I slip into the hotel room as Aiden closes the door behind me. The bed sheets look pristine; not a wrinkle in sight. Aiden must’ve gone straight to Hannah and Earl's place right after checking in.

A dark-blue duffel bag lies on the lone sofa by the window. That’s probably the only thing that belongs to Aiden in this room. I feel a curious urge to go over there and see what's inside the bag. What does Aiden pack when he travels? Does he pack his own toiletries or does he just use whatever the hotel provides? Do his things smell like him? Every little thing about him makes me curious. I kind of want to go there and sniff.

But then again, the real Aiden is just behind me. I keep walking until I reach the window.

The building right across the street is a gray ugly monstrosity that blocks absolutely everything. I peer down to see a secluded alley, completely empty now, even though the rain has abruptly stopped. But hey, it's not like we were planning on people-watching tonight.

“Nice view.” I twist over my shoulder and grin at Aiden.

“Yeah, well, I booked this room from a cab at the last minute. I’m just glad there are sheets on the bed.”

I laugh. “What kind of hotels have you been staying at where they don’t have bed sheets?”

“I don’t,” Aiden says, approaching me from behind and wrapping his arms around my waist. “I don’t usually stay at hotels. When I travel on my own I’m more of a couch-surfer than a hotel-stayer. But . . .”

Aiden leans in and speaks softly in my ear, his hot breath sending goosebumps down my arms.

“But since I knew I was going to bring a girl back with me . . . You know, I thought it would be kind of weird to do it on my high school friend’s pull-out sofa bed.”

“Oh? You knew you were going to bring a girl back with you, huh?” I ask, trying to ignore the cloud of arousal fogging up my mind. “So let me get this straight, you knew this was going to happen?”

“Yeah.” Aiden whispers and nibbles on my earlobe.

“That was presumptuous of you,” I say in mock anger.

“And yet . . . here you are. So I was right after all,” he says as he drags his lips down my neck.

I shudder, unable to resist Aiden’s tempting invitation to turn off my thoughts for a while and let my instincts take over.

“Face it, princess,” he says as his hand slides up between my breasts to wrap around my neck—confident, firm, and possessive. “You’re mine. I know you. I knew you were not going to leave me unless you had to do it for my sake. I knew you were going to realize you were making a mistake as soon as you saw me. And you did, didn’t you?” Aiden asks, his face so close that I can feel his breath on my cheek.

“Yeah,” I sigh. I try to nod, but I can’t move my head because of Aiden’s hand around my neck. His hold is painless but firm. He’s not trying to hurt me. He just wants to show me I belong to him. Completely.

“Don’t run away from me again, princess. Don’t even bother. Because I’ll find you. I’ll always find you.” Aiden plants a light kiss on my neck. “Promise me.”

“I promise you, A. I won’t ever leave you again.” Emotions expand in my chest and rises up to my throat. Before I know it, tears spring up to my eyes and roll down my skin.

Aiden takes his hand off my neck and wipes my tears away with his thumb. “Are you okay, princess? I wasn’t hurting you, was I?” he asks nervously.

“No,” I say, my voice shaking. “I just . . .” I turn around to face him and bury myself in his broad chest. “I can’t imagine having to leave you again. I won’t be able to survive that.” More tears escape my eyes.

“Oh, princess.” Aiden wraps his arms around me and strokes my hair. “Nothing’s going to keep us apart again. I promise you that. You trust me, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” I say, sniffling.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No.” I pause. “If anything, what you were doing . . . That was hot. I can’t believe I’m crying again. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s been an emotional day.”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

I melt into Aiden’s warmth. I can’t help but smile as his musky scent fills my head. I feel so safe here, with his strong arms shielding me from the outside world.

And then, Aiden’s phone rings.

“Let me just switch it to silent,” Aiden says as he reaches into the back pocket of his jeans. When he looks at the screen, he frowns. “It’s Earl.”

We look at each other. Should we take this call?

“It could be important,” we both say, almost at the same time.

We laugh.

“Yeah, I’ll take the call,” Aiden says. He taps the screen and puts the phone up to his ear. “Hello,” he says into the phone. He looks at me. “Yeah, she’s here. Just a second.” To me, he mouths, “It’s Hannah.”

I take the phone from Aiden. “Hi Hannah.”

“Hey. Where’d you go?”

“Oh, I’m at, um, Aiden’s hotel.”

“Oh, so that’s why you were in such a rush you forgot your luggage.” Hannah says in a teasing voice. She adds, “And your sister. I thought you were still in the hallway until Marcus told me you’d left.”

“Sorry.” I giggle.

“So you’re doing this? You’re going up against Dad?” Hannah asks.

“Yeah.” My heart beats faster.

I’m worried my sister’s going to tell me that’s a bad idea. We both know how difficult Dad can be and how much he hates to lose. That’s why he pushes us to excel in our studies—because he sees our wins as his own, and our losses too.

“Good for you,” Hannah says, to my surprise.

“Really?” I blurt out.

“Of course. I hate watching Dad bully you like this. I was hoping the two of you were going to stand up to him, but I knew it was going to be risky. Are you prepared for the consequences?”

“Yes,” I say confidently.

“Good.” Hannah hesitates before she asks, “So I take it Aiden may lose his job and get hit with the debt?”

“Yeah.”

“What about you? If Dad told the hospital you quit . . .”

“I don’t know. I guess I’ll try to talk to the hospital and tell them it was a misunderstanding. But if they won’t take me back, I’m sure Dad’s going to hire me anyway. He’s just as invested in my medical career as I am.”

“Listen, we can discuss the details later, but I’ve been thinking about staging an intervention. Dad’s controlling tendencies have gotten out of control.”

“Sounds interesting,” I say, intrigued.

“Yeah. I’m still reading up on it. Most of the articles I’ve found online, so far, address addiction, but I totally think Dad’s addicted to power. Like, power over your life . . . you know? I’m lucky that what I want and what Dad wants seem to overlap most of the time, but he’s trying to make you live a life that’s not yours, and that’s not okay.”

“Yeah.”

“So one of the things we should do, according to what I’ve read so far, is give Dad consequences for his actions.”

“Like what?” I frown. If there’s any way I can get back at Dad, I’d love to find out. All my life, I’ve been powerless against him.

“Okay, um . . . I feel like a bad mom for even thinking about this. But these articles say that consequences are important for an intervention to be successful. They motivate the addict to change his behavior.”

“What is it?” Now I’m really curious.

“This one article suggests not allowing the addict to see his children. I’m thinking if we band together . . . Dad can be a jerk, but he loves spending time with family . . .” Hannah’s voice trails off, as if she can’t bring herself to say exactly what she plans to do.

“So you mean we’re going to cut contact with Dad?” I ask as I share a look with Aiden.

“Yeah. I don’t know if you can do that, because you’ll potentially still work with Dad, right? And same goes for Earl, too,” Hannah says from the other end of the line. “But at the very least, I can tell Dad he’s not allowed to see Marcus until he agrees to apologize to you guys and leave you alone.”

“Aww . . . Now I feel bad for Marcus.”

“Yeah, he does like his granddad. But don’t worry; I have a feeling Dad’s going to give in right away. He’s not as tough as he used to be, now that he’s older, especially when it concerns Marcus.”

“You really think so?”

“Yeah. It’ll be a couple of weeks, max. Just watch,” Hannah says with confidence. “I’ll just tell Marcus that Granddad’s being mean to Aunt Bee, and we want Granddad to apologize to Aunt Bee. He’ll understand that.”

“You know what? That actually sounds like it might work,” I say.

“Right? I’m a genius.”

I laugh. “Yeah, you are. But Hannah, don’t worry too much about it. Even if Dad doesn’t cooperate, Aiden and I will be okay.” I shoot Aiden a smile. I feel so much stronger now with him by my side.

“Okay. I’ll read up on how to stage an intervention, and I’ll let you know how we’ll do this.”

“Thank you so much for sticking up for me.”

“Hey, you’re my sister. We stick together,” Hannah says. “I’ll call you tomorrow with the details.”

“In moments like this, I love how organized you are. Thanks, Hannah. Say ‘hi’ to Marcus for me.”

“I will. Bye,” Hannah says before the call ends.

“Wow. This is unprecedented,” I say as I reluctantly hand the phone back to Aiden. Using his things gives me a mild thrill. It feels like he’s letting me get just a little bit closer, letting me know him just a little bit better.

“What is?” Aiden says, his fingers brushing against mine as he takes the phone and puts it aside on a small wooden table nearby.

“Hannah’s going to help us.” I tell Aiden all about Hannah’s plan. I have to admit, I’m proud of my sister for having come up with this diabolical plan. Our whole lives, she’s always been the sensible one. Her support vindicates me.

“That sounds like a good plan,” Aiden says.

“Right?”

“Yeah. But princess, no matter what your dad says in the end, I think I’d rather not work at Oak Crest anymore. I don’t want us to ever have to worry about him pulling something like this again.”

“But that wouldn’t be fair to you. You shouldn’t have to change jobs just because my dad’s a jerk.”

“Life’s not fair,” Aiden shrugs casually.

“I feel like you’re not taking this seriously enough.”

“I am. I just . . . Well, maybe I don’t feel as strongly about becoming a doctor as you do. To me, as long as I can get a well-paying job with my degree, I’m happy. And if that job insulates me from problems related to your dad, then that’s a bonus.”

“You mean that? You’re not just saying that to keep me from being too worried?”

“Not at all. There are benefits to the corporate life. The hours are more predictable,” Aiden says. “I’m just being practical.”

“If you say so.”

“Princess, everything in my life can change. As long as I have you, I know I can be happy.”

A smile spreads across my cheeks.

Aiden watches me with gentle eyes, but there’s something else in there too. He pulls me back into his arms and kisses me. He whispers, “Now, I believe we were in the middle of something . . .”