I flinch, his voice harsh and cutting through the air. The intensity in his eyes sends a shiver down my spine, but I stand my ground.
“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, his voice softening. “I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.” He backs away from me, giving me some space. “You were so strong last night, and yet so…”
“So?” I press.
“Broken,” he admits, and it feels like taking a punch to the gut. “Let me drive you home, Katie, please? For my own peace of mind.”
I hesitate for a moment, conflicted by his sudden change in demeanour. My gut says I can trust him to at least get us home safely, but everything I’ve seen, from his instant personality change with Ciara to his outburst towards me, leaves me unsure.
Aiden is beautiful and dangerous, and some part of me is screaming that he’s unhinged and unpredictable.
But he did just save both me and Ciara from being assaulted, or worse. He could have left us at the club to fend for ourselves, but instead, he intervened. Why? I can’t answer that. Not yet. And I don’t know if I want to answer it either.
“Ready, Katie?” Ciara calls as she reappears at the bottom of the staircase.
I force myself to meet Aiden’s intense gaze. “I’m not leavingwithout her.”
I notice the way his jaw tics and the slight flare of his nostrils. He’s not impressed. He nods, turning away from me and retreating to the kitchen.
I let out a sigh and turn to Ciara. “Let’s go.”
The front door barely clicks behind her when it’s flung open again. Aiden marches down the front steps wearing the hoodie I took off when we were checking for needle marks. “You’re in the back,” he says, passing Ciara and heading straight for the driver’s seat. “Take the fucking door with you!” He snaps when the door slams shut behind my sister.
I wince when my door shuts a little harder than intended, but he doesn’t even seem to register that I, too, slammed the door of his precious car.
“What the hell is your problem?” Ciara asks, but her question is quickly drowned out by the radio blaring from the speakers. Aiden ignores her and starts driving, his eyes fixed on the road ahead.
Wow, this is awkward.
We stop at a red light further down the road. Aiden leans closer to me, lowering the music down enough for me to hear him. “Where are we going?”
“Ciara’s in Tallaght.”
He snorts. “Figures.”
“Be nice!”
“I don’t know how,” he grumbles. “What about you?”
“Can you drop me off at Heuston Station?”
“Heuston? One bad night, and you’re leaving the county?”
“I live in Laois,” I snort.
“The fuck you doing down there?”
“Because I can’t stand Dublin anymore.”
“I get that,” he chuckles. The light turns green, and we continue towards the motorway. It’s pretty quiet on the roads today. Then again, it always is on a Sunday morning. We make it to Tallaght quicker than expected, and AJ practically dumps Ciara on the curb and tears arse out of Kingswood without a second glance.
He switches the radio off as soon as we hit the bypass, and he seems to instantly relax.
“Heuston is the other way,” I comment, pointing in the opposite direction.
“Yeah, I know,” he replies with a smirk.
“If you’re going to try and kill me…” I laugh nervously.
