
The way his pressed suit is tailored to his body makes me think Brodie didn’t just find this guy off the street.
It was more thought out, planned—which somehow makes all of this worse.
Walking up to the desk, Nico opens the briefcase and slides a folder out.
Surveying the room, he briefly pauses on each person, likely taking note before looking directly at me and clearing his throat.
“Okay, let’s get started. This should be rather quick given that Brodie did not have many sole assets that didn’t revert to The Order, but the ones he had, he wanted protected if something ever happened. ”
“His personal fortune will go to Arianna Ashbourne.” The rock sitting in my stomach for the last few days grows in size.
Brodie’s plan was to protect me even if he couldn’t be with me.
He wanted to give me some semblance of security outside of the family, knowing I might very well be blackballed the second the dirt covered his casket.
Nico continues on, “The safety deposit box and all of its contents at Southern Regional Bank go to my brother, Aiden Araneae.” Stepping away from the desk, he hands Aiden a small key, predictably for the box at the bank.
Nodding his head, Anthony gets up to leave like Brodie could have no other things of value, but Nico halts him. “There is one more thing…a short letter that I am to read.”
He pulls an envelope from his folder, unseals it, and begins to read aloud.
“To Whom It May Concern,
I, Brodie Araneae, with sound mind and clear-headedness, upon my death, give Arianna Ashbourne to Aiden Araneae. To be his lawfully wedded wife until death do them part.”
I stop breathing. Glass shatters from somewhere in the room. A muttered, what the actual fuck, comes from someone’s lips, but I can’t determine who with the blood pounding in my ears.
Only pausing for the brief outburst, Nico continues to read.
“I know that this is highly out of the ordinary, but Ari, my love, my life, my queen, that collar around your neck says that you are mine.”
I bring my hand up to my neck, fingering the now-empty space. The collar now rests, buried, with the man himself.
“And since you are the most important thing that I possess, I am determined to make sure that you are taken care of after I am gone.”
Pausing, Nico shifts toward Aiden and speaks almost directly to him.
“Aiden, you are my stepbrother. I know things have been strained between us, but I trust no one else to take care of my Ari. Protect her with your life.
Sincerely,
Brodie Araneae”
Cries of outrage from the council tear through the room. But I can’t focus on that right now. I can only focus on breathing and not passing out. Nico packs his papers and leaves, squeezing my shoulder on the way out and whispering, “Contact me when you are ready,” as he slips out of the room.
The members of The Order that are here are huddled in the corner of the office, clearly arguing about the validity of the will.
Looking over at Aiden, I pause. His jaw is set, and a look of displeasure fills his face. He takes a large gulp of his amber drink and turns to face me. We stare each other down, Aiden’s gray eyes so much like a storm. The waves crashing against the water, always in motion. Piercing and haunted.
There is no way Aiden could want this. He has despised me since we were thirteen years old. I cringe thinking about the way I ran from him. When I looked back, his eyes were down, and the flower in his hand was crushed, petals falling.
Aiden doesn’t say anything. We are stuck in a room full of chaos as arguments have broken out around us. But we both know the truth. We will honor this will even if it destroys us. With a single nod from Aiden, I become engaged to the man I hate.
Aiden stands, and the room quiets. “We will honor the stipulations of the will. I will take Brodie’s place as heir, and Ari will become my wife.” Slamming down his empty glass, he walks out of the room.
Anthony looks over at me with a peculiar smile that I don’t completely understand. “You will do this.”
I tense up as everyone in the room turns to me, waiting for my response. With every fiber of my being, I want to rebel. I want to run out of this room, pack my things, and go somewhere no one knows me. To be alone for the first time in my entire life.
But the invisible collar around my neck tightens, and it feels like Brodie’s hand is bringing me back to the present. A warning that if I left, I would forever be choking on unanswered questions.
That there had to be some reason that Brodie created this will and made this stipulation. A long-term plan, something I couldn’t see yet?
Even from the grave, he was weaving fate to his desires.
And the only thing I had ever desired was him. My fate was tied to Brodie, even if he was gone, and even if he expected me to marry Aiden.
So with one word, I seal my fate.
“Yes.”
I find Aiden a short while later in the garden, taking a long drag of his cigarette. I don’t say anything as I walk up to stand by his side. The warmth I normally felt when I was standing next to Brodie isn’t there. An almost-chill comes off Aiden. My skin prickles with goosebumps.
He continues to stay silent as he watches the perimeter. Always watching for threats, even though Gage follows him everywhere now. I wonder what Gage thinks of this mess, if he knew what was coming. He would’ve gone to the lawyer with Brodie.
“We will be married soon.” A statement, not a question.
Taking one last puff of the cigarette, Aiden drops it to the ground and stomps it with his shoe. “Probably.”
“Is that a problem for you?”
“No.”
“You do know that we are now engaged to be married? At some point, you are going to have to talk to me in more than a monosyllable word?”
“Fine.”
“God dammit, Aiden. It’s not like I asked for this.” I use my foot to stomp his.
Turning toward me, Aiden growls in my direction, “What do you want, Ari? What do you want me to say? I have had just about the same amount of time to think about this as you have. My life is now devoted to you. Is that what you want to hear?” Aiden pauses, letting more of his anger show.
“I no longer have the free will to do the things I planned. I will honor my brother’s wishes, and that will be the end of it. ”
I am in shock. I don’t think I have heard Aiden speak that much to me since before the incident.
“I’ve never been kissed before…”
“I know. I believe I should be your first kiss.”
“But Brodie…”
“It could be me.”
“You know I had plans too…” He doesn’t say anything; he doesn’t have to. Aiden knows what my plans were: marrying his brother, living our lives together… dying together.
Except he decided to leave this earth without me and leave me alone.
“I know.” Aiden swears and reaches for another cigarette.
“Do they know who is behind the shooting yet?” I ask, hoping that they have found something, anything I can cling to.
Aiden shakes his head. “No.” His tone cold and detached, clearly wanting an end to this conversation.
We don’t say anything else as he lights his smoke.
We are in this marriage ’til death.
Let’s just hope we don’t kill each other before our time comes.