Unraveled (Love in Salem, book 2) (24 page)

Atayla eyed the silk nightie he had bought for her the other day.  She was tempted to put it on and keep preoccupied with a bout of raunchy sex, but she knew she had to talk to Aidan about Randall.  Or to be more accurate, the threat she believed Randall posed.

Walking out into the living room, she saw Aidan standing at the answering machine.

“…if you could give me call back, my number is…”

Aidan turned when he heard her walk up behind him.

“You have a message on the phone from a Lt. Halliday.  Does this have anything to do with what you needed to talk to me about?”

Anger literally vibrated off of him.

“Yes.  I was going to talk to you when you got home but you were running late, and we needed to get to Paxton’s house.  It’s not that big of a deal –”

“Not a big deal?”  He asked incredulously.  “If the police are in involved, sweetheart, then it is a very big deal.”

Atayla sighed.  This was why she didn’t want to tell Aidan.  She knew he would be mad and would try to overrule her.  He was so pushy when he became all protective of her.

He was like a big caveman beating on his chest.

“Maybe we should sit down –” Her voice trailed off as irritation flashed over his expression.  “Okay, fine.”  She inhaled a deep breath.  “Randall called me a couple of weeks ago.  He sort of threatened me if I didn’t run back to California –”

“Threatened how and why
am I just now hearing about this?”  He growled.

“He just said that I had spent enough time ‘gallivanting around ascertaining my independence’ and that I wouldn’t like it if he had to ‘come and get me.’  I told him he was crazy if he thought I would come back to him and that I would call the police if he ever came near me again.  I didn’t think I would hear from him again, so I put it behind me.  That’s why I didn’t mention it.  There was no point in borrowing trouble.”

“Have you heard from him since?  Is he the one who vandalized your car?”

“Maybe?  I don’t know.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I didn’t think it was him at the time.  Like I said before, the writing on my windshield was feminine.  His writing is atrocious.  It’s barely legible.  Sure I thought for a moment it may have been him, but after I calmed down enough to think about things I agreed that there was a better chance that it was Brittney.  I mean, she wasn’t at all happy that you chose me over her.  And the fact that you gave credence to the suspicion allowed me to be able to pass it off as a jealously issue, even though it was a little extreme.”

“So is that why you have a detective calling to question you?  Is it about your car?”

Atayla fidgeted under his scrutiny.

“Atayla?”

“I got a package in the mail today.  It was pictures of me, of us.  It was post marked from California, but there was no name, no note, and the return address was a post office box.  I don’t know that it is from Randall, but I got this weird feeling that this was his way of saying ‘I’m watching you.’  It seriously freaked me out, and Bill called the police.”

Aidan dry washed his face and ran his fingers through his hair.

“So there have been three occurrences in less than a month, and you didn’t feel as though it was necessary to tell me?”

“Of course I thought it was necessary.  I told you I needed to talk to you, but Hayden’s party was –”

“You thought a party was more important than your safety?”  He yelled.

“Please, Aidan.  Calm down.  I don’t feel like my safety is in jeopardy.  Like I said, the package was post marked from California and the police are checking Randall’s whereabouts and his alibi to see if it could have been him.  I think it’s more likely that he paid someone to take pictures and send them to him.  I still think Brittney is the one that vandalized my car.  It’s just a coincidence that everything happened in succession the way they did.”

Atayla held up her hand when Aidan started to argue with her.

“I'm not saying that I don’t need to be careful.  I will go along with whatever security measures you deem appropriate, no matter how over the top I think you’re being.  This man scares me.  I’ve been at the receiving end of his evil, and I don’t particularly trust his stability.  I love you, and I trust your decisions.  Whatever you want, I will do.”

Aidan pulled her close and rested his forehead against hers.

“I just can’t bear to think of anything happening to you.”

“And I don’t want anything to happen to me.  Aidan, just because I don’t think he is actually a threat doesn’t mean I won’t take precautions.  I'm not a fool.  I know what he is capable of and I don’t want to go through anything like that again.”

“Just remember that you agreed to do whatever I felt was necessary because I’m about to become
extremely
overprotective of you.”

Atayla sighed then smiled weakly.  “I don’t expect anything less from you.”

“Good.”  He kissed her lips.  “I’m going to drive you to work and pick you up from now on.  I don’t want you alone for any reason.  If you need to leave work and Bill can’t go with you I want you to call me and I will come and get you and take you wherever you need to go.”

“What about your job?  Don’t you think it will suffer if you have to chauffeur me around all the time?”

“I’ll make it work somehow.  We will just need to work together and make compromises.”

“But sometimes I have to make urgent runs to the court house or to a judge’s house to get emergency orders signed –”

“Bill will understand.”  He said with finality.

She knew better than to keep arguing with him.  If she didn’t play along he would just tie her to the bed and refuse to let her go anywhere at all.

Chapter Twenty-three

Two weeks had passed without any further incident.  Well, no further incident as far as Randall was concerned.  That whack job, Brittney, on the other hand had left two extremely charming voicemails on her phone at work.

Both sang to the tune of what a fat whore she was and that she should stay away from Aidan if she knew what was good for her…blah, blah,
blah.

Atayla hadn’t told anyone about them.  She knew Aidan would be pissed if he found out she was keeping them from him, but…

She looked over at Seamus, her “bodyguard” for the day.  If she wanted her life to return to any semblance of normalcy then she didn’t need to run and tell Aidan that his psycho ex-girlfriend was leaving her nasty messages.

Sighing, she watched the buildings pass by her as Seamus drove them to the City Building.  When she told Aidan she needed her car to run errands today, he flatly told her no and called Seamus to see if he was available to tag along.

He was a good choice, she had to admit.  Seamus was a very big, very intimidating man.  Nothing short of a tank would get through him.  And no one with half a brain would consider trying.

“What do you keep sighing over there for?”

His voice broke her out of her reverie.

“I just feel bad that you had to waste a day to escort me around.  I'm sure there are other things you would rather be doing than babysitting me.”

“Nah, it’s not like I have a missus at home to keep me busy.  Besides, my cousin and family adore you.  If it is important to them that you have someone watch out for you than it’s worth giving up a day to help out.”

“Why don’t you have a missus at home?  I mean, you’re a pretty good catch.  I'm sure you have a lot of women lining up to be with you.”

Seamus looked over at her, his expression unreadable.

Atayla blushed.  “I'm sorry.  That was a pretty nosey question.”  She looked back out the window to avoid his scrutiny.

“I almost got married once.”  He admitted.  “To my high school girlfriend.”

Silence passed for several long minutes.  She didn’t ask what had stopped him from going through with it figuring he would tell her if he wanted her to know.  Finally, he broke the silence.

“I was young and head over heels in love.  I thought she was too.  When she turned twenty-one she developed a wild streak.  Started bar hopping.  I figured she was just sowing her oats so to speak.  We planned the wedding the year before and had everything arranged, all the reservations made.  The day before the wedding she took off with some other guy to Vegas and married him instead.  She had only known the guy for a month and had been having an affair with him.  Apparently I wasn’t fun enough for her.”

Atayla didn’t know how to respond to that.

“It was a long time ago.”  He shrugged.  “I’ve been over her for years, but I can’t seem to get over the betrayal.  Maybe one day I will be able to trust again, who knows.”

“Have you ever talked to anyone about it?  Maybe if unloaded your feelings to someone you would be able to get past it.”

“No.  It’s too humiliating even now.  I know not all women are like her, but the only women I meet are at the pub.  That’s not exactly the right environment to look for a relationship, you know?”

“I don’t know about that.  I met Aidan at a bar.”

“Yeah, well, that didn’t work out for him too well either if I remember right.”

“He scared the shit out of me if you want to know the truth.  There I was, minding my own business, and the next thing I know I’m being smashed against the wall with some strange, drunk man sniffing me.”

Seamus laughed.  “I made it a personal rule never to take a woman home from the bar.  I would rather date a woman who has more respect for herself than to get drunk and have random sex.  Sex should be an intimate sharing between two people who care about each other, not a quick tup to get your rocks off and move on to the next willing body.”

“I agree with you whole heartedly.”

“That’s why I rarely have a girlfriend and never have a serious relationship.  Once betrayed, it’s difficult to make yourself vulnerable again.”

“You know what?”  Atayla smiled at him.  “I think you’ll change your mind when you meet the right woman.  It would be a shame for a man like you to waste what you have to offer.”

Seamus blushed.  “Thanks, I think.”

“So why are you here and not trailing after Tay?”  Olivia asked as she slung her purse over the back of her chair.

The bistro where he sat was centrally located in the shopping center of town. 

“Seamus is with her.”  Aidan replied.  “As for why I’m here, I'm hungry.  Figured I could buy your lunch before you go shopping with me.”

“Shopping, huh?  What are we shopping for?”

Aidan beamed.  “An engagement ring.”

“Yay!”  Olivia clapped her hands and hugged her brother.  “I really like Tay.  She is so sweet and she adores you, which is enough reason to like the girl.  This is pretty fast, though.  Are you sure you sure you are ready for this?  Is she?”

“I'm sure this is what I want. 
She
is what I want.  Besides, it’s not like we have to get married right away.  If Atayla wants a long engagement then that is fine with me.  As long as I know she’s mine, everything will be alright.”

“So where are we going?”  Olivia asked as she opened her menu.

“Markland Jewelers.”  He waved to the waiter.

“Okay.  I think we should check out what selection Ernestine’s Jewels has before you make a decision.  They tend to carry more trendy pieces.”

This seemed to amuse Aidan.  “Atayla isn’t exactly a trendy type of woman.  We can check out rings there as well, but I was thinking something old fashioned or antique.”

“Have you told mom yet?”

“No.”  He scoffed.  “Don’t you think I ought to see if Atayla says ‘yes’ before I announce it to everyone?”

Olivia bumped his shoulder with hers.  “She isn’t going to say ‘no’ and you know it.”

The waiter arrived and took their order.  While they sat there and waited for the food to arrive, Aidan took out his cell phone and dialed Atayla.

“Hello?”

“Hey beautiful!  What are doing?”

Atayla grumbled “We are stuck waiting at the City Building for Sherriff Watson to get done with some meeting.  Seamus and I have been sitting here for a half an hour already.  I really hate this part of my job, which is exactly why Bill sends me to do it.  He hates waiting even more than I do.”

He chuckled.  “At least you have someone to keep you company.”

“Yeah.  Seamus is good people.”  She laughed at something Seamus said on the other end.

It’s pretty bad when just hearing her laugh made his heart sing.

“I’ll let you get back to what you were doing.  I just wanted to check in with you and see how your day was.”

“Alright.  Are we still going out for dinner tonight?”

“You bet.  It will be a late dinner so don’t get in any hurry.  I’ll see you tonight.  I love you, baby doll.”