Page 12 of Aidan (The Doherty Mafia)
He would never have to think about me again.
“You’re right about one thing, Leah. If you confessed to me what your parents made you do, I would have made sure they answered to me for it. I would have made sure they regretted every decision they ever made in their lives.” He spoke in a deep threatening voice that unsettled me.
I stood up with a jerk, banging the bottle down on the table.
“I’m not going to sit here and listen to you threatening my family. This is not why I came to talk to you. I know my parents made mistakes. I know they forced me to do something that I will always regret, but you can’t…threaten them. My father is dead. My mother is dying. Don’t you have any compassion?” I yelled over the loud music.
Aidan stood up too, reminding me how much taller and bigger he was than me.
“No. I don’t have any compassion for people who work against me,” he snarled, sending a chill down my spine.
If Aidan found out I was working with Aldo Baron, I knew my life would be over. He wouldn’t spare me.
I tried to gather myself and not let him see how afraid I was, or how weak I felt around him. I was in a constant state of battle between my attraction for Aidan and my fear of him. I wasn’t sure which one was winning at this point.
I made to leave, but Aidan grabbed my wrist and pulled me to him.
I fell on his chest. His touch made me breathless.
Five years later—this was the first time we touched. The first time we were this close and I could feel his hot breath on my face. I was afraid he would see right through me.
“Did you ever give a fuck about me, Leah Michaels?” he asked in a deeper voice.
I crumbled into pieces.
I wanted to confess everything. I wanted him to know about the baby. There was a four year old kid out there in the world who looked like him. Had his blue eyes and chestnut hair.
My lips trembled as he glared down at me. I had no idea what he thought—how much he really hated me. What would he do to me?
There were so many things I hid from him. I couldn’t even keep up anymore.
“I loved you, Aidan. I thought you knew that,” I whispered. I had to lean closer to him to say the words. My lips grazed his rough beard as I spoke. I felt a dart of electricity pierce the pit of my stomach. I pressed my legs together as desire coursed through me.
He held me loosely. Our bodies barely touched—and already, I felt like I could come any moment. If he touched me there…I would burst.
I looked up at him. His eyes were so dark now, they looked black.
“I didn’t know anything, Leah. I feel like I didn’t know you at all. I thought you knew I would keep you safe, protect you from anything. Even eternal damnation,” he said.
My throat was dry and I tried to swallow the lump, but it didn’t budge.
Slowly, I stepped away from him. We needed to put some distance between us. I needed to leave because I couldn’t handle it. I couldn’t work for Aldo tonight.
“This was a bad idea,” I murmured, slipping away from him.
I stumbled out of the bar as fast as I could. I barely had anything to drink, but I felt drunk.
Aidan wasn’t far behind as I made my way back to the apartment building. The streets were dotted with partygoers, people drunkenly stumbling from one bar to the other. Not much had changed in this town in the past five years.
Every time I looked over my shoulder, I saw him behind me. I wasn’t running and he wasn’t chasing me.
When I got to my building’s parking lot, I stopped and turned to face him. He came up to me and stood with his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his leather jacket.
I shook my head.
“I can’t do this,” I cried.
“Do what, Leah?”
I was on the brink of confessing everything. My feelings for him were too strong to control. I breathed hard as he took a few steps towards me.
“Is there something you want to tell me?” he growled.
What did he know? What did he guess? My heart raced in my chest. If I slipped up and Aldo found out, what would he do to my mother?
I tried to catch my breath. Slow down.
“I can’t keep seeing you if you’re going to push me away. I know I made a big mistake by disappearing on you, but I’m here now. I want to make amends.” My shoulders rose and fell.
Aidan closed the gap between us and before I knew it, he had his hand on my hip.
