Chapter 85
Several heads turned my way, but George’s face lit up in excitement. “Well, look who’s here.”
“It’s good to see you too, George. But I need to see Aaron. Any idea where he is?”
The young woman looked up from where she was gently bouncing the infant. “Aaron doesn’t want to see anyone right now. But you should join us. We’re just talking.”
George chuckled. “Your boyfriend’s always been stubborn when he’s hurting. Likes to lick his wounds alone, that one. Come on, sit down and meet his sisters properly.”
“I’m Cathe,” she offered as I settled down beside her. “The fourth child in this crazy family.” The baby had stopped fussing and was now staring at the television with surprising intensity.
“And these two are Bonnie…” she pointed at the one on the left who sported luscious blonde hair. “and Diana,” Cathe pointed at the other one with identical blonde hair but only shorter. “The babies of the family, even though they’ll swear up and down they’re over eighteen now.”
George laughed again. It was obvious he loved being around his family. “And this little girl here,” he said, reaching over to tickle the baby’s foot. “Is Viki.”
Cathe leaned closer to me, and I caught her taking a subtle breath near my shoulder. Lucky immediately recognized what she was doing.
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Cathe was trying to detect my scent.
“So, how did you and Aaron meet?” she finally asked.
George asked us this same question, Lucky said.
Yes. But George is unusually nosy.
Before I could answer, Diana looked up from her phone and stared at me for a moment. “You’re not his usual type.”
Bonnie immediately elbowed her sister. “You can’t say that to people.”
Diana rubbed her ribs and shot her twin a dirty look. “What? I’m just saying she seems emotionally stable. Aaron usually dates complete psychos.”
I blinked, genuinely unsure whether I’d just been complimented or insulted. “We met at his bar,” I said finally. They didn’t need to know the gory details of our first meeting.
Bonnie’s eyebrows shot up. “Aaron owns a bar?” She turned to look at her twin, who was already rolling her eyes. “Since when does Aaron own a bar?”
Cathe burst out laughing. “Oh my God, Bonnie, you’re such an idiot. How do you not know anything about your own brother?”
“I don’t know!” Bonnie protested, her cheeks flushing pink. “I just know that he’s rich. Nobody tells me anything in this family!”
Diana nodded wisely, like she was the expert on their brother’s life. “Aaron’s good at picking women too.” Then she paused and looked directly at me. “Well, usually. You’re kind of the exception.”
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I tilted my head in confusion. What exactly did these people expect of me? Am I to act a little more unhinged to fit whatever bizarre standard they had for Aaron’s romantic partners?
My eyes drifted toward the hallway again. It was nice getting to know his family, but I needed to see Aaron.
“What Diana means,” Bonnie jumped in quickly, shooting her twin another warning look, “is that you seem really nice and normal and…”
“No, what I mean is that his last girlfriend literally keyed his car because he wouldn’t take her to some wedding. And the one before that threw a bottle at his head. And remember Melissa? She…”
“Oh God, Melissa,” Bonnie groaned, covering her face with her hands. “She was absolutely insane. Remember when she showed up at Mom’s house at like two in the morning demanding to know where Aaron was?”
At this rate, we’re not going to see Aaron at all, Lucky said. She was restless within me, itching to console him.
I have to. I can’t leave without seeing him.
“That wasn’t even the worst thing she did. What about when she…”
“Girls.” George finally called out. “Let’s not scare off our guest.”
Both sisters looked down at the carpet, though Diana muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like “but it’s true though.”
I smiled at George, but my attention was already drifting toward the staircase that led to the second floor. Amidst all this family chaos, Aaron was somewhere up there, alone with demons that were eating at
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him up inside.
Instead of being with him, I was sitting at the center of this farce, trying to figure out exactly how I fit into this equation. I’ve only been here a few minutes and I was already feeling like I might lose my mind.
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