Ten days pass.
Day after day, Aiden only tells me mundane things from his ‘story’ and never jumps to what I want to know.
Day after day, I expect him to tell me the grand finale.
I should’ve known better.
He’s still pissed off that I put a limit on sex.
Not only is he pissed off, but he also manipulates his way into touching me every chance he gets.
The other day, he said, “Those two friends had a bet.”
One sentence. That’s it.
Then he fucked me against the wall in the locker room.
When I tried to argue, he said that my condition was ‘If you tell me a tidbit, you get to fuck me.’ I never specified how long the tidbit needs to be.
Dickhead.
Even when I thought I have any resemblance of control over the situation, he throws it out of the window. He smashes any hope I have and crushes it to bloody pieces.
But even with his mind games and tactics, I still got my say in this. If it were up to him, we’d go back to how we were before; I stay in the dark and he knows everything.
It won’t be that way anymore. Even if I have to compromise with sex.
Since that night at the Meet Up, Aiden has been fucking me rough and hard as if he’s teaching me a lesson.
I come every time.
Hell, sometimes, he tortures me like that night and exhausts my body until I can barely breathe anymore.
Is it a punishment if I crave it?
It’s fruitless to fight him in the physical department. However, I’m not going to sit there and wait for him to feed me crumbs about hypothetical friends. He didn’t even tell me their names, and while I suspect they have something to do with the mystery, I’m still not sure what is it all about.
So this time, I’m taking things into my own hands. After all, it’s not a game if he’s the only one who plays.
I’m in front of the King mansion’s grand gate.
Clutching my umbrella tight, I stand there as the rain silently soaks the pavements.
Elites have practice and the horsemen won’t be here for at least another hour. Kim has to babysit Kir so she’s not coming to watch the game tonight.
Aiden told me to be at his practice and then we’ll go together, but I refused, telling him I’ll meet him here. That made him narrow his eyes.
He still doesn’t like that I refuse to attend his games or watch him practice, but screw him.
He’s refusing to give me what I want, why should I give him what he wants?
Anyway, I never told Aiden when I’ll meet him at his place. I just ‘happened’ to come an hour earlier.
I have to investigate Aiden’s ‘story’. He’s not the type of person who goes out of his way to learn about other people. Since he knows so much about those ‘friends’, then one of them has to do with him.
He mentioned the friends turned into rivals and their games crossed the line. He mentioned that their bet shouldn’t have happened.
Aiden isn’t the type who uses words like limit and line. He doesn’t shackle himself with boundaries. In fact, he considers them a challenge and makes it his mission to destroy them.
The fact that he used those words means that the story happened when he was younger.
Before he became a monster without limits, Aiden was a kid with limits.
This is only a theory, but I think one of the friends is Jonathan. First of all, he’s a tycoon who stops at nothing to get what he wants. He didn’t build King Enterprises by being a nice person. On the contrary, he took the throne by crushing everyone in his path.
Sort of like Aiden.
It makes sense that he has some fucked up rivalry with one of his friends.
The best way to check Aiden’s story and my theory is to find something in the King mansion.
I never snooped before, but that’s because Aiden has always been there. Even when I wake up in the middle of the night, he’ll be watching me with dark, haunting eyes.
In the beginning, I thought that was because he’s just Aiden. But then again, I never saw him look at anyone the way he looks at me.
Sometimes, it’s filled with care. Other times, it’s pure terrifying hate.
Now that I know he has insomnia, I can’t begin to imagine how he spends his nights all alone in this huge place.
You can do this, Elsa.
I ring the bell and glance at the screen. The butler’s face comes into view and he gives me a polite smile. “Miss Quinn, we weren’t expecting you until six.”
Well, shit. Of course, Aiden’s butler would be expecting me. Why hadn’t I thought of that?
I offer my widest smile. “Aiden is caught up at practice, so he told me to wait for him here. If it’s possible, of course.”
He’s silent for a second, and I expect him to tell me no since Aiden didn’t call him. However, the front gate buzzes open.
“Welcome, Miss Quinn.”
Phew.
I give him one last smile as I clutch my backpack’s strap and slip inside.
An eerie feeling creeps along my skin the more I walk through the silent garden. The rain soaks the trees, the grass, and the imposing building. Rivulets of the rain fall on the angel statue’s cheeks and it appears as if he’s crying.
That’s not creepy at all.
I came here numerous times before, but that was before I heard Jonathan tell Silver ever so eloquently that Aiden approached me for revenge.
That was before I learnt that Aiden has been using me.
That part still bugs the hell out of me.
If he hates me, if he only approached me for revenge, then why does he fuck me like he’ll die if he doesn’t? Why does he soothe me after my nightmares like he doesn’t like to see me hurt?
If this is all an act, then he deserves an Oscar.
Margo waits for me at the entrance of the front door. Her hands rest above each other on her stomach as she smiles.
“Hey, Margo.”
“Hey, Elsa.” She steps aside to give me walking room. “Come inside. It’s cold, let me prepare you something to drink.”
She takes my sweater, scarf, and umbrella. I try to help her, but she shoos me away.
Margo always makes me feel warm in this frigid, cold mansion.
It’s like she’s the only one who breathes life in here.
Aiden and his father surely don’t. I doubt Levi did either when he was living here.
I follow Margo to the kitchen and she launches into a string of questions about my health and if I’m eating properly as she prepares me a hot chocolate.
I try to answer as much as I can.
In no time, I’m sitting at the kitchen counter with the steaming drink in front of me and the scent of hot chocolate wafting in the air.
Margo stands behind the counter, fussing with potatoes.
“Is that for chips?” I ask.
“Those boys will start a riot if they don’t have their chips.” She shakes her head. “Especially Ronan.”
I smile at that. He’s certainly fanatic and possessive about his chips. You can have his car, but you can’t ask for his chips.
“They’re lucky to have you,” I tell her.
The slight wrinkles ease at the corner of her eyes. “I’m lucky to have them, especially my Aiden.”
I straighten in my seat. This is my opening. “He went through a lot when he was a child.” I pause, then add. “Levi told me.”
Sorrow covers her features as she slows down cutting the potatoes. “He didn’t talk much.”
“Why not?”
“He was a lonely child. He spent his days in the library with Alicia.” She scoffs. “When she was out of her room.”
I lean closer, cradling the hot cup between my cold fingers. “Was he close to his mother?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Why unfortunately?”
“Because her madness rubbed off on him.” Her lips twist. “He’s never been the same since she was locking herself up with him in the library reading crazy books about crazy people.”
“Crazy books?”
She throws her hand in the air. “Philosophy and psychology rubbish.”
I frown. Those aren’t crazy books, but I don’t correct her. I can’t get into an argument with her if I want to keep her talking.
“Alicia was never normal anyway.” Margo watches her surroundings before she leans in to whisper, “I heard from one of her friends that she suffered from depression after an accident. She was out with her friends and they all died except for her. She was been the same since then.”
Survivor’s guilt.
I heard about that. Hell, If my nightmares are of any indication, then I might even be suffering from it myself.
“Was that before she got married?” I ask.
“Yes.”
Still. Alicia got married and had Aiden, so she couldn’t have been that bad, right?
“There were a lot of tragic events in her life, so I tried to understand, I really did.” Margo chops the potatoes harder. “But she shouldn’t have brought Aiden to the world if she was going to be a zombie most of the time.”
“Tragic events?” I ask.
“Yes, her father was a lord, but he was abusive. Her mother committed suicide because of that and I think, I’m not sure, he continued to beat Alicia until she got married.”
My heart swells for the woman I only saw through the picture. The petite, quiet-looking woman.
So basically, Alicia was a mentally unwell person. I’m curious why Jonathan would marry her. I’m sure he knew her past. These types of families do an extensive background check about the ones they’re going to marry.
Jonathan King doesn’t strike me as the kind of man who’d marry Alicia. His type loves the perfect housewives with perfect everything, don’t they?
“Was it an arranged marriage?” I ask Margo.
“No. Mr King chose her himself.”
Oh.
Maybe he did love her. But well, I find it hard to believe that Jonathan would love anyone. He doesn’t even seem like he loves his own son.
This needs more digging.
I just hope I don’t end up regretting it.
“Can I see the library?” I wrap my fingers around the hot chocolate. “I have some homework.”
“It’s down the hall to the left.” She motions at the potatoes. “Sorry I can’t show you.”
“It’s okay.” I gather my backpack and take the drink. “Thanks for this.”
“Let me know if you need anything to eat.”
“Will do.”
At first, I attempt going to the upper floor where I think Jonathan’s office is, but then as I walk down the hall, I notice the small blinking cameras.
Shit.
How come I never noticed them before? And who the hell keeps cameras inside his house?
Defeated, I head to the library. The space is so vast, it nearly swallows the entire ground floor. It’s even bigger than the theatre room — and that says something.
Rows and rows of books extend as far as the vision can go.
Old books. Big books. Hardcovers. Paperbacks.
Hell, there are even a few first editions here.
I wonder if they have some Sun Tzu in this place.
Three dark wooden tables with cushioned seats are arranged neatly in the middle of the room. It smells of old paper, and I can’t help but inhale the scent.
I place my backpack and drink on a table and walk to the wooden rows. run my fingers along some books written in Russian and in French.
Someone is a polyglot.
Keeping my head down, I check the corner in case there are cameras lurking in here.
I don’t notice any blinking, but that doesn’t put me at ease.
The King’s mansion has this eerie quality to it. I’m on high alert the entire time.
I only let go when Aiden is around, but maybe that’s a mistake, too.
A few psychology books grab my attention. Margo mentioned that Alicia read those to Aiden.
The other day, Cole also mentioned that Nausea, a philosophy book, belongs to Aiden.
I pull a paperback about the light in the mind or something. It’s the first time I hear about it. It’s written by J.E. Hampton. Never heard of him — or her.
There’s dust on the book, so it hasn’t been touched in years.
I open the book.
The dedication says,
To unknown. You should’ve killed me.
The ‘You should’ve killed me’ part is underlined with a red pencil.
I open the first pages and read. It talks about someone who’s trying to find his way after chronic depression. I read a few pages and I notice some words underlined in red like in the dedication page.
Lost.
Help.
Live.
Alive.
Dead.
It goes on until the end of the book.
I retrieve another one. Nothing is underlined in the dedication, but inside the book, similar words are underlined.
Save.
Kill.
Love.
I pull another book then another and another. It’s almost the same in all books. Then I find something different.
The dedication in another book says,
To J, Thank you for saving my life.
It’s crossed in red and under it is written in elegant writing.
‘You shouldn’t have saved my life.’
My breathing catches. Is this Alicia?
I retrieve about ten books and sit on the table, going through them.
I find a dedication that says,
To the fighters. Stay alive.
Under it, there’s that same elegant handwriting.
‘The worst thing you can tell a person who wants to die is to stay alive.’
I gulp.
So she was suicidal.
Did Aiden know that?
My heart squeezes at the thought of a little boy witnessing his mother’s suicidal tendencies. Did she do something traumatising in front of him?
A wave of nausea hits me at the thought.
I go through the pages some more.
I find another dedication.
To my son, you gave purpose to my life.
There’s a line under it and then a smiling face. My heart warms until I read the writing beneath it.
‘But I wish you were never born.’
I blink, reading it again.
Did she say that about her own son? What the hell?
The book is old and dusty and doesn’t seem like it’s been touched since Alicia’s death. With one last look to my surroundings, I stuff the book in my backpack.
Aiden might be a bastard and I hate him sometimes, but I would never want to scar him this way. He shouldn’t see what Alicia wrote about him.
I know she must’ve had deep-rooted mental issues, but that doesn’t give her the right to wish that her son was never born. She read all these psychological books, how come she didn’t know words like that from his own mother could scar him for life?
I check my watch. Shit. It’s almost time for the horsemen to return. I easily wasted an entire hour digging through the pieces Alicia left behind, but I need to go.
I don’t want Aiden to catch me in his library.
I put the books where they belong, take my backpack, and go back to Margo.
The moment I sit on the stool, sipping the cold hot chocolate, Ronan comes breezing through the door.
“I’m here, bitches!” He yells in his signature enthusiastic tone. When he meets my eyes, his grin widens. “Oh. Hey there, Ellie.”
I smile as Xander and a solemn-looking Cole follow him inside. They’re all wearing Elites’ jackets which means they came straight from practice.
Xander searches beside me and all around me, for Kim, I assume.
“Kim has to babysit Kir so she won’t be coming over,” I tell him.
“I didn’t ask.” He flops on a stool and steals one of Margo’s chips.
Yeah, right. Sure thing, Xander.
I seriously don’t know what the hell is going on between him and Kim. Or if there’s even anything going on.
“Where’s Aiden?” I ask when he doesn’t follow.
“Oh, that…” Ronan rubs the back of his head.
“He’ll be here.” Xander smiles forcing the dimples out as he snatches another chip.
I stare between them and a needle-like sensation prickles at the back of my head.
Something doesn’t seem right.
“Where did he go?” I ask.
“Come on, Ellie.” Ronan places an arm around my shoulder. “Let’s stuff ourselves with chips.”
“He’s outside with Silver,” Cole says with a complete poker face.
“Fuck, Captain!” Ronan all but shouts.
Xander pokes Cole in the ribs. “You better be ready for King’s wrath, dickhead.”
I stare between the three of them. “He’s really outside with Silver?”
“You see, Ellie.” Ronan offers an awkward smile — which isn’t like him at all. “She invited herself over. It’s not that King wanted her here. Not at all.”
“He didn’t stop her either.” Cole appears eerily calm, it’s kind of scary. “You should see for yourself.”
Xander kicks him. “Do you have a fucking death wish, Captain?”
I’m not listening to them.
I’m storming down the hall, muscles tense and nostrils flaring.
He brought her here.
Silver is here.
I told her to stay away from what’s mine, didn’t I?
It’s time she pays the fucking price.
