The Silence | ✔️

22. P

A I D E N S • P O V

I walked into the kitchen on Wednesday morning with a back ache and tense shoulders. Arian was meant to come back last night. But she'd sent a text to let me know that she needed some more time to get her things together before she came. I understood, but my night had been restless without her. One night beside that sweet girl and I was addicted to the peace that she provided.

"Zee," my sister was scooping Nutella out of the jar and eating it as she jogged on the spot and read a catalogue. "Po is heading down to the clinic for his drug test this afternoon. Go with him."

She paused and stared at me with hazelnut spread all over her mouth. "How come?"

"Because, you want to live here and spend time around him, you do it under the same conditions."

"I'm not using Aiden!" She snapped. "I've been clean for years."

"Then there should be no issue proving it."

She inhaled with an eye roll but it wasn't long before she threw up her arms. "Fine. That's just- fine."

I checked my cellphone again to see if Arian had answered one of the messages that I'd left her. But still nothing. I shouldn't have felt so restless about the situation. But I had a bout of nausea keeping me wound up.

"What's the matter?"

I glanced over at Zee who was wiping her mouth as she carried the Nutella back to the cupboard. She watched me with raised brows as I leaned against the countertop and sighed. "Nothing. I don't think. Arian is- she's leaving her husband. I just thought that she'd be back."

"He's an asshole, right?" She questioned she started braiding her hair as she wandered towards me.

"Well, he cheats on her. So yeah, he is."

"She was sort of nervous when I dropped that jug yesterday? Did you notice?"

I furrowed my brows as I watched Zee tie off the end of her plait. I hadn't noticed but that didn't mean that she was seeing things. "Wha-"

"Boss," Brian, a staff that worked for me in the darker side of the things that I do, came into the kitchen with a spring in his step. He gave Zee a flirtatious look which she didn't care for and then handed me the Rover keys. "It's good to go for detailing."

"What did you do with the guns?"

"I moved the trunk nine mill into the merc. The glovebox gun wasn't in there."

"Where is it?"

"I think Kyle has it from our op the other night. He borrowed it."

"Tell him to put it back after the car has been detailed."

He gave me a salute which I waved off. He did that to piss me off all the damn time. He was taller and larger than the average man. But that was what I hired them for. I didn't want to hand the responsibility of taking a life to innocent people. But I often needed their strength for other parts of the operation. He adopted a thoughtful expression, as though he had more that he needed to tell me and then he snapped his finger.