previous night popped into my mind, recalling what he revealed like he was retelling it in this moment.
“After everything you promised Mom, Jagger, me, your family… you’re just like them. You’re exactly like the men who didn’t give a shit about you. How’s it feel to turn out to be a piece of shit like them? Huh? How’s it feel to lose everything you worked so hard for?”
Once again reading my mind, he pointed out, “You know what they say about people who assume don’t you, Cami?”
“So what? You were raised here too?”
“You could say that.”
“Were your par—”
“I’m not here to talk about my past. I’m here to talk about your future. If we go back to the old arrangement, Sean could follow you to my home. Not only would your life be in danger now, but also my children’s lives. So the position you were hired for just changed to live-in nanny, end of story. I have to be at the hospital in four hours, we need to go.”
“I’m not going to win this, am I?”
“Good to see you came to your senses.” He stood. “I need to make a call.”
“To who, your wife?” I blurted, shocking both of us. “Is she okay with me moving in?”
He was over to me in two long strides, declaring, “My wife would have my balls if she knew where you were living, and I didn’t do anything to help.”
I swallowed hard. “If she knew… does that mean she doesn’t know?”
“Wherever Bailey is, I can say with certainty she knows and would want it this way. But let me make this crystal fucking clear, you’re not moving in for anyone other than my kids.”
“I know that.”
“Great, I’ll be outside.” With that, he grabbed my suitcase off the bed and left.
I deeply sighed, unable to control the emotions wreaking havoc on my mind. One thing I was sure of, I had no idea what to expect from this point forward.
Aiden…
His kids…
Sean…
Sean wouldn’t hurt me.
Would he?
CHAPTER SEVEN
<>Aiden<>
We rode the two hours home in silence. She didn’t say a word and I refused the urge to speak to her. Telling myself over and over again that there wasn’t anything left to say between us, fully aware it was just another lie.
One I wasn’t ready to confront.
A familiar aura filled the atmosphere, remembering a time when it was Bailey I was bringing home instead of a woman who wasn’t my wife.
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Bailey questioned, scooting closer to me in the front seat of my Lincoln Continental.
“Where would the fun be in that?”
“Dr. Pierce, why are you surprising me? You’re the one who just graduated from medical school, I should be surprising you.”
“Mrs. Pierce, you can surprise me later when you get on your knees.”
She smiled, blushing. “On my knees, huh? That’s quite cocky, even for you.”
“Oh, Beauty, trust me, you will be sucking my cock in every room…” I pulled into a gated community. “Of our new house.”
Her eyes darted all around her.
“No… you didn’t… can we afford this Aiden? I don’t make that much money at my internship and neither do you.”
“I do now. I accepted a residency. You’re looking at the newest resident doctor in the ER at Docher Memorial Hospital.”
Her mouth dropped open. “What?! Aiden! Oh my God! How in God’s name did you manage to make all our dreams come true?”
I parked in our new driveway and pulled her into my lap.
“For you, Bay. I’ve done everything for you.”
“What about this tattoo?” She gestured toward the three crosses on my neck. “Did you get that for me too?”
“No, I got that for me.”
She wasn’t happy with my decision to permanently ink my skin, but it held so much meaning, signifying the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit which descended down my left arm. I wasn’t a religious man by any means, but I wanted a reminder of how easy it was to walk down the wrong path in life. The only foster parents that gave a damn about me, Mario and Eva, taught me that. It upset me we lost track of each other over the years.
“Well then, what am I supposed to do for you?”
“You have the most important job, baby.”
“I do?”
“Yeah. You’re going to quit your position at the advertising firm, and you’re going to make me a father.”