The Bachelor's Promise (Bachelor Auction) (19 page)

She was falling in love with a man who would never trust her. Might even resent her one day.

Before he came to hate her.

Chapter Sixteen

Aiden stepped out into the chilly night, the last of Monday’s evening traffic rush providing a cacophonous symphony. The stress from the workday melted off of him as his car and driver pulled up to the curb. Tonight, his schedule was free of business dinners or late meetings. Just Noelle. Earlier he’d called her at the gallery to invite her to dinner.

His fingers tightened around the handle of his briefcase. An image of how he’d last seen Noelle drifted across his vision. Her arms tucked under her pillow, her bare, slender back taunting him like a flag taunts a bull. The vivid colors enticed him to trace every line with his fingers and tongue. He’d almost surrendered to the temptation.

Almost.

Only the knowledge that he might already be in too deep kept him from sliding back under the covers and curling his body around hers.

Saturday night had crossed a line. He’d admitted the entire truth about Peyton and the baby to her—a truth he’d never revealed to anyone. Not even Lucas, his closest friend. Anger, pain, and humiliation had locked it up inside him. But for some reason, he’d shared it with Noelle.

That scared the shit out of him.

“Mr. Kent.”

Aiden turned around and came face-to-face with James Wilson, owner of Wilson Investigations. The private investigator was persistent, Aiden would give him that.

“Mr. Wilson,” Aiden greeted him, nodding at his driver as he stepped out of the car. “I thought I made myself clear Saturday night that I would no longer need your services.”

“I understand, Mr. Kent,” James said, inclining his head. “But you originally paid us for surveillance, and I couldn’t let it drop.” He extended a manila envelope toward Aiden. “I personally took these earlier today.”

Aiden stared at the folder, unease and dread dropping into his stomach like a lead weight. He didn’t want to accept it, but seemingly of its own volition, his hand reached for the envelope. Numb, he opened the flap and drew out several black-and-white photographs.

Noelle.

And Tony.

Brother and sister hugging. Talking.

Noelle handing Tony money.

The blast of anger and betrayal shook him, followed by pain that radiated throughout his body. The photos were time-stamped one fifteen p.m. It was now after six. When they’d spoken several hours ago, Noelle hadn’t mentioned her brother being in Boston, her seeing him, or her giving him money. Why?

Lies.

Lies had almost destroyed him at one time, and he had zero tolerance for them. Especially when they involved Tony Rana.

He shoved down the pain, instead cultivating and concentrating on the anger. He’d been taught the price of trusting a woman so quickly, of confusing passion and lust with…

Not love. Even he couldn’t be that stupid again. Could he? From the size of the hole in his chest, he wasn’t so sure.

“Thank you, Mr. Wilson,” he said, his voice flat and hard in his own ears. “Your invoice was paid this morning. End the surveillance. Now. I no longer need your services,” he repeated his words from Saturday night.

The other man nodded his salt-and-pepper head. “Yes, sir.”

A chill invaded Aiden’s chest as his driver opened the rear door of the town car, and he ducked inside. The deep freeze spread as they traveled across town toward his home.

Toward the second woman to betray him.

…

Shivering inside her coat, Noelle hurried up the walk to Aiden’s apartment building. Seven o’clock. She’d left the gallery a little later than she’d intended, but if she pushed it, she could change and be on time for dinner. With Aiden. A small and, what she freely admitted, silly smile curved her lips. The giddy delight that had bubbled inside her at Aiden’s invitation tickled her now. An actual date. Saturday night didn’t count, as Sydney had invited her, but tonight… For the past four hours, she’d been trying to convince herself not to read too much into a simple dinner. She still stayed with him, and they both had to eat.

But as of this afternoon, their living together could come to an end. Her apartment would be ready on Thursday. She could move out of Aiden’s apartment—and his life—by the end of the week. They could go on with their lives and pretend their…connection had never happened. She could continue working at the gallery, start grad school in January, and forget that Aiden Kent had ever reentered her life and changed it. Changed her.

She could try to ignore the fact that she’d fallen in love with Aiden.

God, she’d tried to avoid it. Tried to deny it. But the moment he slipped his mother’s earrings into her ears, her heart had begun its treacherous slide toward Damned-to-Love-the-Most-Unattainable-Man-Ever-ville.

No person—man, woman, relative—had ever made her feel…worthy. He’d done more than give her Caroline’s jewelry in that moment. He’d said without words that she belonged, was accepted. And for that gift, she’d tumbled head over ass in love with him.

Maybe…
She clung to that “maybe” with all the desperate hope of a schoolgirl with a crush on the popular captain of the football team. Yes, their past loomed between them like a minefield riddled with holes and IEDs. But they also had a tenuous friendship, an even more fragile trust, and an overwhelming passion that connected them. Relationships had been founded on shakier, smaller ground.

Sighing, she grabbed the door handle.

“Ellie!” a voice called behind her.

She squeezed her eyes shut, her heart thumping hard before sinking.
God, no
. But when she turned around, her brother stood on the curb, a wide grin stretching his mouth. She stumbled back, her hand lifting to her neck. What was Tony doing here? At Aiden’s home?

“Tony,” she whispered, striding forward. Panic streaked through her as she glanced behind her. Aiden would arrive any moment, if he hadn’t already. She had yet to tell him about Tony’s presence in Boston. She intended to let him know, but damn it, he couldn’t find out like this. “What the hell are you doing here?” she demanded. “I gave you all the money I had on me for a hotel room. I don’t have any more to give you.”

Tony had called her that morning out of the blue, announcing he’d just arrived in Boston. He’d come by the gallery, broke of course, because he’d used the last of his money for the bus. So she’d given him money she really couldn’t spare for a hotel room. But apparently that wasn’t enough. Not for her brother.

“Whoa, sis,” he said, holding his hands up, palms out. “Relax. I know. I’m not here to ask you for more money.”

“Then why are you here?” she hissed. “How did you even know where I was staying?”

“I followed you from the gallery.” He shrugged, then let out a low whistle. “This is where you’re staying? Your roommate must be rich as hell. And you led me to believe you were in a hole.” He arched an eyebrow. “You’ve been keeping secrets, Ellie.”

“Damn it, Tony,” she growled. “This isn’t my place, and you had no right to follow me. Hell, you shouldn’t be here in Boston with no plans, no job, no place to stay. You can’t keep doing this shit—”

“I already told you, it’s temporary. If you can start over, so can I. And a change of scenery is probably what I need,” he said, cupping her shoulders and smiling down at her. She didn’t trust that smile. Never had. It predicted trouble for whoever was on the receiving end. “But it occurred to me that I should save up the money you gave me. Why waste it on a hotel room when I can just crash with you for a couple of nights—”

“No,” she snapped, stepping back out of his grasp. His hands fell to his sides, his smile morphing into a confused frown. Her throat started to close up, as if a noose tightened around her neck. She recognized it. Helplessness. Powerlessness. The claustrophobia of obligation and duty.

“C’mon, Ellie,” Tony whined. “Don’t be like that. It won’t be for long. Just until I get myself set up.”

Jesus Christ
. He’d come here, expecting to entrap her in the same prison she’d run from in Chicago. “No, Tony…”

“What the hell are you doing here?” came a smooth, deep,
furious
voice from behind her.

She didn’t need to glance over her shoulder to identify who’d spoken. Her eyes closed, and fear coalesced and swirled inside her chest. Fear for Aiden if he lost control. Fear for Tony’s safety. Fear of the hatred she would spy in Aiden’s gaze.

Tony’s eyes widened before narrowing to angry slits. “None of your business,” he snarled. “I’m here to see my sister, not that it has fuck all to do with you. What, you own all of Boston now?” he sneered.

Reckless. Her brother had always been reckless and overconfident. And so unaware of how close to danger he stood.

“Don’t you mean you’re here to
use
your sister?” Aiden asked, and Noelle shivered at the low, menacing tone. “You’ve already hit her up for money because that’s what you do, right, Tony? You use people, exploit them. Like father, like son.”

Both she and Tony flinched, the pain of Aiden’s jab striking the sore, still grieving heart of her.
Like father, like son…like daughter?
God, that hurt.

Then his words penetrated the hurt.
You’ve already hit her up for money…
How had he known?

“You son of a bitch.” Tony surged forward, sandwiching Noelle between him and Aiden. “You don’t mention my father. You got an issue with me, then take it up with me. But we both know how the last time turned out, don’t we?” A smug, taunting smile curled his mouth, spite gleaming from the blue eyes he shared with Noelle.

Big, strong hands clasped her shoulders and gently but firmly shifted her out of the way. “Noelle, go upstairs,” Aiden said.

The dark tone sent a shaft of pure fear arrowing through her. “No!” She grabbed Aiden’s arm, preventing him from moving toward her brother. Either he stopped or he’d drag her along with him. “Go,” she ordered Tony. “Now.”

Tony glanced down at her before quickly returning his attention to Aiden. “Noelle, do—”

“I don’t want to hear it,” she almost shouted at him. “Tony, I love you. But you shouldn’t have come here, much less to Boston. You intend for me to support you like Dad, like Charlene, like the other women. I can’t, Tony. Not anymore, and not again. You have to grow up, to stand on your own feet and not depend on mine. All we’ve done is hurt you by not allowing you to be a man.”

Shock wiped the arrogance from his face, confusion and then anger following on its heels. “Ellie, you can’t mean it. I’m your brother. You’re choosing him”—he jabbed a finger at Aiden—“over me? Your own blood?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I’m choosing me. And doing what’s best for you. Good-bye, Tony.” Stepping back, she stared at her brother. And maybe he saw the resolve that hardened inside her in her expression, because his face twisted into a grimace of rage and pain.

“Fine,” he snapped. “Dad’s gone, and now I don’t have a sister either.”

She’d expected his reaction—had even braced herself for it. But it seemed she’d been inadequately prepared. The blow from his words sent her reeling, the pain blooming across her chest as if the verbal punch had landed directly over her heart. Tears burned her eyes as she watched her brother stalk off. Part of her wanted to run after him, apologize, and ask for his forgiveness. That was the little sister who’d always adored her charming, funny big brother. But the woman understood that what she’d just done was the best for her and for him. She’d enabled him—they’d enabled each other—for too long.

Aiden cupped her elbow, and, still numb with hurt, she followed him into the building. The elevator ride and walk to his apartment rang with silence. Not that the silence was quiet. No, it echoed with accusations, regret, and recriminations, hummed with tension.

I’m so damn tired
. Weary, she pinched and massaged her forehead. How could a day that started out so promising, so full of light and hope, end so darkly? She felt a hole the size of a fist in her chest, and the cold emanating from Aiden would probably make the hole grow to the size of a crater before they were through with each other.

She entered the apartment ahead of him but didn’t go any farther than the foyer. Instead, she turned and, tipping up her chin, faced him. As he stared at her, she couldn’t compare the shuttered, aloof man to the lover who had made such passionate love to her just this morning.

There she went again.
Made love.
He hadn’t been, but God, she had given him her heart, her soul, everything. Even if he didn’t know it.

Even if he didn’t want it.

“Were you going to tell me?” he finally asked, studying her with his penetrating gaze. “About Tony being in Boston. About giving him money.”

“The fact that you have to ask tells me where this is going,” she said, sadness a heavy stone in her stomach. Cocking her head, she posed the question that had been niggling at her since the confrontation with Tony. “You mentioned the money downstairs. How did you know?”

A muscle ticked along his clenched jaw, his wide, sensual mouth firming into a straight line. “I hired a private investigator when you first arrived in Boston.”

“You had me followed?” she demanded. A sound somewhere between a gasp and a serrated burst of laughter escaped her. “Were you that afraid I would swindle you? Were you that intent on finding dirt to send me packing?”

“I hired him the morning after the auction,” Aiden bit out. “And I also told him to end the surveillance, but he didn’t listen. He came to me this evening when I left work and gave me pictures of you and Tony.”

“And, of course, you jumped to the conclusion that all along I’ve lied and intended to bring Tony here? Support him? Set him up right in your backyard without telling you?”

“Honesty, I don’t know what I thought,” he admitted, frustration evident in his rough voice. He thrust a hand through his hair, tousling it. “I wanted—want—to believe you would’ve been truthful…”

“But something in you can’t quite make that leap. That leap called faith.” Shaking her head, she shifted backward, crossing her arms over her chest. Protecting her heart from any more pain. “You’ll never trust me or believe in me. And at first, I thought it was because of whose daughter and sister I am. Yes, they do have something to do with it. My family has cost you, and I’m so sorry for that. But I’m not them. I was a child who had less power than you did at the time.”