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I flinch and sigh as Aiden walks back in holding a drink. My heart races, simply from being in the same room as this bastard, but I try to make sure Aiden doesn’t notice, so instead, I roll my eyes.
“What are you yelling about?” Aiden asks exasperated.
“Your bitch is useless and—”
“Father, we’re here to help you.” Aiden cuts him off, giving him a cold look as his nostrils flare, and his fists clench. “We’re the only ones you have left in your life, and you’re skating on very thin ice as it is. I will not repeat myself again. Do not talk to Jeni like that. Show her the respect she deserves. Or we’ll leave you to it to fend for your damn self. Do. You. Fucking. Understand. Me?”
Niall scowls directly at me, his jaw clenches, then he sighs loudly. Aiden turns to do something, and Niall’s angry stare does not go unnoticed. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up—the look is pure evil, and I am sure if he could, he would end me right at this moment.
“Fine! But if she does anything wrong, I’m going to say something.”
Aiden throws his hands in the
air in frustration. “Whatever. Just be damn civil, or I promise we’ll leave.”
“You sound like your mother.”
“Maybe if you’d listened to Mom, she’d be here telling you herself.” Aiden’s raised voice toward his father shocks even me.
Niall falls silent, placing his head in his hands. I think he misses Callie. At the mere mention of her, he turns from an angry man into a defeated mess. Although, I’m sure he would deny it.
“I need to go make some calls and let the family and people at work know what’s happened. I’ll be right back,” Aiden tells us then walks out, leaving Niall and me alone in the living room.
I decide I need to do something. “Niall, I know you don’t like me, but Aiden and I are getting married, and I’d love nothing more than for us to be at least civil for Aiden’s sake. I’d like to mend whatever’s broken between us.”
He leans in close squinting his eyes and rolling his lip up on one side. “Listen here, you little bitch, like I keep telling Aiden, you’re nothing but a worthless whore. Aiden’s stupid to think you’re the love of his life. There’s no… such… thing. There’s only convenience. He’s being primed to run my company, and when he does, he’ll be as ruthless and hard-hitting as me…” The smirk he gives me is so vicious, it knocks the breath from me. “So, get used to this abuse, girlie, ‘cause it’s going to keep coming for the rest of your putrid life if you marry my son…” Niall smiles like he’s proud of himself. “Like father, like son. Don’t you forget it.”
My mouth opens in shock, and I take a few steps back. I’m speechless.
“That’s right, bitch, keep your little mouth shut, and everything will be fine. Aiden will marry you, of that I am sure. But then I can watch you suffer knowing your life will be miserable. Nothing will give me greater pleasure than to watch you suffer under Aiden’s ruthless hand.”
My heart pounds with the thought of what Niall is telling me. He smiles again, as the tension in the room and the adrenaline of the moment overwhelms me. I can’t bear to be around this absolute bastard for one more second. So, I turn, running, tears threatening to fall, feeling completely belittled and more than a little shaken by what he’s said.
How could he say those things to me?
I’ve done nothing to him.
That man hates me with a fiery passion too fierce to overlook.
Why does he think Aiden will turn out like him if he takes over the company? That thought is running rampant in my brain.
I scurry out the front door and down the driveway. My feet pound hard on the gravel, the sound crunching as I run fast to get away. I need a moment to breathe, to get some fresh air, to step away from that man’s vulgar comments.
Eventually, I slow down and come to a stop, then stand gazing up at the night sky, breathing frantically trying to calm myself.
I wonder what my life will be like with Aiden.
There are so many possibilities running through my head.
But isn’t this exactly what Niall wants?
Niall’s betting on me doubting his son and our relationship. He desperately wants me to break it off with Aiden. I know he wants me gone and out of their lives forever, so why am I even reacting? Well, I’m not going to let him win that easily.
Arms suddenly wrap around my waist, and I look back over my shoulder to see Aiden. Instantly, my pounding heart slows to normal, and so does my breathing at the mere sight of him. He calms me with one touch as I relax into his arms.
Aiden kisses my cheek as he gazes up at the stars with me. “Don’t let him get to you. That’s what he wants. Father’s very good at it. He’s done it well over his lifetime. He manipulates until he gets what he wants, Jeni. He’s done it to me, too.”
“It’s hard, Aiden, especially when I know just how much he hates me. I want to try to at least be civil to each other, but he won’t hear of it. Honestly, I don’t know how to make him see me as not being a threat to him or your company. All I want is you.”
