Page 47 of Demitri

“What are you thinking?” he asks.

“I’m thinking we need to run this by Aunt Linda and hopefully put an end to all of it.”

“You ready to do that?”

“I can’t move forward until I do. I can’t know if this thing between Mia and me is real until the choice for me to be somewhere else is there.”

“You that hung up on her, huh?”

“More than you know. I’ve been a doomed man for four years.” I grin as I say the words, knowing Aiden will understand.

“Don’t sound so chipper about it.” He grins back.

“I don’t see you with a girl on your arm.”

“Don’t push it, friend. I might not be in his favor right now, but my father is still alive and still seeking some type of retribution for what I did, even if he’s slow to act on it. I feel like he’s got something up his sleeve. I can’t put anyone in that path.”

“But there is a person?”

“Let’s say there’s the idea of a person. One that I know my family would never approve of, which makes it even more difficult.”

“So her last name isn’t O’Connell or O’Driscoll or O’Malley?”

“Nope. It’s not Murphy, Kelly, or Walsh either.”

“Fuck. That sucks.”

“Almost as much as a mysterious half-sibling out to kill me for the family money.”

Both of us laugh at that, knowing full well that Aiden could be right here in my shoes at any time.

“Call Aunt Linda. Tell her what you’re thinking with the accounts. We’ve got your back.” He smiles, a genuine smile of camaraderie. In our former lives, we would have been on opposite sides of the battle lines. In this life, we can share a beer and laugh together. I’ll take this life, always.

“You want to do what?” Aunt Linda asks two days later.

“I want to use the money in the trust accounts.”

“Are you insane? Have you seriously lost your mind since I talked to you last?”

“No. But I will if this limbo we’re all living in continues much longer.”

“What are you bitching about? You’re stuck with your girl. How hard can that be?”

I roll my eyes. “Linda, did you ever stop and think that maybe I don’t want to be ‘stuck’ with my girllike this? This isn’t exactly the makings of a solid relationship, you know. I can’t take her out, I can’t woo her.”

“Woo? What century are you living in? And it’s Aunt Linda.”

Every single time I talk to this woman, I end the call with a headache from rolling my eyes. “AuntLinda, this isn’t the way I wanted to be with Mia. It’s not right. She needs her space to figure out things, and I feel like I’m doing nothing but interfering with her life, not becoming part of it.”

And it’s true, since I’ve been staying at Mia’s, I’ve noticed as much as she’s been opening up to me, she’s also closing herself off in other ways. I always feel like I’m underfoot, always in the way. I’m interrupting her life, and not for the better. And she’s been nothing but wonderful about it, but I can tell. The bags under her eyes, even with the solid sleep, have been getting darker. The stress lines on her forehead are standing out more, and I swear she’s had more headaches recently than I have.

“Demitri, are you using protection with Mia?” Aunt Linda’s sudden question throws me off.

“Am I what?”

“Are you using protection? Now would not be a good time to have an accident.”

“Have you been peeking at our shopping lists?” I demand.

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