Page 22 of The Wife Deception
This is why I hated myself lately. I couldn't control basic emotions and wanted to punch every man in the vicinity of my wife. Friends and employees included. You need to get rid of her. As soon as the contract ended, I was getting a divorce.
I got out of bed and went into the shower. Aelin was already waiting for me when I got out of my bedroom. Dressed in a simple business casual, figure hugging dress, she looked elegantand sexy all at once. My body hardened and my resolve weakened. Fuck. The next two years were going to be hard.
"Ready?"
She nodded." Although I don't know why I am needed. You two can talk without me present, surely."
"Take it up with your grandfather. He's the one who requested you to come."
She sighed. "Fine."
Aelin didn't look too happy to be going; I thought as we left the townhouse half an hour later and entered the waiting town car. One would think she would be happy to see her grandfather again. Weren't most people close with their grandparents? But this was Kenneth and Aelin Burgess. Maybe their relationship wasn't rosy.
We arrived at the helipad in record time, much to my chagrin. I wouldn't have minded if Jones got stuck in traffic, but he was too efficient of a driver. The helicopter was already running. Its whirring blades creating a gust of wind.
Aelin got out of the car andpaused. "We're going in there?"
"Yes!" I said over the noise. "We're going to your grandfather's beach house!"
"In there?" She looked worried. I noticed for the first time.
"You've never been in a helicopter?"
She nodded.
It was odd that she had never been on one considering her lifestyle, but maybe she had a fear of heights? "Take my hand." I extended my right hand to her, but instead of taking it, she darted her eyes to the helicopter, looking at like it was a dragon. "I'll be with you the entire time. Don't worry."
Hesitantly, she took my hand, and I led us to the mechanical bird. Aelin was so stiff beside me it seemed I was dragging a log to fire. I rubbed her back as we entered the helicopter. I put the seatbelt around her and once we were in the air; she relaxed a little. She still had her hands clenched to the seat however, but she wasn't as stock still as before.
"See," I said after fifteen minutes in the air. "It wasn't so bad, wasn't it?"
Aelin's smile was weary. She sat straight ahead and didn't look down at the view. When we arrived at her grandfather's estate, she almost jumped out of the helicopter and when we were a few feet away did she finally relax.
I made a call to the pilot and told him to not return. Then I called Jones to come and pick us up when we're done. "We won't be using the helicopter on our way back."
She looked startled. "Why not?"
"You seem to have an aversion to the thing."
She glanced back at the helicopter as it flew away. "Won't that ruin your plans?"
"I don't mind a car ride. I like the long scenic view."
Her eyes widened. "Thank you."
Her appreciation warmed my heart and something odd settled within me. An emotion I didn't want to confront. I crushed it. I didn't do it to please her. I did it out of convenience for the both of us. Happy wife, happy life and all that jazz. Focus on the present.
Kenneth Burgess was waiting for us in the driveway of his house as we arrived. Hunched on a cane, wearing a burgundy smoking jacket and silk pants, he looked frail, but healthier than I last saw him. I was sure he could hardly walk and was faking being healthy back then, but now? The man looked like he had borrowed time from the devil.
Aelin smiled when we approached him. "You're looking pink," she said, offering her hand. Not a hug. That caught my attention. He shook her hand. It had dark spots around the middle. Bruising from being pricked by a catheter? Maybe he wasn'tas healthy as he was pretending to be.
Kenneth offered his frail hand to me and I shook it. "I didn't know you had a house in the Hamptons. My place is down the road. We're practically neighbors."
Kenneth waved me off. "It's only a rental." He spun his cane around, then twisted his body to face the house. "Come on." He staggered forward. His walk was unsteady, and the gravel made his cane shaky and when he had trudged a couple of steps forward, he stumbled. Aelin rushed to hold his waist before he fell, but Kenneth grumbled and swatted her away.
"Get off me Aire!" He cried out. And as if they had done something wrong, they both froze and turned to stare at me. Kenneth gave me a stiff smile. "She can be a little too protective, my Aelin."
We got into the house and the old man directed us to a standard issue beach house living room with a view of the ocean. Two servers were waiting with a wine bottle, glasses and a cheese crudite platter on the table. Kenneth disappeared further into the house after telling Aelin and me to get comfortable.
