AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He started to speak, but his lawyer did it for him. “Mrs. Davis, my client agreed to meet with you against my advice.”
“That’s because your client knows I can ruin his career.” I sat down across from Blake. I noticed that today, his eyes fastened on a point somewhere between my eyebrows and the top of my head rather than on my breasts.
“I didn’t assault you, Layla,” Blake said, his eyes appealing to me to agree.
“You left bruises on my wrist, and you would have done more if Aiden hadn’t found us.”
His lawyer’s voice buzz sawed between us, as if he could cut this off if he talked loudly and long enough. Through it, though, I caught Blake’s eye. He knew. Maybe at the time he really had thought I wanted him, that Aiden was an inconvenience to escape from. I would never know for sure. All I was sure of was that he knewnow.
“I’m sorry if I misinterpreted the situation,” he said awkwardly, and his lawyer’s face turned purple even as he kept yammering on. It was like he thought this was being recorded and he was doing his best to mess up the audio.
“I need two things from you Blake, but neither is an apology.” I took a deep breath. “I need you to clear Aiden’s name.”
His mouth opened in knee jerk refusal.
“You have to tell the world what you told me–that you misinterpreted the situation. That you’re sorry.”
Blake closed his mouth reluctantly. “Thatiswhat happened.”
“Sure. Let’s say it is.” I leaned forward, my eyes intent on his. “You need to get some sort of treatment, Blake. You legitimately seem to think that every woman you see wants you. You need to learn how to see people, and not just see your reflection in their eyes.”
“My client does not need to–”
“And if you don’t, I’m going to tell the world what happened frommyperspective.” I turned my wrists upright deliberately. The fingertip bruise had faded from my left one, but the implication was clear.
Blake’s mouth was set. He didn’t want to do this, but he had agreed to meet with me because he knew I could ruin him. Knew Iwouldruin him if he continued to run Aiden’s name through the mud.
I left half an hour later with an agreement in place. Blake was going to stop by his new marketing team’s office this afternoon to draft his statement. I thought that the adrenaline would drop and leave me flatlining, but to my surprise, it settled into my blood like a pleasant hum. I didn’t know what would happen, but I knew that I wasn’t going to get in bed and hide under the covers anymore.
I was going to be a mom.
Now it was time to see if Aiden wanted to be a dad.
CHAPTER34
AIDEN
Iwent to Jack’s house and had it out with him. He wanted to punch me in the face, but he held back. “She’s not here,” he growled instead and tried to slam the door closed on me.
I caught the door just in time, managing to keep it open a few inches.
“Just punch me, Jack,” I said tiredly. “I would do it if I were you. But if it means anything, I love her.”
“It doesn’t mean shit,” he informed me, but he stopped pushing on his side of the door. He regarded me for a moment, then said, “Sit down. I’ll come out.”
I wondered if that meant he was lying and that Layla really was inside. Hope lit like a match in my chest. Jack had walked away from the door, but I didn’t push my way in to test my theory. I had to face him first. Then I could face the person who mattered most.
Jack came out with a beer for each of us, which I took as a good sign. Granted he’d gotten himself a craft beer from the Tree House Brewing Company and I was handed a half-frozen Bud Light that I guessed had been stuck in the back of the refrigerator since Christmas. Still, it was closer to a peace offering than a go fuck yourself. I popped the top.
“I don’t know what to say to you,” Jack said after a few minutes of sitting in silence. “What the fuck, Aiden? You aren’t ugly. You aren’t poor. All the women in Boston, and you chose my daughter?”
I winced. “I didn’t choose her, Jack. I did everything I could to stay away from her. I’d have fired her if I could have justified it.”
“You should have.”
“I fell in love with her.”
His mouth tightened, like that was neither a justification nor a balm.
