Chapter Thirty-Four
Justin arrived with Isaiah and Drew in tow. Isaiah obviously hadn’t moved past the t-shirts he’d become fond of during his period of insanity. The one he was wearing read, I’m immortal. I’m bored. Let’s party. Thankfully, he’d moved from sweatpants and bare feet to jeans and running shoes.
Drew’s hair was neatly combed, meaning he hadn’t had time to style it for Tempest. Aiden was glad Drew was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt with his jeans. Drew was far too enamored of Tempest, and Aiden might have lost his temper had Drew shown up without a shirt again.
Justin’s casual attire of jeans and a navy blue turtleneck reminded Aiden it was his first day of a new semester at school. He was carrying what looked like a large suitcase, and he appeared just as annoyed as always.
Drew was about to rush straight to Tempest’s side when he spotted Sofia. “Grandmama!” Drew was the only person in the family who didn’t call her Sofia. That was most likely because he was her favorite.
“Andrew!” she exclaimed as she walked over to give him a hug. “It’s nice to see you. You’re always such a sweet boy. What have you been up to, you little scamp?”
There was a collective eye roll in the room.
“I’ve decided to start writing romance novels.” Stunned silence followed his announcement.
“You’re far too young to start a job,” Sofia assured him.
“I want to become a big success so I can get married,” he explained, his gaze shifting to Tempest.
“Absolutely not!” Sofia told him. “You’re barely old enough to date, and certainly not old enough for marriage talk.”
Drew pouted.
Isaiah went to hug Ivy. “Hello, Cousin.”
She hugged him back. “You look better.”
Justin obviously wasn’t in the mood for socializing. “Everyone out so I can examine Tempest.” He pointed at Aiden and added, “You can stay.”
Everyone filed out of the room. Drew looked like he wanted to argue, but Sofia tugged him along behind her.
“So,” Justin began with a ghost of a smile, “Caitlin says to tell you she really wanted to come, but I’m too much a prick to get her out of classes.”
Tempest laughed weakly. The energy Roman had given her was wearing off, which meant she’d been given some pretty powerful drugs.
“Ouch,” Aiden added. “I guess she won’t be spreading her legs for you today.”
Tempest glared at him. “Could you be any more crude?”
“Yep, and the fact that you asked makes me worry you might have a head injury,” he replied with a wink.
The large suitcase turned out to be Justin’s medical bag, and it zipped out to reveal several pockets. Tempest examined it closely. “That’s really nice. Where did you get it?”
“I had it made for me. I’ll get you one,” Justin told her as he pulled out what he needed from the bag. He looked irritated as he started to examine her. Aiden had come to realize the annoyed look could mean many things with Justin. In this case, it meant he was focused on what he was doing. Aiden had to admit, despite his deplorable bedside manner, Justin was a good doctor.
“Do you know what type of drugs you were given?” Justin asked.
Tempest shook her head. “Ivy can call our contact at the police department to find out what he had in the room.”
Justin walked to the door and called out, “Ivy, find out what kind of drugs she was given from your police friend.” He came back in without waiting for a reply.
He continued his examination in relative silence. Occasionally, he would ask a question. Tempest added her own opinion that she just needed to rest, and he eventually agreed.
Aiden had moved away from Tempest during the exam. When Justin finished, he stayed in his seat at the opposite end of the room instead of returning to her side.
“As I already mentioned, Caitlin was really mad when I refused to get her out of class to come see you, so please call her later to let her know you’re okay. She’s probably not speaking to me.”
Tempest smiled. “I’ll call her and see if I can smooth things over some for you.”
“I won’t hold my breath, but thanks for trying,” Justin said.
“Can you get everyone to stay out of the room for a little while so I can talk to Aiden alone?” she asked.
“I’ll do my best, but I might have to kill Drew,” he replied deadpan.
“You should kill him just to be on the safe side,” Aiden suggested, trying to keep his tone light despite his uncertainty about being alone with Tempest. He was still angry and hurt. He also had no idea if she’d turn her back on him again. He wasn’t sure she’d have ever called him if she hadn’t been in trouble. He’d been the one she contacted because she had no other options.
The room was ominously silent after Justin pulled the door closed behind him. They could hear the faint hum of voices outside the door. The grandfather clock ticked loudly in the background. Tempest had said she wanted to talk, but she wasn’t saying anything.
Aiden let out a frustrated breath and stood up. “Look,” he began, “you don’t have to say anything. I get it. You wanted to leave, and you did. You called me because you were in danger and had no one else you could contact mentally. I know you weren’t contacting me because you wanted me back in your life.”
“Aiden, I-.”
He cut her off and paced back and forth angrily. “Don’t bother trying to say something to make me feel better. Like I said before, I’m not going to force you to be in my life, but I think you’re making a huge mistake. What you do is important. and it’s actually one of the reasons I love you. I would never want you to give up your work. If you let me, I would help you in any way I could. Hell, it’s not like we were going to move in together right away, so why did we have to find a solution to living arrangements or stop seeing each other? And another thing, how could you sneak out in the middle of the night? Do you have any idea how that made me feel?”
When Aiden spun to look at Tempest she was crying.
“Damn it! Would you please stop crying? I really hate it when you do that.” He scooped her up in his arms. He settled back down on the sofa with her in his lap. “Let’s talk about all this later. You’re recovering from a trauma and you need rest. I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
“No!” she insisted. “I’m the one who should be sorry. I shouldn’t have left you. It was selfish. If it helps, I’d decided to go find you and work things out just before Brian shot me with the tranquilizer gun.”
“Really?” Aiden asked with a cocky grin.
“I was thinking we could build a small house close to the center so I’d be available for emergencies,” she explained. “Something with three bedrooms and a home office for you would be nice. There’s plenty of open space on the property.”
He hugged her tighter. “That sounds perfect. We have time. I can find a place to rent, and we can date for a little while. Maybe we should follow Justin’s example and start using condoms. Why not spend a little time getting to know each other better before we have a baby?”
“I could already be pregnant,” she pointed out, placing a hand on her belly.
Aiden grinned. “I guess we’d better start on that house soon. Do you want to get married now? I suppose I should have asked before I proclaimed we’d date.”
“Was that your idea of a proposal?”
“Proposal? Nah, I figured I’d drain you and kidnap you,” he told her. “It’s kind of my thing.”
She smacked him lightly on his bare chest. “Let’s hold off on the marriage thing.”
“Are you telling me you aren’t ready to commit?” he asked.
“No, but I think it will drive Roman crazy, and he needs more people in his life who aren’t afraid of him.”
“I feel a little bad for my uncle,” Aiden admitted.
“Why?” she asked.
“He’s just learned he really lost Claudia. I guess I never really thought about why he’s the way he is
. He really loved her and for a short time, he thought she might still be alive. He also recently lost his only son. Now, he’s here alone. I know he has Sofia visiting, but they aren’t exactly close. I know what it’s like to feel lonely.”
She gave a weak laugh. “I wouldn’t worry too much about my grandfather’s love life. Something tells me he’s not living in this house alone.”
“Why would you think that?”
“Does my grandfather often polish his toenails?” she asked.
“What?” He shook his head in confusion. “Why would you ask me something like that?”
“He has pink nail polish on his pants, so either he was polishing his own toenails or there is someone upstairs with pretty pink nails. It’s strange that no one is allowed up there. What did Roman mean about Justin checking on the other patient when he was here? That’s what I heard when he was talking to Justin at the warehouse.”
Aiden laughed. “Okay, so my uncle may have a guest upstairs.”
They were both silent for a short time. “Thank you,” Tempest breathed out.
“For what?” he asked.
“For following me into that alley,” she explained.
He chuckled. “I never thought I’d be grateful for a serious head injury. I love you, little witch.”
“I love you, too,” she replied as she drifted off to sleep.