Page 56 of Aidan (The Doherty Mafia)
Colin and I exchanged looks. We both ran up to him from behind and I wrapped an arm around his neck tight to the point of suffocation.
He cursed and wriggled in my arms, but I had him in my grip.
Colin looked around to make sure the coast was clear. The problem was it was still daylight, although we hadn’t been spotted yet. It was a quiet neighborhood and nobody had walked by yet.
Colin tipped his head, indicating that I drag the guy behind the building.
He then tied a rope around his mouth to keep him from shouting and making too much noise. Then he grabbed him, pulling him out of my grip.
I bunched up my fist and rammed it into the guy’s face. His shouts were muffled by the rope and his face bled.
I didn’t give a shit.
If Leah came home before I had gotten there, this guy wouldn’t have thought twice before pumping a few bullets in her head. I had no sympathy for this asshole.
Colin held him up so I could go at him again.
“The only reason you’re still alive, motherfucker, is because we want you to go back to your boss and deliver a message,” I said. My next punch in his gut knocked his breath out and he slumped forward.
Colin pulled him up again.
“Tell him Leah Michaels and her family are off limits. Tell him, the next time he wants to spy on one of us, he better pick someone his own fuckin’ size.”
I rammed my fist into his face again and felt his nose snap. The guy growled and this time Colin let go. His knees buckled and he fell to the ground like a bag of bones.
But he was still alive.
“I’ll dump him somewhere they can find him,” Colin said as I rubbed my bloodied knuckles on the side of my pants. “And I’ve got two guys watching the mother at the hospital.”
I nodded. “You better get out of here before she gets here. I don’t want her to see this.”
“I’ll tell Nolan to arrange for someone to take care of the bodies,” Colin said, grabbing the unconscious guy by the collar.
I watched him drag him all the way across the street and then dump him into the back of his truck.
I didn’t know where Leah was, but I wasn’t going anywhere.
Leah opened the door and stepped into her dark apartment. She didn’t notice me sitting on her couch at first. When she turned on the light and saw me, she was frightened, nearly jumping out of her skin with a hand on her heart.
“Aidan! What are you doing here? You scared me!”
“Shut the door, Leah, and come in.”
I’d had enough time to think in the time that I waited for her.
She was the only girl I’d ever loved and it was unlikely that I would love anyone else again. We had both made mistakes.
Leah did as she was told and came towards me, taking small steps, unsure of herself.
“I didn’t expect to see you again,” she said.
“I needed some time.”
“Do you want a drink?”
“I just want you to listen to me,” I said.
Leah stood as far from me as she could. It was pretty clear to me that she had no idea what had happened with the Baron men exactly. I wanted to keep it that way.
She didn’t need to know how close to real danger she had come today.
“I’m listening, Aidan,” she said, interrupting my thoughts.
I stood up and went towards her.
“I don’t need to lecture you on the consequences on our lives this is going to have. You gave our son up for adoption. I know you haven’t been able to forgive yourself for it.”
“I never will,” she admitted.
“That is not what I’m here to say.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because the more I think about it, the more clear it is to me that I will never be happy without you.”
Her face flushed pink. She pursed her lips together like she hung on my every word. Was she holding her breath too?
“I’m in love with you, Leah. I have always been in love with you.”
She parted her lips and gulped. For a few moments it looked like she was frozen to the spot, then she raised both hands to her face.
“I never thought I would hear you say it.”
“I never thought I would either, but fuck that. They’re just words, Leah. I plan on showing you every day that I actually mean them. Never again will you ever have a doubt in your mind that you should stay.”
“I don’t ever want to leave,” she cried.
She ran to me and I lifted her up in my arms. Our mouths met and I kissed her deeply.
Then she buried her face in my chest, wrapping her arms around me. I knew she thought about our son. I stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.
