17. ALTERNATIVES; PART 1

Aiden felt sick to his stomach after reading Clarissa's letter.

He stood in the middle of his bedroom for about ten minutes, just rereading the letter over and over again, trying to figure out how someone could be so cruel and deranged. Aiden felt infuriated, but most of all, he felt devastated and it was all because of one specific line in the letter which mentioned the baby that Clarissa had been going on and on about; a baby that might've actually been Aiden's.

The letter read:

Wow. I'm actually a little surprised that it took you this long to figure out who I am. Now I have to come up with a new plan and strategy to take to you down since I've become the one being hunted.

It's such a fucking bummer, too. I was starting to enjoy this little game that we've had going on. But thanks to you, I now have to reevaluate everything since you know who I am. And fuck the money, by the way. There was never any baby. Well, there was, but I lost it, so you kinda lucked out with that.

I bet you're glad to hear that you won't actually be anyone's father. If the baby had really been yours, I'll never tell. I'll let you drive your own self crazy with the what-ifs.

Right now I'm only out for your blood. Because you fucking cursed me. From the moment that I first hooked up with you I was doomed and didn't even know it. Ever since I fell for you, everything else around me fell apart - my heart, my sanity, and most recently my home for which I had to destroy because you know, evidence and shit.

And thanks for breaking my door down, by the way. As if being homeless weren't enough to deal with, now I really have nowhere to fucking go.

But that's beside the point.

You took everything from me, so it's only right that I take everything from you. I'll do it even if it kills me. I literally have nothing to lose.

Start sleeping with one eye open, Grayson, because those shithead guards that you have outside your house aren't enough to keep me away from you. I'm always watching you.. .you and that hot piece of ass that you keep by your side at all times - the one who I'm assuming tore down my front door because I know your scrawny ass couldn't have done that.

What's his name, anyway? Whoever he is, he's on my shit list too. Both of you are. As well as everyone else that you care about.

And before you go into a fit of rage while writing this, I do bring some good news. Don't expect any more letters from me. This is the last one, I promise. The next time that you'll be hearing from me is when I take you out with my bare fucking hands.

-Clarissa.

"Price will be here at any minute. I also have Clayton and Joshua scanning the area outside. So far, everything is looking pretty good..." Julian returned to Aiden's bedroom running his mouth. "Woah, are you okay? What did the letter say?"

Aiden moved to take a seat at the edge of his bed, Julian later coming to sit beside him. Aiden dropped the letter to the floor and stared off into space, unsure of how to feel.

"I think that she really was pregnant at some point. And there may have been a possibility that the baby could've been mine. I could have been a fath..." Aiden's voice was distant and full of despair. "This is so fucked up, man. How could she...? How could this be so..."

"You don't know for sure if what she said is true or not," Julian spoke in a soft tone. "The girl is mentally unstable. You can't buy into her bullshit so easily. She wants to tear you apart and you can't let her. She'll say whatever she wants in order to get in your head."

Julian tried to grab Aiden by the hand, but he pulled away.

"I want to be alone right now," Aiden whispered. "Shut the door on your way out, please."

"Okay." Julian tucked his feelings away and left the room. Seconds later as he was halfway down the hall, Julian could hear Aiden throwing things around in his room. "Damn it, Grayson."

Julian was falling for his boss faster than what he wanted to admit. And as much as he wanted to stay behind and console Aiden, Julian had to tear himself away from him because it hurt to see Aiden acting out like this - like his old self.

He's been doing so good these past few days and now it seemed like it was all going downhill thanks to one stupid little letter.

"Uh-oh, is the boss man in one of his moods again?" Clayton joked after Julian made it downstairs. "This woman really knows how to get under his skin, doesn't she? I think he needs to toughen up and stop acting like a little bit—"

"Clayton, don't." Julian rolled his eyes. "You don't know what he's going through, so don't talk shit when you don't know anything about his situation."

"Chill, bro," Clayton muttered. "I was just messing around."

"How about you do less of that and more of your job? Shouldn't you be outside right now with Joshua?" Julian snapped and then stormed off towards the front door after hearing the doorbell ring. "I oughta let him fire your worthless ass."

"Wait, what?" Clayton asked, surprised. "Mr. Grayson wants to fire me?"

"Just drop it and go get our boss. Tell him that Terrance Price is here," Julian replied in a sharp tone.

Clayton didn't say another word when he turned and headed for the stairs. Julian sighed, growing more and more annoyed, but he managed to hold his composure when he opened the door and greeted Terrance Price.

"Please tell me that you actually have something good for us or do you need to be fired, too?" Julian stated.

"I have something good for you, so, no, I don't need to be fired," Price replied in a calm tone, unfazed by Julian's harsh attitude. "I didn't want to call and tell you guys that I hadn't found anything, so I waited until I had something before I dropped by."

Julian moved aside and let Price into the house. They went into the living room and the private investigator noted the empty popcorn bag, two bottles of water, and a single blanket on the couch, but he didn't say anything about it.

"Will Mr. Grayson be joining us?" Price asked.

"Yes, he's on his way. Please have a seat." Julian cleaned up the mess that he and Aiden made before Price sat down on the couch, eager to present all the information he'd dug up on Clarissa. Julian studied the man carefully as Price opened his suitcase and pulled out various pictures, notes, and letters.

"Clarissa is a redhead with blue eyes. Who is this woman?" Julian picked up a photo of a skinny brunette with brown eyes and a pixie haircut. "Wait. She dyed her hair and got contacts?"

"Yes, and that's not all." Price handed Julian a piece of paper with the heading of Northfield's Abortion Clinic: Your Body, Your Choice, making Julian's heart sink as he read what was on the paper. "She was there about six months ago. It's when things started going downhill for her."

"So she really was pregnant?" Julian asked.

"Yes," Price replied. Julian sighed heavily. "Whether or not it was actually Mr. Grayson's, we'll never know."

"This is going to destroy him," Julian muttered to himself.

"What's going on here?" Aiden came around the corner and said. "What is all this mess, Price?"

"This mess is everything that there is to know about Clarissa Bollinger." Price stood and shook Aiden's hand. "Have a seat, there's a lot to go over."

"If you can just give me the shortened version of whatever it is that you're about to tell me, that'd be greatly appreciated," Aiden said in a dry tone. "My brain is ready to split in two and I just want to go to bed."

Price nodded. "Six months ago, Clarissa lost her job at TeleMart, a call center. She was unable to find work after that. Later on, she got evicted from her house, the one I've heard she just recently set fire to."

Price grabbed the paper that Julian was still holding and then gave it to Aiden.

"A week before her eviction date, she visited that clinic and...well, you can see what it says on the paper," Price said to Aiden. "She was about to be homeless and couldn't afford to raise a child, so she did what she had to do, I'm assuming."

Aiden glanced at the header on the paper, his eyes scanned the wording and then he crumpled it up and threw it across the room. It was infuriating to wonder if the child had really been his or another man's. The fact that Clarissa would use such a thing, an abortion, to bring another person down just for the hell of it was beyond inexcusable.

"She didn't have much in her bank account during that time and as of late there have been no deposits or withdrawals," Price continued. "She's flat broke, homeless, and very, very desperate."

"This doesn't explain why she's taking her frustrations out on me," Aiden said, feeling restless.

"Like I said, she's desperate," Price replied. "And from the mural that she had of you on her wall, which Mr. McAndrew filled me in on, she's also mentally unstable. Everything that she once had: her career, her baby, her home - it's all gone. She has no one to fall back on. No family or friends, none that I could find. Essentially, she's all alone and she's lashing out and you're unfortunately her target, Mr. Grayson. As for the reason why, only she can answer that."

"Where does this leave us?" Julian spoke, growing discouraged. "Where do we go from here?

"I've been trying to track her down to see where she's currently staying, but she's damn good at hiding," Price admitted. "I do know that she's always on the move. She never stays in one place for too long, and I recently discovered that she makes frequent contact with an ex, Jeremy Pine. They were together for a short while before splitting up. That was also right around the time of her losing her home and the baby."

Price pulled out a handful of pictures of what looked like Jeremy arguing with Clarissa in front of his home. The photos looked to have been recently taken.

"I've already spoken to him," Price said. "He wants nothing to do with her. He thinks she's crazy, but she refuses to leave him alone, for whatever reason. She's got it out for the both of you, it seems. Catching her at his house will be your best bet."

"And why haven't you done it already? Caught her, I mean?" Aiden snapped. "You've taken all these stupid fucking pictures, so how come you haven't caught her? What the fuck am I paying you for if not to do your job?"

"Catching psychopaths is actually not a part of my job description, Mr. Grayson." Price held his own. He wasn't intimidated by Aiden is the least bit. "I track people down. I don't arrest them."

"Unbelievable!" Aiden muttered.

"Look, you're upset and I know when I'm not wanted, so let's wrap up this meeting." Price emptied out his suitcase. "Here is everything that I have on Clarissa Bollinger. You and Mr. McAndrew can do whatever it is that you'd like with it. I think it's safe to say that we're done doing business with each other. I found your suspect and now the rest is up to you for how you want to handle her." Price stood to leave while Aiden and Julian stared at him in shock. "Have a good rest of your night, gentlemen."

"You motherfuc-" Aiden jumped out of his seat and charged after Price, but Julian held him back until he left. "Let go of me!"

"Take a breather, why don't you?" Julian calmly backed off. "You're going to-"

"Do not tell me that I'm going to be alright, Julian," Aiden shouted. "What I need is a fucking drink, but thanks to you I no longer have a bar to go to!"

"Grayson, please..." Julian's patience was growing thin. He was trying his hardest to be supportive and give Aiden his space, but he also didn't want to give him too much space to where he'd lose himself and slip back into his old, disastrous ways. "I know this is a lot to process, but you have to calm down."

"Don't tell me what I need to do!" Aiden spun around and shoved Julian back, almost causing him to fall backward onto the coffee table behind him. Luckily, he caught his footing and tackled Aiden to the floor, pinning his hands above his head. "Get off me!" Aiden screamed.

"I'm not moving until you calm the fuck down," Julian threatened. "Bitch and moan all you want, but I'm only trying to help your irrational ass and keep you from hurting yourself."

"You're not helping me. You're holding me against my will!" Aiden tried to pull free from Julian's grasp, but there was no use. Julian was stronger than him. "I don't feel like playing around with you, so fucking move off me, Julian."

"No," Julian replied while Aiden literally kicked and screamed beneath him like a child. Minutes went by before he eventually tired himself out. "Are you done acting your shoe size?"

"Only if you are." Aiden scowled.

Julian rolled his eyes but finally let Aiden go. "If you ever put your hands on me like that again, I'll fucking break them." Julian made it halfway up the staircase before Aiden came up behind him like a ninja and pushed him down, straddling him, kissing him. "You can't be serious..." Julian gasped, "I thought you were-"

"I'm still mad." Aiden's hand found its way inside Julian's pants. "I'm mad at Price. I'm mad at myself. I'm mad everyone. But there's something about your goddamn smart mouth that I just..." Aiden kissed Julian again, hungrily. "I need this. I need you."

"Grayson..." Julian, inching closer and closer to release as Aiden groped him, built up the strength to grab Aiden's hand, stopping his actions. "You're looking for a distraction and this isn't it."

"Why do you keep rejecting me?" Aiden frowned, panting. "Why won't you just let me-"

"There are alternatives," Julian cut him off. "We have alternatives."

"Like what?" Aiden asked, intrigued.

"I'd rather show you than tell you." Julian smirked, knowing that what he had in mind would help get rid of some of the pent-up sexual tension they shared. "Let's go upstairs where it's more private."

Aiden nodded, his heart skipping a beat as he and Julian headed upstairs, hand in hand, towards his bedroom.

. . . . .

note: the next chapter contains mature content — please skip if you don't want to read it!

This is only an excerpt. The full book can be read on Ream Stories for free. Link in bio.

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