Touched (The Untouched Trilogy #2)(99)
I threw another rock. It wasn’t as successful as my previous toss, only skipping once.
“Every weekend we’d all go to the park. Mom would pack a huge picnic lunch. Mom and my sisters would play on the swings while Dad and I tossed the ball around. I think I grew to love it as much as he did. I still have that glove. It’s the one reminder of him, other than my memories, that I brought from Dayton.” Many of those memories were in the box in the bottom drawer of my closet.
I was quiet for several minutes as I pictured those days in the park. I guess in a way I took that all for granted in much the same way that Aiden had taken his lifestyle for granted. But we were both kids. What kid thought outside of that?
“I didn’t really mind the tomboy stuff … well not that much anyway because I loved doing everything with him. What I wouldn’t give for just one more day in the park with my family …with him. He was the one I would go to when I needed help with homework or some stupid grade school drama. He always told me to ignore the ones that didn’t matter and that they were just envious because they couldn’t be me. Dad was my idol. I looked up to him; he was great with us, so attentive and patient. I loved everything about him. I remember watching how tender and loving he was with Mom … the way he looked at her, the way he made her smile. He seemed to totally adore her and I wanted someone to treat me that way one day. When he left, I wondered if it was all just a show or why he even bothered to do any of it. I was heartbroken for Mom, my family and for me. I cried every night for weeks. I think I knew then that I didn’t want to be the person that could ever be left in the ashes. I couldn’t be my mom so I did what I thought was best for me. I started building those walls and they became taller with each passing year. I never planned to have anyone ever. Then along came this cocky intern who flipped my world inside out.”
“Fucking intern,” he said, grinning.
“That’s what I said,” I replied, grateful that he was trying to make this easy for me.
Aiden continued skipping rocks as I spoke. I reached down for a few more and attempted to rival his rock toss.
“So you know how to throw a baseball?” he asked.
“Yes don’t you?”
“Yes, but not because my dad taught me.”
“Who did?”
“The servants. I was on a little league team; they took me to all of the practices.”
“Did your dad come to any of your games?”
“Maybe one or two. He would have the servants record my games with the pretense of watching them later but I’m not sure if he ever watched any of them.”
I watched as he threw another rock over the pond; it skipped several times before sinking into the water.
“It was the same for all of us; it’s all we knew. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized it wasn’t quite so normal. But we did have someone to stand in to a certain degree. The kids I work with … some of them don’t have that which is why my companies and charities are so important to me. It’s also why I make it a point to support Allison and attend as many of her ballets as possible. I support pretty much all of her crazes, not that ballet is a craze, it’s just that she’s … well you’ve seen Allison. She’s every animated and tends to experiment.”
“You’re a great brother. I’m sure your support means the world to her.”
“I know how it feels to not have that support and I don’t want her to feel that. Actually, we were both blown over when our parents attended her ballet last year.”
We tossed a few more rocks, laughing when mine failed to skip at all. We were quiet for several moments after that. I turned to face him, grabbing his hand and staring into his beautiful eyes. “You know, you’ve done something I didn’t think was ever possible. Slowly, you’ve pulled the pieces of my heart together,” I said
“I want to be everyone and everything to you. I want you heart, your body and your soul Aria.”
“You have it,” I said.
“I love you,” he said.
“And I love you. It’s almost as if I don’t have a choice.”
“Are we really doing this?” he asked.
“I think so.”
“Don’t sound so uncertain and don’t be afraid Aria; I’m going to take better care of you than you take care of yourself.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
I sat on the precipice of life altering decision. I knew it would never be the same after this. It was as though I was watching the scenes of someone else’s life play out before me. Today was yet another pivotal point of the plot that was consistently catching me off guard. The mere thought of how quickly my life had shifted was mind boggling. A few weeks ago, I was happily immersed in a relationship that I could have never envisioned. Fast forward to today to view my departure from the city that I had called home since college. I was leaving Boston … for good. I tendered my resignation a few hours ago which, as I had planned, had come as a huge shock to Raina and Aiden. I hadn’t let on that I would be leaving RPH, let alone Boston. If I had revealed my hand, even in the slightest, Aiden would have been the one obstacle I couldn’t overcome. Today would be especially difficult, but I knew I had no other option.
I couldn’t tell Aiden the truth; not only would he thwart my efforts he would extend the same level of spying as he had before, involving whomever he had to in order to keep taps on me … only this time would be a thousand times worse. I couldn’t chance that happening. I was doing the same thing to him that I had given him hell for doing to me. I didn’t want to leave but I knew I had to.