A Debt Repaid (1) (9 page)

IT WAS OFFICIAL. Chase was losing his fucking mind.

“He was spotted yesterday in Oak Lawn,”
Allen, the head of their security team, said.

“Oak Lawn?” Brent snapped. “That’s half an hour away.”

Chase’s brother could be a real hot head. He was always the one with a temper, whereas Chase was usually the calm, cool, and collected brother.

At the moment, Chase was none of those things. Considering the nature of what they were discussing, how could he be? He also couldn’t blame Brent for being on edge, not now that he understood what his brother was going through.

“The authorities have been informed, of course.” Allen slid a folder across the coffee table toward Brent. “They’ll be expanding their search into that area.”

“They’re fucking useless.” Brent snatched up the file. “They should’ve been searching there already.”

The corner of Allen’s mouth twitched. “Yes, well, that is common knowledge. However, we consider them an accessory.” Brent glared, but kept quiet. “Extra hands. We’re taking over the bulk of the search. We’ll find Ms. Prat’s ex.”

“You know what else
is common knowledge? In my book at least.” Matthew’s voice rang out from the kitchen. The sound of the fridge closing came after. “That you two are idiots. Not only did both of you decide to fall for women with exes who are criminals—”

“No one decided anything,” Chase and Brent mumbled at the same time.

Matthew stopped in the entryway to the kitchen and leaned against it, a glass of something amber in his hand.

Had that fuck opened Chase’s
Frapin Cuvee
?

Matthew took a nice long sip, ignoring the twin glares aimed at
him. “As I was saying: you two don’t just have spectacular taste in women, but now you’re using company resources to spy into their lives. Great job. Both of you.” He waved his glass in Chase’s direction. “And you, don’t get me started on what else you’ve been up to lately.”

Of course, he was referring to Chase blackmailing Douglas and Aria.

The urge to strangle Matthew was as sudden as it was aggravating. And it didn’t appear like it was going away anytime soon.  

Allen turned to Chase. “I’ve also been looking into Mrs. Colton, as you asked.”

Chase locked his jaw and fought like hell to hide his mounting anger. He hated hearing Aria referred to as that. Which was ridiculous, she’d been married for a good while before he’d met her. And, for all he knew, she had every intention of staying that way.

Motherfucker. She’d still been wearing her ring. Did she plan to stay with Douglas? After everything
? After the way she had reacted to Chase?

You have no claim on her
, he tried to remind himself. As soon as the thought was formed, it was struck down as the bullshit it was.

She’d trembled so hard in his office. Her heart had pounded for him. She’d been starving.

For. Him.

The way she had stared at him at one point…

She’d been dying for him to kiss her.

If that wasn’t a claim, then somebody had to redefine the meaning of the word
.
Aria’s body belonged to him. He hadn’t fucked her yet, but her body had already surrendered.

And she was still going to choose to stay with Douglas?

Another downside of feeling again after so long: Chase was out of his depth. Along with all the emotions he was experiencing came a slew of impulses. All just as sudden and new. He was seconds away from getting up and heading straight for Aria.

It took every bit of his will to remain in his seat instead of launching himself at Allen, and shaking more information out of him. “Just tell me if she’s okay
. Nothing more,” Chase ground out through clenched his teeth.

He’d promised her privacy. Never out loud, but he’d made it clear in his office what he’d chosen to do. He would give that to her. All he needed to know was that she was alright.

“I’m not judging you,” Brent stated, eyes locked with the contents of the folder he was holding.

“I am,” Matthew quipped from somewhere in Chase’s apartment.

Allen’s eyebrows had risen toward his hairline.

Was Chase’s inner state that obvious?

His cell started vibrating on the coffee table. Lifting it up, Chase saw an unsaved number flashing on the screen. He sent it straight to voicemail, deciding to look into who it was later. If it was important enough, they’d leave a message.

Brent took out his phone, a scowl on his face as he typed something on it.

Allen cleared his throat and thumbed through a few pages inside a second folder.

The file on Aria.

“Mrs. Colton doesn’t seem to be in any danger. Her husband is behaving himself when he’s around her.”

The questions kept ramming into the back of his forehead, one after the other, trying to force their way out. Had she and Douglas found a way to pay off the house? Was he treating Aria okay? Allen’s team seemed to think so.

Douglas better have, or else Chase would forget about his deal with Aria and destroy the bastard. Maybe he should do so anyway.

“You might want to return that call
,” Brent advised.

Blinking, Chase turned to his brother. “What did you say?”

“It’s Aria.”

Chase’s lack of control was starting to annoy him even more.
Just hearing her name made him weak. “How do you know?”

“Lori asked me for your number earlier. When I convinced her to tell me why, she said Aria’s been asking for—never mind then. You’re welcome!”

Chase ignored his brother and stormed down the hall toward his bedroom. Marcus was in the kitchen as he passed, helping himself to another glass of Chase’s cognac.

“Oh yes. Go call her.” Matthew placed the bottle on the kitchen island and sighed. “Am I the only one who cares about the future of this company? What this could do to its reputation?”

Chase slammed the door to his room closed, blocking out Matthew’s whining. He hit the call icon on his phone, hearing his blood roar in his ears. It rang and rang and, damn, it seemed to go on forever.

By the time the voicemail came on, he’d begun pacing from one side of his room to the other. He almost didn’t leave a message.

His impatience was having none of that.

“Aria, it’s me…Chase.” That was as far as he got before he had to hang up the phone. Anger made his heart pound. Need made it ache. And above it all was him, unused to sifting through that kind of shit, growing more furious with himself by the second.

He should’ve answered the damn call.

The sensation of his phone vibrating shot up his arm and straight for his throat. He took one slow inhale before answering, trying to control whatever the hell was beating through him. “Hello?”

There was silence for a few seconds
.
Didn’t matter. He swore he
felt
her on the other end
.
Fuck. He’d just gotten his never-ending erection under control before the meeting.

A soft feminine sigh reached his ears. Pain went blazing through his veins, reminding him of that day in his office and how her lips had tasted.

“Chase?”

How could something as simple as her saying his name drive him to the point of groaning?

“Chase, are you okay?”

“Aria,” he said, stepping into his bathroom. “How are you?”

“I need to speak to you,” she blurted out, ignoring his question.

In a moment of weakness, he leaned against the large, dark counter. He kept his stare locked on the brown stone beneath his hand. Chase couldn’t look at his own reflection, afraid of what would stare back.

He knew why she called. It hit him like a wrecking ball to the mid-section. He’d heard the fear in her voice when she’d said they needed to talk.

“I…I can’t—”

“Go,” he finished for her, shaking his head.

Her silence…man, it was almost enough to send him into a rage. He watched his fingers clench into a fist on top of the counter.

In the grand scheme of things, she didn’t matter. There was no reason for him to feel the way that he did. It shouldn’t matter that she never see him again.

Aria had somehow turned on his ability to perceive emotions. He was starting to believe, that it wasn’t such a great thing. It also didn’t appear like his newfound talent was going to go away anytime soon. She’d turned him on, and whether she discontinued their acquaintance or not, he knew he would stay turned on from then on.

Fuck the double meaning on that one.

Chase was starting to think that Aria had hung up when he heard her sigh again.

“I’m sorry, Chase. Well I am, but I’m not…I just can’t. You have to understand how wrong this all is considering my current situation.”

“I do understand, Aria.” His understanding, however, did nothing to change the fact that the thought of her choosing to stay with Douglas made him angry. The kind of angry that he hadn’t felt in a while
and he had no idea how to handle. The kind that made him want to do things that would really scare her.

Feeling that way made no sense to him, but it was the truth. His fucked up truth.

Did he want her to choose Douglas over him? Yes, but he had no idea why. Aside from having Aria, what the hell else could a man like Chase give her?

He had no fucking clue. All Chase wanted was to get to know her. Did he want to fuck her? More than his next breath, but anything beyond that escaped him.

“You’re not saying anything.” Aria hedged. “You’re mad, aren’t you?”

Aria’s question made Chase clench his fist and press it into the counter. The phone in his grip was in danger of being crushed. But that’s what being in that sort of situation did to man, isn’t it? Damn right he was angry. Didn’t matter if he had a right to be or not. He couldn’t control it.

Not that he could tell her that. No point. Nothing would change her mind. “Doesn’t matter,” he said, opting for half the truth. “If you’re wondering about your husband—” Finishing that sentence was impossible for him.

He was about to let her husband get away with stealing from him. All the while, Chase got nothing in return.

What the fuck had she done to him?

Douglas had stolen almost four million dollars from Chase’s company. The bastard would face no consequences.

And he got to keep Aria.

His wife.

The reminder had to stop bothering him as much as it did.

“Chase, that’s not—I…”

He bit down on his questions, wondering what the hell she’d been about to say. Chase waited, quiet, and hoping she would give him that. He deserved that, at least.

There was no doubt about it; he was letting himself be played for a fool.

“I’m sorry.” Aria whispered, low.  “If you change your mind about Douglas, all I ask is that you let me know what you decide to do.”

For what? So she could warn her husband?

“Thank you anyway, Chase. Goodbye.”

She hung up the fucking phone on him.

Chase closed his eyes and lowered his phone onto the counter.

He was better off without her in his life. Better off not being able to feel. It was all too much of a headache.

One that was now over. He repeated that to himself as his newest mantra.

She was gone, and no matter what it took, he would also find a way to turn off what she’d awoken in him.

Surely ridding himself of that wouldn’t cost him as much as his acquaintance with her already had. He should’ve just had Douglas arrested immediately, instead of trying to get to know the man’s wife. That’s what Chase got for being an idiot.

He wouldn’t be making the same mistake again. Ever.

Resolved, he picked his phone back up, and exited the bathroom. He had some calls to make.

A
RIA STOOD BEFORE HER BED, hands on her hips, teeth being decimated as she clenched her jaw.

Before her lay a display of black fabric and purple lace.

Her friend’s voice still rung in her ears. Aria had called Hilary and bared it all. Everything she’d been keeping a secret. Every last bit of what’d been eating her inside.

But not about Chase
.
That’s because he no longer mattered. He was out of her life. Gone. For good.

And you’re relieved.

No she wasn’t. At all. Every single emotion she’d been holding in, refusing to acknowledge, had threatened to overwhelm her as soon as she’d ended that call.

And then, in a blind panic, she’d called Hilary. She needed someone. Aria couldn’t continue to hide the truth of her failed marriage from the world.

Especially when she had no plans of remaining in said marriage.

She couldn’t tell Hilary, or any one, about Chase. That part of her, the ashamed one, wouldn’t allow her to speak. She’d developed an attraction for him, while being married to another.

No matter how much of a bastard that husband was.

In a three hour long convo, Aria had confessed to Hilary what she’d found out about Douglas. Not the company theft. That’s another one that she needed more time to come to terms with
before letting anyone know about it.

But she’d told her about the
endless string of women that Douglas had cheated on her with. Douglas, of course, had tried to deny it ever since the night she’d overheard Chase.

Even Hilary had scoffed at that. A man didn’t go six months without touching his wife, unless he was getting his fill from at least one other woman. Or, unless he was gay. Hilary considered Douglas many things—Aria cringed at the memory of every vile name Hilary had called him—but gay wasn’t one of them.

Most embarrassing part? It hadn’t been admitting to her close friend that her marriage was over. It hadn’t even been the fact that Douglas found her so lacking he’d gone off elsewhere to find what he “needed”.

It’d been when Hilary had brought up one pathetic, irrefutable truth: from the age of eighteen, Aria had put her entire life on hold for that man. She had very little of her own, outside a few friends and hobbies. No life. No children. A failed marriage.

Hilary hadn’t pointed out those last three parts, but to Aria, the message had still been clear.

When Hilary suggested that they go out and catch up, Aria had been hesitant. What business did she have going out to have “fun” while her life was imploding?

Hilary, however, was ruthless. Always had been. She’d pointed out that Aria had put her life on hold for long enough and that there was nothing wrong with two friends meeting up for dinner to talk. That’s what friends did when one of them was in a shit situation.

Aria’s situation, as Hilary so k
indly pointed out, was the shit situation to outdo most other shit situations.

Oh, her friend.

And what could Aria say to that? Hilary had a point. It was an acid covered, heated-to-two-hundred degrees, very painful point, but true nonetheless. Aria was twenty-six years old. Still young enough to do something with her life.

She owed it to herself.

Aria needed this night out with her friend after everything she’d gone through. It’d be her first tiny step onto the path that led to life without Douglas. Her freedom.

She would have one. She’d given him everything, despite the
fact that her feelings for him hadn’t been as passionate as they’d once been. All he’d done was screw her over.

With her chin held high, she laughed and agreed. This was her official Step One. Her eardrum had almost exploded at Hilary’s excited screech. The woman was a dynamo. She’d
barely finished speaking with Hilary an hour ago, and yet she’d managed to have an outfit and its accessories delivered to her door in that time.

Did the woman sit around, prepared for these
sort
of occasions, personal stylist on 24-7 speed dial?

Aria rolled her eyes. Of course she did.

Leaning toward the bed, she reached out a single finger and hooked the tiny scrap of dark purple lace peeking out from under the black fabric.

Teeny. Tiny. Decorated and the lace across the front was pretty, but there was less string to the back of that thong then she’d find in floss.

Aria’s face heated and she dropped it back on the bed. She wasn’t a stranger to hot lingerie. She had a whole drawer full of racy thongs, most of which Douglas had never gotten to see her in.

His fault.

But the dress was Hilary’s style. Unbelievably sexy and completely
va-va-voom.

Step one, Aria. Step one,
she reminded herself.

Yes, she was only going out to have dinner with a friend, but there was no reason she couldn’t look her damned best while doing so. Hilary was right; this was what she needed.

“Flaunt how sexy you are. Live your life. Do what makes you feel good. And trust me honey, very few things make a woman feel amazing, but looking beautiful does.”

Admitting that Hilary was right hadn’t been easy. It was quite humbling. Aria was the type of person that admitted her mistakes. She knew that a person could
only grow, from doing so.

Over the years she’d become absorbed in the role of being Douglas’ wife
.
But being a wife wasn’t enough. For any woman.

A woman needed a man that made her feel beautiful, cherished,
wanted
. Without that, a woman wilted. And as tempting as it was to blame herself for Douglas’ lack of interested, Aria couldn’t fully accept that idea.

If Chase could stare at her like
that
…with so much hunger in his eyes, then it was hard to believe that she’d been the one lacking. At least, it couldn’t really be
all
her fault. Right?

Alright. Point proven. Now stop thinking about
Chase, Aria.

With a shake of her head, she forced herself back to the present. She had no plans of dating anyone anytime soon. Not for a long, long time.

Hell, she might never trust a man enough to have a relationship again.

None of that mattered. Getting herself back, some sense of identity, that’s what mattered. For her, it would start tonight.

Right.
Nodding to herself, Aria spun on her heel and headed straight for her bathroom. She had three hours to finish getting ready before meeting with Hilary.

Aria sat before her vanity staring at the woman staring back. She was wearing the strapless, black dress that Hilary had sent. It pushed up her breasts almost obscenely and she didn't want to like it, but she did.

Her hair was styled as usual, the wavy brown strands falling down her back. She applied makeup, something she rarely did. Her eyes were now smoky, defined, and it scared her.

She looked attractive. It was the first time in a while that she felt that way. Aria couldn’t remember the last time she’d done herself up to that extent.

Probably back when she’d been a teenager, she guessed, staring at herself in a daze.

I am so doing this. I can’t believe I’m going all out like this.

"Aria?"

Her shoulders tensed. In the mirror, she caught sight of Douglas, standing at the door to the room and looking at her with a mixture of worry and heat.

His eyes raked over her exposed back and she shuddered. Not because she liked it, but because a strong wave of disgust hit her as he devoured her with his stare.

Once, she would've given anything to have him stare at her like that. With undisguised hunger.

Aria didn't say anything, just stared at him in the mirror. He took a step into the room and she tensed further, almost as if her body was offended by his very presence.

Bitterness
crossed his face. “Where are you going, Aria?”

She didn’t bother answering his question. He’d lost the right to ask her that.

The bitter expression on Douglas’ face deepened, twisting his face, and showing her a glimpse of what was inside him. "Did he send you those clothes?”

Aria
remained quiet, not moving from her seat. She didn’t owe him any answers. She knew who Douglas was referring to, and if he chose to believe that Chase had sent her the clothes, then that was his prerogative.  

Douglas' eyes froze on her chest. He had the nerve to lick his lips. Aria was surprised by the urge to gag that overcame her. She swallowed in an attempt to dispel it.

His eyes trailed up and she watched as he took in her hair and makeup. "Did he instruct you on how to do your hair and makeup?"

Did he believe that Aria was meeting with Chase? Whatever. That thought wasn’t half as insulting as the fact that he believed
she wasn’t capable of doing anything of her own volition. As if she’d needed a man’s instructions to decide to doll herself up.

Aria rose, watching as his eyes fell to take in the dark blue pumps she was wearing. She kept her face and tone nonchalant as she walked toward the nightstand and grabbed her purse. She also made sure to pick up the ring next to it. “No.”

Douglas’ eyes flew up to her face and flashed with anger. "No?"

Aria ignored him. She wasn’t going to spend time explaining anything to him. She was done. Without saying another word, she walked right past him and out of the room.

She heard him take off after her.  His heavy footsteps followed her the whole way down the stairs.

"Aria!"

She ignored him again as she reached the first floor.

"Aria, I'm talking to you!" Douglas yelled.

She continued walking toward the door. "And I am not talking to you. You’re not even supposed to be here.” He had no concept of the term “we’re over and this is my house.” The damned locks were going to have to be changed, obviously.

Douglas’s hand wrapped around her upper arm, stopping
her. She didn't turn to him. Aria couldn’t stare at him while her body was busy rejecting his touch, shocking and making her nauseous all at once.

For a moment, she had to wonder: how could things change so much in a matter of mere weeks?

He’s been sleeping with God knows how many women while you stayed here, cooking, cleaning, and waiting for him.

Oh, right.

"You want this, don't you? You went through all that trouble of looking like that, when you've never done it for me,” Douglas spat, venom coating his every word. “Is it because you want to fuck him? You little who—"

Aria turned around, her hand connecting with Douglas’ cheek so loud it echoed all around them.

His hand flew up to his cheek, his shocked gray eyes connecting with hers.

Anger pounded through her, making her feel like an animal. "Fuck you. I'm the whore?
Me
? Fuck you, Douglas Colton. "

He stared at her, mouth wide open.

All the fury that she’d held inside popped into her blood vessels at once, making her want to lash out at him in any way possible.