Page 59 of Down the Aisle
Shooting up from the couch, he glared at me softly before flipping me off. "Because I can't. Cele won't just go on a date with me just because I ask nicely," he grumbled with a deflated exhale.
"Then don't ask, just do," I told him nonchalantly with a carefree shrug of my shoulders. "I mean, you've shoved her around enough. What's the harm in shoving her into your car totake her to a nice dinner gonna do?" I seriously don't see why he was having such an issue with such a mundane thing.
Although, I guess I could give him better ideas that were less… Barbaric… As some would say.
Sighing, I set the papers down on the table, leaned over, and propped my elbow on my crossed knees. "'Kay, here's what you do if you want to be a charming sap." Well, the idea in my mind seemed charming enough for him to pull off. "Get someone to babysit her kid, or plan a kid-friendly date, sweeten her with her favorite flowers, tell her to get dolled up because you're taking her out, and you're not taking no for an answer."
"See, what'd I tell you, Row? You just gotta be assertive with her like you always have," Max chimed in with a playful scoff and hit to his cousin's shoulder.
Rolling his eyes, Rowan let out another long groan. "The point of me charming her is so I'm not bullying her anymore." Running his hands down his face, he gripped it for a second before letting them fall into his lap. "I don't want to shove her around like that, especially after she got out of a shitty relationship with a guy who did just the same, only worse."
"Then you do it more gently and lovingly," I threw at him in a 'no-duh' kind of way. "It's the intention behind the actions." Of course, that was easier said than done, but if he was serious about this woman, then he'd pull it off. "Or just stick to what works with you two. I mean, if you've pushed her away before with your bullying, then pull her towards you with the same methods. Bully her into loving you. Problem solved."
Grumbling to himself, Rowan sulked for a good while before directing his attention to me. "What are you going to do with Eliza and the information?" He sounded a little too interested in my diabolical plans for a man of the law.
Keeping quiet, I stared at the stacks of paper for a quick minute before letting out a defeated sigh and running a hand through my hair. "I don't know." It was the honest answer.
"Are you going to confront her about it? I mean, she's been lying to you this whole time," Max commented with a lopsided frown, clearly not envying me.
"But for good reason." Surprisingly, Rowan took a side rather than stay quiet. "I'm not saying it's right, but she kind of has a right in this situation. If she's hiding from that piece of work and trying to start anew, then I kind of don't see too much harm."
"Oooh, someone's becoming a bad cop," I teased with a snickering chuckle. It was a bad attempt to displace myself, but I felt like a floating boat in the middle of nowhere.
I was torn and confused.
A part of me wanted to be upset at her, but the reasonable side of me, the half that loved her dearly, made it impossible to hold any ill feelings towards my darling Eliza. Rowan also had a good point, not that I'd admit it out loud.
What harm did Eliza's omission cause?
It wasn't as if she hid it because she had some malicious intent. She hid things for her sake and Asher's. I mean, if I had a past like that, I'd want to forget it ever happened.
The only reason why I was even remotely upset was the fact she didn't trust me enough to let me in.
Also, I was upset because I had no idea what to do in this situation. Should I confront her about it? If I did, then how would I even go about it? Things like this didn't pop up with a simple Google search, so I'd have to figure out some lie or elaborate story of sorts as to how I even found out despite her efforts to hide it from me.
On the other hand, leaving this alone didn't feel completely right, either. Something had to be said, no? Even if it was herpast, it was still a huge part of her life that I deserved to know about.
"Don't even think about dusting the bastard. He's a lieutenant in criminal investigations over there, so if you try anything, someone is going to notice," Rowan commented with his flat eyes trained on me. "Not that you should be doing that shit in the first place."
"As if you're one to talk," I remarked, glaring at him smugly. "Don't forget who you're associated with and what we've done for you." Not trying to blackmail him or anything, but I wanted to knock him back down to my level.
He may be a damn man of the law, but his actions have bloodied his hands as much as mine. Directly, he's never murdered anyone, but he's called on many favors from me over the recent years by having people implicated for his cases or straight up asking me to get rid of some scumbag. So, the good ol' police captain wasn't oh so lawful.
"Well, knowing you, you're not going to let the poor sap live." Rowan rolled his eyes and scoffed at me.
"Oh, as if you're going to let your girl's husband get away with beating her black and blue," Max commented, shooting a knowing look at his cousin.
Scowling, Rowan turned his head at Max, burning his beady green orbs into Max. "Don't sound like you're innocent in any of this either. You have any idea how paranoid I was after covering up for you?"
Clearing my throat loudly and purposefully, I garnered both of their attention. "Listen, we're all in the same boat." Rowan's tense shoulders earned him a pointed look from me to keep him quiet. "Whether we like it or not, what's done has been done, so there's no changing any of that fact. All we can do now is think of what to do moving forward."
"You mean plan another murder?" Rowan snarked in a very sarcastic voice.
"IF!" I hardened my glare at Rowan. "If it comes to that, then yes."
Alright, it wasn't a matter of if but when, because like hell would I let this bastard get away with harming Eliza. I just didn't know how I'd do it yet. The fact that James was quite high in ranking with the police department and probably had a very well-known presence would make his murder trickier to pull off.
Sighing heavily, I ran a hand through my hair before standing up. "Well, you two go make yourselves at home. I'm going to get some business done while Eliza and Asher are still napping," I told the two before walking away with Eliza's papers in hand. "I'll be in the office if you need me."
