Page 58 of Cruel Possession
“Are you just going to sit there and insist that everything is fine when it’s clearly not? And if you are, has anyone ever told you that it’s not a healthy way to handle your problems?”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a pain in my ass and everything would be better without you?” Aiden arches an eyebrow, shifting on the couch to lean against the arm and stretch out along the cushions.
“You didn’t have any complaints about me before.”
“That you’re aware of,” he mutters.
I glance out the window, some of the floodlights turning on. The security team must be making their rounds.
My gaze turns to the clock on the nightstand. It’s only a little after midnight. The last check that I’m aware of was two hours ago.
I’m going to have to stay up through the night one of these nights and map out all the times they’re doing rounds.
Aiden watches me like he knows what’s going through my head, his jaw setting in a tight line. “You know, with the freedom that you’ve been given over the last couple days since Gia had Dominic, it’s a wonder that you haven’t tried to escape again yet. Makes me wonder what’s going on in your head.”
“You don’t trust me?” I try to keep my tone light and playful, but there’s a certain tension that creeps through the room.
“Do you trustme?”
“Kind of hard to trust you when you kidnapped me and look like you want to kill me half the time.”
He shrugs one shoulder. “I’m not fully sold on what to do with you.”
“Well, I think that makes two of us.” I groan and look at the time once more before getting up and grabbing my phone from the nightstand. “Come on. I know I’m not going to be able to sleep for the rest of the night. We may as well go do something fun with our time.”
I don’t wait to see if he’s going to follow me. I know that he is. He’s never done anything but chase me down in the timethat we’ve known each other. Right now isn’t going to be any different.
Especially when he’s trying to hide from the demons that keep lingering in his mind.
I jog down the stairs, the floorboards creaking under my feet.
That’s going to be a problem.
As I walk into the home theater, I grab the remote off the wall, turning on the television and powering up the gaming console. I take a seat in one of the front recliners, grabbing a controller from the table in the middle.
Aiden comes into the room and closes the door behind him. He says nothing as he sits in one of the other recliners, a controller in his hand. He goes through and selects a racing game.
“You’re about to get your ass kicked.” I pick my character and flip through the car options, selecting one that’s hopefully going to make me faster than him.
He finishes selecting his own character. “I doubt that.”
“I used to spend a lot of time playing games with Gia when we were growing up. It was how Mom kept us distracted while she dealt with Noah.”
Aiden goes silent at the mention of my brother. Finally, he sighs. “I can’t see what he would want with your mother. He’s nearly her age, isn’t he?”
“Not quite. I think there’s like twelve or fifteen years between the two of them, but he is old. And she never liked having to put up with him after his father passed.”
“I thought you and Gia shared a father with Noah?”
“We do.” I press the accelerator button on my controller as the race starts, getting the boost and taking off through the field of cows. I get a power up, tapping the button immediately and shooting past him.
Aiden scowls, leaning forward. “But you don’t call him your father?”
“Never acted like much of a father to me. Not until he thought I could do something to help the family business. Then he took some interest.”
I lean to the side as if it’s going to make me race better, even as Aiden’s racer comes blasting around the corner right behind me.
He launches an attack at me, sending me careening to the side while he keeps going.
