Dealing with the Past (2 page)

"Aiden Montgomery should be here in about fifteen minutes. Here's his file," Jayden said as he stepped forward and handed it to Jackson.

Jackson hadn't even noticed it, what did that say about how tired he felt? "I'll take care of it, don't worry," he said as he took the file and set it on his desk.

"Thanks, bro, I owe you one."

"No, you don't. Just go do what you need to do."

Jayden smiled at him then turned and headed for the door.

"Oh and Jayden…" He waited for his brother to turn back to him.

"Yeah?"

"Get some rest, you look like shit." Jackson chuckled lightly. "Go home and cuddle with that wonderful mate of yours." The smile on Jayden's face was worth it.

"As soon as I'm finished with this damn consult that's exactly what I plan to do. Thanks again," Jayden said, then walked out of Jackson's office.

Jackson sighed. God, he would give anything to have someone at home waiting for him. Someone he could cuddle up with after his long and exhausting days. Someone who cared if Jackson worked too much and was willing to stand up and tell him he needed to step back and take some time. Someone he could fuck into the mattress and snuggle with afterwards. It was a true testament to his state of exhaustion that the thought of fucking his yet unknown mate's tight rear end didn't even get a flicker of interest below his belt.

Resigned to staying for a while longer, Jackson turned his thoughts away from things he didn't have—didn't know if he would ever be lucky enough to have them—and concentrated on the file in front of him.

Reading the details listed, Jackson found out that Aiden Montgomery was a thirty-two year old whose partner of three years had died unexpectedly of heart failure while he had been at work several months previously. He'd never gotten to say goodbye to his love and wanted this one opportunity to do so. It looked to be a very clear-cut, easy case, leaving Jackson to wonder why the hell it had ended up on Jayden's pile, as nothing this mundane had been given to him in months.

Deciding to concentrate on things he could control, Jackson closed the file and placed it to the side before going back to his e-mails. Fifteen minutes later, there was another knock at his door.

"Come in," he called out.

Frannie, the company secretary, opened the door but was looking at someone else as she spoke. "As I said, Mr Montgomery, we're very sorry but Mr Thompson was called away at the last minute on urgent business. Mr Thompson here has gladly accepted your case and is willing to squeeze you into his busy schedule."

Frannie swept her arm into the room, clearly indicating Mr Montgomery should enter.

Jackson stood behind his desk, ready to greet his new client, when the man walked into the office. Aiden Montgomery was nothing short of stunning. The man stood roughly five-eight in height, his curly blond hair just long enough Jackson could take a firm hold at the height of pleasure. His hazel eyes seemed a little dull, which, given the circumstances of their meeting, Jackson understood. Aiden's nose looked to be the prefect size for his face and his soft, light pink lips looked so kissable Jackson ran his tongue over his suddenly dry lips.

He eyed his client up and down, noting the slight pooch to his belly, which added to the overall attractiveness of the man. He had never really been interested in twinks who looked like nothing more than a bag of bones. He liked the feel of a nice soft body, nothing worse than taking a hold of his partner while trying to fuck them stupid and feeling their bones through a very thin layer of skin.

Jackson's eyes travelled back up the man's body until he met Aiden's face. He was taken aback slightly by the open hostility staring back at him.

"No way. No fucking way," Aiden Montgomery spat.

To say Jackson was confused would be an understatement. Had he offended this man somehow? As far as Jackson was aware, he had never met the man before. Jackson's gut clenched at the thought that he might have done something horrible to this beautiful creature to cause such a reaction. He racked his brain but couldn't seem to come up with anything he might have done. Jackson knew he had been a dick to his brother but he didn't believe he could be so horrible to someone to react like that.

"I'm sorry?" he asked questioningly. "Let me introduce myself, I'm—" Jackson didn't get any further before he was interrupted.

"I know exactly who you are, Jackson." Vitriol practically dripped as the man said his name.

Before he could react, Aiden Montgomery spun on his heel and left his office.

"What the hell just happened here?" he asked Frannie, who still stood in the doorway looking slightly confused and uncertain.

"Beats the hell out of me, but I suggest if you want to find out, you better get your ass into gear," she said as she waved in the direction his client had stormed off.

He rounded the desk and was on his way out of his office before he could even form the thought of going after the other man. He jogged lightly across the open lobby of their office and caught up to Aiden just before he reached the front doors.

Jackson reached out and grabbed Aiden's arm to stop him from leaving. Jackson gasped as electric shocks immediately started to tingle in his skin where he touched Aiden's arm. They coursed through his body and made a straight line to below his belt. Jackson gasped as the meaning behind this broke through his jumbled thoughts.

Aiden Montgomery spun around fast. He drew his right arm back and let fly with a punch that landed squarely on Jackson's jaw. Not expecting the hostile move, Jackson hadn't had an opportunity to plant his body and, as such, ended on his ass in the middle of the lobby floor. It wasn't like he was trained in any form of martial arts or anything. Hell, he would never lift a hand against someone so much smaller than him. A quick flash back to high school days long past by had him recognising that fact hadn't always been true.

"Fuck," Aiden said as he shook his hand out.

Jackson agreed. His jaw was killing him. He looked around as movement caught his eye and noticed his family descending on them. They all stopped and stared at Aiden when the man spoke again.

"Don't touch me. Don't you
ever
touch me. I always promised myself that if I ever saw you again, I would do that. And now I hate myself so much for stooping to your level." Aiden's eyes became shiny as the man fought back tears.

"What's going on here?" his father asked in a stern voice. That's exactly what Jackson wanted to know.

"Just a minute, Dad," Jackson said before facing his client again. "Have we met before?" He was genuinely curious as to what he had done to cause this stunning man hurt in the past. The more Jackson looked at him, the more something niggled at the back of his brain, telling him that he should know Aiden Montgomery. At the moment, he just couldn't seem to think straight enough to be able to place him.

Aiden gasped as he stared at Jackson, still on the floor. Utter horror and disbelief clouded his beautiful features before he turned and fled the office.

Jackson didn't move from where he sat on the ground, but just watched in surprise and confusion as the door quietly closed after the fleeing Aiden.

The silence in the office became almost oppressive before his father finally broke it. "Would someone please tell me who the hell that was and why in the world he took a swing at one of my sons?"

Jackson knew his father was addressing him, even if his questions were asked to everyone. James Thompson's eyes never wavered from Jackson's still prone form. He didn't really know how he felt at the moment. He had so many emotions coursing through his body all at once he felt like one big jumbled mess. One thing he did know was that he needed to figure out where he knew Aiden from and what in the world he had done to hurt the man.

Jackson slowly got to his feet, well aware of the pounding in his jaw. He would bet his savings that there would be a decent-sized bruise before long, if not already. He lightly ran his fingers over his slightly stubbled jaw and winced as they came into contact with a tender, swollen area.

Steeling himself, Jackson turned to face his entire family. "That was Aiden Montgomery… my mate." He paused for a second to let that sink in, before he continued. "I have absolutely no idea why he hit me, but trust me when I say I will find out." Jackson didn't want to hear anything anyone else had to say, he needed time to think. He headed to his office to pack everything up and shut his computer down before he grabbed his stuff and walked out.

He knew his family was probably worried and he loved them for that, but this was something Jackson needed to work out on his own. The fact they recognised his need to be alone and let him leave without trying to stop him, touched him deeply. They would be there if he needed them and that was knowledge enough for Jackson at the moment.

Chapter 2

Aiden ran, his heart beating a mile a minute. There was no way he could stand out in front of the offices and wait for the elevator to finally come collect him, so instead he made a beeline for the stairs and ran down them as fast as he safely could. He refused to even let his mind think about what the hell just happened until he got somewhere else.

Aiden burst out of the door at the bottom of the stairwell with so much force it hit the wall with a loud bang. People all around stopped and stared in the direction of where the noise came from.

Not wanting to be the centre of attention again so soon, Aiden kept moving, ignoring everyone else. Thankful people went back to what they were doing, Aiden made short work of getting to his shiny blue VW bug. Climbing inside, he started the car and peeled out of his parking space before he'd even put on his seatbelt.

When Aiden had calmed enough and gotten his seatbelt fastened, he pressed the microphone button on the dash and waited for the musical tone. Once he heard it, he said, "Call Sammy." Aiden waited impatiently, tapping his hands on the wheel while the phone call connected.

Finally, his best friend answered. "Hey, man, how'd it go? I thought you would have still been in a meeting?" Samuel Graham's kind, familiar voice floated through his car's Bluetooth system. Just hearing his friend helped to calm Aiden's still racing heart.

"It didn't go," Aiden replied as he pulled up to a red light and waited.

"What the hell do you mean, it didn't go? You've been waiting for that consult for a month." Sammy's voice came through sounding angry and confused. He couldn't blame his best friend. They both knew how much this consult had meant to him. Sammy's voice softened considerably when he asked his next question, "What about getting to say goodbye to Brendan?"

A lump caught in Aiden's throat as he thought about Brendan, he'd been good to Aiden. They both knew it wasn't a forever kind of love they shared, more like the love between best friends, but that didn't make the hurt any less. They had dated for three years and gotten comfortable with each other, understood each other.

Neither one thought they'd a chance in hell of getting anything more than a one-night stand at one of the clubs. Brendan was one of those kids who'd had severe acne when he was younger and as a result ended up with scars on his face. They didn't bother Aiden one bit, they were just another aspect of the man Brendan was. As for Aiden, he knew some people would consider him fat. It wasn't his fault he liked his food so much. He did exercise, some, but he'd always had a very soft belly and a larger behind than a lot of others currently out on the market.

They'd met at work when Brendan had moved to Darwin in joined A&M Accountants, where Aiden had been employed for the last several years. They flirted back and forth for a few months before agreeing to go on a date. Both the date and the sex were nice, but nothing earth-shattering or mind-blowing, not how Aiden always imagined sex with Mr Right was supposed to go.

With nothing else out there on the marker for either of them, they had decided to continue to see each other, hoping things might change between them. Did Aiden love Brendan? Yes. Was he in love with the man? No.

Even knowing they weren't meant to last, Brendan had never made Aiden feel bad about himself. He was sweet, gentle and caring, and always made Aiden feel wanted. Brendan hadn't ever discouraged Aiden about his weight, even though he knew it bothered Aiden terribly. This had been the case since he'd been a kid, and one of the biggest causes of the bullying he'd had to endure through high school. Thinking about his bullying brought back sharply what had happened earlier.

A horn from behind him made him jump in his seat. He looked up in time to notice the light was green and took off across the intersection. Not even halfway across and the light changed to yellow. Aiden waved apologetically to the drivers behind him.

"Aiden, are you still there?"

Concern radiated through the speaker, and he wondered just how long his friend had been trying to get his attention. Shit, he had completely zoned and forgotten he was on the phone to Sammy. Sighing, he answered his best friend, "Yeah, I'm still here."

"So what the hell happened? I know how much saying goodbye to Brendan means to you." Sammy was right. Brendan's heart attack had taken everyone by complete surprise. The man seemed healthy as a horse. He had no previous signs of any heart trouble. Brendan had gotten up from his desk, walked to the kitchen, and made himself a cup of coffee. Then, halfway back to his office, he'd stopped still, clutched his chest, dropped his cup, and collapsed. He was dead before the paramedics had arrived. Aiden remembered kneeling next to his lover and holding his hand, begging him to open his eyes and not leave him.

"
He
was there." Aiden's voice cracked with the remembered pain from that fateful day.

"
He
who?" Sammy asked, confusion evident in his tone.

"Jackson Thompson," Aiden replied and waited for the outburst from his friend. He didn't have to wait too long.

"What the fuck, man? I thought you said your appointment was with a Jayden Thompson? What the hell was that sack of shit doing there?"