03. SEMI-ATTRACTIVE
Thomas notified his unruly son that Julian McAndrew, his new bodyguard, would be arriving today at any minute.
Thomas then demanded that Aiden clean himself up in order to look somewhat presentable. Rather than retort with an unnecessary and vulgar remark because he was honestly mentally and emotionally drained after having just faced off, yet again, with his overbearing father, Aiden grudgingly did as he was told.
"Your ride is about to leave," Aiden muttered to Kyle after their parents headed out the front door. "It's nothing personal, but I really don't want any company right now."
"I'll go in a second. But first, I have to talk to you about something. It's important." Kyle followed Aiden as he headed upstairs to his bedroom. "While you and Thomas were going at it, I received a text from – "
"If it's something business-related, forget about it. I definitely don't want to hear anything regarding Grayson Ent. right now," Aiden grumbled. "With Thomas putting me in a fucking corner with this bodyguard shit, not even letting me fully speak my peace about it because I apparently don't have a say over anything that happens in my damn life..." Aiden paused for a second and took a deep breath in, then exhaled, trying to calm himself down. "There's just not much more that I can take today before I completely fucking snap."
"If you'd shut up for a minute and let me talk then I'd be able to tell you that it's not business-related. It's actually about your blackmailer." Kyle sighed, feeling slightly peeved after they entered Aiden's bedroom. The latter had started to undress for his shower, uncaring that his brother was there. "Can you please wait until I leave before you do all that?"
"Stop being so uptight, Kyle. Jesus Christ, you're exhausting," Aiden replied. "Now what's this news about my little problem? Was another package delivered to my office? Did you find something out about who may be behind all this?"
"No, no. It's none of that." Kyle shook his head. "I just got a text from my friend Karla who works for Little Town Magazine. She tipped me off and told me that one of the writers there is about to publish a very unsavory article about you. She told me that they received a tip from an anonymous source stating that you were a drug and sex addict."
Aiden laughed, unbothered. "I've had worse things said about me."
"I know, but this time they have pictures, Aiden." Kyle pulled out his phone to show Aiden the proof before he could ask for it. "It's you! There's no denying it."
"Son of a bitch." Aiden frowned at the image. His face was as clear as day and the photo didn't look to be altered at all. "Wow. Impressive. I've never actually been caught in the act before; this is new. I don't... I can't remember anything about that night, whenever it may have happened, it's all a blur to me now."
In the photo, Aiden was the man of the hour. Women, their faces conveniently all blacked out, were dressed in little to nothing as they hung all over Aiden like he was the last man on earth. His surroundings were that of a nightclub, possibly a strip club. Aiden looked completely faded in the picture. And he knew that he was being photographed because he was looking directly at the camera, one hand in the air with his middle finger up, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as two tiny white pills sat on top of it.
If one were to look up the definition of a fuckboy, this photo was bound to be listed as an example.
"No shit it's all a blur. You were clearly high as hell that night." Kyle placed his phone back into his pocket. He wanted to rip his blonde hair out from the roots, he was so damn frustrated and irritated because he knew that he'd have to be the one to fix this somehow. "I've got to go do damage control before this gets out."
"That picture could've been taken anywhere and at any time," Aiden said, still lost in thought. "It could have been from years and years ago for all we know. Now, granted, I did do a lot of crazy shit after leaving high school. It could have been taken during one of my... phases."
"Well, it's too late to do anything about it now," Kyle said. "Little Town is publishing the article online in less than twenty minutes. I've tried reasoning with them, even bribing them, but no amount of money will get them to pull the story. I'll have to get with our team after I leave here to write up some kind of a statement for the press because they're going to have a field day with this."
Confused, enraged, and partially embarrassed, Aiden stumbled over to his bed to take a seat. He was still a bit too tipsy to deal with this unsettling news. Too much was happening today, and he felt like he was suddenly drowning in all of his problems; one popping up right after another. He felt overwhelmed. Stressed out. And in desperate need of another drink.
"Do you think it's her?" Aiden asked. "The woman who's blackmailing me. Do you think she's behind this?"
Kyle nodded. "It's not a coincidence that this tip came out right after you got that threatening letter a few days ago. This has to be the work of the same person."
"Whoever this crazy woman is, she has a lot of dirt on me. The real question is how much dirt? How much does she have left? What else could she leak about me? What else is she holding back waiting to release? Fuck. Goddamn her!" Aiden yelled, nearing his breaking point. "You're sure Little Town won't give us any information about the person who called in with the tip?"
"Yes. They shut me down several times," Kyle said. "Told me something about protecting tipster's privacy, confidentiality, and shit. We can't force them to give us anything without breaking several privacy laws."
"I don't think you quite understand the gravity of this situation, Kyle. Either you handle Little Town, or I will." Aiden glowered at his brother. "You really don't want to see the havoc that I'll bring upon that piece of shit company if I have to go down there to personally handle this."
"Chill the fuck out, Aiden. I'll get it done, alright? Don't I always clean up after you when shit like this happens?" Kyle snapped, his patience growing thin. "I'm going to head out now. You need to lay low until this gets resolved. I'll be sure to keep you updated on what's going on."
"Yeah, you do that." Aiden rolled his eyes as Kyle left the room.
He eventually found his way into the shower and it took almost everything in him to not break down and scream at the very top of his lungs. Aiden hadn't meant to be such an ass to his brother, one of the few people that had his back in all of this, but damn was it hard for him to keep his emotions under control when things were so tense and nerve-wracking.
Aiden had never been good at talking things out in a calm and sophisticated manner.
When he reached his boiling point, he'd simply explode. He'd lash out at whoever was near. He knew of no other way to resolve things, unfortunately. And when it came to someone like him, handing out apologies rarely ever happened.
When I find this woman, she'll wish that she had never fucked with me. As the hot water cascaded down his slender body, Aiden tried his best to relax. A distraction. Yeah. That's what I need right now. A sexy brunette with chocolate eyes and an hourglass body...
He grew hard at the image of the imaginary woman that he created in his head. He couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous this moment was. He was in the chaotic situation that he's in now because of a woman, yet here he is fantasizing about being buried inside one.
When the water begins to turn cold, and before Aiden's dirty little fantasy gets out of control, the doorbell rings.
It had to be that of Julian McAndrew.
Shit. Thomas must have already told him the code to get past the front gate. Aiden climbed out of the shower and dried off briefly before wrapping the towel around his waist. He pushed back his dark hair as if that was somehow going to improve his look. He would've put on actual clothes, but he just didn't feel like going the extra mile.
Who the hell did he have to impress? Definitely not this new bodyguard.
I can't believe this is happening to me. Aiden pouted all the way downstairs, a hard scowl on his face. A live-in bodyguard? Seriously, Thomas?
Not knowing what to expect, Aiden hesitantly opened the door and was immediately, pleasantly, surprised at who his eyes landed on.
He thought that Thomas would have hired him some intimidating-no-bullshit-having-beefed-up-ex-Marine looking type of a guy. Instead, Aiden stood face to face with someone who looked to be just a few years older than him, if he had to guess an age. And because he was secure enough to admit it, at least to himself, Aiden found his new bodyguard to be unbelievably handsome.
He didn't know whether to feel insecure or annoyed by that sudden revelation.
Julian McAndrew matched Aiden's height, both of them coming in at about at six feet; he was a few shades darker than Aiden, his skin olive-toned and blemish-free. Julian had short dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a dangerously enticing smile. His muscular build and five o'clock shadow made him look older than what he was, twenty-nine, but not in a bad way.
Julian's bright and welcoming smile helped to knock some of the edge off his slightly intimidating aura. Aiden didn't feel threatened by the man, but from Julian's stance and build, he knew that Julian wasn't going to be someone that he wanted to pick a physical fight with.
It'd be a fight that Aiden would certainly lose.
"Hi. I'm Julian McAndrew." Julian smiled brightly; his pearly whites almost blinding. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Grayson."
Like most of the town, Julian knew all about Aiden Grayson; he knew all about his tough running of Grayson Ent. and he also knew all about Aiden's fuckboy-like reputation when it came to him mingling with the opposite sex. Julian has heard many stories about Aiden, some good but most bad. Getting to finally see him now, face to face, Julian couldn't help but feel a little letdown. He couldn't understand what all the hype had been about.
Aiden was pretty, yes. A little on the small side but overall, he was cute and in decent shape. Julian could appreciate Aiden's pouty plump lips and dazzling green eyes that definitely made his heart skip a beat. He'd hate to call the young CEO average, but that very well fit him given the current state that he was in. Maybe once Julian sees his boss dressed up and decked out in the finest of clothes, maybe then his mind will change.
"Your father has already told me so much about you; I feel like I know you so well already." Julian laughs, hoping to break the tension. "I hope you don't mind, but I saw that your mailbox was overflowing, so I went ahead and emptied it for you."
Julian tried to pass Aiden the stack of mail, but Aiden was still caught off guard, his thoughts still darting all over the place as he looked Julian up and down once more.
It was clear to Julian that his semi-attractive boss was shaken up by his presence. Julian also took immediate notice of the curious look that danced around in Aiden's green eyes. It made Julian smirk; his ego slightly inflated. He never bragged, but Julian knew that he looked good, and on his better days, fucking hot. He wasn't shocked that Aiden was clearly checking him out right now. A little surprised, maybe, but not shocked.
"Are you all right, Mr. Grayson?" Julian asked. "You don't look so well."
"Uh, y-yeah. I'm fine. I'm good. Just a little drunk." Aiden made a nervous chuckle before reaching for the stack of mail in Julian's hands. Goosebumps rose on his skin after their hands brushed during the exchange. "I guess you can come inside if you want."
"Sure, yeah. I just need to get the rest of my things from the car first and then I'll be right in."
Aiden nodded before quickly turning around to leave.
Julian laughed quietly to himself as he walked back to his car to get the rest of his belongings. This oughta be interesting...
. . . .
Author's Note: if you're new here, then you missed the drama of when I previously removed half of this book from wattpad because someone had stolen and published it on Amazon—yes, really... 💀😭😭😭
Because of this, I no longer keep this book available in full on wattpad. As stated in the book description, it is an excerpt only and the "sample" ends on Chapter 34.
If you keep reading, don't say I didn't warn you! If you want access to the whole book, you can finish it on Ream. The direct link is in my Wattpad bio 🥰
Thanks for reading and I apologize for the inconvenience ❤️💜💕