Passing His Guard

CHAPTER

42

After denying Aiden’s request that Rya

She hadn’t been ready to see him yet. Everything was too jumbled in her head. She had too many questions to sort out and doubts to work through. She could close her eyes and still see Aiden’s bold, unwavering stare and the hard-core determination he displayed whenever he stepped into the cage to fight. It was a trait she admired in him—until that look had been turned on her last night.

He’d met her stare head-on—challenging and belligerent—but where was the guilt, the remorse for his betrayal? Hearing the truth from his lips, admitting he knew his father was responsible for her father’s death, was a blow she hadn’t been prepared for. His voice had been hard as steel and just as unbending. It hurt far worse than she’d ever imagined.

Even now, she fought against the ache in her heart as she remembered the accusations she hurled at him and his furious, indignant response. But he hadn’t come out and denied any of it. He’d lawyered her, twisting her words around by asking her how she could believe such a thing. How had it all gone so wrong? Just when they were never closer to seeing Moralli and his father brought to justice, they were never closer to losing each other.

The rest of the night had dragged on. With the passing of each hour, more doubts infiltrated her mind. Her discovery of the truth had been such a shock that doubt and suspicions had been swiftly ushered in right on its heels. If she’d had more time to process everything before seeing Aiden, had the time to reason through her thoughts and suspicions, she could see there was a very real possibility that she was wrong. And then again maybe she wasn’t, but she at least owed Aiden the opportunity to explain himself. She sure as hell wanted one for the strip club. But other than that, she had to admit that much of her assumptions had been based on circumstantial evidence, and just because it made sense to her didn’t necessarily make it true. Maybe if they could just sit down and talk things through, they would find a common ground. Last night she hadn’t been ready to do that, but this morning, she was ready to face him—to hear what he had to say.

She unlocked the bedroom door and slowly opened it, listening for voices but hearing only silence. Stepping out into the hallway, her bare feet padded against the cold marble as she went in search of Aiden. She checked the gym first, but it was empty. Turning back, she headed to the living room. A twinge of guilt pierced her heart at the sight of the wadded-up blanket and pillow lying on the vacant couch. She checked the dining room—empty. Her last stop was the kitchen. When she walked in and found the fridge door open, she breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn’t too late. She could hear someone rustling around on the other side of it. Her pulse quickened with anxiety. She wasn’t sure why she was so nervous—she’d never had trouble talking to Aiden before. In fact, just the opposite . . .

“Aiden?”

The rustling of glass jars stopped. When the door closed, it wasn’t Aiden who stood up, and Rya

“Sorry, Gingersnap.”

Any thoughts Nikko had were locked down tight on his ruggedly handsome face. Her cheeks heated with embarrassment at the thought of what he’d witnessed last light—of her behavior . . . Had she really called out for him to help her? Aww God . . . Pushing aside her shame, she nervously cleared her throat. “Have you umm . . . seen Aiden this morning?”

“He left.”

Alarm sent her heart galloping in her chest. “He left? Why? Where? Do you know when he’ll be back?”

“I don’t. We’re not exactly on the best of terms right now.”

Because of me . . . “Can’t you just ping him, or whatever it is you do to find him? I need to talk to him, Nikko.”

“His GPS is off, which means wherever he is, he doesn’t want to be found. You probably should have talked to him when you had the chance last night.”

Well, that was incredibly unhelpful and opinionated. The inflection of frustration in his husky voice was her first hint that he might be pissed—at her. “You’re right. Maybe I should have, but I was too upset to think straight. I was too caught up in my head. I needed some time to sort everything out.”

“And Aiden is caught up in his. He’s not in a good place right now. I wouldn’t recommend talking to him until he cools off. He has a fight to focus on tonight, a fight to win. Let’s just get through one thing at a time, huh?”

Maybe Nikko was right. She wouldn’t bother him right now. She could wait until he got home.

But as the day went on, Aiden didn’t come home. She tried calling him, she tried texting him. He wasn’t responding to her, and with each passing hour that drew closer to his fight, the more anxious she became that he wasn’t going to come back. Nikko hadn’t heard from him, either, which was making the unflappable Nikko Del Toro nervous as hell. Not that he’d ever admit as much, but she could see it in the fine lines of tension bracketing his mouth, pulling his scar tight—the tension that radiated from him. His frequent upward glances at the clock served as a constant reminder it was getting close to the time they needed to leave for the Lion’s Den. Where was Aiden?

“I’m heading down to the Den,” Nikko a

She nodded. It was too difficult to speak past the lump in her throat. He grabbed Aiden’s gym bag from the floor and left, leaving Rya

An hour later, Rya

Oh, thank God! Rya

Rya