Page 85 of The Cinderella Secret
They walked down to the lobby, and Aiden hailed a cab for her.
“We’ll file for a continuance on Monday,” he said.
“I could drop it,” she said.
“No, I want to keep the pressure on whoever’s behind this. The continuance will work.”
She nodded. He was right. She went on tip-toe to kiss him.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” she said.
“Tomorrow,” he promised.
31
Aiden – Trios Bar
Aiden shut the door on the cab and watched as it pulled away.
“The opposing counsel,” said Jackson’s voice behind him, and Aiden jumped. “Aiden, you traitor.”
He turned around to see Jackson grinning gleefully.
“I have been sneaking out of that house since I was fourteen,” said Aiden. He supposed it was the wrong thing to focus on, but it was all he could think of. “How the hell did you know?”
“You may have been doing it since you were fourteen, but I’m the one who lives there now. Let’s just say you’re out of practice.” Jackson was chewing gum and that gave his smug tone an even cockier lilt. “You do realize the Zhao’s hate us, right?”
“No, Bai Zhao hates us. Grandmother thinks I’m a sweet boy. Cousin Lilly thinks I’m cool. And Ella is… obviously very fond of me.”
Jackson laughed. “I did notice the way she was stuck to your face. So you two thought in the middle of a court case was really the time to start dating?”
“No!”
“And yet…” Jackson gestured in the direction of the departed cab.
“It’s a bit more complicated than that.”
He nodded but looked unconvinced. “You gonna tell me what’s going on, or are you going to make me guess?”
Aiden sighed and rubbed his hand through his hair and then realized it was the same gesture that Jackson used when frustrated. “Yeah, come on into the bar. You can buy me a drink.”
They settled in at a back table where the lights were dim and even the bartender and waitress left them mostly alone. “All right,” said Jackson, stretching out his legs under the table. “I knew there was more to that story about last night. Ella was there?”
“Yeah,” said Aiden with a nod. “Since she knew that she didn’t fake the Berdahl-Copeland reports, she decided to investigate. I… uh… bumped into her at the records warehouse.”
“Uh-huh.” Jackson’s eyebrows had gone up higher than a kite.
“What?”
“So… what? You squeezed in making out between looking at files, getting conked on the head and fleeing for your life?”
“No! It was… after. And a little bit during.” Jackson laughed. “You know what? Shut up. You don’t see me commenting on your string of bad decisions and definitely not-girlfriends.”
“Uh-huh. And what makes Ella not the worst decision you’ve made lately?”
“Ella is always the right decision,” said Aiden. “But that’s beside the point. So is the court case, I think, but we’ll see what Ella says.”
“You’re being purposely mysterious,” said Jackson.
