Tempted (A Player Brother Romance Book) (A Standalone Novel) (Player Brothers Book 1) (22 page)

"It was right there,” I insisted, pointing to the
top of the garbage can. "It was right on top. I just saw it there."

He turned around and stormed out of the kitchen
pulling his shirt on roughly. I followed him to the living room trying to get a
gauge on his reaction. Clearly he was upset.

"Aiden,” I said, softening my tone. "I'm not
accusing you of anything. I just want to know what is going on. I'm just
worried. That's all."

I approached him as he had his back to me and tried to
put my hands on his back, trying to regain some of the intimacy we had just
shared a few moments ago. He flinched as I touched him and he crossed the
living room to his shoes.

"I think I should take you home,” he said without
looking at me.

"Aiden,” I said. "Talk to me, please."

"There's nothing to talk about!" he
exploded. I took a step back at his reaction. "Get your things. I'm taking
you home."

I stood for another moment, helpless and utterly at a
loss as to what to do next.

"Aiden," I said. "I'm confused. Help me
understand. If you want an actual relationship, then we should be able to talk
about these things. We have to be able to communicate, even about the
unpleasant stuff..."

The look in his eyes as he turned to me took my breath
away. He stood and walked towards me across the living room, staring me down
with his fingers flexing at his side.

"
Now
you want a relationship?" he
demanded, not at all the way I had imagined this conversation would go. Before
I could reply he continued his voice rising in volume with each word.
"What about professionalism! What about your career! Or how about, you
know... basic privacy!"

"I wasn't trying to invade your privacy!" I
said before he could get any further.

"Could have fooled me!" he shouted.

"I'm telling you I saw it lying on top of the
garbage can when I threw away the banana peel!"

"So you've helped yourself to my food too!
Anything else you'd like to go through? How about the cabinets in my bathroom!
Or did you do that already!"

"Aiden, calm down!" I said. "I was
waiting for you to get out of the shower to tell you my decision! I just saw it
there, Aiden. I should have left it there, but I didn't! Now that I have found
out, I just want to know what is going on with you!"

"What makes you think anything is going on! How
do you know it is even mine?" he asked.

"Who else would it belong to?" I said. I felt
as if his reaction was a little bit over the top. This didn’t seem like that
big of a deal, unless there was something else going on that I didn’t know
about. "Aiden! I just want to know what's going on! Besides, if you’re on
some kind of medication maybe this is something the law firm should know
about!"

As soon as the words were out of my mouth I knew I had
made a mistake. I hadn’t meant for it to sound like a threat. I flung my hand
over my mouth, as if to push the words back in, as if to take back the moment.

The silence hung between us like a chasm.

He looked at me, his eyes filled with anger and
disappointment. I could see the vein in his forehead pulse as redness crept
into his cheeks. We stood this way, frozen in the moment, eyes locked each other
waiting for the other to give.

I finally dropped my eyes to the floor. I shuffled my
bare feet, suddenly aware that I only wore his shirt. It covered me like a
dress hanging halfway to my knees, but I felt very naked and vulnerable.

Here we were.

After weeks of pushing him away, I had finally decided
I wanted to be with him, and I had messed things up before they even had a
chance to get started. On the other hand I felt as if the man before me was one
I had never met before. Sure we had had arguments over the course of our
friendship, but nothing like this. I didn’t know what to do.
  

"Aiden," I stammered. "I didn't
mean..."

"I know what you meant," he said.

He walked over to the pile of clothes and picked up my
dress and bikini. He walked over to me and extending his arm glaring at me the
whole time. I slowly took my clothes out of his hands and started down the
hallway towards the bathroom to change.

I looked down at the crumpled garments in my hands.
Hang on, I thought. This is not how this is supposed to go. I slipped into the
bathroom and quickly changed back into my clothes. When I returned to the
living room, he stood by the door with his car keys in his hands waiting for
me.

"Aiden," I began. "Believe what you
want, but I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I would never threaten
you."

He stood there, feet slightly apart, arms crossed,
glaring at me.

"I didn't mean it the way it sounded, I swear. I
just... I wouldn't, Aiden. You know that. For a moment I actually kind of
forgot that there was a competition going on between us,"

He cast his eyes down and I moved forward trying to
put my arms around his shoulders. He shrugged me off and stepped away, avoiding
my eyes. He spoke in a quiet tone, and sounded almost defeated.

"Do whatever you feel you have to do,” he said.
"If it ruins me and that is how you win, you will have to live with
that."

I took a breath to begin to speak, but Aiden turned to
look at me. The emotion in his eyes, while undefinable, struck me silent.

"But at least you'll have your job, so at that
point, what does it matter?" Without another word, he stepped out the door
and stalked to his car.

I had no other choice but to pick up the rest of my
things and follow him out. I felt helpless as I climbed into the passenger side.
I wanted to take back everything that had happened in the last ten minutes. The
day had been so perfect, and I chided myself for bringing it up.

My worry for him was sincere. I just wished there was
some way that I could convince him of that.

The ride home felt about as awkward as I would have
expected. He didn’t speak until we pulled into my parking lot. I turned to him
one last time, pleading with my eyes, unable to think of the right thing to
say. But as I opened the door to get out I felt his hand on my wrist, pulling
me back in with a gentle grasp.

"Blair wait,” he said. I sat back down and closed
the car door, waiting to hear what he had to say. He took a deep breath and
rubbed his hands over his face before he began. "Blair, I'm sorry I reacted
that way. Of course I know that you would never threaten me like that. I know
that. I just.... I guess I was a little bit ashamed that you had seen them. I
don't want you to think that of me. Just, don't tell anyone about it okay? It
would end my career."

"Of course I won't, Aiden,” I said. I still felt
hurt at his accusation, but I wanted to find a way to tell him that I would
never cross that line.

"I want you to know..." He took another
breath before
he
continued, "I started taking
them years ago, when I first started law school. I mean, I have been able to go
through times when I haven't used them at all, but sometimes when things get
hectic, I just need something to help me focus, to concentrate a little better.
Going up for this job, seeing you... I mean there's been a lot going on, you
have to admit. But then..."

"Then what?" I said when he paused, pressing
him to continue.

"Well, the point is that I'm not using them to
alter my state of mind or to get messed up or anything like that. I've never been
able to not function normally. It just helps me focus. That's all. But then
lately, I discovered that I didn't even need them anymore, even with the stress
of the case. I flushed what I had and threw the bottle away."

"Oh Aiden,” I whispered. I knew it had taken a
lot for him to tell me all of that.

"But I know that... I can't. I mean, I don't
think it's safe to just stop cold turkey."

"I think you've been abusing them, Aiden,” I said.
I wanted to say so much more, but I remained hesitant, at least for now.

"I haven't been,” he said, turning to face me at
last, looking into my eyes for the first time since I had confronted him with
the bottle back in the kitchen.

I wanted to remain patient, but his refusal to admit
his problem began to raise my ire once more.

"Aiden, how have you been getting them?" I
asked.

"One of my old roommates is a doctor. He writes
the prescriptions for me."

"So you don't have ADHD and you aren't taking
them to be treated for anything medical. That means you could be addicted.
You're going to need help to get completely away from them,” I softened my
voice. "Aiden, you should have told me. I want to be able to help you with
this."

"Yeah." He dropped his eyes looking a bit
defeated once more. "Yeah, you're right. Can we get through this case
first?"

"Of course,” I said.

"And you won't say anything about it to the
lawyers? Or anyone else?"

"No Aiden. I promise, I won't."

"Again, I'm sorry I blew up at you,” he said.
"I never should have acted that way. It's just... It's
you
. I was fucking
afraid. That's all."

"I get it,” I said with a small smile. "I'll
see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay,” he said.

He leaned forward to kiss me, but I turned my head at
the last second. His attempt at affection landed on the edge of my cheek. Without
another word I exited the car and trotted up the stairs to my apartment without
looking back.

Chapter
Ten

The following Monday in court went just as well as our
first, if not better. Aiden and I worked well together, feeding off of the
other's energy. Once we got into the proceedings, I barely thought about our
argument.

As the case progressed, it became more apparent to me
that the prosecution hadn’t put much energy into building much of a case,
outside of the fact that Darius Shaw was standing over the body when the police
arrived. They didn’t take into account the thoroughness of our evidence and how
we had put it together. They didn’t realize that we had more information that
we had become privy to through the thorough collection of evidence done by the
detectives on the case.

We had found and recognized the key piece of evidence
that we believed would prove without a doubt our client's innocence. Regardless
of how well we present the case, though the final determination would come from
the jury.

The prosecution had Darius on the stand when they made
a fatal mistake in their questioning. The other lawyer paced the courtroom as
he asked questions, his hands locked behind his back in an almost military
pose.

"Mr. Shaw," he began. "Can you tell the
jury where you were the night of your wife's murder?"

"Of course," he said. I watched our client
with some nervousness. We had already discovered that he was a soft spoken man.
I only worried that his natural nervousness would be perceived as having
something to hide. "I was at home watching television."

"Can you explain to the courtroom how you came to
be at your wife's home standing over her dead body?"

"Objection!" Aiden said.

"Sustained," the judge muttered.
"Rephrase the question please."

"Very well." The lawyer adjusted his pacing
to make a pass by our table, giving Aiden a plaintive glance. "Mr. Shaw,
can you explain to the court under what manner you arrived at her home."

Darius Shaw glanced towards us before answering, his
eyes wide and trembling. I nodded and smiled in encouragement. We had tried to
keep him in the loop, but naturally had only given him the information that he
needed. For the case to move forward in the correct fashion we needed him to
speak as much from memory as possible.

He began, "Well I was watching T.V. when Rita
called me. I almost didn't answer when I saw it was her."

"Please," the judge interjected. "Just
try to stick to the events as they happened."

"Yes sir,” he said, glancing over at him. "I
answered the phone, and she said she needed me to come over."

"Did she give a reason for calling? For wanting
you to come over?" The lawyer asked.

"Yes, sir. She did."

"And what was that reason?"

"Well..." I could tell that Darius was
reluctant to say. The lawyer gestured for him to continue.

"I understand that it may be sensitive
information," the judge interjected. "But for the purposes of the
case, you do need to answer the questions."

"We had been separated for a while, and she
wanted me to come over to see her. She told me she was lonely, that it didn't
change anything but that she was lonely."

"So," the lawyer said. "Are you
insinuating that she wanted to have sexual relations? Is that correct?"

"That is correct,” Darius said.

"What happened when you arrived at her
home?"