Modern Arrangements: Complete Trilogy (Modern Arrangements #1-3) (60 page)

When I arrived in Chicago, I got held up
at the airport. My arranged car wasn’t there and they had no record of the
request. Once they fixed the mix-up, I finally arrived at the hotel and
requested that I be shown to Aidan's room. At first, I got some resistance. Fortunately,
after I threw some money and my last name around, I was shown the way.

Once they let me in the room, I yelled
into the dark room.

"Aidan?" I shouted.
"Aidan!?"

"Lilli." I heard him groan. I
headed toward the bedroom.

"Aidan, where are..." I opened
the door.

"Lilli." He groaned again.

I gasped and started to hyperventilate
at the sight in front of me.

He groaned again and grabbed his head
firmly. He was naked and he wasn’t alone. Loreley was in bed with him, also
very, very naked, with her arm and leg thrown over him.

"Oh God!" I grabbed the wall
to steady me and vomited onto the floor.

"Lilli?" He groaned again and
then sat up on his elbows. "What the...?" He rubbed his eyes with the
base of his palm and looked again at Loreley and then back to me.

I began dry heaving.

"What the fuck is going on?" He
yelled and threw Loreley from his body. She mumbled and groaned. I glanced around
the room, noticing two empty bottles of champagne on the nightstand.

The red fury began to boil within me.

"Why don't you tell me?! What the fuck
did you do?" I shouted.

"Lilli, I swear that I
didn't...there...I don't know....please believe me...this..." He stuttered
and stumbled on his words as well as on his feet as he tried to approach me.

As he got closer I could see the red
fingernail marks on his chest.

"Stay away from me!" I yelled
and shook my head in disbelief.

"Lilli, I didn't....I...fuck! I
don't know what happened! I was having dinner with the Douriens and then I
don't remember anything. I don't even know why or how Loreley is here. I swear
that..."

"Just shut up!" I screamed and
put my hands over my ears. I didn't realize that anything could hurt so badly.

"Lilli, please!" Aidan cried
out, moving toward me.

"Aidan..." Loreley groaned out
and stirred in bed.

Another dry heave rose in my throat, but
I swallowed it away. I turned and ran. I couldn’t process what had just
happened, I just knew that I needed to get as far away as possible. I kept
running, feeling the ground pound beneath my feet. Next thing I knew, I was
back at the airport.

I ran up to the customer service desk
and bought the first ticket available. It was the longest flight I had ever
been on but I couldn't get back on his plane. I didn't want to see anything
that reminded me of him. When I pulled up to the house, I quickly went inside
and to my bedroom.

"Lilli?" Kimberly came into my
bedroom. I was sobbing. "Lilli, what happened? Aidan has been calling for
you nonstop."

"Don't say his name to me." I
shouted at her and she flinched. Dropping into a sobbing mess on the floor, she
engulfed me into her arms. "I can't...he...with her..." I completely
broke down.

"Oh my...” Kimberly held me
tighter. “I'm so sorry, dear." She rocked me for a long time before I
could pull myself together.

"I need the twins to be ready
to." I swallowed hard and wiped my eyes.

"Lilli, don’t you think that you
should..?"

"I'm leaving, Kimberly. This is
just too...too much." I fought back the remaining sobs. "Please
prepare the twins and pack some things." She nodded and left the room.

"Lilli?" I heard Viola's call
from the stairs.

I sighed heavily. I heard the door burst
open.

"Lilli, what in the hell is going
on?" She rushed to me with panic in her face.

"Ask your nephew. Oh, wait, he
doesn't seem to know why he was lying in bed with Loreley, either." I spit
out and quickly went to my closet.

"He what? Lilli, that can't be
right. She must have—"

"She forced him to let her claw at
his chest, leaving evidence of their 'time together'?" I spit out. "I
don't think so. I saw the champagne bottles around the bed and their naked
bodies wrapped around each other." I had to swallow the new heaves that
threatened to spill out from me.

"Lilli, please, Aidan called and
said that I should come to you, but wouldn't explain anything. Let him
explain..."

"He already says that he doesn't
know what happened." I rolled my eyes. "I'm leaving." I snapped.

"Wait, don't go. Please. You can
stay with Liam and me. Don't leave." She begged and had her hands on my
shoulders. My head fell and I started to sob again.

"I can't stay."

I heard footsteps approaching. When I
rushed out to the bedroom, I saw Liam, Henry, Anne, James and Elora all
standing there.

"Jesus Christ! Who else did the
asshole call?" I shouted and started tossing things into my luggage.

"Where are you going?" Henry quickly
stepped forward.

"You can't leave." Anne
argued.

"Shut up." I screamed.
"Get out!"

They flinched back and Viola was at my
side, holding me.

"Please, what is..?"

"Apparently Aidan was in bed with
Loreley." Viola whispered out.

"Oh my god, that prick!" Elora
rushed to me and put her arms around me.

"Well, she can't leave! The
conditions..."

"Shut the fuck up, Henry!" We
all snapped our heads to Liam. "Just shut up. This isn't about your damn
money. This is about Lilli and Aidan. If you are more interested in the money
then get out now! Or I can throw your ass out!" He growled.

Henry was taken back. He immediately
shut up and stood quietly with Anne.

"Are you okay? You can stay with
us." Elora said in a hushed tone as she tried to soothe me.

"I need to get away. I'm sorry, I just…I
need to leave." I grabbed my suitcase and headed to the twins room. I
grabbed my phone and. as I was placing a call, I saw all the missed calls and
text messages. I ignored them all and made my travel arrangements. Kimberly had
everything ready for me; bags and carriers.

"Lilli, please..." Liam
begged. Viola put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Let us know that you got somewhere
safely. I promise that no one will speak to Aidan unless you ask us to."
She forced a smile.

"Thank you." I said quickly
and took the twins.

Jay appeared with a solemn look as he
grabbed the bags and luggage. When I got to the airport, Phoebe was waiting.

"Oh, Lil!" She ran to me and
hugged me. After taking one of the twins, we entered the airport to wait for
our flight to Winter Harbor.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Aidan

She ran out of the room and I got to the
door before I realized that I was completely naked.

"Fuck!" I screamed and ran
back to the bedroom, grabbing up all of my clothes from the floor.

"W-what..?" Loreley rolled
over with her hand on her head. "Shit...my head." She groaned.

"Shut the fuck up." I leaned
over, grabbed her wrist, and yanked her up in front of me. "I don't know
what you did or how you did it, but I will kill you, Loreley! I swear to God,
if I see your face again, I will kill you! And, if I lose Lillian, you are as
good as dead!" I threw her back and stood from the bed, slipping my arms
through my shirt.

"But..." She looked down at
herself and pulled the blankets over her naked body. “What the hell
happened?" She looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Like you don't know! What the fuck
did you do to me?" I sneered.

"I didn't...I swear...Oh my god. I
heard Lilli, it was her. She was here. Was she here?" Loreley was yelling
after me as I rushed from the room.

Calling Lilli numerous times without an
answer, I called family to try to get to her. I needed to talk to her. I needed
to make her understand that I didn't do anything. Loreley had done something to
me.

I didn't have time to explain to anyone,
I had to get on the plane. The trip was so long and I paced the plane a million
times trying to remember last night. What the fuck happened? How did I end up
with Loreley?

I remembered sitting at the dinner table
eating and talking with Mr. Dourien and his son. Once they had said goodnight,
I headed to my room. I remember entering the room and pouring a drink, but then
I don't...fuck! What the hell was in that glass?

I made a few calls. I needed someone to
get to that room and take samples of everything they could find. I wanted
security footage as well.

I was at the bottom of the steps before
they had touched the tarmac. Jumping into the car, I made call after call
trying to get someone to answer. 

"Fuck!" I screamed out to the
empty car. "Drive faster!" I yelled to the driver.

I burst through the doors of the house
to find my family huddled and crying in the living room.

"Where is she?" I panted and
ran up the stairs.

"Aidan, she's gone." Liam came
following after me.

"No, she can't be! Lilli!" I
shouted and felt the tears start to stream over my cheeks. "No, no, no. 
She can't be gone!"

Liam took me in his arms and held me.

"Shhh...she left almost an hour ago."
Liam told me. "Aidan, what happened? It doesn't make sense."

"Damn right it doesn't!" Uncle
Henry barged into the room.

"Dad!" James tried to subdue
him.

Henry approached me and pulled me up
from the floor by my collar.

"What did you do? You've ruined
everything!"

"Dad!" James grabbed his hand
and pried it from my shirt.

"I didn't do anything." I
exclaimed. "I went to my room, had a drink, blacked out, and awoke to
Lilli sobbing at the sight of Loreley and me together. I didn't take her to my
room! I didn't do anything!” I cried out.

"Something is very odd—"

Liam was cut off by James pulling his
father out of the room and Aunt Anne yelling at them both.

"Aidan, sweetheart..."

"Viola...oh God, where is she? I
need to go after her."

"She didn't tell us where she was
going." She held my face. "She just packed her and the twins..."

"The kids, she took the twins away
from me." Collapsing to my knees, I held my head in my hands. Grief and
loss consumed me. "I have to find her."

"You need to find out what happened
at that hotel, Aidan." Liam looked down at me. "She isn't going to accept
that you don't know."

I sniffled and nodded.

"I've already made some calls and
asked them to go over the hotel room to see if they can find anything." I
leaned back against the bed, pulling my knees up to rest my elbows on while
holding my head.

"Come, stand up." Liam took my
arm and pulled me up to stand.

My legs gave out and I sat onto the bed.
As I sat down, a small shine caught my attention. I reached over and grasped
the cold metal. I opened my fist in front of me and fingered the two small
rings that used to grace my Lilli's finger. The rings I was determined to get
back on her hand, whatever the cost.

"She went home." I whispered.

"What?" Viola said as she sat
down next to me and put her arm around me.

"She went home...to Donald." I
was up and grabbing clothes, quickly shoving them into a bag.

"Aidan, stop." Liam stood and
held me still.

"I need to go to her!"

"You need to figure some things out
first. I think we should have you drug tested. Now, before it gets any later.
It may already be too late, I'm afraid. But, I'm not a doctor."

I nodded and sighed. Liam pulled out his
phone and called Dr. Johnson to the house. He arrived quickly.

"Do you have anything to do with
this?" I glared at him as he entered my room.

"No, Aidan, I haven't had anything
to do with any of this. Right now, I wish that I could say yes. At least then I
would be able to tell you everything and resolve this huge mess." He had
his head down. "I still cannot find my daughter. I fear that she has the
answers you seek." He sighed.

I rolled up my sleeve and stuck out my
arm.

Pulling out a needle, he drew blood. He
clipped some hair as well, and took a swab of the inside of my mouth.

"I'll go to the hospital now and
stand there as we run the lab work. I should be able to have it back to you by
tomorrow morning or early afternoon."

"Thank you." I mumbled.

I took a shower and threw myself down
into one of the large chairs in the sitting area of the bedroom, bourbon in my
hand. Staring at my phone, I dialed her number over and over again, just to
hear her voice on her voicemail message.