There was nothing Alia could say to dissuade him. Not even promises that she would take a pregnancy test on her own managed to influence him, and since Aiden was firmly in control of the wheel, Alia could only give in.
The silence was far too grim for her liking, and she cleared her throat in a bid to break the tension.
"I’m surprised that you’re so skilled at fighting people," Alia confessed, glancing at Aiden from the corner of her eyes. "Caleb hired so many people, but all of them couldn’t stand up against you. I must say, that’s really impressive. Did you learn to fight from sowhere?"
The corner of Aiden’s mouth lifted into a small smirk at Alia’s praise. He knew this was her attempt at lightening the situation, and since it played to his strengths, he might as well indulge her and brag― just a bit.
Anything to take away the dull, fearful look in her eyes. Alia said she was fine, but Aiden knew better. Who would be alright after such a harrowing scare? That bastard had his pants down when Aiden found him. If he’d just been a mont later...
"Aiden?" Alia prompted when she didn’t get a reply. "Is this so state secret where you’ll have to silence once I find out?" She joked.
Aiden nodded. "Yeah, I’ve had a tumultuous life and our governnt’s secret service actually wanted to hire ― hey, don’t snort! I know I’m a rich boy, but I’m a rich boy with bloodied fists and a dark past who longed to fight injustice in the world!"
"Sure thing," Alia nodded to herself. She rembered all the figurines that lined Isaac’s shelves― it was more likely that Aiden was easily suckered into cartoons and longed to fight like the characters inside them. "Whatever you say, Mister Magical Girl."
"Hey!" Aiden’s ears colored. "Fine, maybe my past wasn’t one of pitch-black darkness, but I’d have you know it was at the very least, a firm dark gray. I was involved in delinquent gangs throughout my teenage years, so of course I learned to kick ass. I would have died otherwise."
"It’s sad that your fighting skills are not useful in running X’el." Alia sighed with pity. "In our office, you only fight the photocopier when it gets stuck."
"Don’t remind ," Aiden grumbled. "If X’el was an MMA tournant, I would gladly go to work every day and show those paper-pushers I an business. Hell, I wish all contracts could be settled with my fists. All etings should be replaced with cage fights, and I can roundhouse-kick anyone that irritates . Wait, since I’m the CEO now, maybe I can do that!"
"Sounds like you want to be sued," Alia noted with amusent.
"I’ll fight their lawyers too. Those nerds can’t do shit against ," Aiden said easily.
The mood was vastly improved as Aiden continued to spin tall tales about how he kicked a principal’s wig off his head, how he fought three giants and lived... Alia could almost forget the harrowing experience she just went through.
Then, they pulled into the secret entrance of the very sa hospital that her estranged maternal grandfather ended up in.
"This hospital?" Alia asked.
Aiden nodded. "Not only is this the nearest, but Benji Wales will also be desperate for any bit of goodwill that he’ll make sure to give you his best doctors."
"Must I?" Alia asked, in a last-ditch attempt to convince Aiden to turn the car around. "We also have a doctor at ho, and he’s very good too. Isaac might be upset if we don’t consult him."
"Nonsense, Isaac would want us to get treated by many dical professionals," Aiden scoffed. "In fact, he might just haul us back to the hospital once he finds out what happened. And think about it, do you want to give him overti after a long day of work? We should inflict such torture on other people instead!"
Alia sighed. Aiden’s logic was sound; there was no changing his mind. Hopefully, this wouldn’t be plastered all over the tabloids by this ti tomorrow, especially if she and Aiden simply got a quick private visit and left.
The doctor in the office was a woman, and she was unfazed by the high status of her patients. Instead, her eyes focused on Alia alone. "Would you like to be alone for this part of the examination, Miss Kentwood?"
Alia bit her tongue and nodded. Aiden protested, but under the doctor’s steely glare, he was sent outside the room like he was a troublemaking schoolboy. He could understand Alia’s need for privacy, but still, it rankled at him.
He saved her. He saw first-hand how bad things were getting for her. What could Alia tell the doctor that he had not guessed on his own?
But no matter what, it was bad form to barge into a private consultation for won. So Aiden could do nothing but slump into one of the chairs in the waiting room, twiddling his thumbs as he waited for Alia to erge. He winced as the skin split further; it was going to hurt like a bitch when it was ti to apply antiseptic.
Hopefully, Alia’s heart would be tender enough that she would be willing to do this for him. He would only pretend it hurt so that she would want to care for him.
He didn’t know how much ti had passed, but even before Alia erged from the doctor’s appointnt, it was Matteo who stood in front of him, a thunderous glare on his face.
"Where is Alia? What happened to her?"
"Nice of you to show up," Aiden said, before he realized he never actually contacted his brother. "How did you know we were here?"
"Benji Wales inford ," Matteo growled out. "Is Alia visiting a doctor for her indigestion issues? I thought Isaac said her condition was improving."
Aiden snorted. "Indigestion is the least of her issues. You should really take better care of your wife. She nearly fell into the hands of Caleb Walton!"
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