HURT FOR ME

Chapter Nineteen - Grief

His eyes raked my body harshly, "never too much when you're with me." I felt each of my limbs heat up.

My left hand smoothed over the long, brunette pony tail that rested over my shoulder as my right hand held my small clutch purse at my waist.

I couldn't remember the last time I felt this good about myself. One thing I knew for sure, I've never worn anything this fancy in my life. My outfit screams daddy's money.

"If things go wrong, you take my car and come back here." His keys jingled as he held them between us, waiting for me to take them.

I hesitantly shook my head, denying them. "I can't drive your car," I knew how to drive, I hadn't forgotten that part but his car was way too expensive for me to get behind the wheel.

"Take them." He demanded.

The keys dropped into my purse as we stepped into the elevator and I couldn't think of anything else but what he would do if I wrecked his precious matte-black BMW.

"Mr. Adair," the blonde receptionist met us at the elevator, "I have something for you to sign."

Aaron took his arm out of mine and began walking towards the large glass doors with my purse in his hand, "She can sign for me."

"Oh-" she began. "But-"

"She's my wife." He cut her off and vanished around the corner before she could say another word. There was a certain satisfaction I felt watching her get crushed by him.

I made my way over to the marble desk, "the paper, please?" I sent her a sly smile over the countertop as I waited.

She pressed her fingertips into the page and pushed it across the desk, "sign here, and here."

The black, bold ink that covered the top of the paper read:

Confirmation of $1,000,000 donation towards Infant Loss Support

My hand hesitated to sign the dotted line as I reread the bold words over and over.

Infant Loss Support

Was he donating this money...for me?

I signed my name on the two lines and placed the fancy, ball-point pen inside of the cup.

"Thank you," her smile was fake but I returned an even faker one.

❁

Aaron's car was idling outside of the entrance. Although I was never one for fancy things, there's no denying that this car is a beauty.

The black interior and red trim compliment the black matte paint coating the outside. The dark tinted windows express the depth of his car. It's almost like this BMW matches him.

His tall frame was leaning against the passenger side as I approached him. He pressed off of the car and opened the door, allowing me to climb inside.

"Olivia," his voice was serious.

I took a quick glance at him and waited for him to continue.

"If things go wrong, promise me you'll-" I held my hand up between us, stopping him from continuing.

"I'll take your car and drive back here," I nodded my head. "I'll wait for you here."

One of his large hands gripped the steering wheel while the other rested in his lap. A short chuckle came from him as he put the car in drive and merged into the heavy traffic.

After a few minutes, I peeled my forehead from the window and looked at Aaron.

"Yes, Olivia?" I rolled my eyes at him.

"Those papers I signed..." I bit my lip, considering if I actually wanted to have this conversation.

His eyes narrowed onto the road ahead and his jaw tensed at my few words. "They're nothing."

"Nothing?" I questioned. "Donating one million dollars to a charity that supports infant loss support is nothing to you?" My voice came out harsher than I had intended but it wasn't a regret.

He took a deep breath, "It's just a good cause." He was bullshitting me. Lie, Lie, Lie.

"We're a married couple but you still lie to me," I began. He let out a rough breath which silenced me.

"During the accident, you lost the baby. Our baby." His eyes were glazed over as I studied the expression on his face. "I can't imagine what mothers go through, especially the mother of my child."