Aiden stands and meets me halfway. Then he wraps his arms around my middle and holds on tightly. “I told you you’d get flowers every Monday, and I intend to keep that promise.”
I lean up to kiss him, and our lips meet briefly, until we’re interrupted by a knock on the door.
“Sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Takahashi is on the line,” Brielle announces as she peers through the slightly ajar door.
Aiden’s brow furrows, looking a little irritated that we were interrupted.
Quickly, I use my thumb and wipe my lip gloss from his lips as he walks back to his desk. “Can’t leave Mr. Takahashi waiting now, can I?”
I smile and regretfully walk out to my desk, sliding back into the job easily and remembering how to do most of the tasks set as the day progresses.
Lunchtime comes around all too quickly, and Bree does a lunch run down to the local café. She leaves, and I make my way to the kitchen to make coffee.
This damn kitchen still makes me uncomfortable.
Placing a mug into the coffee machine, I press the button for black coffee just as Niall walks in. I try not to look at him while he waits, tapping his foot impatiently.
“Niall, I’m well aware of how little you think of me, but my care factor is zero. However, I would like to try and at least be respectful to each other. For Aiden’s sake. He loves us both. So, may I suggest we try and get along if nothing else?”
Niall stiffens his posture and an intense, annoyed look crosses his face. He leans in close, his voice almost a whisper. “Listen here… it’s not that I think little of you, it’s that I don’t think about you… At. All. Ever since you slimed your way into my son’s life, everything has turned sour for me. You’re like a noxious weed that keeps spreading her roots into everything, fucking up the path that I’ve laid out for my son since his birth. You’ll be his undoing, and that’s on your shoulders, not mine.” His eyes narrow in on me. “If you really love him, let him be free of you and your tangled mess of a life.” Niall walks off leaving me in the kitchen deeply hurt and with a racing heart.
I exhale, steady myself on the kitchen counter while I come to terms with everything he’s just said. I knew he hated me, but I guess I didn’t realize how deep the venom had sunk into his veins until now. Well, at least I know where I stand.
I should tell Aiden what he said, but what’s the use? I know it will upset him, and who knows what could happen. Aiden’s already talking about quitting, and even though I despise Niall with everything in me, I don’t want that for him. I don’t want the responsibility of breaking the relationship of a father and son.
The coffee machine has finally finished, so I pick up Aiden’s coffee, step over to his door and knock.
“Come in.”
“I thought you might like some coffee.” Quickly, I walk in and place the mug on his desk. Aiden briefly looks up, smiles, and turns back to the computer. I can tell he’s busy. Without saying anything, I turn and start to head back to my desk. With my hand on the door handle, I hear, “Sorry.” I spin around as he glances up with a warm smile. “Thank you, baby.”
“No problem,” I reply, shutting his door.
I don’t like not confiding in him, and I know it’s wrong keeping secrets.
I’m so damn conflicted.
I feel like I’m betraying Aiden by not telling him about his father, but at the same time, I know if I do tell him, it will cause anguish.
Sometimes, silence really is golden.
Niall walks from his office, and I see from the corner of my eyes he’s staring directly at me. I don’t look up when he approaches my desk. His loud, stern voice fires up. “Have you finished that proposal yet?”
“I’m finalizing the last of it now,” I reply quietly.
Niall throws his hands up in the air, pulling his fingers into fists in frustration. The angry, sudden movement scares me, and I flinch away. A slow smirk crosses his face while he watches me squirm. “Get it done. I won’t tell you again,” he yells at me.
My pulse quickens as a cold sweat invades my skin. His sneer is frigid and hard. Then out of nowhere, he pounds his fist on my desk loudly, making me flinch away. Another smirk crosses his stupid butt-ugly face. The bastard knows he’s found a weakness because since the incident, I have been jumping at loud noises and quick movements.
I can’t help it—I’m scared of being attacked by Niall.
The problem is, I have a feeling now he’s spotted my weakness, and he’ll exploit it to its maximum potential. Trying to keep calm, I turn back to my screen and start typing. The bastard has the audacity to chuckle, but no matter how I try to shrug it off, it still sends ice-cold shivers down my spine. Niall turns and walks away with a cocky fluid movement—there’s almost a skip in his damn step.
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Brielle’s watching me closely. She rushes over as soon as her father enters his office and closes his door. “Jeni, are you all right?”
There are no words that seem to want to leave my mouth, so I simply nod my head. I know I have to keep it together for Aiden’s sake. But the memory of Jason’s pounding fists comes flooding back to my mind. My eyes clench tight, my heart pounds dramatically, and my jaw tightens as I feel the pain in my once-fractured eye socket, the emotional turmoil of being helpless, and the torment of blaming Aiden for not being there completely over
whelms me.