Always

19 - Aria

Aria's POV

Present Time:

I honestly didn't know what to think, I didn't want to push Jayden for answers to the millions of questions which were swimming through my mind, after all he was just a boy and the more questions I pressed him for the more answers he would start wanting, he was a smart kid even at the age of 3. For some reason I didn't feel I could go to Aiden with this ether,  I guess it was the fact I didn't want to jump to conclusions, Though I couldn't help but allow my hopes to be somewhat high that possibly, Brax was alive. It was to much of a coincidence surely, the same silver cross, the same word engraved on the surface - it has to be him...

The following days after Jay had shown me the necklace, I spent my time asking around the school if anyone had seen Jayden spending time with an unknown man or if there had been any enquiries at the office in relation to Jayden - it was all met with a big fat NO - I was frustrated and angry - Jay had gotten that necklace from some one, but apparently it was quite easy for a full grown adult male to walk into this school practically undetected except for my 3 year old son.

It was driving me crazy, the thought that he could quite possibly be alive and here somewhere and it had me looking over my shoulder constantly, I honestly had convinced myself I could feel him watching us. It had been a week and after getting nowhere I gave up hope - again. I told myself there was no possible way it would be Braxton, he had been so excited about this baby that nothing would keep him away from us for this long, Could it be Vic had mentioned to Carlton where we were and he paid Jayden a visit? Carlton was a lot like his older brother, enough so that my 3 year old son would recognise the similarities between them.

For the first time in a while I cried myself to sleep that night, it felt like losing Braxton all over again, my heart breaking apart even more with the second loss, but I held it together as best I could - I couldn't let Jayden see me so broken.
I never mentioned any of this to Aiden, god he probably would have had me committed if I told him that even for a moment I thought Brax was alive, let alone that I had spent over a week looking for signs and asking questions about him showing up, no - this was definitely something I needed to keep to myself and unless Jayden mentioned meeting this person again, I knew I had to let it go.
But the unmarked letter that arrived on my office desk a few days later commanded my attention, with no postage stamp I knew it had to have been hand delivered though again some how no one seemed to notice by who.
There was a single piece of paper inside along with a hotel room key - the small black writing standing out of the white paper, there were a total 4 words written the only other thing on the paper was the hotel symbol which appeared top middle

'Today 4pm, Room 110'

I had been the girlfriend and wife of a gang leader long enough to know this could be nothing but a trap, A carefully thought out plan to seek out the weak point for the Black family, I was after all Braxton Blacks Widow, Mother of the Black Heir - we had been hiding away for 4 years now, maybe we had been getting to complacent lately and someone had found us, so Yes I realised that to just get up and go like this would be crazy, stupid even, but more than this I needed to know - who was doing this to us, who was messing with my little boy.
I told Aiden I had an appointment and asked him to take Jayden after school which of course he did with no questions asked, I had never lied or hidden anything from him since we had been here so he had no reason to doubt me.

Pulling up to the hotel carpark my body was filled with nerves, I was unable to control my shaking hands as my mind ticked over a million thoughts of what I was walking in to.
Ever the protector Aiden had kept what he called an emergency kit in our cars, a small black lock box containing a hand gun and a prepaid cell phone. Taking the gun I placed it in the waist band of the black pencil skirt I was wearing and made my way through the hotel lobby and up the elevator, I paused in front of the wooden door, the brass numbers indicating it was room 110 and as my hands continued to shake but I found the strength somehow to swipe the door card through the slot, watching for the light turning green to indicate I could move further.

The room appeared to be empty as I walked slowly through the door, the bed visible from the entry way looked as though it hadn't been slept in recently and fresh towels were folded neatly on the white bedspread. The dim lights lit up the room which other wise would have been shielded in darkness from the heavy dark blue curtains that were pulled tightly closed.
There was no suitcase, no evidence that any one had been staying in this room, even the small bin by the desk against the wall remained empty.
And thats when it hit me, the smell of mens cologne - the warmth of a body standing close behind me, very close behind me, warm hands placed on either side of my neck as he spoke in my ear, my breath caught in my throat, my eyes filled with tears as I heard the voice speak,

"If you still weren't the most beautiful thing I had ever laid my eyes on I would almost be angry at you for coming here"