Page 44 of Aidan (The Doherty Mafia)
Leah stood sobbing in front of me. Tears streamed heavily down her cheeks and I could see she wasn’t faking it. She did this because they threatened her. Physically and emotionally. She did this because she wanted to protect her mother.
As much as it pissed me off that she was working with the Barons and betraying me—I understood it.
Wouldn’t I have done it for my mother?
The only thing that bothered me was that she didn’t trust me enough to tell me the truth from the get go. She had ample opportunities to come clean to me and she didn’t.
But then again, what would I have done in her place?
We hadn’t seen each other in five years. She abandoned me and our relationship out of the blue. She knew I was pissed at her. She knew I didn’t view her in a favorable light anymore. So if she came to me with the complaint that she was being threatened by the Barons to spy on me, what did she expect me to do?
She expected me to ditch her. To push her away. To either refuse to believe her or ignore her completely. Then, where would that leave her?
Even as I thought those thoughts and watched her crying her eyes out, I couldn’t help but ask myself—was I simply justifying her actions again?
And if I was, then what did that say about me?
Was I justifying her decisions and giving her the benefit of the doubt because I had feelings for her?
It was time to get real and face the music. What did I really feel for her?
What would happen next?
Where was this relationship going?
Leah stared at me with her big wet green eyes like she was in utter shock.
Honestly, I shocked myself too.
I didn’t think I could forgive her for this. Nobody would believe I actually offered her mother protection despite what Leah had just told me.
Had I lost my mind or did this mean something?
Something deeper that I didn’t want to admit.
Maybe Leah meant more to me than I ever realized. Maybe she was the girl who would bring me to my knees and if she knew the kind of power she had on me—well, that was fucking terrifying.
“So what kind of information have you given them?” I asked.
Leah wrung her hands together, twisting her fingers and clenching her fists. I hated seeing her like this. So broken up and shattered. I wanted to pull her to me and hold her close. I wanted to stroke her hair and tell her it was all going to be okay.
But I was still at war with myself. Did she deserve this? Did she deserve my sympathy?
“I took a few pictures of documents I found in your office that night in your apartment. I snuck out of the room when you were asleep.”
I couldn’t recall it but I mustn’t have noticed it at all. The look I gave her told her I expected her to go on.
“But I haven’t given them anything yet. I haven’t had an opportunity to. I’m not going to lie to you, Aidan. If they came to me and demanded it, I probably would have had no choice but to hand over what I found. They scare me. They make me afraid for my life and my mother’s.”
“Did they hurt you? Did they touch you?” I growled.
She gulped, shaking her head.
“Not really. They roughed me up a little, but nothing more than that.”
“Not yet,” I added.
She looked away.
“Aidan, I don’t know what else to say. I have no excuses. I don’t deserve your kindness or your forgiveness. I am willing to face the consequences, whatever they may be, but I’ll truly be grateful if you just keep my mother out of this.”
I went up close to her, but she didn’t move.
If she was afraid of me, she wasn’t showing it. She even dared to look me in the eye. She finally owned up to the secret she was hiding and maybe she was just relieved.
“I told you I’ll make sure nothing happens to her.”
She nodded.
“And as for the rest…” Her nostrils flared as she listened to me intently. Like she was a convicted criminal waiting to hear her judgement. “I’m going to make that motherfucker pay for ever laying a finger on you.”
A solitary tear rolled down Leah’s cheek. I was sure that if I touched her now, she would burst into flames.
But I touched her anyway. I needed to.
I placed a hand on her hip and drew her close to me.
“I don’t deserve you. I don’t deserve anything,” she murmured.
I kissed her forehead and she fell on me, burying her face in my chest as she broke into more bitter sobs.
I weaved my fingers in her long silky hair. There wasn’t anything on Earth that felt as good as having her in my arms. Didn’t she realize, I would forgive her anything?
