“I can’t be around any of you right now,” he snaps sharply and then enters the elevator.
A sudden wave of panic rips through me, and I start to run toward the elevator. Aiden sees me but pushes the close door button. I feel physically sick. It feels like all the walls are closing in on me. “Aiden, don’t leave,” I yell across the room.
He lets the doors close. I reach them too late and Aiden is gone. I bang on the doors in frustration as anxiety overwhelms me. My breathing becomes erratic, and I can’t help the fresh tears that sting my eyes. I cry out some sort of shrieking sound, and an overwhelming sense of loss takes over my entire body. I turn and slide down the doors as the emotion overcomes me. I bring my knees up to my chest as Bree
steps out of her father’s office and looks at me. To be honest, I can’t tell if she is angry with me or not, but right now I really don’t give a flying fuck.
Aiden’s gone.
And I don’t know what that means.
I want to chase after him, but that will probably make things worse. I need to let him process the information on his own and deal with it in his way.
“What the hell happened to make Aiden so angry?” Bree asks, walking over to me. I sniff and look up at her. She seems conflicted as I guess she should be—having to deal with her brother and her father fighting can’t be easy.
“I told him everything, including that Niall pulled me from the ladder and left me in the kitchen while I was losing our baby.”
She’s shocked, but she nods. “Okay, that’s good. I’m glad you did. Give him some time. He’ll be back. He just needs to process. It’s a lot to deal with. Aiden needs some space. Don’t worry,” she says, pats my shoulder, and heads back in to Niall’s office.
Eventually, I get up and make my way to my desk.
Bree walks out from the kitchen with some ice in a hand towel, I’m guessing for her father’s nose.
“Is he okay?” I ask, wiping my tear-soaked cheeks as she walks toward his office. “He’s hurt. More emotionally than physically. He’s okay. I don’t think his nose is broken, just bruised and bloodied up. Surprisingly, Aiden didn’t do much damage, he must have held back.”
Niall storms out of his office, confusion written all over his face and blood on his shirt. “Callie, when’s dinner?” he asks Brielle.
She looks around and shakes her head. “Father, what’s going on?”
“Nothing, I’m fine,” he says bluntly, and then walks back in his office.
Bree glances at me, I shrug, not knowing what’s going on with him. She widens her eyes and shrugs as well.
Niall walks back out with his jacket. “Thought you would’ve left by now,” he says to Brielle, who looks at him furrowing her brows.
“It’s not five o’clock, Father,” she says.
“Of course it is,” he says, checking his watch. He seems confused when he sees the time. “I’m going now. Have a good night,” he says nicely, which is so out of character for him. I look at Brielle, who watches her father walk to the elevator and leave. I have no idea what’s just happened. Maybe Aiden’s hits were harder than we thought, and he has a concussion. He didn’t even look at me, which is weird.
Brielle walks over to my desk. “That was strange, right?”
“Yeah, it’s peculiar even for Niall, who I think is odd all the time,” I say as the elevator chimes. We both look over, and Aiden walks back in, and instant relief floods over me when I see him. I want to run to him, but I don’t know what state his mind is in right now. So, I stay where I am.
Aiden walks over, a stoic look on his face. “Bree, you and I need to talk, but it can wait. Jeni, my office, now.” He turns and walks toward his office, leaving us both staring at each other. Bree bites her bottom lip. I exhale slowly and walk into the room. He’s standing in the middle, one hand in his hair, the other on his hip.
He turns to face me. “Shut the door,” he instructs with no emotion.
I shut it with a click, my heart racing as it waits for the onslaught of yelling that I know is about to happen. Aiden walks over, and I tense, but he takes me into his arms and embraces me tightly, holding my head close to his chest. Instantly, I relax at his touch and wrap my arms around his waist. I close my eyes and hold on to him as tightly as humanly possible.
Thank God, this wasn’t at all what I was expecting, but I’m glad he’s not yelling at me right now. It’s a much better reaction than the anger I was sure I was going to face.
He sighs, leaning in and kisses my head. “I’m sorry, baby.”
I lift my head to look at him. His eyes are glassy and full of regret.
“No, don’t be. I should have told you sooner.”
“Yes, you should have, but let’s not dwell on that. I shouldn’t have left the way I did, but I needed to process and take everything in. I can’t begin to imagine how you must’ve felt after you lost our baby, knowing it was that bastard’s fault. I can’t even begin to describe how utterly devastated I am that he did this to you. To us. There are no words…” he trails off, swallows hard, then leans down to softly kiss my lips. “I’ve made a decision.”