Page 78 of Six of Hearts
“Hello, my name is Ronan Vale. I’m a friend of Aria’s. I know she’s here, and it is imperative that I speak with her, please,” I begged.
“I-I think you should go,” the voice called back. I assumed it was Khloe’s and was frightened because Aria had no doubt told her my story. “I don’t want to call the police.”
“You can call them,” I replied. “I’m running from nothing. I’m not the man Aria thinks I am.” I leaned against the door.
“Please, Aria, if you can hear me. Please, just let me explain. We’re sick without you, we haven’t gone a day without thinking about you. The story you were told was a lie, and if you just give me a few minutes, I can explain everything.” I rubbed the door as if it could reach through to Aria.
“You know me, Aria. You know I couldn’t do something like that. You know that in your heart. Please, just give me a chance to explain.”
I sat in silence for a while. I could see that the neighbour from the adjoining duplex had her head poked out the window and was looking down at me, but I didn’t care. I’d embarrass myself a million times over for the chance to speak with Aria. I’d do whatever I had to. I already had.
I heard the lock click, and my stomach flipped. The door moved aside, and there stood Aria, her hair in a bun, and her eyes weary and exhausted. She still looked stunning and it took everything in me not to grab her and pull her to me.
“Hi,” I whimpered. “You look wonderful.”
“You shouldn’t be here,” Aria said, and I could tell she still had a bit of hesitation.
“You opened this door because part of you believes me,” I said. “I’ll tell you the whole truth. Can I please?” Aria nodded, and I took a deep breath before beginning.
“My name is Adam Rowland. I was a Navy SEAL, and then I went into work with the FBI as an agent. I was married to a woman named Eva, Finn’s mother, and my long hours at work and absence from our home caused her to become clinically depressed. After she had Finn, the feeling compounded, and in the end, she took her own life. I came home to find her dead on my bed. Those pictures you saw.” I noticed Aria’s stance relaxing a bit; some of the tension was fading.
Whether because she was starting to believe me, or just because our being in close proximity was giving her comfort, she was starting to relax. I held out the case files from Eva’s death to Aria.
“Take them. It’s all the reports, tests, and evidence from my ex’s death, proving that I did not kill her. I would never have; I loved her.” I started to reach out to take Aria’s hands, but she recoiled, and I pulled back. “Not nearly as much as I love you.”
“Ronan,” Aria murmured, and it was like a stake through the heart.
“Please, you have to come home. We cannot survive without you. Noah’s regressing to how he was when his wife left. Gabriel’s temper is out of control. Liam has thrown himself into his work way more than he had before. Ethan and Julian are starting to spend all of their time working out. The kids are absolutely terrible and telling all of us how we’re nothing compared to you, and me…” I stared deep into her eyes.
“I’m like a man who’s lost a limb. Please. We need you.”
Aria stood staring at me, her emotions pained for a different reason now. She clung the case files to her chest and nodded her head. I got hopeful at first, but then Aria stepped backwards into the duplex.
“I will think about it,” she said.
Another stake to the heart. I wanted her to believe me sight unseen, but I suppose that was a little too much to ask. I didn’t want to press her. The fact that she’d given me the time of day at all was a miracle, so I had to hope that my pleas had been enough.
“I understand,” I said.
I was certain my disappointment was prevalent as Aria stepped away and closed the door.
With it separating us, I had no choice but to wait and pray that the heart of our family would finally come home.
Twenty-Four
Aria
The case files sat on Khloe's coffee table like a bomb waiting to go off.
I'd been staring at them for twenty minutes, unable to make myself reach for the manila folder on top. My coffee had gone cold in my hands. Outside, the world kept moving—cars passing, people living their normal lives—while mine felt suspended in this moment of terrible possibility.
What if I opened them and found proof that Ronan really was a killer? What if everything I'd felt, everything I'd believed about him, about all of them, was a lie?
But what if it wasn't?
My hands trembled as I finally set down my mug and pulled the first folder into my lap.
The police report was on top, dated three years ago. Incident location: 2847 Maple Grove Lane, Jacksonville, Florida. Victim: Eva Marie Rowland, age 29. Cause of death: acute barbiturate overdose.
