He’d skin both of our balls and then beat us bloody for even daring to think such thoughts about his precious wife.
The cellphone in the center console rang and I scooped it up to answer it without looking at the screen. It didn’t matter, not that many people called me.
“Hello.”
“Besides you, who’s with my daughter right now?”
Rain had no business calling and doing this to me right now. Still, I answered each and every time he called and I answered his questions always. He was a fucking legend who had more than earned my respect.
“I’m on her, but from a distance. Damien and Jules are actually with her. Why, is there a problem I need to know about?”
“Nope. It’s all good. Just feels a lot like the quiet before the storm. Again. And I don’t trust it. Keep a close eye on me girl for me, will ya?”
And with that he hung up.
Fucking brilliant.
I hoped he was just being paranoid because I wasn’t ready for another storm just yet.
In that sense, guarding Ariel was no walk in the park. She was more along the lines of digging through needles in the sandlot.
I thought about texting my brother but decided to skip it. I didn’t need him to worry about anything at the moment. He was on the edge and there was no telling what would be the thing that pushed him over.
I loved him. He wasn’t just my brother but a piece of me. If I called him and filled him in on Rain’s call he’d be here in minutes and we’d be watching Ariel through binoculars.
He was borderline obsessed. I didn’t blame him but it wasn’t healthy.
These two fools dragged my witch into at least five different stores. At least they carried all of her bags out to the car for her. She could be a stubborn thing and I was just happy to see she’d allowed them to help.
They were leaving the last store when my cellphone went off again. Once again, I answered it without checking the caller ID first.
“Where are you?” Quinton asked by way of greeting.
These fucking guys were all the same.
“Watching Ariel.”
“I have a bit of a dilemma.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. Quinton Alexander was one of the most straightforward men I had ever met in my entire life. What the fuck could he have a dilemma about?
“You see, I know how close you and Rain are and I don’t want to get between that. But, for me, it’s always going to be Ariel that gets put first. Always, Trenton.”
I didn’t like that. It felt like he was questioning my loyalty to either of them. Was I loyal to Rain? Yes, without a doubt. Only Ariel and my bother came first.
Nobody, not even Quinton, had a right to question that.
“What do you need from me?” I asked in a no nonsense voice that I hoped got through to him. “And, you should know, I don’t keep secrets from my brother. Ever.”
He sighed heavily down the line as if I were trying his patience already. “I found a storage unit in one of Rain’s sisters names she used to use. I assume I don’t need to fill you in on her history with Ariel?”
No, he absolutely did not.
Ariel’s family history was so dark and complicated it could have easily been aLifetimemovie. She kept a handle on it really well but I wasn’t sure how much of that was false bravado and how much was real.
“Does she know about this?” I asked him the most important question.
“Not yet. That’s why I’m calling. I want you to come in the house when she get’s home and meet me in my office. I want to give her the opportunity to look through things first, even before Rain. That’s where you and your brother come in. You both can take her, she’ll be safe with you. And, hopefully, she’ll get the closure she needs before everyone else is in her space and she has to put that wall back up. If you think you two are up for the job, that is.”
