From the look on Ariel’s face I knew I wasn’t the only one.
I took the phone from her and handed it over to my brother’s outstretched waiting hand. Trenton could iron out the details with the creep.
He was a dead man walking, he just didn’t know it yet.
He’d fucked with the wrong girl.
I dragged Ariel out of the kitchen area and over to the couch. I sat down and pulled her down into my lap. She came willingly enough, but it was almost like she was a robot.
I wrapped my arms around her and held on tightly.
I’d sit here all day if that’s what it took for her to come back to me.
I’d do whatever I had to do to make this better for her.
I sat there with her for hours. That’s how long it took for her body to relax and go limp.
My brother had taken one look at us after ending his phone call and that had been enough for him. He’d taken his phone and his coffee out onto the deck and he hadn’t been back inside since.
I wanted to ask him what the plan here was but I wasn’t about to leave Ariel right now.
I laid down on the couch with Ariel still wrapped up tightly in my arms. I grabbed the flannel blanket from the back of the couch and tossed it over our bodies.
I waited for my brother to come back inside so he could fill me in but I must have dozed off before that could happen.
I woke up every time Ariel so much as whimpered in her sleep. I whispered sweet nothings to her until she calmed down enough to go back to sleep.
Then I followed her into dreamland.
It was dark out when I woke up for good and I woke up by myself on the couch.
12
She’s Uncontrollable
Trenton
Ariel was likely going to be pissed at me and my brother just might be right there with her.
But I did what I had to do.
To protect Ariel. Not just physically but emotionally too.
I’d watched her crumble and shut down right before my very eyes. It was a horrible thing to witness.
I knew that this trip would be hard for her and I’d even seen it on the ride and before we’d gone into the storage unit. But she’d been strong afterwards and kept a tight handle on her shit. I’d been proud of her.
That phone call from that creep earlier had absolutely wrecked her and I wasn’t so sure Simon and I had what it took to bring her back wholly from it. It was a blow to my ego but I had to set that aside and focus on what was important here.
And that was making sure she made it through this and we returned home with her intact and not anymore broken than she already was. She’d gone through so much already and none of it had broken her so far. But listening to her in the car with my brother while she talked about her mother had broken my heart.
It also reminded me of just how young she still was. I often forgot about that because she was an old soul and was able to bounce back from every horrific thing that got thrown at her.
So, I had to do what I thought was best for Ariel.
I did not call Quinton.
I called Rain Kimber.
