Page 120 of Shadow Blind

“Why is the way Wolf and Kait help people so much better than the way you do? All three of you are helping people in need.”

For a moment, it looked like he wasn’t going to answer. His mouth flattened. So did his gaze. But then his eyes lost focus, as though he were considering the question.

“Their gifts impact people immediately, people they know—friends, family, coworkers. They’re hands on. It’s a visceral process for them.”

Something clicked in her head. Was there too much of a distance between the people he was helping and himself? Was there an emotional and physical detachment there? “How do you disperse the money to people in need? Are you in contact with them?”

He looked horrified. “Christ, no. I don’t want them feeling indebted to me. The thought of accolades or thank yous—” He broke off to shudder. “I fund a foundation that people run for me—good people. They handle the requests and disbursements. I just dump more money in when the foundation runs low.”

So, he had no personal relationship with the people he was helping. He never saw how his generosity affected them. Kait and Wolf, on the other hand, instantly witnessed their gifts' effects.

Aiden probably knew on a subconscious level that his gift helped people, but he didn’t see its affect, so he didn’t feel it on a visceral level, an emotional level, so for him, the gift had little value.

“Have you ever helped someone with your gift that you knew or were close to? A friend or family member who was desperately in need of financial aid, where you saw the immediate effects of your gift?”

His jaw tensed, and caution flickered through his eyes. Obviously, the answer was yes, but why was he so uneasy with her question? She thought back over the nine years she’d known him, trying to identify the benefactor of his gift. Of course, the event could have happened prior to his stepping into her life.

“Was it Kait?” she asked absently. Kait never seemed short of cash. The condo in Coronado had to have cost her close to a million dollars. Or at least that’s what hers had cost Donnie, according to the real estate agent who’d brokered the deal.

Something about that niggled at her, buzzing for attention.

“Kait never needed financial attention. Our dad had the same gift as mine, although he used it sparingly to avoid attention. Because I’d already developed my ability by the time he died, dad left his estate to Kait. She’s set for life.”

Aiden’s explanation came from a distance. Memories were flooding her mind. While they’d had insurance, Donnie’s catastrophic injury, along with the surgeries and days in the ER, had left her mired in debt. Their savings hadn’t come close to covering the hospital costs. Donnie had been the breadwinner in the family, while she’d been content manning her coffee cart. The only jobs she could find after Donnie’s death had been waitressing ones, which had barely covered food, utilities, and rent.

And then a miracle happened—two miracles, actually. An unbelievably huge life insurance policy had unexpectedly paid out, one she hadn’t even known Donnie had acquired. She’d even questioned how he could afford the premium without her knowledge. The two-million dollar policy payout had covered all the hospital bills, with enough money left over to set her up for life.

The second miracle had been her condo, the one Donnie had supposedly bought from an inheritance left to him by an estranged uncle. He’d known how much she loved Kait’s condo, so the gift itself made sense. But Donnie had never spoken of this uncle. And since Donnie didn’t have any family left, there had been no one to question. According to the real estate agent, Donnie had planned to surprise her with the condo on their next anniversary.

The insurance policy and the gift of her new home had been such a blessing she hadn’t investigated the circumstances surrounding them. Instead, she’d thanked the universe for providing for her. Only it hadn’t been luck, or the bounty of the universe that had stepped in to smooth her world.

It had been Aiden.

“It was me, wasn’t it? I was the benefactor of your gift?” Demi whispered. “You were the insurance payout. You bought my condo.”

As a man who guarded his secrets behind closed lips and a flat face, she expected Aiden to deny his involvement. He grimaced instead, his gaze dropping to the floor, like he was dreading her reaction. “I knew you’d put everything together once you found out about my stupid fucking ability.”

Demi digested that, and another piece fell into place. “Is that the reason you didn’t tell me what you can do? You didn’t want me to know what you’d done for me.”

He grunted and shrugged, his gaze finally lifting to her face. He studied her with guarded eyes. “Maybe.”

She frowned over that. “Why?”

He scowled so hard his eyes squinted. “I didn’t—hell don’t—want you to feel like you owe me.” His voice was ferocious.

Like he didn’t want a thank you from the people he helped through his foundation? Her chest went mushy. He was a good man, a giant teddy bear of a man.

She got why he hadn’t told her. But why hadn’t Kait? “Kait knows what you can do, right? Does she know what you did for me?”

“Yeah, she knows about my ability.” There was less disgust coating the word this time. Not much less, but some. He shrugged. “I never told her I was behind the insurance payout or your condo, but she suspects. She asked about it a couple of times, but I sidestepped.”

Kait must have felt the news was Aiden’s to share, not hers, even though they’d been friends for years by that point.

“Are you mad about this?” Aiden finally asked, the cautious look back in his eyes.

Demi refocused on him. It wasn’t just trepidation on his face, there was uneasiness, too. Like he was worried this news changed everything between them. “You saved my ass back then, Aiden. I could never be mad about that. I’m stunned and grateful, not angry.”

He recoiled, his eyebrows slamming down over his flinty gaze. Every sinew in his body tensed. “I don’t want your gratitude. I didn’t do it for you. I did it for me.”

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