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In spite of the threatening tone, Landon’s words made my heart do a silly happy dance. If anybody was capable of reading Arizona’s reactions, it would be his father. Landon saw that Ari was more than comfortable with them being side by side. Maybe things could eventually work out between them?
“Having said that, I’m no fool, Agent Wallace. There are many things not adding up…literally, adding up. My son graduated from college at the age of seventeen. After graduation, he moved back to Colorado and, up until a week ago, back into my home. I’ve never seen you around, Agent,” Landon pointed out. “And, trust me, I would have noticed any man involved with my son. You know what that tells me?”
I didn’t bother trying to answer. There was no point. A father was on a roll, and if I knew what was good for me, I’d get out of his way as quickly as possible.
“It tells me you knew my son when he was much too young to know you. If I hear that you’ve done the first damn thing to disrespect Arizona, I won’t stop until you’ve paid for it.”
“Fair enough,” I answered, knowing I hadn’t crossed any lines with Ari, nor did I intend to do anything to him without him begging for it. “I’d like to leave now, Agent Honeycutt. The ambulance is ready to take Ari to the hospital.” When he opened his mouth to argue, I quickly added, “The only thing I’ve ever wanted for your son was his happiness. I’m not sure whether that’s me or not, but I deserve…no, we deserve to find out now that he’s older.”
Landon rolled his eyes. “He’s fucking nineteen years old, Eli!”
“Twenty next week,” I argued as respectfully as possible before climbing into the back of the ambulance. Ari’s eyes, a green that belonged in a fairytale, watched my every move. He looked tired and wired at the same time. I squatted down next to him, took his hand in mine, and held us both steady when the bus lurched with movement.
After the EMT in the back re-checked Ari’s vitals and began calling everything in to the hospital, Ari turned to me and said, “I’m not the same person I was before, Eli.”
Unsure of what, exactly, he meant, I answered, “I know. You’re a man now, Ari.” Looking down at him, I knew there was no doubting I felt as strongly about him tonight as I had three years ago—it was as if no time had passed away to dim the brightness of my love for him. “I just need to find out if you still belong to me.”Chapter ThreeArizonaI flopped down into the oversized chair in my living room, sat there for all of five seconds, and then hopped back up again. My frustrated pacing, spurred on by sheer panic, continued. Sitting in my living room, like they didn’t have a fucking worry in the world, were my dad, Seth, and Baker. Only my dad looked slightly concerned by my furious outburst when I heard why they were there. Seth and Baker looked quite smug over how my life appeared to be progressing. They’d pay for that. I didn’t know when or how, but those motherfuckers would pay for enjoying my distress…even if I had enjoyed theirs only a short month earlier.
“Absolutely not, Dad,” I argued. “It isn’t going to happen. I’ll be perfectly fine on my cruise. Not only am I going to be surrounded by friends, there’s no way whoever you’ve pissed off could even know I’m planning on leaving for vacation. I’ll be safe.” My eyes begged him to understand. “I don’t need a babysitter, dad. I’m good. I’ve got this.” I followed that with a strategically-placed roll of my eyes and added, “It’s my birthday celebration with friends—and that doesn’t include a babysitter.”
Seth, the asshole, picked that moment to speak up. “It’s security detail, aka bodyguard, Arizona. Not a babysitter. You know this. We do it all the time at work. And until we find out who’s behind this kidnapping attempt, we have to do whatever’s necessary to keep you safe.”
It had been almost a week since the attack outside Seth and Baker’s collaring ceremony after-party, and the police still weren’t any closer to discovering who the four goons worked for. None of them had talked, even though Baker had spent some quality time with them at the station before the cops intervened and sent him home. They’d all lawyered up now and so far, no one had been able to get any of them to talk. That meant the threat was still out there, and my life was still as meaningless, yet complicated, as ever. Seth and Baker had been there for the interrogation of the men who attacked me, even did some interrogating of their own. Well, Seth did, after Baker was shown the door—but they’d still walked out of the police station without any names. It hadn’t been for the lack of trying, but the men in custody did say they hadn’t ever met the man who’d hired them face to face. All their business had been conducted over the phone and through others—people they didn’t know. We had sketches of what they looked like but like with every other street thug, they’d managed to disappear into the darkness of the streets. My father wasn’t one step closer to finding out who he’d pissed off enough to make them want to abduct me to use as a bargaining chip against him, if that’s what this was.
