Page 45 of Aidan (The Doherty Mafia)
“You didn’t have a choice, Leah. I know I’m many things, but I’m not a tyrant like Aldo Baron. You are his victim. He’s the fucking monster.”
I poured her a glass of orange juice from the jug she’d placed on the kitchen counter.
I’d already forced her to sit down and catch her breath because she still brokeg into sobs every few minutes.
“I’m sorry, Aidan. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive myself for all this. I can’t believe I was on the verge of giving you up,” she murmured, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.
Leah took the glass from me and sipped some juice.
“It wouldn’t have made a difference. There isn’t much you could have found that they could have used on us. Aldo Baron is scared. He’s shitting himself. And honestly, it’s laughable that he’s stooped so low.”
“It doesn’t matter if he would have been able to bring you down or not. I hate the fact that he got to me.”
“You have to forgive yourself because I forgive you. I understand why you agreed to do what he asked. He wasn’t asking you either.”
She put down the glass and reached for my hand. I noticed how her fingers shook. Maybe because she still didn’t believe I actually forgave her.
“Your family…they would never forgive me. Not after what I did five years ago and not after this.”
She weaved her fingers with mine and pulled them to her face. I stroked her damp cheek with my thumb.
“If they find out, I don’t give a shit what they think of you. And neither should you.”
Those words rung a bell in her head.
They surely rung a bell in mine.
What did that mean?
Why didn’t I care what my family thought?
I was so close to admitting how I really felt about her. I’d never said those words to her or to anyone else. I wasn’t sure I even knew how to say them.
Love? It sounded overrated. It sounded weak. It wasn’t for me and I wasn’t made for it.
Whatever love was—I didn’t deserve to have it because I didn’t know how to give it.
Most importantly, a girl like Leah deserved it. It didn’t matter what she thought of herself. I knew who she was.
Kind, beautiful, a phoenix rising from the ashes of her past. She had a bright future ahead of her and maybe she deserved to be with someone who could give her the world and fill it with love.
I almost choked.
“What are we doing here, Aidan?” she asked meekly.
I knew what she wanted to hear, but the words stuck in my throat. If I said them now, there’d be no taking them back.
I wanted to protect her. I would keep her safe—but past that, I wasn’t going to make her promises I didn’t know how to keep.
“Isn’t it obvious what we’re doing here?” Her face was ashen pale as she waited to hear me say the words. “We’re having fun.”
Leah turned to walk away from me, but I grabbed her before she could go.
My fingers instantly went to the zipper at the back of her tight short dress. I needed to see her naked again.
Maybe if I sucked on her tits, everything would be okay. Maybe if I was inside her, I wouldn’t have to think about all the messed up shit.
Leah struggled in my grip to get away and before I knew it, she’d slipped away from me.
“Where are you going?” I asked calmly as she strode out of the kitchen. She threw me a flaming look over her shoulder.
“I was looking for honesty in your answer, Aidan.”
“You don’t think we’re having fun?” I asked in a low voice. I knew there was a grin on my face and she didn’t like seeing it there. She wanted a different response from me.
However, from the way her cheeks were flushed, I got the sense she was also as turned on as I was.
“There’s a point when all the fun and games end,” she snapped.
“Why does it have to end? Who says it has to ever end?”
She stood at the kitchen door, and it looked like she’d crumble to the floor any moment now. She gulped nervously.
“I do. I can’t live off fun and fucks.”
It made me smile wider, but she didn’t think that was funny either. I had to hand it to her—she looked fucking adorable when she was mad at me.
“Come back here,” I said drowsily, but she backed away.
“I’m leaving. I’m sure we both have enough to think about.”
This time I followed her. I wasn’t going to let her leave. She wasn’t going anywhere. Not until I told her too. And I wasn’t sure I ever would.
She rushed down the hallway but didn’t have any shoes on. I got to her before she got to the main door.
