The Billionaire's Promise (An Heir At Any Price Book 3) (3 page)

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Chapter Three

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HOLLY

Aiden and I had come to an agreement about him seeing Mark…sort of. Two days after the night that Aiden had to rush to the hospital because Mark was having a seizure, we finally had time to sit down and finish our talk.

“How’s Mark doing today,” I asked him.

“He’s great. I talked to him on the phone this morning before he left for school. He sounded good. No more fever. It’s a little scary that they never figured out where it came from though.”

“I’ve read a lot of baby books since we had Eric. They say that kids spike fevers sometimes for no reason, or reasons that no one ever figures out. I’m glad he’s okay. I hate to bring this all up again, but we never finished our talk the other night.”

“It’s okay, I know. I just want to see Mark. I’ll go along with whatever you’re comfortable with, as long as that happens.”

“Good,” I said. “I have no problems with you seeing Mark. I still don’t trust his mother. I’d like for you to work out a schedule with her where you can see him here, or take him places just you and him, or you and him and Eric and me. I’d like for him to feel comfortable here, like we’re all a family. But I can’t handle Cecile always there on the periphery.”

“I understand. I really do. I have thought a lot about how I would feel if the roles were reversed and I think you actually handled this a lot better than I would have. Just the mention of Jake’s name the other day made me furious and that all happened so long ago.”

“Thank you for that,” I told him. It was nice to know that he was thinking about it that way rather than just thinking I was being a jealous ninny.

“You don’t have to thank me, it’s the truth,” he said.

He called Cecile that afternoon and put it on speakerphone. That wasn’t at my request, but I did appreciate it. I think he just wanted me to be sure that he wasn’t hiding things any longer.

“Hi Aiden,” she said in a gooey voice.

“Hey Cecile, I need to talk to you about seeing Mark.”

“You can see him whenever you like,” she said. “Do you have me on speaker? I hear an echo.”

“Yeah, Holly’s here.”

“Oh,” she did a poor job of hiding her annoyance, but then she suddenly had her sappy voice back on as she said, “Hi Holly.”

I made a face at Aiden and he looked like he wanted to laugh. “Hi Cecile,” I said.

“So, I don’t understand, Aiden. What do you mean you need to talk to me about seeing Mark? You’ve been seeing him.”

“I want to set up a schedule with you. One that works for both of us. That way you can make plans to do things you don’t otherwise have time to do while Holly and I have Mark…”

“Whoa, what do you mean when you and Holly have him?”

“Just what I said. Cecile, Holly is my wife. I want Mark to get to know her and Eric.”

“That’s fine, but I’ll bring him over to see them. Mark doesn’t do well with strangers.”

“I’m not a stranger and soon Holly and Eric won’t be either. We don’t need you to be here every single time that we see Mark. You know I love him. We don’t need a chaperone. He will be in good hands with us,” Aiden said as I rolled my eyes.

There was a long pause and then she said, “Are you sure about that? Are you positive that he’d be in good hands there?” I stood up and threw up my hands. She was impossible.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Aiden said. “I don’t know why you would ask me that. What are you talking about?”

“I’m sorry Aiden, and you too Holly. But where my son is concerned, I would rather err on the side of safety. I’ve seen Holly with her own son. I worry that Mark wouldn’t be watched appropriately.”

I was really trying not to say anything but when she said that, I think I actually growled. I opened my mouth and I wasn’t even sure what I was going to say. It probably started with a “B” though and described Cecile. Luckily, Aiden cut me off.

“That’s the other thing, Cecile. I don’t want to hear you disparage Holly again.”

“That’s fine, be protective of your little wifey,” she said. That time it was dripping with sarcasm. Then she said, “It should make you understand even more why I’m so protective of my son. Holly’s an adult; I suppose…but he’s not.”

“So what are you saying?” Aiden asked her.

“I’m saying that if you want to see Mark, I’m his mother and you’ll have to do it my way.”

“And your way is?”

“I don’t leave my son. It’s not just with you and Holly, okay? I don’t leave him with anyone. If you want to see him, you can see him here at my house or at your apartment with me present, or places like the zoo…you know.”

Aiden sighed and he ran a hand through his hair. I could tell he was frustrated and afraid that she was on the verge of telling him that he couldn’t see Mark at all. It made me want to punch her in the face that much more.

“So no compromises?” Aiden asked her.

“Not where my son is concerned,” she said. “The fact that you would expect that from me speaks to why I would worry about not being with him all the time.”

“Oh Jesus, Cecile!”

“Listen to me, Aiden. My son and I were both abused by his own father. I have no doubts that you would never do that, and I’m sure Holly wouldn’t either,” she said. I would never do it to Mark, but I had some pretty strong fantasies about being violent towards his mother sometimes. She went on to say, “But what’s happened to us in the past has made me a little skittish I hope you can understand that.”

Aiden looked up at me then. He was holding his head like it ached and he looked like he was at a loss for what to do. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he wanted my input on this. I shrugged then and mouthed, “That’s fine, but tell her I’ll be here too.”

Aiden smiled at me and then grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. Into the phone he said, “Okay Cecile. We’ll do it your way but you have to remember that my wife and these boys are the centers of my universe. That’s not ever going to change.”

In her fake, sweet voice Cecile said, “Of course, Aiden. I would never want it to.”

AIDEN

Although Cecile hadn’t agreed to the terms that Holly had been hoping for, I think Holly at least felt better that I wasn’t hiding anything from her any longer. The whole thing was less stressful and I planned on going out of my way for all our activities to take place in public. The Saturday after that conversation, we made arrangements to meet at a park in Scarsdale. Holly and I packed a picnic basket and we packed up Eric too. It was going to be a fun family day.

It was a cool, fall day but we had Eric dressed warm. I’d brought some whiffle balls and a couple of plastic bats I’d bought for Mark. I promised to teach him how to play baseball. Cecile and Mark were already there when we arrived and Cecile had brought a picnic basket as well. Mark and I started out hitting a few balls around while Holly and Eric sat on a blanket in the grass and the baby played with his toys. Cecile had brought a lawn chair that she sat facing Mark and I and she watched us play.

After we finished that, Mark wanted to go to the playground. I asked Holly, “Do you want to bring Eric? We can swing him on our laps, I’m sure he’d love it.”

“I’d love to, but what about all of our stuff?”

I looked at Cecile and said, “You won’t mind staying with the stuff for just a bit, would you?”
She smiled and said, “Not at all, I’ll get lunch set up.” I didn’t want to seem smug, but I did give Holly a
“See, this can work,”
smile and look. She smiled back, but it wasn’t one of her strongest tries.

We had a great time on the playground, Eric loved the swings and Mark tried and re-tried all three of the big slides. Holly and I even sat with them for a while in the sandbox. Mark was great with Eric. He tried to show him how to build a sandcastle, even though all the baby was interested in was destroying it. Mark didn’t get upset at all; he would just laugh and start over. We had been gone about an hour when I happened to look over to see Cecile beckoning us back.

I looked at Holly and said, “I think Cecile wants us to come back over for lunch.”

Holly smiled tightly and said, “Oh—Joy!” It was said in her most sarcastic voice. I wasn’t taking Cecile’s side, but I was afraid we weren’t ever going to get anywhere if she refused to just give Cecile a tiny bit of credit ever.

I picked up Eric and Holly helped Mark collect his sand toys. We made it back to the picnic spot and saw that Cecile had set out everything she had brought. The only thing she’d put out from our basket was some dried apricots and a Tupperware of pureed food that Holly had brought for Eric. Holly looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

“Hey Cecile,” I said. “This all looks great, but where’s our stuff?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to bring it out and tempt Mark with all of that
junk food
.”

“What junk food?” Holly asked, in her irritated tone.

“You know, pepperoni and brioche and cheeses…and I think I saw a cheesecake in there? I don’t feed Mark things like that. I don’t want him to grow up having to worry about his body. Now is the time to start teaching them good eating habits.”

“Are you trying to say I’m not teaching my child good eating habits?” Holly asked her.

“Oh no, of course not. Besides, he’s your child, you can feed him whatever you like and you’re welcome to put whatever you want into your own body. I’m sorry if you took that offensively, I didn’t mean it like that at all.”

I wanted to believe her, but from the look on my wife’s face this arrangement might eventually be the death of me.

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Chapter Four

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HOLLY

The next couple of months were a nightmare. Cecile was showing up at every turn and she took every opportunity that she could to make it look like I was a terrible mother. Aiden still seemed blind to what she was trying to do and I just couldn’t figure it out. He was probably the smartest person I had ever known, but I guess he was proof that intelligence and emotional manipulation were two completely different things.

Perfect example number one: Aiden wanted to take Mark to see the new Lego movie when it came out. Eric had never been to the theatre, but we thought since it was a kids movie it would be fine to take him. Cecile, of course, had to go along.

We got our popcorn and drinks and found a row of seats where Aiden and I sat next to each other; Mark was next to him and Cecile on the other side. Mark and Aiden were sharing the popcorn which Aiden was holding in his lap. All was going well until Eric needed a diaper change. I took him out to the bathroom and changed him. It took a little while because there were two other women in front of me changing their children on the changing table first. When I got back, imagine my surprise to find that the seating arrangements had changed. Cecile was suddenly next to Aiden, sharing the popcorn from his lap and Mark was on the other side of her. I sat down and leaned into Aiden’s ear.

“So what happened to the seating arrangement?”

“Oh, that big guy kept moving his head and Mark was having trouble seeing,” he said.

“Hmm, sure,” I said. Aiden gave me a,
“Please don’t be that way,”
look. I just rolled my eyes. Eric was reaching for his daddy so I said, “Maybe Cecile can hold the popcorn so you can hold your son?”

Aiden handed her the popcorn and took Eric out of my lap. I had only set things up to make them worse. Cecile handed the popcorn to Mark and then proceeded to tickle and play with Eric. She even fussed over him, and when I leaned in to wipe his slobber with a receiving blanket she said, “Oh honey, that’s awfully germy.” Then she pulled out a bag of sterile baby wipes. I wanted to slug her.

That was only one incident, there were several more that day alone. She always had new material; it was almost like she was lying awake at night trying to think of ways to make Aiden think I was a horrible mother. I’m not sure that anything she did or said along those lines even fazed him, but any time I tried to talk to him about it he would act like I was just being paranoid, or worse yet, jealous. Sometimes I wanted to slug him too. Thank God for impulse control.

One Saturday morning when Aiden was off to meet them at the dinosaur museum, I decided that I’d had more than my fair share of doses of Cecile for one week. Actually, I could have gone for a year. Anyways, I packed up my baby and we went to visit my mother instead. I also needed some maternal advice.

“There’s my baby!” My mother ran out of the house and said that every time Eric and I came to see her. It was cute but it still amazed me sometimes. I was hardly used to her being a “regular” mom yet. To see her as a grandmother was both heartwarming and strange at the same time.

“Hi Mom, how are you?” I asked as she grabbed Eric and I unloaded his stuff. I didn’t have to bring much when we came to Mom’s. She’d gone and bought furniture and clothes for him and furnished an entire room in her home as a nursery.

“I’m great now,” she said, kissing Eric’s face and making him giggle. “You just have no idea how happy Nana is to see her little man. It’s been too long.” I just shook my head. It had only been a week. We had her over for dinner the week before.

Once we were inside, she put Eric in the floor with some new blocks she’d bought him and she poured us each a cup of coffee. When she brought it back she said, “Now, tell me what’s wrong. Is Cecile still up to her tricks?”

“She’s driving me crazy, Mom. I try so hard not to let her get to me, but I kid you not, she bends over backwards trying to make me look like a neglectful mother. Aiden says he doesn’t notice it, and he doesn’t come right out and tell me that I’m being jealous, or paranoid, but he gives me the impression that’s what he thinks. I can’t for the life of me figure out how such a smart man cannot figure out that he’s being manipulated.”

“Sometimes honey, our emotions and our intellect are two completely different things. Do you think Aiden still has feelings for her?”

“I really don’t, Mom. I mean, I see them together all the time and he’s not the slightest bit affectionate towards her. It’s easy to see how much he loves Mark though and I’m afraid of just how much he’s going to be willing to overlook to make sure she doesn’t take him away again.”

“But it’s putting a strain on your marriage?”

“Yeah, it is. I feel terrible about it. I tell myself that as much as he loves that boy I should be able to grin and bear it for a while. I hope that Cecile will get tired of her antics or even better, meet someone else so that she’ll be too preoccupied with a new relationship to be on our doorstep every other day.”

My mom drew her eyebrows together and frowned. Then she said, “You want some more coffee honey?”

“No, I’m still okay. What are you thinking?”

“Nothing, I was thinking about getting some more coffee.”

“Fibber, I saw you pinch your eyebrows together. You have something to say, but you don’t want to say it because you’re afraid that I’ll think you’re over-stepping. I won’t, Mom. Please, I came here for advice. I’m at a loss and I need your help.”

Mom shook her head and said, “I’m sorry, okay, I’ll say what’s on my mind, but you can take it with a grain of salt if you want to. I’m just worried that if she’s going to lie…or at least imply things that aren’t true about your parenting skills than who knows what else she would lie about?”

“Meaning?”

“Well, think about it. She had an affair with Aiden’s best friend, she lied about the paternity of the child, and now she’s telling Aiden that the same man she left him for who is the actual biological parent of the child is “abusive.” Maybe…and this is just a theory, but maybe she is bending the truth about all of that, or some of that as well. Has Aiden talked to her husband?”

“No, he won’t call him. He said there was some kind of “code” that men follow where your wives and girlfriends and ex-wives and girlfriends are off-limits. He said that what Jake did was a bigger betrayal than what Cecile did. I honestly think they were both at fault, yet he can forgive Cecile, but not Jake.”

“Maybe you should call him yourself,” Mom said.

“Jake? No, I don’t even know him. Besides, Aiden would be really upset with me if I did that.”

“Then have someone else look into her background for you.”

“Someone like whom?”

Mom laughed, “Don’t you watch television?”

“Not much,” I told her. “I have a toddler, remember?”

“Well, you want information and you’re not exactly poor…I was thinking that maybe you should hire a P.I.”

“A private investigator, really? You don’t think that’s a little over the top?”

“Look at it this way, honey…this woman is obviously after your husband, we both know that. She spends way too much time with him in my opinion, but the thing that bothers me even more is that she’s also around Eric a lot. Maybe you need to know more about this woman who seems to be constantly in your house and more and more in your son’s life.”

I was nodding, I knew she was right. I wanted to know if she was telling Aiden the truth about Jake and Mark. If she wasn’t, then Mom was right and she might just be a dangerous person to have around my family.

“Okay, I’ll do it,” I said. Mom smiled.

“Now do you want more coffee?”

“Sure,” I told her, handing her my cup. When she came back she also handed me a business card. It said,
“Blake Shelton, Private Investigations.”
I laughed, “I see that today wasn’t the first time any of this crossed your mind?”

Mom shrugged and said, “I have a lot of time on my hands and I worry about you and Eric. I don’t like the idea of some woman trying to come between you and Aiden. I even less like the idea of a woman with a “questionable past” or a “loose grasp on the truth” being around you and my grandson so much.”

“I’ll call him when I get home,” I told her.

“You should call him now,” she said. I rolled my eyes again, but I took out my phone and called the number on the card.

“Shelton Investigations,” the voice on the other end of the phone said.

“Hi, is this Mr. Shelton?”

“Yes it is.”

“Hi, my name is Holly Scott and I was looking to hire an investigator to do…I guess a background check on someone.”

“You called the right guy, Miss Scott. Let’s set up an appointment and when you tell me what it is you need, I can go over my rates and policies with you.”

“Great, thanks,” I said. “Um, I know it’s late notice, but I’m out and about today. You wouldn’t happen to have any appointments available today would you?”

“If you can get here within the hour, I’ll have time to see you.”

“Oh, okay…sure, I’ll be there, thanks.”

When I hung up, I told my mother what he said. “I’m sorry, Mom. We’ll have to take off now to make it.”

“Why don’t you go and let me spend some time with Eric. You have to come right back past here on your way home anyways.”

“That was your ulterior motive all along, wasn’t it?” I asked her. She laughed.

“Spending time with this amazing little guy is always my ulterior motive.”

I left Eric in good hands and went to see my first, and hopefully only, private investigator.