Passing His Guard

She grew still beneath him. He could feel the tension edging back into her.

Still he pressed her. “Rya

When her gaze reco

“Aiden, I have something to tell you.”

He thought so . . . “What is it, Rya

“Can I get up, please?”

Aiden rolled to the side and raised his arm, allowing her to rise. He sat as she crawled across the bed to the nightstand, grabbed something, and then came back over to him. “When Henry died, I was holding his hand and this was in it.” She opened her palm and presented him with the flash drive. “I didn’t tell you because I wanted to see what was on it first, if what was on this stick was worth dying for.”

He ignored the fact that she’d essentially lied to him for the last ten hours. How easy would it be to let those seeds of doubt begin to take root? If she’d keep something as important as this from him, what else could she be hiding from him? “And is it?” Aiden asked, mindful of his tone and careful to guard his expression.

She nodded.

“What’s on the stick, Rya

“Moralli’s hit list.”

“Fuuuck . . .” Aiden roughly dragged his hands though his hair, locking his eyes on her. “Are you sure?”

Rya

“Rya

So why was she looking at him like his favorite dog just died?

“That’s not all that’s on this stick, Aiden.”

The knot of dread fisting in his gut tightened, making him want to puke, though he wouldn’t let it prevent him from asking the question he feared would derail his life, confirming the thoughts that had already been knocking around in his head for the last couple of days. “Why . . . ?”

She hesitated, and for a moment, he thought she wasn’t going to tell him. “Before he died, my dad was investigating your dad. It’s all in here—his co

Rya

Either way, Rya

“Here.” Rya

Aiden frowned. Again, not the reaction she was expecting. “Why are you giving this to me, Rya

“Because what’s on this stick could destroy your family, and I don’t want to be responsible for that, Aiden. I love you too much to let that come between us. And you might not think that it would, but blood is thicker than water, and I know what it’s like to have a father taken from you. I won’t be the one to do that to you—even if it means Moralli goes free. Whatever you decide to do with the information is up to you. It’s yours now.”

When she placed the flash drive in his hand, a surprising amount of peace came over her. The closure she felt in knowing the truth was an unexpected burden lifted from her shoulders. She honestly had no idea what Aiden was going to do with the condemning evidence, but she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that whatever he decided, she would support him. She wouldn’t sacrifice her future for her past.

CHAPTER

39

Aiden stormed into his father’s office and slammed the door, the wall-rattling bang resonating throughout the entire fourth floor. His father looked up from the pile of papers on his desk. The placid expression on the man’s face fueled Aiden’s fire.

“Aiden, what a surprise.”

He strode over to the chair across from his father’s desk and plopped down.

“Please, have a seat,” his father grumbled, droll sarcasm thick on his tongue. “I assume this impromptu visit is not for pleasure, so it must be business. What do you want?”

“How about the truth? Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”

His father exhaled an impatient sigh and slammed his pen on the desk with a sharp rap. “And what injustice, pray tell, have I wrought upon you this time?”

“Cut the shit, Dad. I know . . .”

His father let out a derisive snort, full of contempt. “You don’t know anything,” he growled.

“I know you had Rya

His expression was completely unreadable, except for the fury sparking in his slate-gray eyes. The seconds ticked by as they sat there in a wordless standoff. After a moment that felt eternal, his father’s top lip curled into a sneer. “What you know and what you can prove are two different things. I thought you were a lawyer. You should know that.”

So the arrogant bastard wasn’t even going to try to deny it. This man actually thought himself so far above the law that he could sit here in this office and admit to murder. Aiden’s stomach twisted, and he realized a part of him had been hanging on to the slim hope that he was wrong. He’d been struggling with this for days. Guilt had him avoiding Rya

Aiden wasn’t sure how much longer he could do it. He’d been avoiding Rya

The what-ifs haunted him, robbing him of sleep at night and torturing him mercilessly during the day. When at home, Aiden sequestered himself in the gym, claiming he needed to train to justify his distance. It was the truth—sort of—but even Nikko was starting to ask questions, pointing out that he hadn’t even trained this hard for his fight with Mallenger. His next fight was in two days. With any luck, this problem with Moralli and his father would be over before then, but if not, he needed to be prepared to step into that cage and win.