Billion Dollar Boyfriend (Celebrity Love)

Chapter Twenty

Aiden's chest heaved as he drew in and released a breath. He rubbed his jaw and leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees and folding his hands in front of him.

The growing shade of night in the room made it difficult for Shelby to read his expression. She reached over to switch on a lamp. Aiden squinted at the light, and Shelby noticed the dark circles under his eyes for the first time.

He looks exhausted, she thought, inspecting his face. She felt her armor start to crack as she realized the toll the last few days had also taken on him.

"It was getting dark in here and I wanted to see you," she explained. "I didn't mean to interrupt what you were saying. Please keep going."

"I'm trying to figure out what to say next," he admitted. "There's a lot to tell."

Shelby settled back into the chaise. She drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, waiting for Aiden to continue. A few more seconds passed in silence.

"You said you found out about your birth parents just before you turned eighteen?" she prompted.

He nodded. "Yeah. It was also right at the end of my senior year of high school. I'd just finished final exams and was feeling good about it. I was thinking about throwing a big party to celebrate that, my birthday, and getting accepted to USC. Raine and I were both headed there—me for the music industry arts program, and Raine for dramatic arts. We had all these plans for once we got to L.A. and were going to be roommates. I thought I had everything in my life all mapped out."

Aiden shifted in his chair. He frowned at a memory Shelby couldn't see before continuing.

"I remember it was a Saturday morning. My brother had just left to go to a friend's house, and I was finishing breakfast. My mom came into the kitchen and said we should talk. I asked what about, but she left the room to get my dad. I remember wondering if it was about college and if she was going to try and talk me into choosing UMN instead, since then I'd still be in Minnesota instead of across the country in L.A. She came back into the kitchen a couple of minutes later, this time with my dad by her side and a metal box in her hands. It was one of those ones that locks and keeps things safe from fires or whatever. She set it on the table and looked at my dad. Neither of them would meet my eyes. It was strange, and I knew something was up.

"My mom told me they had planned to wait for my birthday to talk to me, but since my brother was out for the day, then seemed like a better time. 'There are some things you need to know,' were the words she said, then she stopped speaking and took a seat at the table. I asked her what things, and she looked at my dad again. He sat down in the chair next to my mom and said it was about my ancestry. I remember being confused. No one knew anything about my ancestry as far as I was aware, since I'd always been told it had been a closed adoption. It turns out it was closed, all right, but not from my parents—just from the rest of the world.

"My dad told me there were some things they hadn't been honest about, but it had seemed necessary at the time. It had been to protect me, he claimed, since kids sometimes don't understand why things need to be kept secret. There was no risk of me accidentally saying something I shouldn't to a friend, classmate, or teacher if I didn't know the truth, and he and my mom didn't want me in danger."

Danger. It was the second time that word had come up within a few minutes. Shelby glanced at the scar on Aiden's hand, wondering if what he said next would help her connect the dots.

"I asked him to go on," Aiden continued. "He told me I had been born in London as Tristan James Aiden Thornbury, the son of Larissa and Kent Thornbury. My biological mother had dual American and British citizenship and had been raised in the United States, in Massachusetts. Larissa was an only child, and she and my mom—my adoptive mom, that is—had been best friends for most of their lives. They were like sisters growing up, which is how my adoptive parents were chosen as the best people to have custody of me when Larissa and Kent died.