Chapter 97 Rags and Ritches 38

Chapter 97 Rags and Ritches 38
Aria

Christians house was normal, which I wasn’t expecting at all. Sure it was in a very nice area, and it clearly cost several millions but it wasn’t some lavish penthouse. It was a normal family home.

I hesitated on the rug just inside the front door. Looking around. Spotting the photos on the wall, the little dish he threw his keys in on the side table.

“You coming in, or are you just going to stand there with your mouth open?” He threw over his shoulders as he kicked off his shoes. He wore odd socks, and his big toe poked out of a hole in the stripy one.

The most feared assassin within the Family. The man nicknames, judge jury and executioner had a hole in his socks and a dish for his keys in his very middle class home.

He was no longer the Judge, he was Christian.

And he had been well and truly domesticated.

I didn’t know how to take that. 

“Hey Aria.” A woman appeared in the doorway at the end of the hallway. Slim and with long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. There was an honest to god flowery apron on over her jeans and tee. Her baby bump was so neat I was almost jealous. Mine had been huge . “It’s nice to see you again and meet you properly.”

Taylor. The only time I had seen her in person had been my engagement party when I had begged her to help.

This was the woman who had domesticated one of the most feared men in the world. I narrowed my eyes at her.

The judge strode forward, and it was like watching a light bulb going off in his face. He literally lit up at the sight of her. Looping his arm around her waist he pulled her in for a kiss and I realised he was exactly where he wanted to be.

Here was me, thinking she had forced him into this suburban hell, but no. He was happy. 

Catching my frown, he flashed me a tight smile. “We are the men you know aria, we always will be. But we don’t live in the past anymore. We have worked out what is important. And you do too.”

“Stop lecturing her and let her sit down.” Taylor ushered me into their bright and airy kitchen and I slipped onto one of the wicker stools at the island. 

“You need to grow up, Aria.” Leaning his elbows on the marble top, the judge stared at me. I blinked at him in surprise. 

“I have been grown since I was a kid. I had no choice about that.” Damn my voice came out bitter. “Look I am not here to argue with you. I am so grateful that you helped us again but-“

“Aria.” He sighed. “I am always going to be here to help you but you aren’t grown. You never have been. You lash out and you run. You throw tantrums. Listen to me Kid. Your dad is dead.”

My eyes widened in shock.  “I know that.” I hissed.

“What him and your other brothers put you through was disgusting and if I could bring them back and kill them for you I would.”

Dante had once said something similar.

“They are gone Aria. You can stop running.” He sighed. “You need to pause and figure out who you are.”

“I know who I am.”

“You’re only just figuring that out. I think having Theo has helped with that. You started to realise what a real family is. It’s time to-“

My temper snapped. Back in the jail I had asked him a question and he had promised to answer me when we got somewhere private. We were somewhere private now and all he was doing was lecturing me.

“I am not a child.”

“No you’re a massive pain in our ass.” The judge snapped right back. “You can’t out run the pain Aria. You have to face it head on and deal with it. It’s painful as hell but it’s worth it. You’re the only who is stopping yourself from being happy. You’re running from yourself. But kid you can’t outrun yourself.”

“What the fuck does that even mean. I haven’t run for over two years. I’ve been here, working and raising my son. Alone.” Well not technically alone but that wasn’t the point.

“I know.” The judges voice dropped to a soothing whisper. “You stayed in town. You stayed close to Dante. Why was that?”

“Hiding in plain sight.” I muttered. And suddenly I couldn’t meet his eyes. The judge had always been able to see straight through a lie.

“Do you love Dante?”

My head snapped up and around to stare at Taylor. She had her usual sweet smile on her face. 

“No.” I snapped. Dragging my fingers through my tangled hair. I was beginning to think I didn’t like her much at all.

She met my eyes with absolutely no fear in her pretty face. “You’re lying to yourself.”

That took me by surprise. She looked so gentle but there was real steel in her voice. Which wasn’t surprising. She was married to a killer, she had tamed him. There was definitely more to Taylor than meets the eye.

“Is that so?” My voice was cold and even but I did raise an eyebrow.

“Yes.” She didn’t back down, but she did push a chine tea cup across to me. “You had the chance to leave and you didn’t. You stayed right here , right under his nose.”

“To hide in plain sight.” I gritted out.

“So he could find you.” She retorted. “You wanted him to find you. To imprison you. Because that’s easier than admitting the truth.”

Ok, now she was pissing me off. “And what is it you think is the truth Taylor.” Anger dripped off my lips and The Judge shot me a warning look.

“That you’re afraid to admit to yourself what it is you want. You want this-“ she motioned around her spotless kitchen. “I saw the way you looked disgusted earlier when you walked in my house.”

“I am not disgusted. This is just not what I want. This is hell to me. A prison.”

“Then you have been living in a prison with Theo.” She said softly.

I did a double take. “That’s not what I meant.”

Fuck that wasn’t what I meant. The last two years had been some of the hardest but best in my life. I had been happy. I had a family who I loved.

“You want a family. You want to be loved. There’s no shame in that. But that’s why you stayed. If Dante found you and forced you home you could pretend it was by force. You could keep lying to yourself.”

My lips snapped shut. “I think I hate you.”

The judge growled in warning but Taylor didn’t stop smiling at me. “I can take that Aria, if you admit something.”

“Fine.” I groaned and for some reason tears sprang into my eyes. “I love him ok, I love him so fucking much and I don’t know if he’s dead or-“

A low chuckle sounded behind me. “I am so glad to hear it because I’ve loved you from the second I first saw you, wife.”