"Fiona found out that she has a long history of mental illness and was diagnosed with mild schizophrenia. Even a mild case can cause someone to experience psychosis and lose touch with reality.” I breathe in her scent, letting it ground me. "I’m sorry I didn’t get to you sooner,arún.”
Christ, I almost lost her.
"I didn’t know,” Arianna says brokenly, making me tighten my hold on her. "Maybe I could have helped her instead of ignoring her as much as I did.”
"Don’t,” I rasp, pulling back and turning her around to face me. "She’ll get the attention she needs from professionals, and I will make sure she stays as far away from you as possible.”
Before Arianna can respond, her phone rings, pulling her attention away. I push back when I see her twin sister’s name flash on the screen. As much as I want to take her back in myarms and comfort her, I decide to give her privacy to speak with her sister. After placing a kiss on her forehead, I step outside.
I call Roarke immediately to update him on what’s happened, but it seems Fiona got to him first. "I’m working on a restraining order,” he tells me when the call connects. "I plan on using Matteo Rossi’s influence to make sure Mia never bothers Arianna again.”
Everything I wanted to say, all the plans I had in my head on how to protect Arianna from ever running into Mia again, fades as one thing takes root. "I almost lost her,” I say, dropping my head back against the wall. "I was so focused on some stupid roulette game that I didn’t realize Arianna was leaving to confront her stalker.” Just thinking about it is enough to send blood pounding in my ears. "I almost fucking lost her, Roarke.”
"We all have those moments,” he says after a long beat of silence. "I almost lost Elena, too. That night, I fell asleep and she slipped out of the room for some air while I slept. Then that bastard grabbed her. It gives you perspective, doesn’t it?”
"More than anything in the world,” I say, my head clearer and more certain of the future than it’s ever been. "I’m going fully remote. I can still run investigations from anywhere in the world, but after what happened, I can’t imagine leaving Arianna’s side. So I’m choosing to stay with her—wherever that takes us.”
"Are you sure about this?”
I never wanted a desk job from the beginning. I only took on more responsibility because Roarke was fighting overseas. Now that he’s back in charge, it’s okay if I step back. I made enough money fighting and working all those years at the firm, and now, as Roarke and Fiona did, I’ve finally found my passion.
And it’s staying by Arianna’s side.
“I’m sure,” I say into the call, earning a small gasp. It takes me a second to realize the sound is not from my brother. When I turn around, I see Arianna standing in the doorway, eyes wide with shock. It’s clear from the look on her face that she’s heard everything I just told Roarke. I quickly hang up the call and turn to Arianna. “How are you feeling?”
"Tired,” she says, her eyes dropping from mine, and then she’s moving lightning fast to my side. “You’re bleeding. Oh my God, Conor. You’re bleeding!”
I follow her horrified look to the red stain on my forearm. “It’s just a scratch.” The worried look on her face tugs at my heart. “You don’t have to worry about it. I’ve had worse before.”
“We’re getting it treated. Who knows where that nasty knife has been?” she says with a shudder before gripping my arm, and I find myself dragged to the front desk. We’re given a medical kit that we take back to our room. Taking care of the scratch seems to take her mind off her stalker, so I let her fuss over me. “I think that should do it.”
“Now let me take care of you,” I say, turning her around to unzip her dress, slowly tugging down the zipper and trying not to touch the perfect curve of her back. After the day she’s had, she probably just needs a hot bath and some rest before we have to leave for LA tomorrow.
I prepare the bath for her, and when she asks me to join her, I can hardly resist the urge to be naked with Arianna, so we get into the large tub and settle in with her back to my chest. We sit in companionable silence for the first few minutes in the water before she finally breaks it. “Did you mean it?”
I don’t need to ask her to clarify—we both know what she’s asking. “I meant every word of it, Arianna.”
“You can’t just leave your office job, can you?”
“I’m not quitting—just going remote. Fiona works from wherever she wants, and I can do the same with investigations. Besides, if you’re worried your sugar daddy will be too broke to spoil you, then you don’t have to be. I have money, my sweet sugar baby.”
"Conor,” she hisses, clearly not amused by my attempt to make a joke. "I’m serious.”
"As am I,” I say, nuzzling her hair. "This road trip is the best thing that’s ever happened in my life. You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I don’t believe I’ve ever been happier or freer than when I am with you. Fighting felt familiar, so I made it home, and when I started working for my family, it felt like the right thing to do. The honorable thing to do. But being with you…I didn’t have to force myself to be happy or content. It just comes naturally.” I close my eyes and nuzzle her hair, loving her scent. "I love you,a rún mo chroí,and I cannot imagine spending a moment of my life without you. I will spend the rest of my life driving you from one adventure to another if that’s what you need. Forever your bodyguard!”
Arianna turns her head to look at me, her eyes swimming with tears. "I love you, too,” she sniffs. "I didn’t want to. Love means being tied to one place, right? I was scared that you would ask me to quit traveling and stay in New York, but even more terrifying is the thought that I would have agreed to it. For you.”
“And it would make you miserable. How could I do that to you when I’ve seen how happy you get every time we visit a new place?” The tears fall, so I use my thumb to wipe them off her cheeks. “You love adventure and documenting it, not because you want to be a celebrity, but to help others discover new experiences in their own backyards. How can I not admire someone with a heart as pure as yours?”
"Stop,” she chokes out, more tears spilling out.
"It’s the truth. You’re beautiful, smart, stubborn, curious…”
The rest of the words are lost between us when her lips find mine in a soft kiss, one meant to affirm our promises to each other.The kiss quickly turns heated, and I know I shouldn’t…not when she’s so high on emotions. But then Arianna turns around, water splashing outside the tub as she settles on my lap.
“Want you,” she whimpers into the kiss, rocking her hips back and forth against my erection, causing even more water to slosh around us. “Make love to me, Conor. I love you. Make me yours.”
I’m a simple man, one who is hopelessly taken by this beautiful woman, lost in her gaze. Hypnotized like a fisherman at sea, following only the voice of a siren.
