Page 30 of Aidan (The Doherty Mafia)
She was the only woman I could do this with—just be.
“I would love that, Aidan. That would be amazing,” she said.
Sixteen
Leah
In theory, the idea of going away with Aidan sounded like a dream. Maybe if we could just leave town for a few days. Go away somewhere exotic—maybe it wouldn’t even have to be exotic. Anywhere but here.
Maybe then I would have a chance to feel normal again.
But it was just a pipe dream. More like a joke.
There were too many reasons why we couldn’t go on vacation together. For starters, Aldo Baron would never allow it. He wouldn’t want me out of his sight. They’d follow me or force me to stay where they could keep an eye on me.
More importantly, how could I leave when I didn’t know what was going to happen to Mom? She could pass away in my absence, defeating my purpose for coming here. Or what if the Barons hurt her?
No, I couldn’t go.
But that didn’t mean I couldn’t dream about it.
It was nice to just get lost for a few moments in the idea of spending some time alone with Aidan somewhere far away from this place.
He held me close to him, while I rested my head on his shoulder.
We sat in silence together for a while, like we imagined a dream like that.
I reached for another donut, suddenly feeling very hungry and greedy. He looked pleased to see me enjoying what he brought me.
“Okay, so I’ve told you what happened after I left town,” I began, in an attempt to change the subject. “Can I ask what happened with you after I was gone?”
The smile seemed to droop on Aidan’s face. I knew I’d asked the wrong question. This wasn’t the conversation he was here to have, but I wanted to know.
How angry was he? How upset was he when I left?
I hoped we were slowly moving away from anger and inching closer to being able to have an honest conversation about it.
He sipped his coffee and looked away, like he was reliving those moments.
“I lost my mind,” he replied in a hollow voice.
Those words made me choke.
I knew Aidan liked me. I knew he was protective of me and wanted me all to himself. I knew he hated me for my disappearance because he didn’t like to be deceived. He always wanted to be in control.
However, I wasn’t expecting him to admit to a deep emotional wound I may have caused him.
“Oh!” I exclaimed.
He refused to look at me, and continued staring out of the window.
“I have never gone through anything like that since because nobody else has made me feel that way. I won’t allow it to happen again. It was shit.”
I reached for his hand, but he pulled it away from me.
When he turned his eyes to me now, I could see they were bloodshot.
This was a first for me—I witnessed Aidan Doherty at his most vulnerable.
“I spent a whole week looking everywhere for you. I camped outside your parent’s home,” he continued. When he caught my eye he gave me a weak grin. “Don’t worry, I made sure they didn’t see me.”
It made me sad to realize how much he had actually suffered because I left. I didn’t expect to find out any of this.
I expected him to be angry, to feel betrayed and become unforgiving towards me. Like a man going nuts because he lost his property.
“I just wanted to catch a glimpse of you. I had people looking for you, looking for leads, but nobody had seen you anywhere. It was like you’d suddenly disappeared. Fell off the face of the earth.”
My heart raced in my chest. I could tell from the expression on Aidan’s face—how hard he would have looked for me. How those sleepless nights had affected him.
“Apparently your parents told neighbors and friends at church that you’d left the country as a missionary. You wanted to go spread the word of Jesus Christ.” Aidan shook his head, his face turned dark. “I didn’t believe it. I knew that wasn’t you. I was ready to call my brothers and raid the house. I thought maybe they’d harmed you. Maybe they were keeping you imprisoned in the basement. I lost my fucking mind.”
Tears filled my eyes as I watched him rub his face with the back of his hand. I wanted to hold him, but I kept my distance. It looked like he needed it.
“But just before I was about to storm the house, I got information that some people had seen you leave on a train. That your father had dropped you off at the station.”
I nodded gently.
“They said you didn’t look agitated or like you were being forced to do anything. There was nobody else with you. It wasn’t a kidnapping. You had left town on your own, of your own accord.”
