Read with BonusRead with Bonus

SECRET UNVEILED

The morning light filtered through the curtains, casting a soft glow on the rumpled sheets and entwined bodies. Lena stirred, her mind slowly waking up to the feel of Aiden’s warm body curled around hers. For a moment, she simply lay there, savoring the sensation of being so intimately connected to someone. It was a feeling she hadn’t experienced in a long time, if ever.

But as the haze of sleep lifted, reality began to creep in. Lena’s thoughts turned to the night before, to the intensity of what they had shared, and a small knot of anxiety began to form in her chest. She had never intended for things to go this far, this fast. And now, as she lay there in Aiden’s arms, she couldn’t help but wonder what this meant for them.

Aiden shifted beside her, his hand tightening around her waist as he pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder. “Good morning,” he murmured, his voice still thick with sleep.

“Good morning,” Lena replied, her voice soft as she turned to face him. His eyes, still heavy-lidded with sleep, met hers, and for a moment, all her worries melted away. How could she possibly think about anything else when he looked at her like that?

But just as she was about to lean in for a kiss, Aiden’s phone buzzed on the nightstand, breaking the moment. He groaned, reaching over to grab it, and Lena watched as his expression shifted from contentment to something more serious as he read the message.

“I’m sorry, I have to take this,” he said, his tone apologetic as he sat up, the sheets falling away from his sculpted torso. Lena couldn’t help but admire the view, even as a sense of unease began to settle in her stomach.

Aiden stood, phone pressed to his ear, his voice low as he moved towards the window. Lena couldn’t hear what he was saying, but she could tell from the tension in his shoulders and the clipped tone of his voice that it wasn’t a casual conversation.

As she lay there, watching him, a thousand questions raced through her mind. Who was on the other end of that call? Was it business? Or was it something more personal? And why did she suddenly feel like she was intruding on something she wasn’t supposed to see?

When Aiden finally ended the call, he turned back to her, his expression guarded. “I’m sorry about that,” he said, slipping his phone into his pocket. “I have to go take care of something. It’s urgent.”

Lena sat up, pulling the sheets around her for warmth, even though the chill she felt had little to do with the temperature. “Is everything okay?” she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

Aiden hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Just a business matter that needs my attention.” His tone was reassuring, but Lena couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to it than he was letting on.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she offered, hoping to bridge the sudden distance that had sprung up between them.

Aiden smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “It’s nothing to worry about,” he said, leaning down to press a quick kiss to her forehead. “I’ll be back soon. Stay as long as you like.”

And with that, he was gone, leaving Lena to sit there alone, her mind swirling with doubts and questions. The warmth and security she had felt just moments ago had evaporated, replaced by a nagging sense of unease.

She tried to shake it off, telling herself that she was overreacting. Aiden was a busy man with a lot of responsibilities. Of course, he would have things to deal with from time to time. But the way he had shut her out, the guarded look in his eyes—it didn’t sit right with her.

Lena got up, gathering her clothes from where they had been discarded the night before. As she dressed, she couldn’t help but feel like she was trying to put on more than just her clothes—she was trying to wrap herself in the armor she had always used to protect herself from getting hurt.

But this time, it didn’t fit quite as well as it used to.

As she made her way to the door, Lena’s eyes fell on a photograph on the dresser. It was a picture of Aiden with another man, both of them looking young and carefree, their arms slung around each other’s shoulders. There was something about the picture that caught her attention—a familiarity in the other man’s face that she couldn’t quite place.

Frowning, Lena picked up the photo, studying it more closely. And then it hit her—she knew the man in the picture. Or at least, she had seen him before. He was the CEO of a rival company, one that had been involved in a scandal a few years ago. The details were fuzzy, but Lena remembered enough to know that it hadn’t ended well for anyone involved.

Why would Aiden have a picture of him? And why hadn’t he ever mentioned it?

A sinking feeling settled in Lena’s stomach as she realized that there was a lot she didn’t know about Aiden. She had been so caught up in the intensity of their connection, in the passion they shared, that she hadn’t stopped to think about the secrets he might be keeping.

And now, as she stood there in his empty penthouse, those secrets felt like a wall between them—one that she wasn’t sure she could break through.

Across Town

Aiden paced his office, the tension in his body coiled tight like a spring. The phone call had been brief, but the implications were far-reaching. The man in the photograph—his old friend, his former business partner—was back in town. And he wasn’t just visiting.

Aiden had tried to bury that part of his past, to move on from the mistakes they had made, the lines they had crossed. But now it seemed that the past was coming back to haunt him, and he knew that if Lena found out, it could destroy everything they had just begun to build.

He couldn’t let that happen. He wouldn’t let that happen.

But as he stared out the window, his mind racing with possibilities, Aiden knew that keeping this secret from Lena would be like walking a tightrope—one misstep, and everything could come crashing down.

And Aiden wasn’t sure if he could keep his balance.

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter