Page 45 of Vain (Tempest #2)

Chapter Forty-Three

AIDEN

The tide of public opinion turned swiftly in Tilly’s favor.

By the time she’d tied up all her loose ends on Friday, #AidenandTilly was trending on social media worldwide.

It was a mind-fuck having people recognize me everywhere I went, but the outpouring of support was a beautiful thing to see.

Late-night talk show hosts were talking about it and condemning both Cora and Hattie as money-hungry whores.

It was brutally savage, and I can’t say I regretted a second of it.

Images of Hattie, and even Cora, had been taken, each more unflattering than the last, proving that karma does come for everyone.

“How does it feel to be done finally?” I ask Tilly as we pull out of the studio lot for, what I hope, is the last time.

“Fucking amazing.” She laughs, and the sound is light and filled with joy.

“Congrats, Matilda. This is epic and deserves to be celebrated,” Kellen declares.

“I have another reason to celebrate, but I want to wait until we’re back at the hotel.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “Okay, color me intrigued.”

“My lips are sealed for now.”

“Are you ready to see the house tomorrow?” Kellen questions. I look at him in the rearview mirror with a scowl.

“I am. It’s just a house. It can be rebuilt. The people I love are safe. That’s all that matters to me.”

“I get that,” he says quietly, his hand reaching over to squeeze her shoulder.

She covers his hand with her own. “I know you do.”

We’re quiet the rest of the way back, but once we’re in the elevator, she starts getting excited again, hopping from foot to foot. She practically drags us into the hotel suite and points to the sofa. Kellen sits, but I move closer, needing to ask her something before I chicken out.

“Before you say anything. I have something I want to ask you.”

“Um…okay, sounds serious.”

I slide my hands to her hips and blow out a deep breath. “How would you feel about buying a house together…in Tempest?”

She says nothing for a moment before taking a step back. I close my eyes in defeat, but quickly shake it off. Fuck it. It’s like she said, a house is just a house. It doesn’t matter where we live.

“I can’t buy a house in Tempest with you, Aiden.”

“I get it. It’s okay.”

“No, you don’t get it,” she whispers, a tear trickling down her face. “I can’t buy a house with you because I already bought one.”

It takes a second for her words to hit me. “What?”

“Tom has Alzheimer’s. They caught it early and he’s receiving treatment, but he knows there will come a time when it won’t be safe for him alone.

He’s moving into a residential facility, the same one as June.

He says he’s ready to start his final adventure, but his house deserves a family living in it.

He told me, though he may lose his memories, the house won’t.

Each laugh, each cry, every dream, and heartbreak are etched into those walls.

And now it’s our turn to give it more. Yours, mine, and Zoe’s.

If you’ll have us?” she asks tentatively.

“Zoe?”

“Like I was always supposed to be yours, she’s supposed to be ours.”

“You’re sure? One hundred percent?”

She nods her head rapidly as I lunge for her, pulling her into my arms, swinging her around, and making her laugh.

“You’ve just made all my dreams come true.”

“Can I get in on this?” Kellen calls out, and we both laugh.

I pull back and hold an arm open to him so he can squeeze his way between us for a hug.

“This is what you were happy about in the car. The text, right?”

I nod. “With Tom having Alzheimer’s, we needed to make sure the lawyers found him competent enough to sell, in case anyone contested.”

“There’s nobody left to contest it,” I remind her.

“There’s always someone looking for a payday. Look at my mom, for instance,” she says gently.

“Good point.”

“Now can we celebrate?” Kellen asks.

“Yes! Order some champagne and see if Greyson and Marley want to join us.”

“They knew?”

“I needed advice.”

“Sneaky fuckers,” I grumble.

She laughs. “You know what this means, right?”

“What’s that?”

“That tomorrow, when we go to the house, we can start packing. I’ll need to have the place renovated, but I don’t need to be here for that. And then I’ll put it on the market.”

“Holy shit, we’re really doing this?”

“We really are.”

“What about Greyson and Marley?” Kellen asks.

“Um…about that. I just anonymously bought my mom’s place for a steal.”

Kellen looks at me for a minute before he bursts out laughing. “Oh, that’s fucking hilarious.”

“I’m going to gift it to Marley and Greyson so they always have a home here. But I thought we could build an annex for them up on Lavender Hill.”

“I think that’s a great idea, Tilly. You wanna go get changed while I grab the guys?”

“Yeah.” She gets up on her toes and kisses me before heading for our room.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you are one lucky fuck.”

“Tell me about it.”

Marley stands with his arm around Tilly, taking in the damage. Both of them are still feeling the aftereffects of too much champagne.

Greyson has been more subdued since last night. I know he’s happy for Tilly, but upset he’s going to lose her. I get it, so I don’t try to snap him out of it. I’m the man who stole what’s effectively his daughter. He probably wants to hug me with one arm and punch me with the other.

“I can’t believe you were in this when it started,” Tilly says, walking over and slipping her arm through Greyson’s.

“I was actually outside when it started,” he tells her as Kellen opens the door for us.

Someone has put up a tarp to cover the exposed areas, but it doesn’t make the place very secure.

I’m glad a guard on the gate stops the average Joe from getting in.

And the arsonist clearly wasn’t interested in material possessions.

“Why the heck would you go inside after it started?” Tilly asks him.

He pats her hand. “I was in the herb garden doing some weeding. I didn’t know anything was wrong to start with.

I had the stupid headphones on that you bought me for Christmas.

If I hadn’t been listening to that damn podcast I would have noticed sooner,” he groans, rubbing his face.

“When I realized the house was on fire, I called the emergency services, but all I could think about was Marley. He never told me when he’d be back, and I panicked.

The smoke was so thick, I got turned around pretty quick.

And just when I realized what a colossal mistake I made, firefighters were pulling me out. ”

“Ooh, I should shake some sense into you. But we both know he’d do the same for you, and I’d do the same for you both.”

He cups her face, an expression of sadness passing through his gaze before he kisses her forehead. “I’ll dig the boxes out of the garage. We can box up what we want to take with us now and call the movers in to do the rest. They can put everything in storage until you decide what you want to keep.”

“Okay,” she whispers.

With a plan in place, that’s what we do. Me, Kellen, and Tilly head upstairs to pack. Marley looks to see what’s salvageable in the rest of the house, particularly the kitchen, while Greyson takes on the task of checking the outbuildings he and Marley live in.

We’d been at it for hours when we stop for something to eat. Thankfully, we brought sandwiches with us because the kitchen is a mess. We head down, happy with our progress, and find Marley taking books off one of the bookcases and putting them in a box marked STORAGE .

He looks our way. “How’s it going up there?”

“I’ve got all the important stuff packed and ready to go. We’ve just stopped for food. The guys are wasting away, apparently.”

“Well, they are growing boys,” Marley agrees, getting to his feet with a groan.

Kellen chuckles. “Yeah, Matilda, I’m a growing boy.”

She shakes her head. “And to think I always wanted a brother.”

I laugh. “You’ve gotta be careful what you wish for.”

“I know that now.”

“Hey, where’s Greyson?” Kellen asks, unpacking the food. The den is pretty clear of destruction, so this seems like a good place to eat.

“He hasn’t come back yet, but you know what he’s like. He’ll probably have everything packed before we finish one room.” Marley grins.

“I’ll go grab him. He needs to eat too.”

“You know the way.” Marley waves me off.

I head out, careful of the debris, and almost collide with the man himself when I open the back door. “Shit, I wasn’t expecting you to be right there.” I laugh before I get a look at him. His hair is a mess, and he has a couple of scratches on his cheek. “What the fuck happened?”

He reaches up and touches his face before wincing. “I planted a lemon tree the day Matilda was born. I didn’t want to leave it behind. It’s stupid, I know, but…do you think she’ll mind if I take it? It was sure easier to plant than dig up,” he grumbles.

I laugh. “You know she’ll let you have anything you want.”

He ducks his head. Please do not let him start crying. Crying women are hard enough for me to deal with, but crying men? I have zero skills in that department.

“I better go wash up,” he says quietly.

“Sounds good. We’re eating in the den as there’s less damage in there.”

“Alright, I’ll join you in a moment.”

I leave him to it and come back the way I came.

“You find him?” Kellen asks before taking a bite of his sandwich.

“He found me, actually. He’s just washing up. You save any food for me?”

“No, sorry. You snooze, you lose.” He flips me off.

“I saved you some,” Tilly tells me.

“Suck up,” Kellen mutters under his breath, which earns him a slice of cucumber to the face.

“Now, now, children. Play nicely,” Marley complains as Tilly’s phone chimes.

She grabs it from the table with a grin, expecting Zoe’s call. But when she looks at the screen, she frowns.

“Who is it?”

“No idea. Hold on.”

She fiddles with the phone before she gasps and drops her sandwich to the floor.

“Oh god.” I hurry over to her, Kellen not far behind me.