Dealing with the Past (9 page)

Jackson stood and gathered his keys and wallet before turning off the lights and locking the door behind him. He called the elevator and waited impatiently as it took its sweet time to get to his floor. Finally in his car, Jackson pulled out of his building parking structure and pointed his vehicle in the direction of his mate.

Fifteen minutes later, Jackson pulled on to Aiden's street. The man was standing out in front of his unit block and, when he saw Jackson's car coming down the road, he hitched his leg up and shook it a couple of times. Jackson laughed as he pulled up beside where Aiden stood and wound the passenger window down.

"Hello there, handsome, you looking for a good time?" Jackson asked with a leer.

"Well, that all depends on your idea of a good time, now doesn't it," he said with a straight face.

"I can guarantee I'll take you places you've never been before," Jackson replied, looking Aiden up and down. The tight blue jeans and print T-shirt looked good on his mate. Jackson wondered if he would ever get the opportunity to peel the clothes from his mate's body as they made out like teenagers.

Aiden laughed. "Well, that's true. I can honestly say I've never been to a cemetery after dark before."

Jackson chuckled along with Aiden before he leant over and pulled the door handle, opening the door for his mate. "Come on lets go," he said.

Aiden got in the car and buckled his belt before turning to Jackson and raising a brow. "Aren't we going?"

Jackson blinked. He hadn't been able to take his eyes from his beautiful mate. He could feel his cheeks heating at being caught staring but chose to ignore it. Hopefully the dark would hide his embarrassment. Instead, he indicated and conducted a U-turn and headed in the direction of the cemetery.

The ride over was silent, the only noise the soft hum of music coming from his radio. The silence wasn't uncomfortable, which Jackson was pleased about. He hoped like hell that meant his mate was starting to warm up to him and become more at ease in his presence.

In less than ten minutes, Jackson was pulling his car up outside the cemetery. There were no other cars about. During the working week, there could be four or more of his family's cars parked out front of Thorak Cemetery at any given time, add in the customers' cars as well and the place looked like a regular hub of activity. Now though, being a Saturday night, there wasn't another soul around.

Jackson put the car in park and turned to face Aiden. "You ready to do this?" he asked quietly. He hadn't wanted to break the easy silence that had fallen between them but needed to make sure his mate was okay with what was about to happen.

"Yeah, I think so. It will be weird seeing Brendan again but I really would like the opportunity to say goodbye. He was a good friend."

"Friend? I thought you were partners?" Jackson was confused. As much as he hated to think about anyone but himself being that way with Aiden, from what he had read and been told, they were lovers.

Jackson could just make out the blush that crept up Aiden's cheeks in the dim light. "We may have been lovers but we were never partners. We didn't love each other that way. Brendan and I were more friends who occasionally slept together."

"Good to know," Jackson said. Inside, his stomach was doing cartwheels in joy. Aiden hadn't loved the other man! God, he wanted so much to lean forward and kiss his mate. The only thing stopping him was the fact he wasn't quite sure if it would be welcomed or not, and the last thing he would ever do is cause his mate more pain with unwelcomed advances.

"Let's go see if we can find out why people are threatening you," he said instead.

Aiden nodded and they unhooked their seatbelts then got out of the car. Jackson grabbed his bag from the backseat, the closing of the doors reverberating in the silent night around them.

Jackson had read the file on Aiden so many times the burial site of Brendan was practically burned into his memory. Bag slung over one shoulder, he walked up beside Aiden and placed a hand gently on the small of his back. Jackson felt a small shiver run through the other man but decided to keep his mouth shut. He could feel heat radiating through his mate's shirt and wanted desperately to bury his hand beneath the offending cloth and have skin to skin contact.

His fingers twitched at the idea but Jackson gritted his teeth and pushed down his body's reaction. Instead, he placed a small amount of pressure on Aiden and began to steer his mate in the right direction.

After five minutes of walking in silence, Aiden broke it. "I know you do this for a living," he said looking around the cemetery at all the graves they passed. "But this really is creepy as fuck." He finished with a slight smile.

Jackson laughed, the noise startlingly loud in the eerie silence that had descended around them. "I have to agree with you. No matter how long I've been doing this, I'll never get used to walking through a graveyard in the middle of the night."

It took them another five minutes to finally arrive at the burial place of Aiden's ex-lover. Jackson watched as Aiden went over and kissed his fingers then gently placed his hand on the gravestone of his friend.

Jackson read the simple inscription
'Beloved friend'
and asked Aiden about it. "What about his family?"

"Brendan's family kicked him out when he was seventeen and he came out to them. I tracked his parents down when he passed and all they had to say was if it was a disease then he deserved it for his deviant ways. I hung up the phone after that and decided I would take care of it. Sammy helped a little as well."

The hatred and bigotry rife in some people still managed to astound Jackson. How anyone could turn their backs on their children was beyond him. Jackson was so thankful his parents were the kind of people who would never do such a thing. They had stood by all their children no matter what they had done or would do in the future. He knew without a shadow of a doubt his mum and dad would love him.

Aiden looked at him and Jackson could see the pain in his mate's eyes. Without thinking about what he was doing, he walked over to Aiden and wrapped the smaller man in his arms. They stood there silently for a minute just holding one another. Jackson thought he'd never felt anything better. To finally have his mate in his arms, even if only for a minute, filled his heart with joy.

His arms tingled where his bare skin touched Aiden's, little electric shocks started in his arms before working their way farther down his body. Aiden gasped and slowly pulled back, his eyes focused on where their skin had made contact before he turned questioning eyes to Jackson.

Jackson wanted nothing more than to explain to his mate why they had such a reaction when they touched but right now wasn't the right time for that. They were here to raise Aiden's friend and get some answers if possible. Jackson reached out and cupped his hand around Aiden's cheek, his skin instantly feeling alive with little tingles.

"After, I promise, I'll tell you everything." Aiden nodded and Jackson regretfully let his hand drop.

He turned away and went to the bag he had dropped previously. Jackson pulled out a small lantern and set it on the ground, the area surrounding them now bathed in a soft glow of light. Next he removed the salt and his small dagger.

Jackson turned back and noticed that Aiden was watching him intently. He asked the other man to move over to the side slightly while he completed the ritual. Aiden did as requested and Jackson started on the circle of salt that he had to place around the grave and himself.

He wasn't quite as meticulous as Jayden had to be but he was still careful when he drew his circle. Happy with his result, Jackson turned to Aiden.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yep, let's do this."

Jackson nodded and placed the dagger to one of his fingers and sliced down. His blood pooled before dripping steadily on to the ground below him. Jackson could feel his magic come alive inside him as his gift sought out the one he wanted.

"With these words, I summon thee," he said, reciting the ritual words, "with my blood, I summon thee, with my magic, I summon thee, Brendan Stephens." Jackson could feel his magic delving through the ground and seeking out the one he wanted. Within a matter of ten seconds, he was face to face with the incorporeal form of his mate's ex-lover.

* * * *

Aiden gasped from where he stood slightly behind Jackson then stepped forward, his hand covering his mouth.

Jackson turned to face him. "Careful please, Aiden, I forgot to mention that you can't cross the salt barrier." Aiden looked down at the ground as he heard the other man's words and walked to the edge of the circle.

"Aiden," the soft voice of his friend said gently. Aiden immediately turned all his attention back to Brendan.

"Oh god, it's so good to see you again. I miss you." Aiden couldn't help it if his voice cracked from emotion.

"I'm sorry I left you," Brendan said gently.

"Don't apologise. It's not your fault. No one could have predicted you would have a heart attack in the office," Aiden said trying to reassure his friend.

"I'm not so sure I did," Brendan replied.

Aiden looked at Jackson and the other man looked just as confused as Aiden was. "What do you mean by that, Brendan? Do you have any idea why someone wouldn't want me to raise you?"

Brendan chuckled. "Oh yeah, I know exactly why someone doesn't want me raised," he answered.

"What's going on?" Jackson asked, his tone sharp. "Someone has threatened Aiden over this and I would like to know why." Aiden looked at the other man in shock. Jackson was acting very possessive for some reason and he didn't know why. Just one more thing to add to his ever growing list of unanswered questions.

Brendan turned to him with a look of sorrow on his face. "I'm sorry you got dragged in to this. A few weeks back, Noah asked me to do a full audit of A&M's finances. I came across an irregularity with payroll." Brendan paused and Aiden waited for him to continue.

"Upon further investigation, I found three employees on the books, earning a decent wage, who I'd never heard of before. I investigated with the HR department and they had no records of such people ever being employed with us. I did some more digging and it turns out that all three people were added at separate times. Obviously one first and, when no one said anything about it, they added a second and then a third." Aiden gasped as the full extent of what Brendan was telling him started to sink in.

"Bianca in finance, as you know, processes the payroll. She's the only one apart from Nadine who has access to enter new employees and process their timesheets. Nadine only has the access for when Bianca is away on holiday.

"But surely one of the accountants would have picked it up when they double check the payments before it's released to the bank?" Aiden asked.

"You're right. One of them does, but what you probably don't know is that Duncan and Bianca are a couple. They hide it well at work but they've been seeing each other for over a year. Duncan is the one who releases all online payments to the bank."

"Shit," Jackson exclaimed.

"You've got that right. By my calculations, the pair made off with over a hundred thousand dollars in the last year with their little scheme. The problem is I never got the chance to tell Noah or Harrison about it. I had only just finished compiling my evidence and had a meeting with Noah set up for later that afternoon. Duncan was in the kitchen when I went in to get my coffee that morning. He looked very nervous."

Aiden gasped then as what Brendan was saying sunk in. "You think he gave you something that caused your heart attack?" he asked.

"I don't know. I guess we'll never really know, but you need to tell Noah and Harrison that two of their employees are stealing from them."

Aiden nodded, his mind racing with everything Brendan had told him. "I'll let them know." He said as he thought about all the implications.

"Aiden," Jackson said beside him. He turned to the other man and noticed his pinched expression. "I'm really sorry but we've got to wrap this up. I can't hold my magic for much longer."

"Shit, I'm sorry, I completely forgot there was a time limit." Aiden quickly turned back to his friend. "I love you, Brendan, I'm sorry things couldn't have been different between us. Be at peace," he said as he raised his hand.

Brendan raised his hand on the other side of the barrier and looked at Aiden. "You were a good friend to me for years and I couldn't have asked for more. Live your life and find love, be happy." Aiden didn't miss the pointed look Brendan directed towards Jackson in his little speech, but chose to ignore it for now.

"May you rest in peace," Jackson said quietly and, before Aiden knew it, Brendan was gone and it was once again just the two of them in the silence of the graveyard.

Chapter 9

They were both quiet as Jackson packed his stuff away and they headed back to the car. Jackson was still a little blown away that Aiden was being threatened because a couple of people he worked with were embezzling money from his brother-in-law's company.

"Either Bianca or Duncan must have heard me talking with Noah about the appointment I had set up with you for Wednesday night," Aiden said distractedly. Jackson wasn't really sure if the man was talking to him or just musing out loud. He was thinking probably the latter. "I really need to get in contact with Noah before either Bianca or Duncan find out I didn't stick to the original plan. How the hell am I going to do that on Saturday night?"

Yep, Jackson was definitely going with musing out loud. "You do realise Noah is my brother-in-law, right?" he asked quietly from where he walked behind the other man.

Aiden stopped in mid-stride and turned to look at him. A bright smile lightened his features. "You know, I had completely forgotten that little fact. Can you call him?" Jackson checked his watched and grimaced.

"There is no way in hell I'm calling either Jayden or Noah at ten-thirty on a Saturday night. I know exactly what I would be interrupting and trust me when I tell you my life wouldn't be worth living." Aiden giggled at his words. The sound was light and tinkling and filled Jackson's heart with joy. What he wouldn't give to be able to hear that sound for the rest of his life.