“Well, I just want you to know I don’t take it for granted. That’s all.”
He hummed, his face flat and expressionless, barely tethered and thoughtful.
“You can watch television down here if you want,” he added suddenly.
What the hell? “You sure? You don’t mind if I keep you company?” I asked, a little more shyly than I would have thought.
That had him rolling his eyes, blowing out a breath, and shaking his head. “Stop talking and sit down.” He nodded, getting to his feet and heading into the kitchen without another word.
Suddenly uncomfortable, I cleared my throat and took a seat on the opposite end of the couch, crossing my heels as I placed my bowl in my lap. Grabbing the remote, I turned on the television and started flipping through the channels before settling on one of my favorite movies. If Aiden thought it was weird when he came back and found me watching Wall-E, he didn’t say a word.
He also didn’t get up and go sit in the kitchen.
Chapter Nineteen
The next day, my phone rang in the late afternoon.
Aiden flashed across the screen. He’d called me twice before, and that had been when he’d been standing outside my door back at my apartment and to bail on me.
I hit the ‘answer’ button. “Hello?”
“Vanessa.” He didn’t ask if it was me; he just sort of said my name, as if demanding it to be.
“Yes?”
“My car won’t start,” he said in a tone that sounded accusatory, but couldn’t have been. What did he think? That I went and booby-trapped his starter? If I hadn’t done it when he used to piss me off, why would I do it now when he hadn’t recently?
“Is your battery dead?” I asked, confused. He had leased it brand new only a year ago, there was no way it needed a new battery so soon.
He muttered something under his breath, his tone abrupt. “I’ve already taken care of it. There’s a tow truck on its way.”
Uh. “Okay. What do you need then?”
“Can you pick me up?” he just went right out and asked.
I blinked, surprised that he was calling me and not taking a cab. “Oh. Sure. Where are you?”
“I’m at the main building. Where the team trains,” he replied, fully aware that I knew what place he was referring to. I’d been there a few times in the past. “I need to go pick up some papers from the immigration lawyer’s office today, too.”
Eyeing the thunderstorm going on outside through one of the windows in my room, I sighed. I hated driving in the rain, but he rarely asked for any favors… unless they were major, life-changing ones. Whomp, whomp. “Sure. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
He grunted out a “Thank you” that was as forced as it sounded and hung up.
Some things never changed, did they? I smirked, saved my work, grabbed my purse, and headed downstairs to nab my keys. In a little more than no time, I made it to the facility I wasn’t sure I’d ever come back to and showed the old pass Aiden had gotten me to get in through the security gate.
My phone’s ringtone going off scared the hell out of me as I steered my car toward the correct building and parking lot. Half expecting it to be Aiden, I was surprised when Diana’s name flashed across the screen.
“Her—”
“How could you not tell me?” the familiar voice on the other end of the line yelled.
Shit. “Hello to you too.”
“Don’t you ‘hello to you too,’ cabrona.”
Okay. She’d gone with cabrona. That was how pissed off she was. Fair enough.
“Do you want to know how I found out?” I didn’t, but she didn’t bother waiting for me to confirm an answer she should know. “Rodrigo told me!”
I winced.
As if I hadn’t heard her the first time, she yelled again. “Rodrigo!”
I wasn’t going to apologize. I knew it would just make it worse. I was aware of how things worked with her. At this point, the only thing to do that wouldn’t piss her off more was to man-up to what I’d done and let her ream me.
“You got married and you didn’t tell me!”
I stayed quiet and kept an eye out on the building to make sure Aiden wasn’t appearing.
“It’s because you think I’d tell everyone, isn’t it?”
That was definitely the wrong question to answer. So I kept my mouth shut.
“You don’t love me anymore? Is that it? Am I old news?”
Still, I kept my mouth closed.
“I can’t believe you!” She let out a shriek that seemed to echo. Knowing her, she was more than likely in her car. “I’m going to punch you in the cooch.”
At that, my silence ended. “I’d like to see you try.” She hadn’t grown up with my sisters. I knew how to fight a girl.
At least better than she did.
“No! Don’t talk to me right now,” she insisted. “You didn’t tell me you got married. You’re on probation, and I need to get back to work. I’m on my lunch break. If you want to get back on my good side this year, I’d like some of those chocolate-dipped strawberries.”
That had me snorting. She was out of her damn mind.
“You owe me.” With that, she hung up as I pulled into the parking lot I was looking for. I let my forehead drop onto the steering wheel. That had gone better and worse than I’d imagined it would, but I was a little relieved it was out in the open, finally.
I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel as I looked around the empty lot. I wavered on getting out when a giant lightning bolt painted a jagged streak across the rainy lavender-gray sky. Minutes passed and still he didn’t come out of the Three Hundreds’ building.
Damn it. Before I could talk myself out of it, I jumped out of the car, cursing at myself for not carrying an umbrella for about the billionth time and for not having waterproof shoes, and ran through the parking lot, straight through the double doors. As I stomped my feet on the mat, I looked around the lobby for the big guy. A woman behind the front desk raised her eyebrows at me curiously. “Can I help you with something?” she asked.
“Have you seen Aiden?”
“Aiden?”
Were there really that many Aidens? “Graves.”
“Can I ask what you need him for?”
I bit the inside of my cheek and smiled at the woman who didn’t know me and, therefore, didn’t have an idea that I knew Aiden. “I’m here to pick him up.”
It was obvious she didn’t know what to make of me. I didn’t exactly look like pro-football player girlfriend material in that moment, much less anything else. I’d opted not to put on any makeup since I hadn’t planned on leaving the house. Or real pants. Or even a shirt with the sleeves intact. I had cut-off shorts and a baggy T-shirt with sleeves that I’d taken scissors to. Plus the rain outside hadn’t done my hair any justice. It looked like a cloud of teal.
Then there was the whole we-don’t-look-anything-alike thing going on, so there was no way we could pass as siblings. Just as I opened my mouth, the doors that connected the front area with the rest of the training facility swung open. The man I was looking for came out with his bag over his shoulder, imposing, massive, and sweaty. Definitely surly too, which really only meant he looked the way he always did.