Page 62 of The Cinderella Secret
“Usually,” she said, looking surprised.
“What size shoes?” Claude asked.
“Shoe size?” asked Aiden.
“A six and a half,” she said, looking perplexed.
“A six and a half,” repeated Claude, not needing Aiden to say it again. “Any preferences I should be aware of?”
“She looks good in green,” said Aiden. “And she likes dangerous shoes.”
“They come in handy,” said Ella.
“I can work with that,” said Claude. “It’ll take an hour or two.”
“No problem,” said Aiden. “She and I have a lot to talk about.”
That was the understatement of the century, but he felt so fucking confused that he didn’t know what to think, let alone what to say. The cab dropped them off and Aiden went directly to the elevator. Ella followed, looking mystified.
“Shouldn’t we have checked in?” she asked.
“No,” said Aiden. “I have a room on permanent reserve. I use it for all of my fight-related business and recovery time.”
“You can’t just go home?”
“I can never confirm, but I assume Jackson has informants at my house. Because, you see, no one is supposed to know about my hobby.”
“OK,” she said, seemingly oblivious to the bitter note in his voice. “You can’t just get a second apartment?”
“It would show up on a property search and on my taxes.”
“Oh. That makes sense.”
They arrived at his floor and he took the key card out of his wallet and let them into his room. He held the door open for her and then shut it behind her—perhaps too forcefully.
She turned back to him. “Why are you so mad?”
“I don’t know. How about the fact that you lied to me!”
“No, I never have.”
“So you just stole and faked evidence?”
“No!”
“And if that didn’t work out, you were what? Just going to blackmail me with the fact that I do illegal fighting?”
Her eyes went wide, and she stared at him, her face filled with hurt. He wanted to take it back. He wanted to hug her. He honestly didn’t know what he was supposed to do. What part of Ella was he supposed to respond to? When had everything gotten so complicated?
“I’m going to take a shower.” He didn’t wait for her to reply. He walked through the suite and into the bathroom.
23
Ella – Trios Hotel
He was mad at her and that hurt. Even in their most heated exchange in court she had never felt the cold anger that he exuded now. It was everything the Deveraux were famed for and just as unpleasant as reported.
Ella stood in the middle of the room and smelled the garbage in her hair. Did he just expect her to stand around and take this?
