Em’s mouth dropped open. “Are you for real right now, Aaron?”
My eyes dropped back to Em. “What do you mean?”
Rolling her eyes, Em looked away and let out a sarcastic laugh. Looking back at me she said, “Okay, let me lay this out for you, big brother. You were dancing pretty close with Sierra right before the evil Sandra showed up, right? It looked like you were both in a pretty deep conversation. From where I was standing, things were heating up with y’all. Am I right?”
Pulling my head back, I glared at Em. “I’m not talking to you about that, Em. That’s just fucked up.”
Letting out a frustrated sigh, Em said, “Whatever, Aaron. It was obvious. You were making a move on Sierra and then guess what happened?”
Waiting for her to answer, I motioned for her to continue. Rolling her eyes again, Em said, “Oh my gosh, are all men just stupid? I mean, are all of you so damn blind?”
“Em! What happened? Where is Sierra?”
Placing her hands on her hips, Em slowly shook her head. “You made a move on the one and only girl I’ve ever seen you look at like she was your next breath. Then you walked away from her and spent the next twenty minutes or so talking to an ex-girlfriend who couldn’t seem to keep her hands off of you. You just left her, Aaron. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sierra left.”
My heart dropped to my stomach. “It wasn’t anything; I kept trying to get away from—”
Holding her hand up, Em said, “Stop! The point is Aaron, you should have never have walked away from her in the first place. Asshole.”
Em spun around and stomped off. What the fuck just happened? Did my baby sister really just call me an asshole?
“Women,” my father said from behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, my father stood there holding a scotch. He went to take a drink and then looked at me and handed it to me.
“She left,” my father said, barely above a whisper.
Placing the glass up to my lips, I finished it in one gulp. “What? Who?”
My father smiled at someone and lifted his hand up and gave them a head nod. “Sierra. She was pretty upset. Crying as a matter of fact.”
My knees wobbled as I tried like hell not to let them buckle. “W-what? Why?”
Slowly turning to look at me, my father gave me a look that had me feeling sick to my stomach. “I believe your sister already laid it out for you, son.”
Pushing my hands through my hair, I let out a frustrated moan. “What the hell? I don’t understand, I just danced with Sandra and before that Sierra and I . . . we . . .”
Fucking hell. I had told Sierra I would never leave her. That I wanted to be with her. I told her I loved her and then I walked away with another woman. Placing my hands on my knees, I dragged in one breath after another.
Biggest. Dick. Ever.
Standing back up, I looked at my father. “Dad, I didn’t mean to make her upset.”
Fuck. I was going to ruin everything. This is the whole fucking reason I wanted to wait until after the trial before staring a relationship with Sierra. Motherfucker!
“I’ll get it fixed, Dad. Robert’s not going to win. I’ll have Sierra ready and what is happening between us won’t affect the case.”
My father’s face dropped. Looking away, he closed his eyes and slowly shook his head. “Is that why you were pushing her away, Aaron?”
“What?” I asked with an even more confused look on my face. I needed to get to Sierra. Explain to her what happened. I would just tell her we needed to wait until after the case and then we could focus on us one hundred percent. I just prayed like hell she wouldn’t walk away from me for good.
My father inhaled a deep breath and turned to me. “I know things have been . . . strained . . . between us the last few years. I shouldn’t have brought you back in the firm on the conditions I did and I know that. That being said, I’ve never been so happy having you back with the family and the same goes for your mother. I know I’ve never told you this, but I’m proud of you, son. I’m sorry I treated you like a child and forced your hand back into the firm.”
Shaking my head, I held up my hand. “Dad, no. I really am glad I’m back. I’m hell-bent on proving to you that I can win this case.”
“Aaron, listen to me, son.”
Closing my mouth, I stood there staring at my father. “Sorry, sir.”
Nodding, he said, “You don’t have anything to prove to me, Aaron and I’m so sorry I put the kind of pressure on you that I have. Ever since you’re mother got sick, I’ve longed to get back the family that we used to have. I wanted to be the best father and husband I could be. Don’t use me or this case to push Sierra away. I don’t think Sierra is the kind of girl who is going to take being pushed away too many times.”
