Playing With The Devil

Chapter 52

"What brings you here?" I asked carefully.

"I have some questions," she replied as she took the seat.

She crossed her legs over each other, setting her hands by her knees. She leaned forward and moved her eyes between Jesse and me. Silence stayed for a few more minutes before I breathed out in annoyance.

"Can you please get this over with?" I asked calmly. "I want to get my work done and be home sooner rather than later."

"Missing Aidan already?" she asked.

"He's my boyfriend, ma'am, of course, I miss him," I said as I leaned back. "Even for an hour or a day, I do miss seeing him."

"That's a fair point, sir," she smiled politely. "May I have a little interview?"

"Of course," I nodded, gesturing for her to continue.

She pulls out her little recorder and hits the 'on' button. Leaning forward, she sets it on my desk and leans back in her seat. "This is Lillianna meeting with Gabriel Miller and Jesse Stilton," she began. "I'm conducting a small interview. Non-invasive, I hope."

"I bet you do, ma'am," I muttered.

She eyed me with a smirk, sliding her tongue along her bottom lip before continuing.

"We've had a report that Mr Stilton has been spending quite a bit of time at your house, Mr Miller," she continued casually. "And from the number of journalists that have been standing by to try and talk to Aidan, it seems to be true. Can you confirm that?"

"...Yes, he has been bringing around extra worksheets, safety plans, and information from my father," I answered. "Mostly work-related."

"Mostly work-related?" she repeated.

Fuck.

"He's also been kind enough to bring dinners and stay around to help me with my workload seeing that his education and previous work experience allow for the work to be done easily... efficiently," I shrugged.

"One of his friends, an inmate still, a Mr Luke Johnson, has suggested that it is not always work-related," she said.

"Is that a question or a statement?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

"It's really only been for work stuff, ma'am," Jesse said quietly.

"Mr Johnson has suggested that it's also sexual in nature," Lillianna continued.

"Why should he care?" I asked calmly.

"Well, it's more if it's true, Mr Miller," Lillianna smiled.

"Why?" Jesse suddenly asked, sitting up straighter in his chair.

"If people were to find out he'd allowed an abuser back into his life, especially allowing you to have sex with him, well," she shrugged. "People would start saying Stockholm Syndrome or might think it's too easy to forgive someone who did something so horrific."

"Ai-... Mr Walters has not forgiven me," Jesse said. "He doesn't have to. He doesn't need to. I am working for Mr Miller and his father. I am trying my best to be a better person. I know what I did was... horrific, as you called it. But, I will not have you attack Mr Walters or his boyfriend with this. I'm the one at fault, and I know this. I know I fucked up. I have to live with that. The fact of the matter is, I'm doing work. Only work. I am being allowed near Mr Walters for the sole purpose of doing work, and I try my hardest to not upset him or hurt him again. And in all honesty, I should still be in jail. I know I didn't 'do as much', as a lot of the papers have said, as much as the court and the judge said it. But, I was still there, and I still hurt him. Leave them alone."