The Lover's Vow

Chapter 11: Aidan

I woke up at 4 am feeling worse than when I'd gone to sleep. Every time I blinked it felt like sand was under my eyelids. I trudged my way downstairs to my home gym, knowing I wasn't going to be getting any more sleep anyway. I didn't like people trying to talk to me while I was working out, and I hated wearing headphones even more so I'd invested in a mini gym in my house. I had a weights corner, a stationary bike, and a TRX band. I'd also had a full wall turned into a mirror so I could watch my form. The last thing I'd had put in was a sound system that I could activate by saying its name and a command.

"Dwayne, play workout mix." Yes, I named my sound system Dwayne, after Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. I had to pick something that I wouldn't accidentally say if I started to sing along, and the guy was cool as shit.

It took me an hour and a half to sweat out my misery. By the time I got into the shower any feelings I had were just a dull ache that I could easily ignore until they decided to surface again. My thoughts wandered to Callie as I got ready for the day and packed for the trip.

I'm sure she was feeling just as conflicted as I was, except she definitely had more of a reason. I almost felt bad for tricking her into all this, but I remembered Aphrodite's threat. Ever since my adoptive parents had passed away within three months of each other when I was twenty-one, I'd begun a search for my biological parents. I met Serena and Caleb when I was 9, and I loved the people that raised me after a string of bad foster homes. No matter how much I acted out with Serena and Caleb, they never hit me or punished me unfairly, teaching me that I could get farther in life by not fighting those who were just trying to help. It was only supposed to be temporary with them, but when the end of my time there came up I couldn't imagine going back into a home where abuse and starvation were the norm. Thankfully, they felt the same way I did and asked if I would be okay with them adopting me.

I never would have thought to look for the people who had abandoned me, but I found a letter after Serena and Caleb'ss deaths. It was in their bedside table, my name written across it in Caleb's strong handwriting. One of the things they said in the letter was to find my biological parents because I would regret it if I didn't. It had taken me a year to start the search since I'd been grieving Serena and Caleb's deaths too much to care about anything other than work. I'd forgotten about the letter until I found it going through some papers.

The trail had gone cold for a while, but in thee last seven months one of the investigators I'd hired had caught a hint. I felt like I was closing in, and then this mess happened.

I bet Callie had grown up in the perfect home, with the perfect family. Everyone from her life that I'd met so far seemed like they were super close, and it frustrated me for a moment to think that I'd had such a hard time keeping family around.

I grabbed my phone to text Lucy. Ignoring the sinking feeling in my stomach about having to face her again with a broken heart while she was perfectly fine, I typed out my message.

Hey Luce, I'm heading over to the office. Want to grab some lunch before I head out?

Her response came within a minute. Of course I do! You're paying yeah? My job doesn't pay much. ;)

Yeah right it doesn't. I'll see you in 30 minutes, mooch.

Sounds good! I'm picking the place, btw. I'm sick of eating Chinese food all the damn time.

You got it, you big baby.

I chuckled as I rolled my carry on and suitcase out to my car. I was planning on heading over to Callie's after leaving work since it was between my office and the airport. Maybe I would surprise her and show up a bit early. I grinned mischievously at the idea, excited to see how she'd react to the surprise. Here's hoping she yells at me. She's even prettier when she's pissed, I thought to myself. I sang along to some oldies on the way to work, feeling a bit better about the situation.