Stay With Me (Book 2, the With Me series)

Chapter 2

Forever passes until Brian comes back out, alone, and sits with me and Mason. We've been here for hours now—it's just past midnight. I'm exhausted, still paranoid every time an officer looks at me as they walk by, my head is pounding from the phones ringing shrilly, and my ass is numb from this stupid chair. If it was up to me, I'd ban this chair from every retailer across America—they're literally torture.

"What's going on?" Mason asks. "Where's Aiden?"

Brian grimaces. "It's all more complicated than we thought." Mason and I share a look. More complicated?

"When Aiden was arrested, they contacted his legal guardian," Brian continues, "which was Greg's wife, Paula, who informed them that she hasn't seen Aiden in who knows how long now, and wants nothing to do with him. She painted an awful picture of Aiden, saying he stole from her, did drugs, ran away from home with his brothers, and so on."

Liar. Sure, she wants nothing to do with him, but she absolutely wants something to do with the government's child support checks.

"That obviously led to the question of where Jason and Jackson are, which Aiden refused to answer."

And risk them going into foster care? I didn't blame him. Every minute that goes by means that we're closer to the police calling social services, if they haven't already.

"Not only did my friend Alan have to get Aiden off a murder charge, but also a kidnapping charge."

Mason and I must have matching panicked looks on our faces, because Brian quickly adds, "Don't worry! It's all been sorted out. Aiden's been cleared of murder."

I breathe for the first time since Brian started talking. The weight that's been on my chest since Aiden was arrested lifts and my heart no longer feels heavy. He's not going to jail for killing Greg!

Brian doesn't wait for us to bombard him with questions, but just starts explaining. "His alibi checks out. He's with Alan back there signing release papers and stuff."

"What about the kidnapping charges?" I ask.

"Alan talked Paula into relinquishing legal custody, something about getting her charged with child endangerment for not reporting the twins missing since she said Aiden kidnapped them. I've agreed to be the legal guardian for all three Parker boys until Aiden turns eighteen in a few weeks and can file for guardianship over his brothers. Social workers are going to be checking up on us, though."

Mason throws himself at his father and wraps his arms around him. "Oh my God, Dad. You're the coolest."

Brian pats Mason's back before they pull away. "I wish Aiden hadn't felt the need to shoulder all of this alone. If we had known before about the custody situation, Vince or I would've stepped in sooner."

Mason and Julian's dads are such good people. It makes me wonder what my dad would've done in this situation if he hadn't died. It gives me comfort to think that before the fighting with my mom and the drinking started, he would've done the same thing.

"How long will the paperwork take? Is Aiden almost done?"

Brian doesn't need to answer me, because Mason abruptly stands up, focused on the hallway ahead of us, a giant grin on his face.

I practically jump out of my chair, and am beside Mason in an instant. Aiden, in all his intense, tall, confident, broad-shouldered glory, is being led toward us by an officer, Alan the lawyer following them. Even though he's spent a large chunk of the night in jail, Aiden looks irresistibly gorgeous, and my breath stops when his piercing gray eyes meet my hazel ones, his facial expression giving nothing away. Seeing him now, it feels like it's been ages since I've seen him, even though our kiss was only a few hours ago. They stop just behind the reception desk, where the officer says something to Aiden, who still hasn't broken eye contact with me, and the officer gestures that he's free to go.