“He’s calling all the shots now, isn’t he?” Gabrielle sneered. “Don’t lie and tell us it’s not because of him that you’re moving to some dinky little cabin in the middle of nowhere.”
Arianna sighed. “If you’re only here to pick a fight then you need to leave. I know you’re all upset with me for giving up my career—”
“You’re so selfish, Arianna! Of course, we’re upset. This affects all of us and you couldn’t even call us to let us know. We had to hear about it from your agent.”
“I was going to call you, but before I could, you and mother started sending me those awful messages.”
“How can you do this to us, Arianna? We’ll all be destitute.”
Anger stirred in her gut. “Destitute? You’re hardly going to be destitute. How much did that apartment I bought you cost? Over a million dollars, right? Sell it and you’ll be set for years. Or better, yet, how about you actually get a job and support yourself. I bought mother and father a house. You’ve all had plenty from me over the years. You could have saved some of that money I gave you, instead you spent it on expensive trips with your boy-toys. Do you know the last time I had a vacation?”
Gabrielle looked taken aback. Arianna just glared at her. But inside, she felt lighter. As though a weight had been lifted off her. It was well past time she stood up for herself. That she forced them all to stop leeching off her.
“You make it sound like we were using you.”
“You have been! That’s exactly what you’ve been doing.”
“Well, you let us. You’ve done it for years. Why?”
“Why?” It was a good question. “Because you were my family. I love you. And I guess I thought that if you all needed me then you might love me back. I get that this is my fault as well. I should have told you all a long time ago that this wasn’t what I wanted. I hate doing concerts. I hate being in the limelight. I shouldn’t have to support you all. It’s not my job to do that. And you should love me regardless of what I do for you.”
“You’re so fucking weird, Arianna. Normal people don’t think like this.” Gabrielle scowled at her. But there was something in her gaze. Something like understanding.
Or maybe it was just wishful thinking.
“I…I have to go.” Then her sister turned and stormed out of the room. Ari watched after her with a sigh. Then she slumped into the sofa, her legs hardly able to keep her up. She was so exhausted all of a sudden.
“Angel? You okay?”
She ran a shaky hand over her face as Bain walked into the room and crouched in front of her.
“No? Yes? Do you know, I’m really not sure how I feel? It felt good to tell her all that stuff, at the same time I’m not sure that she’ll ever speak to me again. I love her. But sometimes, I also hate her.” Tears dripped down her cheeks and he sat next to her, pulling her onto his lap. “Why couldn’t they just love me for who I am? Why was I only worthy of being a Silvers when there was something I could do for them? I just don’t understand why I was so unlovable.”
“You weren’t,” he told her harshly. “You hear me? That little girl was not unlovable and the woman in my arms is most definitely worthy of love. I love you. And I swore I was never going to love anyone again. Yet, you wormed your way into my heart.”
She sniffled. “See you’re a squishy, sweet ogre.”
“Good Lord,” he muttered. “Don’t tell any of the other Littles at Sanctuary that you call me an ogre. The name will catch on and I’ll never hear the end of it.”
She grinned up at him. Oh, now she definitely had to let it slip.
He shook his head. “I’m in such trouble, aren’t I?”
She nodded her head. Then her smile dropped as she thought of another worry. “Will they like me?”
“The other Littles?”
“Yeah. I’m not used to interacting with other people much. I don’t really have any other friends—”
“No friends? So those three big bastards that flew halfway around the world because you didn’t answer your phone, what are they?”
“Oh…well… Caleb is my friend and I guess Wolfe and Aleki are too.”
“You guess?”
“But they accept me as I am. They’ve known me for years. They know I can be a bit different—”
“I know your mother tried to teach you that different is wrong. That you had to fall into some sort of mold to be accepted. Not true. There is nothing wrong with you. You’re strong. You’re smart. Definitely creative. Sometimes a little crazy. But you’re also scarily kind. Scary, because you’d give everything of yourself if someone else asked for it.”
“Just as well I’ve got a big, bad Daddy who’ll make sure I don’t do that anymore, huh?”
“Yeah? Where is he? Sounds like a good-looking guy.”
“Hmm. I’m not sure. Are ogres considered good-looking?”
“Brat!” He laid her back on the sofa and started to tickle her mercilessly. He tickled her until she was snorting, trying to curl into herself in order to protect herself.
“Mercy! Mercy!” she cried.
He drew his hands away then pulled her onto his lap, taking hold of her chin to tilt her face up. He kissed her gently. Slowly. It was delicious. She drew back and opened her mouth just as she heard a loud noise coming from Bain’s phone. He immediately jumped up and raced towards the foyer. She ran after him, noting Dominic racing down the other passage. Bain opened the door right as the elevator door slid shut.
“Ari, get back inside. Dom!”
“I’ve got her, go!” Dominic yelled back, tugging her back into the apartment as Bain raced towards the stairs.
Her breath came in fast pants as Dominic shut the door, locking it.
“What’s going on? What happened!”
“Someone entered the foyer without our knowledge,” Dominic said grimly. He reached down and using the bottom of his T-shirt, picked up a white envelope. “The alarm went off. Had it set to our phones.”
“Someone? Like the stalker? Did he leave that? Oh God, and Bain’s gone after him alone!”
She moved to open the door and Dominic wrapped his arm around her waist, setting the envelope down on the foyer table. “Ari! What do you think you are doing?”
“Bain’s out there with the stalker alone! What if he gets hurt? We need to help him.”
Dominic turned her, grasping her by the shoulders. His face was stern, something she’d never seen from the other man.
“You, little miss, are going nowhere.”
Her eyes widened at his cold, commanding tone. Where had easy-going, understanding Dominic gone?
“Take a step towards that door and I’ll lock you in your bedroom.”
“You would not!”
“I would. Just try me.”
“But Bain—”
“Can take care of himself. The worst thing for him right now, would be for you to race out there and get yourself hurt. This is his job. We are trained for this. You are not.”
She glared up at Dominic. But she knew he was right. He must have seen something in her face because he eased up his hold on her.
“Ari, I let you get hurt and I’m a dead man.”
She bit her lip. “What if he gets hurt?”
“Bain? Sweetheart, have you seen your man? He’s built like a tank.”
Didn’t mean he couldn’t get hurt. What if her stalker had a gun?
Dominic’s phone made that same high-pitched noise and she jumped in fright. Her heart was racing so fast she thought she might be ill. Dominic moved to the small panel by the door which displayed a camera view of the foyer. They both saw Bain standing there, scowling.
Bain made some gesture with his hand and Dominic unlocked the door. As soon as he was inside, she threw herself at him. He caught her against his chest, rubbing his hand up and down her back.
“Angel, you okay? You’re shaking.”
“She was worried about you,” Dominic told him dryly.
“About me? W
hy?”
“Because you chased after that guy without any sort of back-up.” She drew away to frown up at him.
“She would have gone after you herself if I’d have let her,” Dominic told him.
Bain’s face filled with thunder and she glared over at Dominic. “You’re a tattletale.”
“I’d want to know if my Little was going to put herself in danger.”
Bain grasped hold of her chin, tilting her face up. “Listen to me. You never, ever put yourself in danger, understand me? Especially not for me. I’m trained for this stuff.”
“Yeah, that’s what Dominic said,” she said reluctantly.
“If you’d chased after me, you wouldn’t have sat for a week.”
Ouch.
Bain straightened. “Bastard seemed to disappear. I got down to the foyer but, elevator was empty. He leave us anything?”
“Yep,” Dominic said. “It’s on the table. I’ll get some gloves and a bag for it.”
She felt ill as she stared at the envelope. Dominic returned with his hands gloved and started to carefully open the envelope with a knife.
“Sure you want to see inside?” Bain asked her.
She nodded. She couldn’t not know what it said.
Dominic pulled out the note and they crowded around to read it.
Don’t think you can hide from me, songbird. I can always find you. I’ll always come for you.
“What? What does that mean?” she asked. “Does that mean he knows I’m planning on leaving? But how would he know that?”
“Don’t read anything into it,” Bain told her while Dominic bagged the note and envelope. “Could be because you’ve been keeping inside the apartment lately and he hasn’t seen you.”
Who was this guy? How did he keep getting so close to her apartment?
“I’ll go down and talk to Rob. You get her settled,” Dominic said to Bain.
Bain nodded and took the bag from him. He made certain the door was locked after Dominic left and the alarm was set.
“Get me settled? How am I meant to settle after this? You shouldn’t have run after him! What if he’d had a gun!”
“Angel, this is what I’m trained to do. Guard you. I was a Navy SEAL. I know what I’m doing.” He led her into her office and put the plastic bag down on her desk, by her laptop. Then he pulled her over to the sofa, drawing her onto his lap.
She wrapped her arms around him. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
He ran his hand up and down her back. “Nothing will happen to me. Sure as shit nothing will happen to you.”
He held her until she stopped trembling, the adrenaline spike draining away, leaving her feeling awful.
Dominic appeared in the doorway. He was scowling. “Head of security is a fucking joke.”
Her mouth dropped open. She’d never heard Dominic swear and this was as close to losing his temper as she’d ever seen.
“What? He wouldn’t let you see the camera footage?” Bain asked.
“Said he’ll set it up and let me see it when it’s ready. Wouldn’t surprise me if he fiddled with it.”
“Think he could be our guy?” Bain asked.
“No way,” Arianna said. “Rob is a weasel, but he wouldn’t do that.”
“He has access,” Bain pointed out. “Would explain how this guy is getting up here. Also, how he disappeared on me as he would have access to all the floors on this building. He’s tried to obstruct us at every turn. Either he’s just an incompetent asshole or he’s our guy. Just cause his record is squeaky clean doesn’t mean he’s not guilty.”
“Well, the fucker doesn’t know about the other camera we put in.” Dominic walked out of the room.
“Will it have caught anything?” she asked.
“Hopefully,” he told her. “Don’t worry. Going to catch this asshole. Not going to let him do anything to harm you.”
She knew he wouldn’t.
Dominic returned with a large laptop. He set it down on her desk. “You gonna call the cops about that note?”
“Yeah. I’ll give the detective we dealt with a call. Let him know.”
“Here’s the fucker.” Dominic leaned in to watch the video. She moved around behind him, Bain standing over her.
A guy in a black hoodie slipped out of the elevator. She looked at the time stamp on the video. About fifteen minutes ago.
He moved quickly to the door, his head down and hidden. Frustration filled her. There was nothing new from this angle.
“There. See there.”
She frowned, leaning it to see where Dominic was pointing.
“Is that a tattoo on his hand?” she asked.
“It sure is,” Dominic said with satisfaction.
“Is that really going to help?” she asked skeptically. “Lots of people have tattoos on their hand.”
“I’ll send the video to Corbin,” Dominic said. “See if he can enhance the image and whether or not he can spot anything else.”
“Rob doesn’t have a tattoo on his hand,” Bain told him.
“Fuck,” Dominic swore. “There goes that theory.”
“It was a good one. I liked him for it. But definitely no tattoo on his hand. I’ll go call the detective, see if he can come pick up this message and get that footage from that little asswipe.” Bain turned to her, tugging her tight against him. “Don’t worry, baby girl. We’ll get him. This is another piece in the puzzle. Hopefully, the little fucker is on the system, since he wasn’t wearing gloves and we’ll get his prints.”
She shuddered. She hoped so. She just wanted this over and done with. She wanted some peace in her life. To know she was safe. To be happy.
“Why don’t you go watch some T.V. or something. I’ll come let you know what’s going on after I’ve spoken to the detective.”
She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
He leaned back so he could stare down into her face. Grasping hold of her chin, he tilted her face. “It’s all right to not be fine, angel. Nothing bad is going to happen if you just take a bit of time to yourself. I’ve got this. I’ve got you. I’m here for you. No matter what.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist, holding on tight. “This sucks. I hate having some weirdo sending me these letters, but at the same time I’m strangely grateful to him. Because if there wasn’t this threat, I wouldn’t have met you. And you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“I know exactly what you mean, angel. But this guy needs to be caught. This shit has got to stop.”
She couldn’t agree more.
22
The day had been shit.
She just wanted to lie on her bed and forget today had ever happened. But it seemed that wasn’t in the cards for her today. With the call to Larry, her visit from Gabrielle then the note and the subsequent meeting with the detective, it felt like she’d been completely drained.
But now her damn phone was ringing. She looked at the name and knew she had to answer. She should have known she wouldn’t just get away with sending him a text about what happened.
“Hey, Caleb.”
“Squirt, you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m all right.” Even to her ears, her voice sounded off. Devoid of emotion.
“Uh-huh, and I’ve got some nice magical beans to sell you. Tell me everything that happened.”
She told him about the letter she’d just received and Bain running after her stalker. When she finished, she heard him swearing quietly and a deep voice asking him what was wrong. This voice wasn’t Aleki or Wolfe’s, it had an accent. One of the princes?
Caleb said something back that she couldn’t hear.
“So sounds like you had the day from hell,” Caleb commented.
She let out a small laugh. “Yeah, you could say that.”
“You’re stressing. Stop stressing. Do the cops have any leads on who this asshole might be?”
“No. None. The letter has gone to their lab, they’re hoping to get fingerpr
ints from it so they can identify him.”
“If he’s in the system.”
“Yeah.”
“What about your family? Larry? They still hounding you?”
“Actually, they’ve gone weirdly quiet ever since Gabrielle visited. I’m wondering if something I said actually got through to her.”
“Doubtful,” he told her. “Remember, I went to school with Gaby. She’s always been a selfish bitch.”
“Caleb!”
“Don’t bother defending her to me. You’re too good for that family of vipers. Always have been.”
“Daniel isn’t so bad,” she said. At least he never asked her for something.
“Yeah? When’s the last time you heard from your brother? When’s the last time he checked in on you?”
Good points.
She rubbed her forehead.
“Where are you right now?”
“Um, lying on my bed.”
“Where is your man? Why isn’t he taking care of you?” Caleb demanded.
“Bain takes care of me just fine,” she snapped back.
There was a moment of silence. And she opened her mouth to apologize, horrified by the way she’d just spoken to him when a small chuckle came from Caleb. “There’s my fierce girl.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap.”
“It’s all right, Squirt. If anyone has a right to snap, it’s you. And I know how fiercely loyal you are to those you care about. I’m lucky enough to be one of those people you’ll defend to the death.”
She blushed slightly at those words, not knowing that she deserved such praise.
That person in the background spoke again.
“Prince Kassim just told me to offer you a place to stay in Escana. He said that they will keep you safe from this stalker and your awful family. His words, not mine,” he said hastily. Probably because in the past she had defended her family from any slurs.
No more.
“It’s okay, they are awful. And thank Prince Kassim but I have a place to go. I just have to get there. I need to get rid of this threat first. I can’t have this following me around. I don’t think I’ll ever feel safe.”
“I know, Squirt. We’re not going to let that happen.”
“I hope not. Not sure if I’m more worried about my stalker or my family,” she tried to joke.
Daddy's Angel (Montana Daddies Book 7) Page 20
