Happily Ever Addendum (21 page)

"This isn't about that, not
really." I exhaled and she continued. "James came to see me
today."

I furrowed my brow at her.

"Why would he...?"

"He found out who it was. The
person behind my birth control pills."

"Was it Loreley?" I spit out
and she grimaced at the sound of her name.

She shook her head.

"Stay calm..."

"Why would he tell you and not
me?" I eyed her and became frustrated. "Did he do it?!"

Shaking her head again, I could tell she
was getting irritated with me.

"No, but it was someone close to
you." Lilli put her hand up to stop me from speaking again. "He came
to me because he thinks that I am the only one that can keep you calm enough to
think clearly about...this."

"Okay...and...?" I braced
myself.

"Aidan, it was your Uncle." My
head shot up and I looked at her, completely confused. "Henry." Then
confusion turned to anger, anger to fury, fury to full throttle rage.

"That bastard!" I jumped up
and screamed, pulling on my hair.

Before I could even realize, Lilli had
her hands on my arm.

"Calm down, please? Don't go
running off and doing something stupid toward your family."

"Are you sure about this?"

She shrugged.

"I don't think that James would
offer up his father if he weren't sure, but I think that you should talk to
James, rationally."

I nodded. I felt the fury still boiling
under my skin, fists still clenched.

When she removed her hands from my arm,
I felt the loneliness seep back into my body. I missed her touch so much.

The first person on my list to deal with
the next morning was James. I immediately had him in my office. I could see the
nervousness all over his face and body.

"James, why didn't you come to
me?"

"Aidan, Lilli is the only one that
could tell you about this without you going on a lynching project."

I nodded. "Tell me what you
know."

He cleared his throat. "Aidan, my
father, though he is a complete dick who I still can't believe did something
like this, was only acting on fear. He was afraid for our family and for
AIS..."

"I didn't ask for you to plea for
your father, James." I growled out. "Tell. Me. What. You. Know."

He nodded. "I overheard my father
talking to Becca about a week ago." I looked at him furiously. "I
needed to be sure, Aidan. I couldn't just put my father out there like that
without being sure!"

I nodded in agreement.
"Continue."

"After I overheard the
conversation, I had the call traced and followed the trail from there. When I
located Becca, she was in England. I forced her to talk to me, threatening to
go to the authorities if she refused. That was when she told me about my
father's involvement." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Apparently, my father held that incident of Becca breaking into your home
over her head. He has surveillance footage of her breaking in. He threatened
her with prison time and destruction of her career with the felony, unless she
assisted him with his plan."

"His plan?"

"He had false birth control pills
created to replace Lilli's prescription." His head was dropped low.
"I am so, so sorry. I was hoping that I was wrong about it and I am
ashamed..."

"You didn't do it." I put my
hand on his shoulder.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm not sure yet." I sighed
out, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I am going to talk with Liam as well
as Lilli. After that, I will be confronting your father." I growled out.

James left my office soon after and I
sat at my desk. Lilli was right, how could she trust anything in this life with
me. I reached for my desk phone.

"Amy, I will be leaving this
afternoon. Please rearrange my schedule and have Liam’s schedule
rearranged."

"Yes, sir, Mr. Iverson." Amy
replied studiously before I hung up.

Next, I called Liam. "Liam
Iverson’s office."

"Ginny, I need Liam."

"I’m sorry, Mr. Iverson, I wasn’t
aware that you were calling. Please hold for one moment."

"Aidan?" Liam’s voice was
immediately on the other end of the line.

"I need you to come with me this
afternoon." My words sounded gravely eerie.

"What’s the matter?" Liam’s
voice was dripping with concern.

"We have answers to the birth
control pill situation."

"Oh, I’ll clear my…"

"I already have Amy on it. Meet me
in the lobby around noon. I have a car prepared to take us to Lilli."

"Okay."

For the rest of the morning I attempted
to do some work but failed miserably. I was barely participating in the many
business calls and couldn’t focus on the documents spread haphazardly on my
desk.

Liam met me in the lobby at noon, right
on the dot. A few seconds later, we were in the car, heading toward the house
as quickly as the afternoon traffic would allow us. Walking into the sitting
room, I saw Lilli sitting with Viola. I looked at Liam who simply gave me a
look that confirmed that he had called Viola to meet us.

Everyone sat while I paced the room,
explaining the details of everything that James had told me.

"James should be here too."
Lilli said quietly, "and your uncle."

"I’ll deal with him soon enough."
I growled.

"I’ve already called them."
She snapped.

 I turned to look at her. The fierceness
in her face was new. I wouldn’t dare test her fury at the moment.

"What are you going to do,
Aidan?" Liam questioned.

"Keep in mind that he is family."
Viola added.

"Family? HA! Family doesn’t drug
each other! Apparently he missed that memo!" I sat roughly onto an antique
chair, causing it to creak under the pressure.

"Aidan, he is still your Uncle
and…" I looked up as Lilli sighed loudly and put her hands over her face.
"And I can understand his fears, even if he had a distorted way of
securing the safety of his family and the family business."

She was trying to be rational but I
could tell that she wanted blood.

Jay entered the room with James and
Henry following him. I clenched my jaw and fists while narrowing my eyes on
him.

"Please sit, Henry." Liam
motioned to the chair opposite me.

"Aidan, what..?"

"Perhaps you would care to explain
to me your relationship with Becca Johnson? Or maybe, just maybe, you would
like to beg for my wife’s forgiveness?" I shouted and moved to the edge of
my seat.

"Aidan…" Lilli warned.

"What are you—?"

Henry was cut off by James, who placed
his hand on Henry’s shoulder.

"Father, we know about Becca and
using her to switch the birth control pills."

Henry’s face drained to a pale white
sheet of what was once there. His eyes widened and he opened and closed his
mouth a few times.

"I think that this may be the first
time that I’ve seen you speechless." I snorted out at him. "How could
you do that to me? To Lilli?!"

"I...I simply…Aidan, I was
terrified that we would lose everything that my father built up. Perhaps, it
wasn’t the most honest way to…"

"The most honest?" Liam
snapped before I could.

"How could you?" Viola hissed
and wrapped an arm around Lilli.

"Did you not think of her when you
hatched this little scheme?" Liam pointed to Lilli.

I took that moment to really look at
Lilli. Her eyes had yet to waver from my uncle’s face. She was intent, but
calm.

"Lilli?" I whispered and
everyone quieted down, turning to Lilli.

"I want you out of this house and
away from me." She stood up and walked directly in front of my uncle.
"You will have no, and I mean absolutely no, association with my children."
Her arms crossed over her chest. "You’re lucky that I don’t have you
thrown in prison!" She spit out and my Uncle Henry’s face filled with
fear. "Stay out of my life and out of my way!"

"Lilli…" James spoke softly
"I am so…"

"James, this isn’t your fault."
She placed a hand on his shoulder before she left the room.

"You should be put in prison, just
to learn a lesson." Viola spit before she hurried after Lilli.

"You’re fired." I said without
looking up.

"What?" He exclaimed.
"You can’t..."

"LIKE HELL I CAN’T!" My head
snapped up and if looks could kill, he would be dead in that large leather
chair. "Who do you think you are talking to?"

"Aidan Walsh—"

"Don’t you dare! I am not just your
‘little nephew’, Henry. I own and run AIS! You may have vesting, but you no
longer have a position."

I realized that Liam and James were both
looking at me wide eyed.

"Your things will be sent to you.
I’ll be making the call as soon as I leave this room to remove your security
clearance into the building." I stood and headed for the doorway. "Oh,
and James?" I turned around at the doorway and found James looking at me
with fear. "Congratulations, you’re our new Vice President of
Pharmaceutical R&D." James’ eyes widened.

I left the room and went to check on
Lilli.

Liam had taken Henry out of the house
that night, with James’ help. The first week at work without my uncle was
unusual and chaotic. James was trying to acclimate into the position, but my
uncle had many longtime associates that were concerned with my uncle’s absence.

We had kept the departure’s true nature
a secret, only announcing to our associates and clients that he had left due to
personal reasons. No specifics were released, only the family knew the true
cause and that it was a dismissal.

By the second week, the bustle about his
departure had died down to whispers within the company. Our associates were
becoming acquainted with James, who was making special trips to meet with them,
attempting to put them at ease. I felt bad that James was missing so much time
away from Elora and Jimmy, but he assured me that she understood.

From what James told me, Elora had laid
into Henry about his actions and threatened to keep Jimmy away from him. Aunt
Anne was devastated at the threat, on top of my uncle’s actions and dismissal
from the company. The last that I had heard, Aunt Anne was staying with James
and Elora.

It had been three weeks since my uncle’s
secret had been exposed. Lilli was more nervous and cautious about everything.
I could see something eating away at her slowly and hated to see that the
previous sparkle I had always seen in her eyes was only there when she was with
the twins.

The house had to be stepped up in the
safety department, because of the twins becoming avid walkers. Gates, security
latches and corner bumpers had to be installed all through the house. Walsh was
the most curious child and Livy, well, she was clumsy, which I was told she got
from Lilli.

They were growing up so fast and I
couldn’t believe the features that they had developed. Walsh had my wild hair,
crooked smile and Lilli’s eyes. His porcelain skin and the blush that would
grace his cheeks was all Lilli. Olivia, my sweet little princess, had Lilli’s
pouty lips and my green eyes, hair and a hint of my smile. Her skin was also
porcelain and she had also inherited the blush that I had loved to watch on
Lilli’s face.

Another day in the office and all I
longed for was to go home and spend my time with the twins, as well as any
minute amount of time that Lilli would participate in our playtime. It’s all I
had. Instead, I was buried in paperwork and contracts while fielding phone
calls from the Pharmaceutical division that James was currently reorganizing. I
heard the large wooden door to my office open, breaking me from my work.

"Aidan." I looked up and saw
Liam looking at me, extremely worried.

"I'm fine, Liam, you can stop
checking up on..." He cut me off.

"Aidan, we have a problem."

I looked up him with a furrowed brow,
suddenly I started to panic. "Is it Lilli or the twins?" I stood up at
my desk.

"No. It's Gideon." An
unfamiliar look crossed Liam's face. "He is stating that you slept with
his daughter and...."

"And?" I growled out.

"She's pregnant with your child."
He choked out.

"You have got to be fucking kidding
me! I couldn't have slept with her, I was completely knocked...Oh God." I
sat down as realization took over.

Who fucking knew what they had done to
me while I was asleep? Who knew what Loreley had done?

"Where are they?" I spat, my
head in my hands.

"They?" Liam asked.

"Gideon and Loreley." I
clarified.