“I told you not to call herthat. You disparage my wifeagain,and they’ll be throwing me into a cell for physically assaultingyou.” I shove him lightly, releasing his shirt. He falls back on his ass onto the sofa.
I look around the room. Everyone is shell-shocked.
“I came here to let you know, Mom, that when Mia asked me if she shouldn’t press charges, I told her to do it.”
“What?” Mom cries out.
“Aiden,” Gianna squeals.
“Now, I want you to hear me, because this is the last time I’m setting foot in this house. Stay the fuck awayfrom Mia. You see her, you walk across the street to avoid subjecting her to your presence.” I turn to face a pale Ron and a Chief who looks even more stressed than he did five minutes ago. “John, I hear there is video evidence of the assault.”
Chief Frizzell notices my calling him by his first name, like my father does—it’s my not-so-subtle way of telling him that I am now the head of Winter Financial.
“Ah…yes, Aiden, there is.”
“Good.” I look over my shoulder at my family. “Good luck in court.”
And then, I walk out of my parents’ house and their oppressive presence.
CHAPTER 19
Mia
“Absolutely not!” I shake my head at Diana, who’s standing outside Katya’s front door. I just got healed from the last confrontation I had with Aiden’s mother. I didn’t need a new one with his…what was Diana to him?
“Go away.”
I’m about to shut the door in her face when she grabs the doorknob, preventing me from doing so. “Please, Mia. Can we talk?”
“No.”
“Please.”
The hell!
It’s the second, please, that does it. I swing the door open. “Come in. But you have five minutes and that’s all.”
I march to the kitchen, where I’m chopping potatoes to make a gratin, which I’m serving for dinner with pork chops and a spring salad.
I pick up my phone and text Aiden as Diana makes her way to the kitchen island.
Me:Your girlfriend is at my place. You have five minutes to get here and take her away. I’m chopping vegetables.
I turn on the record function on my phone and set it on the counter. Whatever she wants to say, I want it documented.
I plant my hands on my hips, my stance unapologetically aggressive. I’m done playing nice.
Diana’s been circling my husband for two years, like a vulture waiting for the right moment to swoop in. And when the opportunity came—when I was standing just a few feet away—she kissed him.Deliberately. Knowing I was there.
I don’t pretend she ruined my marriage. That blame belongs to Aiden. To me.Mostlyhim. But Diana went after a married man, and now she says, “Please talk to me.”
The nerve!
She stands on the other side of the island, and looks at the potatoes on the cutting board.
“Well?” I demand.
She swallows. “Aiden…look, I know he wants to make it work with you. But you know that’s just guilt, right?”
