Page 112 of Vain

“Yeah, it was one of the stipulations in my father’s will. The house could never be left to my mother under any circumstances. If I died and didn’t have a will, my assets were to be divided between various charities.”

“Shit, I’m guessing there was no love lost between your parents.”

“I think I was the glue that forced them together, which made them both resentful of me in different ways.”

“That’s bullshit. They were fucking adults. Their choices led them to where they ended up,” Aiden snaps.

“I know. I don’t take their issues on board, I have enough of my own.” I chuckle.

“Life insurance policies?”

“Again, she isn’t the beneficiary. I have two. Marley and Greyson are the beneficiaries of one. Zoe is the beneficiary of the other.”

Silence blankets the room before Aiden leans over and kisses me hard. “Fuck, I love you.”

“Good. Because you’re the beneficiary of my estate.”

His mouth drops open in shock as Kellen and Banner laugh. “Why would you do that?” Aiden croaks out

“Because I want to know you’re taken care of. It’s my money. I can do what I like with it, Aiden. Plus, I know you look after Zoe, too.”

He looks a little shaken. Kellen smiles smugly.

“And on that note, I’m gonna go. Just keep your eyes open and watch your back. This fucker has proven he doesn’t care who he hurts and I don’t see him stopping until he’s caught or?—”

He shuts up abruptly, but I finish for him. “Or he gets me.”

It was after a tearful reunion with Greyson, during which the man told me he was fine and to stop fussing, that Aiden and I had our first fight.

I insisted on returning to work and finishing this project if it killed me. He argued that it actually might. There was yelling, some tears on my end, and some anger on Aiden that stemmed from his fear of losing me. All that culminated in the best make-up sex of my life.

In the end, he gave in. But only with both him and Kellen accompanying me to the studio when I needed to go. I did what I could at home and only needed a handful of days on-site before I could officially say I was done.

I stretch out the kinks in my back from being hunched over, looking at shots with my AD, and sigh when I see it’s dark again. “We are so damn close I can almost taste it. But I think we should call it a night.”

“I mean, I can stay later if you want, but fresh eyes is probably the smarter move. Besides, your friend looks like he’s about to slip into a coma.”

I look over and see Kellen with his head resting on Aiden’s shoulder, eyes closed, mouth open. Aiden’s eyes, as always, are on me.

“All right, get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I tell him as I pull out my phone and walk over to my man. Once I’m near, I snap a photo of sleeping beauty and text it to Banner.

“I’m ready for you to take me to bed.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Aiden’s phone pings. He pulls it out and grins when he looks at it. He turns it around to show me Kellen’s sleeping face. “Banner sent it to our group chat.”

“Lord, Kellen’s gonna kill me.”

“I think he’s rubbing off on you. It’s exactly the kind of thing he would do.”

“Good point.”

I reach over and poke Kellen in the forehead. He swats my hand away and mumbles, turning into Aiden.

“Fuck this.” Aiden stands up, making Kellen pitch sidewise with a yelp.

Kellen looks up, his eyes narrowing on Aiden before he jumps up and lunges for him. Aiden uses me as a human shield, which stops Kellen in his tracks.