Vengeance by Kelly Carrero Page B

had been right that I would one day adjust my mind to no longer think about what was expected of a normal human. We walked down the steps and along the side of the pool.
    He sat down on the garden retaining wall. “So what did you want to talk to me about?”
    I stood in front of him, wishing I could see inside his head so I didn’t need to ask the question, but the antidote hadn’t kicked in yet. “What was up with you and Harry?”
    “What do you mean?” Aiden asked.
    “You know what I mean.”
    “No, I don’t.”
    “Fine. Why the cold treatment toward Harry?”
    “I wasn’t giving him any cold treatment.”
    I laughed. “You barely said two words to the guy. And when you did say something, it was short and cold.”
    Aiden looked down at the floor. “I don’t know why.”
    I moved in between his legs and lifted his chin so I could see his eyes. “Tell me,” I said softly.
    “I don’t know why.”
    “It’s what Gemma said, isn’t it?”
    He tried to look down again, but I wouldn’t let him. “Yeah, okay. It is.”
    I frowned. “You’ve never had a problem when anyone tried to cause trouble before, so why now?”
    “Maybe it’s because I feel that something’s changed. And I don’t just mean you taking my love for you away. I mean, how you act towards me.”
    “I don’t act any different.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “Jade.”
    I sighed. “Fine. It’s because I’m afraid. I’m scared you won’t fall in love with me again. And I don’t want to get hurt.”
    “So you’re putting up a wall instead.”
    “Have you been watching Dr. Phil with Chelsea?”
    Aiden scrunched up his face. “What?”
    I shook my head . “Nothing. She said almost the exact same thing to me this morning when you went back to England.”
    “Good.” He put his hands on my hips and pulled me closer. “Now maybe you’ll give us a chance. No more walls?”
    “No more walls.” I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I’m not letting go of you that easily.”
    “And I’m not giving up on us that easily.” He kissed me, sending my stomach into a quivering mess.
    All I wanted to do was show him how much I loved him, but I didn’t think my mother’s backyard was such a good place for that. “Maybe we should go inside.”
    “Maybe.” He kissed me again, making me forget what it was he had just agreed to.
    A sudden pain shot through my skull, bringing me out of my love-induced state. I buried my head in my hands, praying the pain would soon stop.
    “It’s happening, isn’t it?”
    Unable to speak, I nodded, but even that small motion was almost unbearable.
    Aiden turned me around, pulled me onto his lap, and wrapped his arms around me.
    The implosion began, and just like that, I could hear Aiden’s thoughts again. I dropped my hands away from my head.
    “Did it work?”
    “Yep. It worked,” I said with relief.
    “So I guess now is the time to go find out what your mum knows and doesn’t know about Nathan.”
    I sighed. I didn’t want to find out the truth, because if I found out she had known about him all that time, then I didn’t know how I would trust her ever again.
    “Come on,” Aiden said, standing up and putting me on my feet.
    “Okay.”
    We walked up to the house and into the lounge room.
    As soon as Grandma saw us, she said, “I’m sorry dear, but I need to go have a shower.” She stood up. “So many things for me to do today.”
    “That’s okay,” I said. “We can catch up some more later?”
    “Definitely.” She strolled toward her room.
    “You did that, didn’t you?” Aiden asked.
    “I didn’t want her around while I’m trying to figure out Mum.”
    I sat on the couch beside Chelsea. Aiden took the seat on the other side of me.
    “So, Mum,” I said, “how did the lunch thing go after I left?”
    She looked at me strangely, wondering if I was just making small talk or if I really wanted to know. “There wasn’t really much of a lunch after we realised you had