In Love With Mr. Billionaire - Chapter 41: Chapter 41

****Caroline's POV****
'To give that man what he actually deserves.' The words echoed in my head, sending a chill down my spine every time I thought about the confidence with which Aaron had said that. What did James actually deserve? I thought as I paced around the room. My anxiety had nothing to do with James' well-being. I had spent enough time worrying about the wrong things.
In a way, I wasn't worried about Aaron in the traditional sense. He can look after himself. He would not get hurt, I was sure. But the anger when he had thrown my phone away, the words that he had said as he walked out of the house, the confidence and coldness in his demeanor were what worried me. What was he planning to do? What was he doing right now?
I could have gotten an answer to those questions if Aaron had not thrown away my phone. I stopped pacing around the room to look at those broken pieces. Was his phone not enough? Why did he have to throw mine too? I understood his anger at the moment, but what was I supposed to do about my concern for him?
Last night he had stayed out, driving, to get his temper under control. Then he worked till morning, only to leave without having breakfast. He was too angry when he left and I didn't want him to do something that he would regret later. I didn't want him to get into trouble.
My series of thoughts came to a halt by a knock on the door. It was Nina, the housemaid, who had come to deliver two brand new phones on Aaron's command.
"Thank you!" I hugged her, unable to contain my gratitude. The phone felt like the cure for all my troubles.
"Should I bring another breakfast, Caroline?" Nina eyed the almost cold toast and coffee.
I had no appetite since Aaron had left and I shook my head. "No. Just thank you for the phones."
"Mr Woodwords got it sent for you," said Nina as she collected the cold breakfast tray to take it away.
I waved my hand, not wanting to go into the technicalities. "Doesn't matter," I said.
Taking one of the boxes out of the bag, I ripped it open in a haste. With the required settings done and my old sim card in place, I was about to call Aaron when a different call popped up.
I stared at the screen contemplating if I should answer it or not. A private number? Again? How long has it been since the last time I had a caller calling me with a private number? Too long to remember.
My initial thought was to reject it and go forward with my plan to call Aaron, but the curiosity of finding out about the private caller made me tap on the green button.
"Hello?" I said, my tone was unconsciously too cautious.
"Why are you talking like this?" Dylan mimicked my tone.
"Why the hell is your number a private number?" I asked, irritated. I had imagined a whole creepy private caller scenario in my head only to find out it was my stupid cousin.
"It's always been a private number, Caro. You've just never had the privilege of talking to me while I was working in my office," Dylan informed.
"You've called me before by this number?"
"Yes, and you never answered."
I sighed. I would have if getting calls from private numbers weren't creepy.
"How have you been, Caro?" Dylan asked. A suspicious question, since he hardly ever called me to chat about my well-being. And he was way too busy of a guy to have a conversation with me for longer than ten minutes whenever I called.
"I'm good, Dylan. Thank you for asking. Will you mind if I call you back in a while? I need to call Aaron right now," I said, intending to end the call immediately after his reply.
"No. Don't call Woodwords. He's very busy right now. Don't disturb him," Dylan commanded.
"How would you know that?"
"I talked to him a few minutes ago," Dylan answered. "He was going to my favorite place to meet my favorite people. It's a pity I'm not there to enjoy the show, but I'll manage. I'm just glad I get to contribute something to this holy task." He sounded happy. It wasn't very odd for Dylan to be happy, but I figured I was not going to like the reason behind it.
"Holy task, Dylan? What the hell are you and Aaron planning to do?" I demanded.
"What did James do?" he asked, switching the topic instantly. I thought of pressing him to answer my previous question, but knowing how he was, it wasn't going to work.
I took a deep breath. "He took a million dollars from my account by tricking me. It was Aaron's money."
"Woodwords is clearly not doing it for the money. Let me rephrase the question. What did he do to you, Caro?"
I bit my lower lip, knowing I would have to tell him about it. He deserved to know. He loved my mother just as much.
"James never loved her," I told him. "She didn't leave on her own. He threatened her to leave. I was his leverage, a guarantee that she won't return or go to you for help. And that's how he treated me. I was never a daughter to him."
There was silence on his end for a while.
"You should have come to me, Caro. He could have never hurt me. And I would have ripped him apart if he ever came after you," Dylan sighed.
"I never knew it then. But he gave me my mom's address. We should start searching for her again," I said, the hope of seeing her once again overfilling me with joy. The pain from the past didn't matter anymore.
"Text it to me," he said. His attention was soon taken away by some mumbling of people in the background. I heard him instruct them about some old files that needed to be pulled for more information before he got back on the phone.
"Okay, Caro. I need to go and take care of my favorite people," he said before ending the call.
I sat there stunned. 'Favorite people?' What the hell was going on?
For the next twenty minutes, I tried to hold myself back from calling Aaron. Dylan had said he was busy, he had—in a very stern voice—told me not to do it. Yet, after twenty minutes of pacing around in my room, imagining the worst possible scenarios, I failed to not do it. I needed to hear his voice and know that he was fine and not doing things that would end him up in jail.
The first call went unanswered. The second call went unanswered as well. So did any number of calls after that.
By the sixth attempt, I was so irritated that throwing my new phone away had started to look like a very pleasing option. I had to remind myself that Aaron was being a bad influence on me as far as the matter with the phone and anger were concerned and I shouldn't be behaving like him. I needed something to occupy my mind and stop thinking about him.
So, to calm myself down and not drive to James' place in search of my lost husband, I decided to paint something. That would be the best distraction.
Just entering the studio felt inspiring. Looking at the various paintings that I had painted in the short span of time was all the motivation I needed. In spite of that, when I picked up the brush and started to work on a piece that I had been working on before, I failed to lose myself in it. My imagination was blocked by a certain man whose intentions were unknown to me.
I dropped the brush and the palette to settle myself on the couch. Closing my eyes, I decided to do what I was doing best right now: worry about my husband.
It wasn't late when the thoughts started to get blurry and I went to sleep.
I felt I was floating in the air. A familiar scent was around me, engulfing me in it like a cloud. Strong hands were around my body, holding me securely against a hard chest.
As consciousness started to come to the front from the back seat, my eyes fluttered open. Aaron's face came into view, his eyes looking ahead, as he walked with me in his arms.
"Put me down, Aaron Woodwords!" I exclaimed as soon as the events of the day came back to my still drowsy mind.
Aaron looked down at me, startled. It took him barely a couple of seconds to go from that to smiling. "I thought you were sleeping."
"I was. Now I'm not. I was so worried about you. Why the hell weren't you answering my calls?" I glared at him. Though I doubted if the glare looked as threatening considering I was still in his arms.
"I was busy with my in-laws," he smiled.
Instead of putting me down, he walked to the couch and sat down, looking content.
I frowned as I stared at him. At first Dylan's 'favorite people', now his 'in-laws'. I knew I should not be worrying about those people—I was not—but the way Aaron and Dylan were talking was scaring me now.
"You both didn't do anything illegal. Did you?" I asked. The last time they both were together, they broke his nose. I hoped nothing like that happened this time.
"Both?" Aaron raised his eyebrows.
"You and Dylan. I talked to him. He said he was helping you with some 'holy task'."
I was impatiently waiting to know what had transpired at James' place, but it seemed he wasn't going to give me the details. Aaron kissed the top of my head, the smile not leaving his face. Why was he so happy? What had he done?
"You don't have to worry, my love. Everything is fine. And no, I didn't do anything illegal. They all are still alive and in working condition."
I punched his arm playfully, making him throw his head back with laughter. He appeared way too happy for someone who was frighteningly furious just this morning.
"I don't care about them, I just don't want you to get into trouble. You're the one I was worried sick about. And Dylan too since I found he was getting himself involved. I sent him mom's address that James gave to me after the call. He's going to start looking for her again. Maybe this time we'll find her," I said. The hope was there, but the fear of not succeeding came gnawing at me no matter how far back I pushed it.
"We will find her, Caroline," Aaron assured me. "I've asked Melissa, my private investigator, to get her team ready to go to California and work with VanAssche. He has the resources and Melissa is the best in business. It will help track her down sooner."
"Thank you," I hugged him. The overwhelming tears of joy glistened my eyes as I looked at Aaron. "I never even wished for someone like you for myself and here you are, even better than my best imagination."
Aaron smiled back at me, his hands tightening around my waist, pulling me closer to lean onto him. "I'm flattered," he said and we both laughed at his brazen ways of accepting compliments.
No sooner than I thought that everything was finally getting back to normal, I heard voices coming from the foyer.
I got off Aaron's lap to go and check who it was when the angry holler of the person waiting outside for us made me freeze at my spot.
"Aaron Woodwords!"
My hands went cold as the words vibrated through the walls. The voice was familiar, but the temper felt alien to me. The few times that I had met him earlier, he had appeared nothing but the calmest and the wisest of the people.
I turned to Aaron. He didn't seem bothered by the outrage. In fact, he looked like he had been expecting something like that to happen.
"Called it!" he chuckled as he got up from the couch to come to my side.
"Isn't that your father?" I asked.
"Yes. Don't worry. James had nowhere else to go. Let's go meet him. It's just a family get-together."
Aaron took my hand and started to pull me out. I stared at the back of his head, with the biggest frown on my face. Why was he still not worried? How could he still keep his humor in a situation like this one? What the hell was wrong with him? Or was something wrong with me for worrying too much? But his father sounded angry. It could not be a good thing, no matter which way I look at it.
Then his words before he had left in the morning played in my head. I had to ask him about that.
"What did James actually deserve?"
Aaron stopped and turned to look me in the eyes. Not a hint of worry on his face. Mine would have looked the complete opposite to his.
"Nothing. James deserved nothing. So he had nothing now," Aaron said with a smile. He did not wait as he took my hand again and pulled me to the living room.
I followed him silently, processing his words. Nothing? James had nothing now? What had he done?
I didn't question him about it. Ethan was waiting for us in the living room and maybe that was where I was finally going to get the answer to my questions. Though the anger in his tone made me wonder if Aaron had created unnecessary troubles for himself already