stuff tomorrow.”
15
Tyler
Ariel drove back to Casey’s guest house that night and dropped off both her car and her phone. Then we headed back to my place in my SUV. With Casey gone and her oldest daughter the only one at the house now, security was minimal, but I figured they’d spot anyone suspicious. Casey had warned them not to let Douglas on the property, whether Ariel was there or not, and I had a feeling her security team would handle it if he showed up. I didn’t understand Ariel’s father, though. How could he treat his only child like some kind of commodity? Probably because that’s all she was to him, and it pissed me off all over again. I didn’t know how I was going to help her, but every instinct I possessed was screaming that I had to.
Her father had only given her two more days to finish up what we were working on, and that was ridiculous. We probably needed most of one day to rehearse and record one song, and though we were ready, I didn’t want to rush it just because Douglas fucking Fox thought four or five days was enough time for his twenty-five-year-old daughter to be on her own. The closer we got, the more concerned I was about her safety. Douglas wasn’t a good man, and Darren was exacerbating the situation by using Ariel to manipulate my band.
Everyone wanted something from her—even us in a way—and I hated it. Though it hadn’t been our idea, we were essentially using her to get in Darren’s good graces. Now that I knew her situation better, I didn’t like it at all. I kept meaning to talk to her about it but not tonight. She’d been quiet and a little withdrawn after she hung up with her father, and once we’d gotten back to my place, she’d excused herself to the bathroom. She’d been in there nearly twenty minutes, and I was starting to worry when she finally came out.
She was wearing lightweight pajama bottoms and a T-shirt. She’d taken off her makeup and put her hair up in a ponytail, but she was still the most beautiful woman in the world. She was also the saddest woman in the world, and when she sank down on the bed next to me, she rested her head on my shoulder.
“I might have to leave the day after tomorrow,” she whispered. “Maybe we shouldn’t take tomorrow off.”
“Do you want to leave, Ariel?” I asked, gently tipping up her chin so I could look into those silver eyes of hers.
“I have to be careful of—”
“That’s not what I asked,” I interrupted impatiently. “Do you want to finish the demo and get back to your old life, or do you want to spend more time here with us? With me.”
“I want to spend time with you more than anything, but I don’t know if I can.”
“In the morning, we’ll go get you your own phone,” I said softly. “We can drop your old phone off at the studio and he’ll think you’re there.”
“What if he shows up unannounced?” she whispered.
“We went to lunch and you forgot your phone.”
“Lying never ends well for me,” she said. “And honestly, Tyler, I don’t want to drag you into my mess. My life is a disaster, and you’ve been so good to me, so good for me, the last thing I want to do is put you in my father’s crosshairs.”
“He doesn’t scare me.”
“He should. He terrifies me.”
“What’s he going to do to me?” I asked impatiently.
“Maybe not you, specifically, but what if he went after the band? Or used Darren to do something that would impact the deal that’s in the works?”
“I’m not afraid of him.”
“I know, but just thinking about him going after you or anyone in the band makes me sick. That’s why I’ve stayed away from people all these years. I don’t want him to have any more power than he already does. He can threaten me by telling me all the ways he’ll try to hurt you, and while he might not win, how much aggravation am I worth?”
I didn’t have an answer for that, because it was subjective as hell, and I kissed her instead. Her mouth was soft against mine, and I did my best to distract her. I’d known she would be special, but I hadn’t anticipated all the drama, despite her warnings. Now, after just a couple of days, I was already tired of