The Photograph

Gabe

She still hasn’t cashed the check.

A short knock pulls me back as Ann enters my office and settles across from me.

“Gabe, I’ve found my replacement. I’ve narrowed it down to two candidates I think will be a good fit and I’d like you to meet them.”

“Sure.”

She shifts into her armchair. “How’s Michael? When is he back?”

I visited Mike in St. Martin where he works on an international eco-friendly vacation complex. “Mike’s good. He’ll be back home for Christmas.”

Ann’s eyes soften. “Good. Not long then. Will he need an interim office?”

“Yes, until he gets his bearings.”

She nods. “I’ll have it ready for him.”

Ann’s pinched expression screams she’d rather be anywhere else than in my office.

“Everything good, Ann?” I expect a forthright answer from her. She’s always been brutally honest with me, and over the twelve years we’ve been collaborators, she’s someone I rely on for the truth.

She gets on her feet. “Yes, everything’s fine.”

And she’s a terrible liar. “What is it?”

“Nothing, it’s none of my business,” she replies and pivots toward the door.

“Ann? What is it?”

She turns to face me. “You know how Cynthia and I are trying to have a baby?” When I nod, she says, “Well, we got lucky to get this specialist. She’s called the ‘Baby Whisperer’ and…” She sighs and steps closer “Cynthia saw Aelin coming out of the doctor’s office.”

I jolt upright. “Are you sure?”

The corner of Ann’s mouth twists. “You can’t mistake Aelin with anyone.”

“When was this?”

“Three weeks ago.”

Three weeks ago?I dip my chin. “Thanks, Ann.”

At the door, she stops, and I whip my eyes to hers. “Are things … over with Aelin?”

They will be when the beautiful parasite leaves.

She moves closer. “Gabe, your private life is just that. But I want you to know that I like her, and she and I are friends.”

I thought you had better judgement.Before I can answer, my assistant walks out.

That’s why she hasn’t cashed the check.

I make my way to the window and clench my back teeth.The one fucking time I forget a rubber.

If the baby’s mine, shit will get complicated with Mike, but I won’t let another greedy gold digger take that away from me.

My cell rings, and Cal wastes no time. “Just got back. How far did your guy go into the investigation on Aelin?”

How did everything become about her? She’s everywhere.“As far as he could. Why?”

“Because there’s more to it. I’ll be in your part of the woods on Monday. I’ll brief you then.” Cal disconnects the call.

I fucking knew it.She’s done this before. She’s too good at it.But she won’t play me this time.

****

The next evening, I ring the bell and knock on her door. When no one answers, I make my way to back of the house and exhale. Her car’s there.Of course, she’d still be here plotting how she’ll snake her way back in my money now that she’s pregnant.

I pull my cell to call her and pocket it back. She’s playing games and I won’t take the chance to warn her.

Near the back door, I stop. She’s sitting in her brightly lit studio. Her face is hidden behind her hair while she bends over her sketch table. I tap on the window closest to the door, but again, no reaction. I text her.

She straightens up, slides her cell toward her, and whips her head up. I dive my hands in my pockets as she opens the door. She’s lost weight. Still poisonously beautiful but pale.

After tightening her long grey cardigan around her, she scans the alleyway behind me.

“What are you doing here?”

“Can we talk?”

A slight frown breaks her unreadable expression before she nods. “Let’s go inside.”

I’m a step behind her. When we enter the small living room, we walk past a couple of moving boxes laying in the corner in between shelves heaving under dozens of books. The khaki couch and a long coffee table are the only furniture in the small, airy room.Good, she’s leaving.

Standing with her hands clasped in front of her by the fireplace, Aelin frowns. “I still have time before I have to go—”

The sad doe eyes?Seriously?I clench my fists and grit my teeth. “Are you pregnant?”

Her eyes widen and she sways back nearly bumping into the wall behind her.

She shakes her head slowly. “How do y…?” She stares at the floor before tilting her eyes back up. “Not anymore.”

Did she…?Her loose t-shirt and pants give no indication about a pregnancy. “What does that mean?”

She sighs and tucks a tendril of hair behind her ear. “It means I was pregnant and I’m not anymore.”

She got rid of it.She got rid of my… “Was it mine?”

When she just gawks at me, blood rushes to my neck and I lock my jaw. “Did you get rid of it?”

The manipulator crosses her arms on her chest, and her expression hardens.

“That’s none of your business.”

My baby? Not my business?“Would you be that much of a bitch and not tell me if it was mine?”

Tautening her crossed arms, she scoffs. “What can I say? It pains me that the man who’s blackmailing me into leaving my home would think ill of me. Can you go now?”

An old wound rips open, pierces my chest, and my blood boils. Closing the distance between us, I stop at a short arm’s length from her. “Did you get rid of it because you chose whoring over mothering?”

Her eyes narrow into slits and her face flushes as she locks her gaze onto mine. “It’s my body and I make decisions that suitme. Get out of my house, Gabe.”

They’re all the same.“If that baby was mine, you owe me an explanation,” I grit between clenched teeth.

Anger brings out the green of her eyes while her fists curl by her sides. “I owe you nothing. Get out of my house.”

When she turns away, I catch the back of her arm. She yanks her arm out and spins back to me. “Get your hands off of me.”

Stepping back with both my palms up, I shove my fists in my pockets. “Why did you do it, Aelin?”

“That stopped being any of your business the day you made me sign that evil contract. Now, Get. Out. Of. My. House.”

You little…“What did Michael ever see in you?”

At the mention of my brother’s name something soft fleets in her expression which makes my jaw clench while she narrows her eyes. “Why don’t you go ask him?”

And have him fall for you again?“Tell me why, then I’ll leave.”

Her gaze is cold.There she is. The real Aelin Thorne.“You leave, or I call the police. Or do you also own the police inyourcity?”

When she turns away, my rage bursts out. “Fucking tell me why!”

She stops, her back to me for a couple of seconds then pivots slowly to face me. Her fists tight by her side, she glares at me. “You want to know why?”

My jaw clenches to breaking point. I nod.

“I lost my baby.” She jabs her index finger on her chest. “…My. Baby. Because on my twelfth birthday, the man who adopted me decided I was ready to have sex with him. When I refused and told him I was going to tell, he pinned me down to my bed, put one hand on my mouth and raped me with his fist.”

Her words hit my plexus and I let out a sharp exhale. I can see the truth in her eyes.

“Ael—”

“When I told his wife, the woman I called Mom, that he hurt me, she slapped me for being a liar. She didn’t take me to a hospital because an ungrateful little whore like me needed to be taught a lesson about loyalty and family.”

Blood drains from my face and I reel back.Fuck. Aelin.

Without taking a breath, the words flood out of her. “By the time someone believed me and took me to a doctor, I’d had an infection and the scarring was so severe, I was told I’d never be able to get pregnant. I was thirteen years old.”

No.I freeze while her gaze, swamped in pain, holds mine. “There was no blood on your condom because I’d bled enough that day—”

Aelin. Fuck.“Aelin—”

“So, I’m going to tell you what I said to my pathetic excuse of a father since you both seem to agree on who I am…” Her voice lowers. “…I am not. And will never be your little whore. Now. Get out of my house.”

Sucker punched by the agony in her eyes, I reach for her. “Fuck. Aelin, I…”

She jumps back. “Don’t touch me.”

I stop dead in my tracks. Her fists curl on her chest and there’s fear in her eyes as she looks at me. As if I’m going to hurt her. Like I’m… I swallow hard.

Her voice breaks, and tears drown her pale face. She clutches her belly and lets out a pained whimper.She’s hurting. She’s… “Please, leave me alone. Go away … please.”

I stagger toward the back door as her wrenching sobs echo in the empty house and explode in my brain.

In my car, unable to move, pinned in place by rage and guilt, I slam the back of my head to the seat and shut my eyes.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.