Page 50 of Aidan (The Doherty Mafia)
“I know what you want to hear,” I finally said.
She gulped and suddenly looked nervous and guilty.
“I don’t want you to say or do anything you don’t believe in. I’m sorry for the way I acted this morning. I wasn’t trying to force your hand. You are right about everything, Aidan. I am sorry for what I did in the past and the present. I’m sorry for being a disappointment. I know you don’t trust me or any woman, and it is completely my fault.”
Her eyes sparkled and not because she was excited. I didn’t want to see her cry.
“You’re right, I don’t trust you.”
Her lips quivered but somehow, she managed to keep her tears in check.
“Then tell me what I need to do to make you trust me again. I will do anything.”
I didn’t know what to say because I didn’t know how she could make me trust her again.
I stood leaning against a wall, watching her intently as she paced around her living room. Leah clasped and unclasped her hands.
“I…should probably leave. Maybe I can take Mom with me. Somewhere the Barons can’t find me? Just until she has…passed away…after that, they can make me pay for it however they like. I just don't want her to have to face the brunt of it.”
Leah babbled on. She wasn’t even looking at me.
But most of all, I noticed how she hadn’t thought of herself at all. She only thought of her mother.
When I went up to her and put my hands on her shoulders, she seemed to startle back to Earth.
“I’m sorry, Aidan. For everything. But right now, I think the only solution I have for all this is if I disappear with Mom. Leave you in peace to deal with whatever is going on with the Barons.”
I clenched my jaws tightly, staring at the freckles on her cheeks. She blushed when she noticed how hard I stared at her.
“You’re not going anywhere,” I said.
Leah looked a little confused.
“The safest place for you right now is here. Where I can make sure Aldo Baron doesn’t lay a finger on you or your mother.”
Her nostrils flared and she pushed her chin up in the air.
“I can’t be here, Aidan. I can’t be around you. Not when we have so much history between us. I’m exhausted by this thing between us. It’s not fair to you either. I want to let you live your life.”
“I want to live my life too.”
Her shoulders heaved and I saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
“What are you saying exactly?” she asked.
“I want to live my life with you,” I replied.
Leah’s mouth fell open. Her lips parted like she’d forgotten how to breathe. She couldn’t believe what she just heard. I couldn’t believe I said it either.
Was I really prepared to trust her? Was I willing to take the plunge?
Maybe if I didn’t do it right now, I’d spend the rest of my life regretting letting her go.
Without a word, she placed a hand over mine and brought it up to her face. Her eyes fluttered shut as she moved my fingers over her lips, eyes and cheeks. It was like she wanted me to touch every part of her face so she could make sure I was real.
“You said you wanted to do whatever it took to make me trust you again,” I added.
Leah’s eyes flew open. She nodded lightly.
“I want you to tell me what you’re hiding from me. I want to know your secret.”
Twenty-Six
Leah
He wouldn’t talk about Aldo Baron anymore.
When he said he wanted to know my secret—I saw it in his eyes, he knew. He knew I was hiding something.
How did he know?
It was like he could read me like an open book.
He moved his hand from my face and I stepped away from him. A shudder ran through me and I felt frozen. I couldn’t move another muscle.
Aidan’s eyes were fixed on me, he watched me like a hawk. And every moment of silence that passed between us was a reaffirmation of the fact that I did actually have something to hide from him.
“You have me if you want me, Leah,” he began. “I’m willing to trust you, drop all my defenses. All against my better judgement. But I need you to do this for me. I know a lot of time has passed and you have a new life, but if there is something you’re hiding from me, I want you to tell me now.”
My throat was dry, but I was also relieved a little.
He didn’t know exactly what it was. He didn’t know about our son. He just knew there was something.
I had a choice—I could still refuse to tell him. All I would have to do was tell him there wasn’t anything. He would know I was lying and then he’d walk out of my apartment. I would probably never see him again after that.
