Epiphany, p.29
Epiphany, page 29
“I don’t understand,” Aidan said as he pulled three mugs down from a cupboard. “I’ve never gotten along with him, but I can’t imagine him hurting any of us, not in the way you’re suggesting.”
McFayden seemed to chew over his words as Aidan poured coffee into two of the mugs and hot water into the third for me. He added a tea bag to mine before setting the mugs on the counter.
“Let me put it this way,” McFayden began. “At first, your mother suspected he was behind your wife’s murder.” He lowered his head, taking a moment to sip from his cup. “I sensed something was off about the whole thing, was sure it was a copycat even though law enforcement in Boise ruled it out. I never would have suspected Judd.” He paused, and a flash of pain entered his eyes—eyes that looked so much like Aidan’s now that I thought about it. “Just like you can’t see that Hamilton is capable of such things.”
“How can I help if you won’t tell me what’s going on?”
“I don’t want your help on this. I want you to steer clear of him—keep your family away from him.” His gaze landed on me. “Protect that baby of yours.”
“Well that’s a given,” Aidan said. “He won’t get near either one of them.”
McFayden took another sip and then glanced at his watch. “I need to get going.” He rose, and Aidan appeared uncertain. I understood what he was going through. I’d experienced the same uneasy feeling upon meeting Hamilton Payne for the first time after I’d learned the truth.
Except, according to McFayden, my father was evil incarnate. I should have listened to my mom—should have kept going, blissfully unaware.
The sheriff rounded the center island and pulled Aidan in for a hug. “I’m glad you know.”
Aidan’s eyes went wide, and slowly he lifted his arms and returned the gesture.
“There are no words…I can’t tell you how sorry I am for what Judd did to you. Both of you.” McFayden stepped away, never quite meeting Aidan’s eyes, and I glimpsed the broken man I’d seen in the hospital. Judd’s actions had affected us all.
The sheriff left, promising to keep in touch, and the silence in the house unnerved me. Though he was there with me physically, Aidan’s mind was elsewhere.
“Hungry?” he asked.
I finished my tea before standing, and our eyes met and held as I neared him. I entwined our fingers before leading him downstairs. The hall was dark, and the shadows threatened to close around me. I squeezed his hand and told myself there was no reason to be scared. Judd was in jail, and whatever threat Hamilton posed, we’d deal with it later. Right now, in this moment, I wanted to chase away the bad with the good.
Neither of us spoke as I pulled him into the bedroom. We stopped in the middle of the room, and I undid the buttons on his shirt. The material slid over his shoulders before whispering to the floor. His wound was healing. I gently brushed my fingertips across the skin below it.
“Does it still hurt?”
“Not really,” Aidan said, his voice thick as he curled his fingers around the hem of my sweater. His knuckles grazed my sides as he lifted it up my body, and he tossed it somewhere in the vicinity of his discarded shirt before unbuttoning my jeans.
“You might have seen me coming,” he began, dropping to his knees and slowly dragging my zipper down, “but I can’t say the same. You knocked me on my ass.” His eyes were bright as he gazed up at me. “We haven’t known each other very long, but I have every intention of marrying you.”
A smile played on my lips as I weaved my fingers through his hair, and I thought about how wrong he was. I’d known him for years—he just hadn’t realized it.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gemma James is a USA Today bestselling author of sexy contemporary and dark romance. She loves to explore the darker side of human nature in her fiction, and she’s morbidly curious about anything dark and edgy, from deviant seduction to fascinating villains. Readers have described her stories as being “not for the faint of heart.”
She warns you to heed their words! Her playground isn’t full of rainbows and kittens, though she loves both. She lives in Oregon with her husband and children, a gaggle of animals, and bipolar weather. You can connect with her online at the following places:
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Gemma James, Epiphany
