Page 113 of The Cinderella Secret
“Well, at the moment,” said Jackson, hoping to pull Eleanor’s attention away from his cousin, “he’s not. Right? There was a stack of indictments, wasn’t there? Even if you take away ours, he’s still got the fraud charges, right?”
“Yes,” said Aiden, nodding. “I’m sure that they’ll get him on something.” Aiden smiled, but Jackson thought it wasn’t as genuine as it had been a moment ago.
“My favorite part,” said Evan, “was when they picked up Charlie and all this nose blood came out and splatted on his suit. He’s going to have to sit through arraignment in a gunky suit. Thanks for that.” He patted Aiden’s shoulder, and a little of Aiden’s sparkle came back. “Can we have wine now?”
“Of course, Mr. Deveraux,” said Theo. “However, dinner will be in the breakfast room as Mr. Aiden hasstillnot removed his papers from the dining room.”
There was a chorus of groans of the family.
“I believe,” said Eleanor, and the cousins turned to see what she would say, “I believe that we should go out to dinner. Today seems like it needs a bit of celebration.”
“Yes!” agreed Aiden. “Plus, we need to toast Nika and Max for moving in together.”
“What?” Eleanor said, turning to Dominique.
“Finally convinced him,” said Aiden. “Although, I hope he gets along with Ella. That will be weird if our S.O.’s don’t get along.”
Eleanor turned back to Aiden. “What?”
“I’m going out with Ella Zhao. Did I not mention that?”
“Mention… No, Aiden. No, you distinctly did not!”
“Mentioned it to me,” said Evan with a carefully careless shrug.
“I knew,” said Jackson. “I thought everyone knew.”
“I…” Eleanor looked at all four of her grandchildren and Jackson watched her cave. She really couldn’t stand against all of them. It had taken him awhile to get them all aligned, but today was the day. “I did not realize that you liked her that much,” said Eleanor, trying to regain her composure.
“Oh, I love her oodles,” said Aiden. “She can kick ass in multiple languages. Could not be hotter.”
“I don’t think I need to know that,” said Eleanor.
“Oh. Sorry. But honestly, she’s absolutely brilliant and gorgeous. And she makes us look multi-ethnic. Great for the newsletter, Grams.”
“That is a very calculating thing to say. Stick with the”—she waved a descriptive hand—“oodles.”
“Easy,” said Aiden cheerfully.
“I’m going to get my sweater from the office,” said Eleanor as she eyed them sternly.
Jackson waited until she was out of eyesight before letting his smile show. Evan made a mime of wiping sweat off his brow, which nearly made Jackson laugh.
“Thanks,” whispered Dominique, hugging Aiden.
“Any time,” Aiden whispered back.
Jackson looked at his family assembled in the hall and found that he could not stop grinning. Today really did deserve a celebration.
39
Aiden – The Right Decision
Aiden opened the door to his brownstone and looked at Ella, who was adorable in leggings and a slouchy shirt under a puffer coat.
“I was starting to worry you weren’t coming,” he said, breathing out a sigh of relief.
“Sorry. I had to help Lilly. There’s some class presentation thing and Lilly wanted to do hers on how feminism has helped women of today. I was pulling stats on women in sports and Title IX for her.”
