Invidious Betrayal (15 page)

“So let me get this straight,” Sheriff Cole said. The man was tall, muscled, and had that intimidation thing down, but Ian wasn’t moved; though he was determined to remain respectful. “You came to see my daughter, but she didn’t want to see you, so you broke Bucky’s nose and laid Calvin flat on his ass.”

“Not exactly, sir.” Ian sat on the curb with his hands cuffed behind his back. The flashing lights of the police cruiser and ambulance drew a crowd around the hotdog stand and the two injured guys, making it hard for Ian to see Aria. With this being a small town, he wondered if the news station would cover something so minor because this little situation was front page news, it seemed.

A medic near the rear of an ambulance moved aside, giving Ian a clear view of Aria as she spoke with Calvin who was sitting up now, with an oxygen mask over his face.

This visit worked out well
, Ian cursed to himself. He should have never approached her.

He’d been watching her since the day after she’d left him, without her knowing. He usually kept to the shadows, but the longer he stayed in Land’s End, the more he wanted to talk to Aria, to touch her.

“What’s your name, son?” Sheriff Cole asked.

Ian heard the question and didn’t mean to ignore the Sheriff, but he was enthralled by Aria as he watched her walking toward them. She looked…upset. Sheriff Cole snapped his large fingers in front of Ian’s line of sight, giving him no choice but to look up. By the way the Sheriff glared at him, it was clear he didn’t like the way Ian was watching his daughter.

“My name is Ian, sir,” he answered, then turned his attention to Aria as she came to a stop in front of her father.

“Daddy, I need to talk to you.” Aria didn’t so much as glance in Ian’s direction.

Great
, he thought.

Ian watched as Aria and her father moved away from him to talk. Every now and then the Sheriff glanced over at him.
What is Aria telling him
? Sheriff Cole couldn’t know about what happened to Aria at his uncle’s mansion, because something told Ian that if the Sheriff did, he’d already be dead.

Oh shit
…
shit, shit
! The way the Sheriff was eyeing him now…
Shit
!
Is Aria crying
?
Shit
!
Shit
!

Sheriff Cole straightened, squared his shoulders, looked down, then took a deep breath before looking over at Ian again. Were those flames in the man’s eyes that were focused on him? The way the sheriff marched over to him made Ian want to push back, get to his feet, and prepare to defend his life. Only, Ian remained where he sat. But when Sheriff Cole reached for him, Ian actually winced.

“So…Ian”—the Sheriff grunted as he undid the plastic tie that secured Ian’s hands behind his back—“looks like you have dinner plans tonight.” Before Ian could stand, a heavy hand gripped his shoulder. “Seven o’clock, and if I were you son, I wouldn’t be late.” Sheriff Cole jotted the address on a piece of paper and handed it to him.

“No, sir,” Ian said, looking around for Aria. She was nowhere in sight, so he walked to the silver BMW, rubbing his wrist. He had a dinner date to get ready for.

I
AN PULLED UP TO THE
Cole residence at 6:30. He had planned to sit in the car until a quarter till, but the door opened and Sheriff Cole waved him inside.

“Time to face the music,” Ian sang. He turned off the engine and got out of the car. As he walked up the path to the house that Aria lived in, her father held the screen door open for him.

“Sir,” Ian said, handing Mr. Cole a bottle of wine.

“Ian.” Mr. Cole took the bottle as he held the door open. “Aria and the Mrs. are in the kitchen. Follow me.”

The house was nice, a great deal smaller than Ian’s, but most were. His father would say it was plain, homely; as if that was bad. To Ian it was the way a home should be. It looked lived in. The occupants made use of it and its space, unlike his family home.

Ian slowed as they walked through the living room to look at all the pictures displayed of Aria throughout her years. He smiled when he saw the picture of her in a rainbow shirt with her two front teeth missing. Even then with her mane of dark brown luxurious curls and her round flawless face, Aria was a beauty.

Ian met up with Mr. Cole in the dining area that had an open view of the kitchen. He found Aria right away. It was as if time slowed for him alone when he saw her. She was reaching up to get glasses out of one of the cabinets. Her hair, a shimmering fall of dark silk, was straight tonight and falling in an even mass just above her waist. She wore a peach sundress that fit her body perfectly. So perfectly that he found himself silently praying his hormones would relax.

When she turned to place the glasses on the counter, Ian saw all of her beautiful face. She was wearing makeup, light and delicate, the way he preferred. As if she’d sensed him, Aria looked up and their eyes met. He saw a brightness to her that glowed in her eyes in that brief moment, and what he knew was an authentic smile. But then it was gone, replaced with a friendly grin and an apologetic shrug.

She seemed to think over what to do for a second before she moved. Ian’s heart pumped into overdrive as she walked toward him.
What is she doing
? It wasn’t until she stepped in front of him, her eyes pleading, that he guessed what Aria intended to do. Only...she hesitated, but he didn’t.

Ian pulled her to him and buried his face in her hair as he held her tight. Her panic seemed to defuse with his arms around her and she even laid her head on his shoulder. When her father cleared his throat, Aria stiffened then stepped away, looking more nervous than she had before the hug.

“Hello, Ian.” As Aria moved to the side of him, Mrs. Cole stepped forward and hugged him. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

It was clear where Aria got her beauty. Ian smiled at her. “I hate to sound cliché but all good things I hope.”

Mrs. Cole smiled—“All good.”

“Well, I heard nothing.” Mr. Cole grunted, handing his wife the wine.

Mrs. Cole playfully smacked her husband’s shoulder. “Why thank you, Ian.” She took the bottle and read the label. Her eyes grew wide. “Really, you shouldn’t have. We couldn’t…”

Mr. Cole popped a piece of cubed cheese in his mouth. “Why not?”

Ian looked at Aria when he spoke knowing what he was about to say may freak her out. “I wanted to introduce myself sooner, but didn’t know how Aria might feel about it. I bought the wine then, but… I guess I lost my nerve.” What he’d said didn’t have Aria freaking out, but she wasn’t smiling either. “It’s yours, really,” Ian said, as he met Mrs. Cole’s blushing gaze. He gently pushed at the bottle she was trying to hand back to him.

“What’s the big deal?” Mr. Cole asked, as he snatched the wine.

Mrs. Cole gently pulled the bottle out of her husband’s grip. “It’s a bottle of Chateau Margaux, you Neanderthal.” She carefully carried the bottle to the counter and sat it down gently before ushering everyone into the dining room.

“Okay,” Mr. Cole said, as he sat at the table set for four. “Pop it open if it’s so special.”

“You’re hopeless.” Mrs. Cole came up behind her husband. She placed her hand over his chest and kissed his waiting lips when he turned his head upward. “That bottle is an investment. Please, have a seat, Ian.”

“Thank you.” He sat down in the seat she motioned to. “I did intend for you to drink and enjoy the wine.”

Aria gasped as she tapped on her cell phone screen. “Do you know how much this bottle is worth?” she asked, placing her cell phone on the kitchen counter. She grabbed a basket of bread, then headed toward the table as she stared at him.

Her voice made his entire body burn with awareness. He had to close his eyes and breathe through his mouth just so he wasn’t able to smell the fresh, heavenly scent that was her as she reached over him and placed the bread on the table. No doubt her father would see the reactions his daughter caused in him, so Ian would have to mask them better, because apparently he lacked control where she was concerned. When he opened his eyes, Ian saw Aria looking down at him expectedly, with a frown.

“I do,” was all he could manage.

“How much, Ree?” Mr. Cole sat up in his chair. Mrs. Cole began placing the food on the table.

“More than you make in a month and that’s just an estimate,” Aria answered quietly. She was speaking to her father, but pinning Ian with a look of confusion. Mr. Cole narrowed his eyes as he looked Ian over again.

“Come on, family,” Mrs. Cole said, “let’s not ruin the evening by making Ian uncomfortable.”

“You might want that bottle back by the end of the night,” Mr. Cole sneered.

“Daddy,” Aria gasped.

“Just saying,” Mr. Cole said, relaxing in his seat again.

Aria brought the glasses into the dining room. She placed one in front of Ian before placing the others. Ian tried not to watch as she moved about, filling the glasses and placing food on the table, but he couldn’t help it. She was exquisite.

He got to his feet, like a gentleman does, when Aria and her mother came to the table. He also pulled Aria’s seat out for her. She thanked him with a weak smile, but that was fine. He would take what he could get.

The Coles prayed, so Ian lowered his head, even though praying wasn’t common in his household. When they were done giving thanks—and he was thankful it wasn’t one of those sermons some people recite before dinner—they filled their plates and began to eat. They ate in silence for a while and he thought he might escape the dreaded boyfriend grilling.

Ian suspected Aria had told her parents they were a couple and that was why he was here tonight and not sitting in a cell at the local lock-up. He’d been a good actor since before he could walk, and even though this was a fake ‘meet the parents’ dinner, Ian couldn’t help wishing it was real. It wasn’t, but he would still play his part.

“So, Ian,” Mr. Cole said halfway through his meal, “how old are you?”

Here we go
. “I just turned twenty-one on February twenty-ninth, sir.”

“A leap year baby,” Mrs. Cole gushed. “That must be interesting for your parents. How does your mother plan your birthday parties?”

Suddenly the shirt and tie he was wearing didn’t seem like a good choice of apparel. Ian loosened the tight noose around his neck and cleared his throat, hoping he could keep his shit together. The subject of his mother was Ian’s only weakness. He had accepted a long time ago that questions about her would come up a number of times in his life and they had, but he still had a difficult time with them.

“Uh, we don’t celebrate my birth, Mrs. Cole.” He looked down at his plate as he moved a pasta noodle around it. “My mother died giving birth to me. My father and older brother sort of shut down every year around that time, so having a party didn’t seem so important.”

Ian felt Aria’s gaze on him, but he didn’t look up at her. He couldn’t take looking into those beautiful eyes and seeing what he always saw when he told people about his mother. Aria feeling sorry or even compassion when she should have nothing but hate for him would definitely cause him to feel the pain he worked so hard to bury.

“I’m sorry, dear,” Mrs. Cole said, after a while. “It must have been hard for you and your family to have lost her.”

He smiled even though it hurt. Ian was taught long ago to keep his true feelings buried deep and to show little if any emotion. “They managed. I never met her, and my family never talked about her, so I really can’t miss what I’ve never known.” Normally he wouldn’t divulge so much of himself to strangers, but Aria was no stranger—they had been intimate and he felt…something for her. Something he couldn’t understand but somehow that made her parents different, too.

Oddly, he wanted her to know everything about him. It was just that he hated the lost look people gave him when they found out about his mother. “This meal is delicious, Mrs. Cole,” he added. “Thank you for having me over.”

“Thank you for coming, Ian.” Her voice sounded thicker, her beautiful face had lost the welcoming sweetness. “I think we’re going to enjoy having you around. It’s rare to meet such a well-mannered young man such as yourself these days.” Mrs. Cole stood, so Ian did as well. “Would you all excuse me for a moment?” She quickly disappeared into the kitchen.