Chapter 37
Ayrie got three hours of sleep. Xochtl scared the shit out of them. She clings to me as Cevin and I pack up my office. Tessa and Maria are also here with us. None of us say anything as I slip the pictures on the wall into the foam sleeves before putting them in the box. I do feel like crying, but the more I fight it the angrier I get.
“Altaha,” I look up at poor Sullivan. All this
“Hey,”
“I’m so sorry,” he sighs.
it is going to fall on him again just when we were starting to get to know one another better.
“It’s not your fault. I’m the one that should be apologizing,” I go over to the desk to take the plans I’d been working on to give to him.
“What’s this?”
“Those are the plans for the storage rooms and the design floor. That’s how far I got. I hope they help,”
“Thank you,” he nods. Ugh, I hate the sympathy on his face. “Is there anything I can do for you? Maybe I can talk to Xo?”
“No, even if she changed her mind. I won’t. It would have to be one hell of an apology,” I admit.
He glances over my shoulder to see Maria and Tessa. He nods and excuses himself. It took a little time to pack my things up. When I’m putting Ayrie into the car seat Maria comes over to me and rubs my back.
“I know I said I was going to wait for you to think about it, but I couldn’t,” she says sheepishly. I laugh. “I’m sending these to the B.E.A.C.H. house. We also packed up everything in your apartment. It’ll take a couple of weeks for the renovations to be done, but the house is yours,”
“You didn’t have to do that,”
“I did,” she takes my hand when I shut the door. “Xo and I hate each other. It’s- I am so sorry she came at us like that. I invited her over to try and keep things civil but she went after my son and I got a little kooky. He’s my baby. At this point, it’s kind of a reflex. Knight can be a dick,”
“I know. Thank you for trying, but honestly with the way she reacted. I don’t think there was ever going to be another outcome. I think it’s better this way anyway. I’ve always kind of wanted to work for myself and I think I can make that happen now,”
“Whatever you need, all you have to do is ask,” she nods and looks over my car.
“Would you like to drive?”
“Yes,” she says excitedly. “I’ve always wanted one of these,”
I laugh and climb into the passenger seat while she goes around. I look up at the building and try to shake it off. Maria doesn’t say anything as tears slide down my face. We’re back on the ranch when my phone pings.
Xo: I want to meet you. Alone.
PA: You know that’s not going to happen.
Xo: You don’t know what it is you’re in the middle of.
PA: He’s their father.
Xo: He’s not what you think he is.
PA: It doesn’t matter. Sides were chosen. You made yours very clear, I’m his mate. That means something to me. It should mean something to you as
well.
1/3
16:46 Fri, 9 May
Chapter 37
林会1%餘
20
The little dots come up and then go away a couple of times but she doesn’t send anything anymore. As soon as we arrive, Maria starts giving orders. Knightly is by the barn where they keep the horses with Aizen in one arm and his hand tucked into his pocket. He’s saying something to him and Aizen is locked in.
Ayrie holds up one of my favorite cameras and I crouch down with her to show her how to zoom in and take a picture. When he turns to us, she giggles and snaps the picture. It’s a really good one. He smiles brightly at her when she runs over to him to show him the picture.
“Momma,” Aizen comes over to me when Knightly sets him down.
I can’t count how many times they’ve kept me together. It kills me that it’s something that has ever had to weigh over them. I’ve been told many times that they don’t know, but they do. Ayrie wouldn’t have nightmares and Aizen wouldn’t be worried about either of us. Having them this close helps me breathe better
“You okay?” Knightly asks when I stand up again.
“Yeah,” I nod.
“Thave to go into the city later,” he informs me.
Okay
“Mommy, can we paints?” Ayrie asks and hands me my camera back.
“Yes. I can use some painting time,” I agree.
“I want the pink one,”
“But that one has all the pretty blues,” Aizen groans as the two of them run towards the house. If that’s what we want to call it.
“That is a very expensive camera you let her run around with,” he says worriedly.
“She’s been taking pictures for a while now. The photographers at the runways loved her asking questions. This one is new so she doesn’t know how to work it yet, but she’ll get there,”
“They’re very creative,”
“Yeah, they like to paint because i have watercolor paints for my sketches. Ayrie has a knack for it and Aizen just uses the colors to practice his writing,”
“Why does he like that?” he smiles. I tense up and take a deep breath. “You okay?”
“Yeah, he picked it up as a distraction. A few months ago. Ayrie got a really bad cold. She was really sick,”
“No,” he shakes his head. “We don’t get sick,”
“Well, she was sick. Neither had been sick before that. She had a really bad fever and the doctors didn’t know what was wrong with her. She was like that for about two weeks. We couldn’t go near her because they didn’t know if it was contagious. Aizen took it very hard. He wasn’t eating and it was the only thing I could think of to distract him at the time I thought I was going to lose her,”
“Do you have the medical records?”
“Yes,” I nod
“I’d like to see them: Was that all that was wetting with her?”
“No, she had this rash. I thought it was an allergic reaction at first and then hand, foot, and mouth disease. But things just got worse and worse as things progressed. Do you think maybe Kendra tried to do something to her?”
“Was she the one taking care of her then
2/3
1%
20
Chapter 37
The little dots come up and then go away a couple of times but she doesn’t send anything anymore. As soon as we arrive, Maria starts giving orders. Knightly is by the barn where they keep the horses with Aizen in one arm and his hand tucked into his pocket. He’s saying something to him and Aizen is locked in.
Ayrie holds up one of my favorite cameras and I crouch down with her to show her how to zoom in and take a picture. When he turns to us, she giggles and snaps the picture. It’s a really good one. He smiles brightly at her when she runs over to him to show him the picture.
“Momma,” Aizen comes over to me when Knightly sets him down.
I can’t count how many times they’ve kept me together. It kills me that it’s something that has ever had to weigh over them. I’ve been told many times that they don’t know, but they do. Ayrie wouldn’t have nightmares and Aizen wouldn’t be worried about either of us. Having them this close helps me breathe better.
“You okay?” Knightly asks when I stand up again.
“Yeah,” I nod.
“I have to go into the city later,” he informs me.
“Okay,”
“Mommy, can we paints?” Ayrie asks and hands me my camera back.
“Yes. I can use some painting time,” I agree.
“I want the pink one,”
“But that one has all the pretty blues,” Aizen groans as the two of them run towards the house. If that’s what we want to call it.
“That is a very expensive camera you let her run around with,” he says worriedly.
“She’s been taking pictures for a while now. The photographers at the runways loved her asking questions. This one is new so she doesn’t know how to work it yet, but she’ll get there,”
“They’re very creative,”
“Yeah, they like to paint because I have watercolor paints for my sketches. Ayrie has a knack for it and Aizen just uses the colors to practice his writing.”
“Why does he like that?” he smiles. I tense up and take a deep breath. “You okay?”
“Yeah, he picked it up as a distraction. A few months ago. Ayrie got a really bad cold. She was really sick,”
“No,” he shakes his head. “We don’t get sick,”
“Well, she was sick. Neither had been sick before that. She had a really bad fever and the doctors didn’t know what was wrong with her. She was like that for about two weeks. We couldn’t go near her because they didn’t know if it was contagious. Aizen took it very hard. He wasn’t eating and it was the only thing I could think of to distract him at the time. I thought I was going to lose her,”
“Do you have the medical records?”
“Yes,” I nod.
“I’d like to see them. Was that all that was wrong with her?”
“No, she had this rash. I thought it was an allergic reaction at first and then hand, foot, and mouth disease. But things just got worse and worse as things progressed. Do you think maybe Kendra tried to do something to her?”
“Was she the one taking care of her then?”
2/3
16:47 Fri, 9 May o
Chapter 37
“Yeah, They were sixteen months when she started working for me. Ayrie doesn’t remember that it happened,”
“It sounds like-” he pauses and my heart starts to race. “It sounds like wolfsbane poisoning,”
