Chasing His Rejected Wife
Chapter 52 -

Aiden

There was a heavy pressure in my chest as I watched Jess scurry away as though she couldn't get away from me fast enough. And I knew what that feeling meant. Guilt.

I hadn't exactly lied to her, but of course, I couldn't tell her the whole truth. Not now. It would wreck her, throw her off kilter and that was the last thing she needed right now. Of course, it was only a matter of time before she found out the truth if not from me, then from someone else. And I knew that the consequences would be worse, if the truth came from someone other than me.

Just the thought of that happening chilled me to the bone and I couldn't let that happen. Picking up my phone, I checked through the missed calls and sure enough, there it was. The one person who could and would definitely blow this whole thing out of proportion and take extreme delight in doing so.

The thought sent a wave of white hot fury coursing through me, setting my blood boiling. I gritted my teeth and called the number back, certain they would be expecting my call. And sure enough, after a single ring, she picked up. "Well, it's about time." Her voice rang out, harsh and strident, grating on my nerves as it usually did. "Why the hell were you trying to pull by ignoring my calls?"

I clenched my fists, barely holding onto the last shreds of my frayed control. I could hear music playing loudly in the background and surmised she must still be at the bar.

"Let's meet, now." I snapped, ignoring her questions. I wouldn't lower myself to start offering explanations on why I hadn't bothered to answer the over a dozen calls from her since the morning.

"Don't fucking speak to me in that tone of voice, boy." Venom dripped from her voice. "Don't forget what I can do to you if you piss me off more than you already have with your insolence."

I heard a grinding sound fill the car and realized it came from the force of my teeth grinding together. I was livid at the arrogance in those words and for one moment, I indulged in very violent, unspeakable thoughts towards my mother-in-law. Still, I forced myself to remain calm. I needed her to think she still had some sort of upper hand in all this, when nothing could be farther from the truth. But, I would not stoop so low as to apologize. So, maintaining as neutral a tone as I could, I simply repeated my request. "You're obviously in town to see me, so let's meet."

There was a brief silence on the other end, probably because she was busy debating whether I sounded patronizing enough to take offense. My fingers beat a staccato rhythm against the dashboard as I impatiently waited for her reply. Then she replied frostily, "Fine then. Where?"

I checked my watch. I had a meeting I absolutely couldn't afford to reschedule in less than an hour, but the last thing I wanted was for Margaret Holton to set one foot anywhere on Skylark premises. I could pick a restaurant or someplace nearby, but I knew she would take her sweet time getting there, time I couldn't afford to waste. Anna's bar was a fifteen minute drive from here, I could swing by, pick her up somewhere nearby and be done with her in time for my next appointment.

"You're still at Anna's bar, right?" I didn't wait for confirmation, since I already knew my guess was right. "I'll call you when I'm closeby."

She made a noise of discontent but I ignored her and hung up.

My migraine had returned in full force, exerting painful pressure on the eye sockets. I winced and rubbed ineffectually at the sides of my eyes, cursing myself for forgetting to bring my meds when I remembered that Jess usually kept an emergency packet in the cubbyhole. I was just leaning across to open the compartment when I caught sight of that guy - Jess' neighbor, K... something or the other and my temper frayed even more, my eyes narrowed into slits as I recalled the appreciative way he'd watched Jess the other day outside her apartment.

But what bothered me more was the way that Jessica had responded to him, the way her face had lit up, the cute way her cheeks had blushed a bright red, and the breathless way she'd talked. It bothered me, even though I knew it shouldn't, but since that day, something dark and roiling had unfurled within me, something I was reluctant to give the name to.

Because if I did, it would mean admitting to what Elisa had accused me of. And as I watched Jessica's neighbor casually walk up to my security guards and start chatting with them as if they were long time buddies, I felt that same dark feeling rise up within me..

I tamped down the feeling and forced my attention away from the source of irritation. I had too much on my plate right now to tackle my unreasonable emotions. A quick search of the compartment produced a packet as I'd and I muttered a 'thank you' to Jess in my mind as I downed two pills. I was just going to put the packet back when I caught sight of something lying on the floor of the passenger seat.

Puzzled, I reached for the item, it was Jessica's phone. It must have fallen off in her haste to get out of my car and put some distance between us. My mouth twisted in self-derision because I was to blame for her acting this way. I held the phone in my hand, debating for a moment if I should just hand it off to one of the security men or take it up to her myself.

She would probably not appreciate the latter option, not after our conversation and besides, I needed to be on my way to deal with her mother. Decision made, I got out of the car and made my way into the lobby. Neighbor guy was nowhere to be found by the time I entered; he'd probably already headed upstairs.

"Good morning, Mr. Brown," One of the guards greeted me. I nodded in acknowledgement and was about to hand over the phone with instructions, but my feet carried me past them towards the elevator. The entire ride was spent questioning my motives but I was unable to come up with a satisfactory answer. Indeed by the time I stepped out on Jessica's floor, I knew what I was doing was highly unnecessary and wouldn't earn me any extra favors with her - rather I might end up - I froze at the scene before me, all thoughts flew from my head as I stared in disbelief at the sight of that bastard standing next to Jess, his arm around her waist. She was blushing and smiling up at him and I was hit by a surge of that dark haze, - a feeling so intense it robbed me of anything else but one thought.

That fucker had his hands on my wife.

"Get the fuck away from her!" I growled as I broke out of my shock, my feet carrying me in quick strides to them. They broke apart with equally startled looks, Jessica's eyes widening, her mouth dropping open in shock to see me bearing down on them.

My chest heaved with anger as I confronted them, all rational thought had fled to be replaced by a raging possessiveness that threatened to consume me whole. The bastard was lucky he had already removed his wandering hand or I would have been responsible for him losing that particular limb.

"What the hell?" The fucker's expletive mingled with Jessica's cries of "Oh my God!" She stared at me as though I had developed two heads and instinctively took a step back at the dark look on my face. "Aiden! What do you think you're doing?"

"He touched you." I ground out between clenched teeth, my glare fixed on his face rather than hers. To make matters worse, the bastard had the audacity to step in front of my wife as though he wanted to shield her from me.

He had quickly recovered from the shock and stood in front of me, eyes narrowed, shoulders squared, ready for a fight. I curled my hands into fists, the only thing holding me back from taking a swing at his face was the look of terror on Jessica's face.

"Back off buddy," He warned, a dangerous hint in his voice. "I don't know what you think you saw us doing, but you're wrong."