by Angel Lawson
“Ari,” the doctor said, after completing most of this exam. He introduced himself as Dr. Marlow. He was young, probably doing his residency. Ari bet he had no idea about the magnitude of her being his patient. That this would be all over the news in a matter of hours. He stood next to her bed, going over her history. “Were you assaulted? Sexually? If so, you should be examined.”
Ari shook her head, fighting tears. “No. He tried to but, no.”
Thankfully, a commotion in the hallway stopped that line of talk. She hadn’t been abused, but the other girls couldn’t say the same. She’d been lucky.
“Is she in there?” she heard. Oliver. He shouted loudly, “I need to see her!”
“Please,” she begged the doctor. “Let him in. He’s my only family.”
“I’ve completed your exam so if you’d like him to come in, that’s fine. Overall, Ms. Grant you’re healthy. Apart from the dehydraton and exhaustion, your injuries are superficial, I’m confident you’ll make a swift recovery. At least physically. The police will be here soon. Let the nurses know if you need anything.” Dr. Marlow opened the door, allowing an eager Oliver to enter the room.
“Oh God, Ari,” he said, pushing the doctor aside. He looked like a mess, his hair more unruly than normal. Tired purple rings surrounded his eyes. He scooped her up in a hug. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“Stop,” she cried, sobbing uncontrollably. “You know if you cry, I’m going to cry and then it will just be horrible, ridiculous crying.”
Oliver took her hand and tried his best to climb in the bed. “You were just gone Ari. One minute I knew you were in your bed and the next—gone. You didn’t show for work and neither Davis nor Nick knew where you were. I almost lost my mind.”
A knock interrupted their reunion and Oliver sat up. Detective Bryson stood at the door, a look of relief on his face.
“We’ve been looking for you,” he said.
“I’m supposed to tell you what happened,” she said. “Only you.”
“Okay, the doctor said you were ready to talk.”
“I am,” she looked at Oliver. “I want you to stay also.”
“Sure,” he said, holding her hand.
Ari took a deep breath and told both of them everything that had happened since she left her bedroom window.
TWENTY SIX
She couldn’t go home.
Not after being trapped in a look-a-like cell for almost two weeks. That’s how long it had been, she’d discovered. Twelve days. Nick had kept her hidden away, locked in that basement for twelve days. Oliver confessed he thought she was dead, hovering over her obsessively at the hospital, like she might disappear if he left her alone for a second. Davis, on the other hand, gritted his teeth and fisted his hands, barely able to look her in the eye.
He felt responsible.
She couldn’t go home.
Despite his guilt, Davis took her back to his apartment, safely tucked above the gym and a dozen gifted boys, who swore to protect her to their death. She thought it was a little dramatic, but Curtis confirmed the oath after giving her a hug. A rarity between caseworker and client.
She couldn’t go home, because Nick hadn’t been captured. She blocked out this information when she’d been told, instead, focusing on the fact that Davis took care of Jace and Desmond—Ari didn’t ask how. He assured her they would never bother her, or any other woman again. Assuming Jace was dead made her feel better, and Desmond was nothing more than a lackey. He’d fair okay in prison. Peter had called the police before Detective Bryson got to Ari, anonymously reporting multiple girls held captive at the house. The crew of boys left before the EMTs got there, slipping into the dark, climbing fences, leaving Davis, hooded and obscured as the face of the Vigilante. He pointed them downstairs to Hope’s cell and to the girls locked away on the second floor.
At night, Ari’s dreams were filled with the glint of Jace’s gold teeth. His hands on her body, and Nick’s manipulative grin. She woke, arms flailing, looking for contact—fighting her demons, but instead, warm soothing arms wrapped around her and she was calmed by Davis, who was there. Always.
“How did you know I’d need that knife?” she asked one night. She’d woken from another nightmare. Davis lifted her between his legs and comforted her from behind, letting her rest her back on his chest.
“I had a feeling you may need it one day.”
“A feeling?” She craned her neck to see his face in the darkened room.
“I knew you’d need it the same way you knew those girls needed your help. We’ve been over how my gift works,” he explained. “My father gave the blade to me when I was thirteen to practice knife fighting. I felt better knowing you had something close by.”
“Even if I didn’t know it was there.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “You found, it didn’t you?”
“Yeah, barely.” She didn’t want to think about that day, so she asked, “Does Curtis have a gift?”
“He’s developing one. He has incredible speed. He was the one that took Jace down when Jace chased you out of the house. That kid launched at him like a rocket.”
Ari made a face. “You’re kidding. Curtis?”
“He lost it when he found out you were missing. He insisted on coming.” He laughed at her incredulousness. “I keep telling you, these kids love you.”
Davis pressed his lips to her neck and ran his hands down her arms to her stomach. She grazed her fingers over his tattoo and gathered the courage to ask the question she’d been so afraid to ask. “Do you think he’ll come back? For me?”
His muscles tensed. Ari knew it was because they barely spoke about him and because Davis was furious his brother managed to get away. Finally, he said, “I don’t know.”
“I think he will,” she confessed. “I don’t think he’ll give up, you know?”
“He vanished. Once I realized Nick and Reggie were the same, I searched his home and offices. He hid himself so well after my father’s death, I assumed he had moved on, unsuccessfully. I thought he was probably in the system somewhere. I didn’t think he could achieve success on his own. I underestimated him. I always have. That’s my flaw. He manipulated his enrollment into law school and into your circle of friends.”
“Why me? I knew him long before you and I ever met. He knew Oliver in school.”
“I suspect his affections for you were real. Or as real as he could manage. He’s so egotistical that he probably thought he could keep his two lives separate. When you and I got involved, that probably sent him over the edge.”
The idea that Nick and Ari could have been a serious couple while he kept a whorehouse on the side was disturbing. What if they had gotten engaged or married? She had considered it possible at one point.
“Where do you think he is, now?”
“Shanna approached one of my men at the park, that’s how we discovered you were still alive. We still didn’t have a location, but she said the names Nick and Reggie and it all started to connect. He must have been afraid we were close to finding him and ran,” Davis said, shrugging. “He’s never been one for confrontation, unless he knows he has the upper hand. But I think, at some point, he’ll come back and settle his issues with me.”
“Did you really not know Nick and Reggie were the same person?”
“No, not until that night. I told you I wasn’t stalking you. I had no real claim to you—you could see other people.”
His words hurt even if that hadn’t been his intention. He seemed to sense this and said, “That day you went missing, I almost lost my mind.” He wrapped his arms tighter around her body. “You didn’t show at work or at the GYC. You didn’t return my calls. I knew something was wrong. The bouncer at the club confirmed you had been there that night but he didn’t see you leave.”
“The bartender drugged me.”
“Son of a bitch.” Davis kissed the side of her neck. “I won’t ever let anyone hurt you again,” he swore. “Not Nick or any of th
ese kids or anyone else.”
She believed him. That he could and would protect her, but could he protect himself? Ari wasn’t sure. She also wasn’t sure if she could handle losing someone else. Those were deep thoughts for another day. Right then, she needed to heal, and Davis helped her struggle through each day.
“Thank you for letting me stay,” she told him, twisting so her arms could wrap around his back and chest. She drifted, back to a fitful sleep, tempered by his power and warmth.
* * *
Stanton allowed Ari to use the conference room to meet with the girls. Her girls. In the past, she’d always thought herself above them. Older, law abiding, and educated. Part of that came from starting the job so young, barely looking older than a teenager herself. Later, she realized a little bravado could earn respect from these kids, but that day, they were the same. Victims. Survivors.
She hadn’t returned to work yet. It had only been two weeks since she’d escaped. Rebecca routed her emails and messages to the other workers picking up the slack, but she was starting to worry about the kids. They needed a full-time caseworker. She just wasn’t sure if she was ready to go on the streets alone. She wasn’t sure when she ever would be. Not with Nick still on the loose.
“She’s here,” Rebecca said from the door, with an encouraging smile. Ari’s hands began to sweat, terrified to see Hope. What if she hated her? Blamed her? She deserved whatever came her way. If she had only believed her months ago, this wouldn’t have happened.
All those questions stopped when the young woman stepped through the doorway. Ari crossed the room and smiled at the girl who had always given her so much grief. The girl who had carried her emotions so close and had been impossible to break. Hope was no longer this girl. But to Ari’s surprise, she flung her arms around her neck and hugged her so tight she finally had to break for air.
“Thank you for coming back,” Hope said, pushing tears off her face.
Ari choked back a bittersweet smile. “I promised.”
They were interrupted by Shanna’s mother, who had driven her daughter to the office. A cast wrapped around Shanna’s right arm, and her head still had a yellowish bruise at the temple. The rest of the bruises had faded, but she looked skinnier than ever. Ari doubted either girl got much sleep. Neither of them had the luxury of sleeping with a superhero.
Ari also gave Shanna a hug and said, “Thank you for risking everything to help us. We wouldn’t be here without you.”
The three of them cried together and Ari told them what she knew about the case. She admitted Nick was still out there and that they all needed to be careful. Shanna’s mother held her daughter close and they both looked horrified at the news.
“The good news is that the Department of Juvenile Justice has decided to release you from your commitments early. They think you’ve been through enough, although I think you both need some long-term counseling. I suspect Judge Hatcher may be able to help us with that if we ask.”
“What about you?” Hope asked. “Are you going to counseling also?”
“Of course. It’s very important,” she lied. Davis couldn’t even get her to see the GYC’s counselor. She was afraid any amount of probing might send her straight over the edge.
The girls left with more hugs, promising to keep in touch. Ari hoped they would stay out of trouble, but the odds were against them. Glory City didn’t have the best record with their youth.
“When are you going home?” Rebecca asked, once the girls left. “Or are you moving in with Davis?”
“No, I’m not moving in.”
“Because I’m okay with you moving in. Obviously he cares about you.”
“No. I just need to be there for right now, and he gets that. While I handle all this and get my room fixed. Or move. Whichever works better. Really, that’s why I’m staying there,” she said unconvincingly. The look on Rebecca’s face implied she didn’t believe it, either.
* * *
It took a while before Ari was ready to have sex with Davis again. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Jace. Every time Davis touched her, she felt guilty. Eventually, though, he taught her to focus on him, to keep her eyes on his and to let him take away the guilt.
Davis’s lips pressed against the star, his star, in the center of her chest. Ari never told him she got it for him, for his role in her life and how every second she spent with him made her feel more alive. She didn’t need to. Maybe getting the tattoo had been some kind of premonition about the two of them. He grounded her more than she ever realized was possible. The connection to Davis was part of what gave her the courage to fight her way out of that basement.
Her need for him went beyond the physical rush he gave her, the acceleration of her heart, the electricity between their skin. They were bound emotionally now and it scared the ever-loving fudge out of her.
“I know—” he said, grazing his teeth over her stars, causing her to squirm. He tightened his grip on her hip and waist to keep her still. “—that you’re planning on going back to the office, but I want you to think about working for me.”
She froze. “What?”
“Come work for me. Work with these kids. They love and respect you. Plus, you’ll feel safe.”
Ari sat up on her elbows and Davis stretched his arms out, hovering over her. She saw the curve of his biceps in the moonlight. “Davis…”
“Just think about it, okay?” he asked, distracting her with a long kiss on the lips. Or trying to, at least.
“You’re not ready for that,” she told him, once he came up for air. “Neither am I.”
“That’s not true.”
She laughed and ran her hand over his head, feeling the soft, buzzed hair. “It’s complicated,” she said, repeating what he’d told her on another night. “I know we’ve got this thing and it’s good, but rushing this seems crazy. We’re both pretty independent people. I mean, we like random hook-ups in bars. You spend your nights trolling for bad guys. I like to spend mine watching reality TV with Oliver.”
“That bar situation was a one-time thing,” he said.
“Right,” she said, rolling her eyes. “When my parents died, something in me just stopped. I went through the motions, working, running, hanging out with Oliver. But underneath I had this numbness. The only way I could find a flicker of my old self was through the tattoos or going to the club. Taking risks.” She looked up into Davis’s face. “You make the numbness go away. And I don’t want that to stop, but I’ve got to figure out how to survive on my own. Especially now.”
He sighed and rolled so he faced her. Picking up her hand, he laced his fingers through hers. “So wow, you really don’t want to get traditional with me?”
“By living over a gym of sweaty teenage boys and dealing with their emotional crises all day? Not yet.”
In the darkened room, Ari saw his eyes narrowed. “But ‘not yet’ isn’t a full ‘no’, right?”
“I suppose not,” she said. He dropped her hand and his fingers wandered over her exposed flesh. Unable to resist, Ari climbed across his body and settled over his hips. His body trembled against hers and butterflies rippled through her stomach in response. This was another reason she needed space. Davis almost gave her too much life. They might not ever leave the bedroom if she moved in for real. “I need to go home and figure out my life. Get my courage back. Make dinner for Oliver.”
He traced the edge of her body with a finger, eliciting a shiver. “Can I still sneak in your room at night?”
She smiled and gave him a kiss, tugging on his bottom lip. “Anytime.”
* * *
Moving home took her a month, three coats of paint, new furniture, bedding, and an upgraded security system on her bedroom windows. Plus, Oliver promising to sleep at the end of her bed.
“You going to be okay?” Davis asked from the bottom step of her front porch. Colored lights wove around the porch railings and columns. A surprise from Oliver for her homecoming. Ari stared at the man in front
of her, handsome and strong. Caring and obscenely compassionate. She realized that Christmas was two weeks away. Even though she’d spent the last month living in his house—sharing his bed—she had no idea if she should get him a present.
Maybe this was what Davis meant by “complicated”.
“I’ll be fine,” Ari told him. Her hands were shoved in the big pocket of her sweatshirt, but she longed to touch his face. Feel the burn of heat from his skin. Even after all this, he was the one who made her feel alive, but even so, she needed to go home.
“The boys will be watching,” he told her. “You let me know if anything happens, alright?”
“Okay. I will. I promise.”
“Take care, Ari,” he told her, like he wouldn’t see her for a while. Maybe he wouldn’t. She didn’t know where things went from there.
“Bye, Davis.”
He leaned in to kiss her, hard and possessive, cradling her back with one arm. She kept her balance by gripping his shoulder, growing lightheaded from his intensity. Even when he pulled back, he kissed her twice more. Okay then, she would be seeing him again. Soon.
Ari entered the house knowing that he was probably still out there, and if it wasn’t him, he had members of his crew posted to watch. She should have minded but she didn’t. They made her feel safe.
Shutting the door, she found Oliver, waiting with Thai food, still in their plastic containers. Just how she liked it. She sat next to him, crossing her legs and getting comfortable.
“You spoil me,” she said, reaching for a fork.
“You have no idea. I recorded all your favorite shows while you were gone and saved them all for when you came back. I’m dying to find out who got kicked off Survivor.”
“You did that for me?” she asked, tears welling in her eyes.
“I love you, Ari. Don’t forget it.”
“I won’t,” she said.
