A pair of piercing amber eyes glare at me, and to say that the person in front of me is angry would be an understatement. Aiden is shaking with rage -- he might not going to think twice to kill me.
"Where is she?" he hisses.
And as stupid as it sounds, I'm at a loss for words. I don't know where to start. Telling him that his sister is lying on my bed now, unconscious, wouldn't sound good. But he's going witness that whether he likes it or not.
Without waiting for my answer, Aiden pushes me that my head smacks the wall behind me.
Damn. I wasn't prepared for that.
"Luna." Aiden rushes toward my bed. Panic skates all over his face. His eyes widen, darting on his sister lying helplessly on my bed.
He shakes her shoulders, rocking her body back and forth to wake her up. "What happened? Are you okay? Please, wake up. Wake up, Luna."
His chest is heaving up and down brutally. His breathing is short and fast. God, I think he needs an inhaler.
Luna's eyelids flicker, and my heart skips a beat. Is she going to open her eyes?
But then, she only winces in pain, and that doesn't look good at all.
A deadly look crosses Aiden's expression, and his jaw tightens. The next thing I know is that he snaps his head toward me, stands up from the bed, and storms at me like a hurricane.
Aiden grips my collar and pushes me against the wall, making me groan from the attack. Fuck. I know how to defend myself, but I'm not planning to have a real fight with Luna's brother.
Besides, the sight of us bleeding greeting her when she wakes up later will frighten her. She will probably pass out again.
"Goddammit, what have you done to her?" Aiden speaks through gritted teeth, his fist shaking as he holds his grip on my collar, making it hard for me to breathe, let alone speak.
I doubt that he'll let me speak.
"Speak," he hisses with venom, his eyes burning with rage.
Oh, right. Okay.
"It's not what you think," I say firmly even though his grip on my collar is choking me. "You have the wrong idea."
"And how is that even possible that it's not what I fucking think?" he booms.
Damn, now his voice might wake up the entire floor.
"You took advantage of my sister, huh?" His eyes darken, giving me a clear message of what's to come.
"Aiden?" Luna's groggy voice fills the room, and we both snap our heads toward her.
She sits up on my bed, wiping her eyes before squinting at us. "Is that you?" she whispers as her gaze darts on me too. "And Max?"
She looks terribly confused. A frown touches her lips.
And I want to shoot myself from thinking that even in this inappropriate situation, the sight of her waking up on my bed, with messy hair and tangled clothes and raspy voice, turns me on.
It's not the time for that, foolish. I curse my dick.
Luna's eyes suddenly widen in shock. She pulls the bed cover closer to her body, like she's holding it for dear life. "Oh, God, why am I here?" she shrieks.
My mouth drops open.
Aiden stares at her in horror.
Fuck.
Fuckity fuck.
Aiden immediately snaps his head back toward me, and I can't even describe the anger I'm witnessing right now.
"I didn't touch her." I shoot my hands up.
"Fucking bastard." Aiden lifts my collar, swinging his fist to knock me out --
"Wait," Luna yells before Aiden can land his punch on my face.
We both stare at Luna again. She's now panting, staring at the sight before her in horror. "It's not his fault."
I can sense Aiden's muscles tense. "What do you mean?" He sounds like he's losing his patience.
Luna abruptly shakes her head. "It's all my fault," she rasps, and the room turns silent.
She squeezes her eyes shut, as though she's reminded of the mistakes she did.
"I was so stupid. I wasn't being careful," she cries softly, and that sight breaks my heart. "If Max hadn't come, I would have..." Instead of continuing her sentence, she buries her face in her hands.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Aiden sounds extremely panic, I think that he's going crazy.
I am too. I'm dying to know what happened. I want to know why she went to that place in the first place.
Luna removes her hands from her face slowly, letting us know how much guilt she has on it.
She swallows and stares at Aiden with a pleading look. "I'm so sorry. I'll tell you what happened."
"Yes, tell him," I blurt out. "Tell us what the hell happened."
It frustrates me, because she has lied to me.
She refused when I wanted to pick her up in the first place. She said that she was already on her way back to the hotel. She fucking lied to me.
Luna stares at me nervously and swallows again. The way she looks at me lets me know how uncomfortable she is.
Aiden shoots me another glare. "Get out before I kick your ass," he bites out. "She said that she'd tell me. Not you. Get out," he barks.
What the hell?
I turn to look at Luna again, waiting for her to say something. Anything. But she doesn't. She only stares back at me with guilt on her face, and damn, it hurts me.
I know that I'm not her family. I know that she might not trust me as much as she trusts her brother.
But I was worried sick about her.
I don't think that I would ever want to go through something like that again, looking for her in such a cursed place, wondering what the people there would have done to her.
Fuck that pill party, pharm party, or whatever it is they call them.
Aiden grips my shirt and drags me toward the door forcefully. I can hardly comprehend what's going on, because my mind is so messed up.
The only thing I can see is how uncomfortable Luna is with my presence here.
"Get the fuck out," is all Aiden says before he throws me out and slams the door shut in my face.
What the fuck?
I pant, looking around, only to find that the securities who have bothered me the whole night are standing there in the corridor, scrutinizing me. The huge one, whose wrist was damaged when I pushed the door against him, scoffs.
Now I know why all of those weird things have happened to me -- the panicked receptionist downstairs and these two securities barging into my room.
It's all her brother.
I curse and rake my fingers through my hair.
I've just been kicked out of my own fucking room.
I still haven't recovered from the shock. "You flew all the way from New York to Paris just to see me?" I stutter, not liking the menacing look Aiden shoots me.
Aiden rarely gets angry, but when he does, he can be as scary as Dad.
"Just to see you?" he asks in disbelief, his loud voice echoing in the room. "You almost killed me with how you made me worried. You didn't answer my texts and calls. Your driver couldn't find you. You went missing after the fashion show." He throws his hands in the air, showing his frustration, and I gulp as his eyes pierce me again. "The hotel told me that you came back unconscious in a guy's arms, the very same guy who took you into his room and attacked the securities when they wanted to check."
My jaw drops.
Did Max do that? Did he attack a security guard? Oh, God.
"It's just a misunderstanding," I say, hating the fact that my voice still sounds weak. The drug is the nastiest thing that my body has ever received.
Aiden looks at me firmly, waiting for my explanation. His breathing hasn't slowed down, though.
"I'm sorry," I rasp. "I was afraid that you would get mad at me, so I lied. My friend was having a celebration, and I wanted to go to her party. I got carried away. I took some drinks, and --" Tears fill my eyes. I'm too afraid to tell Aiden about the drugs, so I leave that one out. "I was knocked out. Max came to pick me up, and I think I've lost my room key somewhere, so he took me into his room."
Honestly, I don't even know whether I've lost my key or not, but that seems to be the most convincing explanation for now.
"He's the one who helped me, Aiden."
Aiden squints at me. Judging from his expression, I can tell that he doesn't fully believe that Max isn't dangerous.
He suddenly grips my shoulders, scanning my face, my neck, my clothes, and the skin on my arms. He then turns my body around and checks my back.
"Aiden," I protest, and when we come face to face again, I can see the worry written all over his face. My poor brother is having a panic attack right now. "Max wouldn't do something like that."
I trust Max. Besides, he wouldn't cheat on Nevaeh in such a disgusting way.
"How would you know?" Aiden hisses in frustration. He pulls the bed cover away and examines the sheet, looking for any shreds of evidence.
Oh my, this is so embarrassing.
"Stop it." I pull his arm, but he doesn't budge. He's still checking the bed, throwing the pillows. "Aiden," I finally shout, and when he shifts his gaze to me, my chest is already heaving up and down. "I'll go check it myself, okay?"
Excruciating silence falls. Aiden watches as I step back. I turn around, walk into the bathroom, and lock the door.
I swallow, squeezing my eyes shut and pushing my panties down, sitting on the toilet. A soft cry leaves my lips. Even though Max wouldn't take advantage of me, I don't know about those guys at the party.
I pray that they haven't done something nasty to my body.
There's nothing as I check my panties and the area between my thighs. No trace of blood or any other unwanted substance. All clean. There's no pain as I pee, and a soft sigh of relief leaves my mouth.
I finish my business, wash my hands at the sink, and splash my face with cold water. I pant, staring at my reflection in the mirror. God, this is too much for me.
I stare at the new toothbrush provided by the hotel. Max has used the other one, while this one is still untouched. Without asking for his permission, I brush my teeth with it.
I've consumed those harmful drugs without being aware of it, so I just want to wash my mouth, to get rid of any trace, even though it's already in my blood now.
A tear slips from the corner of my eye while I'm brushing my teeth, and soon, more of them fall onto my cheeks.
Since I don't want to worry Aiden if he sees me crying, I wash my face again and pat it with a clean towel.
When I step out of the bathroom, Aiden is already sitting on the bed.
"All is well," I assure him, and he finally lets out a breath that he seems to be holding for a few seconds.
He stands up from the bed and grabs my arm. "Let's go."
My eyes widen, and I automatically retreat. "Wait, what?" I breathe. "Where?"
Aiden stares at me as if I'm crazy. "Home. Where else? You're coming with me. We're going back to New York now."
"Did you tell Mom and Dad about it?" Panic consumes me. The last thing I want to happen is my parents knowing about this.
Aiden sighs, giving me a knowing look. "What do you think? Mom would have had a heart attack if she'd heard about it."
"What about Dad?" I stutter. Even though I appreciate the fact that Aiden hasn't said anything to Mom about this, I'm still worried about Dad.
Aiden rolls his eyes. "Mom and Dad are one package. You can't hide something from one of them and expect the other to keep it a secret. Like I didn't know that they vowed to never keep a secret from one another."
Huge relief washes over me, as though another baggage has been lifted off my shoulders. Still, I can't go with Aiden. I know that he still has work to do in New York, but I can't go home now.
"I'm not going back now," I say. "I'm staying here."
Disbelief crosses his expression. "What?"
I shake my head and look at my brother sadly. I love him so much and know that it must have been hard for him to go through what happened last night.
It touches my heart that he flew all the way here just to make sure that I'm safe, but I can't run away from Max forever. Last night's incident has taught me that running away from Max and my own feelings would do nothing good. I still have to face him after this.
Max is someone important in my life, and I don't want to lose him. Even though we're just friends, it's more than enough for me. He's been with me even when everybody else edged away.
"I'm not leaving you here alone in this room with some guy," Aiden hisses.
"Max isn't just some random guy," I say. "He's my friend, Aiden. He's actually a very good friend of mine."
"But--"
"If he'd wanted to take advantage of me, he would have done so," I say firmly. "I was unconscious the whole night, remember?"
Aiden seems to run out of words.
"He saved me, Aiden," I remind.
He sighs, putting his hands on his hips.
"Besides, I don't want to leave Paris yet," I say. "I'll leave with the rest of my classmates tomorrow."
After a few seconds in silence, Aiden finally gives in. "Fine. But keep your phone with you 24/7. Do not ignore my texts and calls. For God's sake, Luna, don't ever do that to me again."
"I've learned my lesson." I smile, pulling him into a tight hug, and both of us sigh in relief.
When we pull away, I notice how tired my brother has been because of me, and that pains me. I won't do something that will hurt him like this ever again.
While Aiden is striding back toward the door, I follow him. When he opens it, Max comes into view, and I can hear each of Aiden's words very clearly.
"Thank you for saving her," he says. "I'll let it slip this time. But if you ever cross the line or hurt her..."
I hold my breath, listening to his voice filled with implacable authority.
"You're dead." And with that said, my brother leaves.