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My father had threatened me. That hadn’t shocked me in the least; it was normal conversation for him. He’d moved on to saying things, vile things, that did shock me. He’d taken his wrath to an entirely new level of hate. To be honest, if Landon wasn’t with me, I might have been afraid of the threatening words that had spewed from his mouth. As it was, though, Landon was with me. He was with me, and if I had anything to do with it, he’d always be by my side.
I chuckled. Damn, but the beautiful man in the next room had taken over my heart in mere days. I’d never been in love before, not even close, but my heart knew the feelings consuming me were love—pure, true, undiluted love. I’d sacrifice anything for him.
I grinned. Fuck, love felt…delicious. I was starved for it. I was starved for Landon.
I was just about to knock on the bedroom door when I heard a loud voice on the other side. I frowned. Landon never yelled. I’d known Landon planned to check in with work, so I’d given him some privacy. He checked in often but never once had I heard him raise his voice. What was happening? I knew it wasn’t my business, but I couldn’t stop my feet from walking in that direction. Step after step. His voice grew quieter…and I almost stopped.
Goddamn…how I wish I’d stopped.
I didn’t, though. I kept walking. One small step and then another. The next thing I knew, I was standing right outside the door. Quietly and carefully, I eased the door open. When Landon didn’t even turn in my direction, I knew just how lost in the conversation he must be. No one snuck up on Landon.
Walk away. Walk away. Walk away.
I didn’t walk away. I listened…and, like with my father, words were spoken that could never be taken back.
Never.
“Please, Ari, give me a chance to say something,” he pleaded. There was an anguish in his voice I’d never heard before. With his back to me, I couldn’t see his face, but I knew what I’d see if I could—love. “Ari, baby, I would never betray you like that! You know me better than that. It’s always been just the two of us. Whatever you’ve been told, it’s a lie, Ari. A lie. There’s no one but you! It’s always just been you and it always will be. Someone is trying to come between us by telling you lies.”
I watched his giant body quiver in fear. “Give me a chance, Ari. What kind of proof did this idiot give you? Where’s the proof that I betrayed you?”
His head dropped into his hands as he listened to the person on the other end of the line. “Put Arizona back on the line, Samantha. Now.” He started shaking his head from side to side. “You did what?!” he screamed. “This is all your fault, Samantha! I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for you, but then you counter my goodwill by showing that shit to Ari? You would do that to me while I’m here taking care of yours?”
It was all I needed to hear. Landon had someone else…someone he loved…someone who wasn’t me. I’d been a fucking job. I was everybody’s fucking job.
I belonged to the world, yet nobody wanted me—not the real me.
Unable to face Landon again, I grabbed my backpack, shoved whatever shit I could fit into it, slid my feet into my shoes, and slipped from the room. I didn’t have a clue where I was going, how long I could hide, or whether I wanted to live another day on this earth feeling the way I did. All I was sure of was that I needed to escape. The pain radiating from my chest was unbearable.
In the hallway, I bumped into Trevor since my head was down in an attempt to hide the tears streaking down my cheeks. I couldn’t even remember the last damn time I’d cried. Early on, I’d learned that crying didn’t accomplish a damn thing and, as my father had screamed, made my face look like shit. I’d been twelve and my dog had died. I’d cried then, while he’d screamed at me for ruining the makeup they’d just applied to my face for a photo shoot. It had been eight years since my last tears but now that they were here, I couldn’t seem to stop them.
“Hey, Jinx,” Trevor said. “What’s wrong, man? You don’t look so good.” He looked around the empty hall and added, “Where’s your bodyguard? He’s gonna get really pissed if he catches you out here alone, Jinx. Let’s go back to your room and talk about it. Did something happen at the show last night? Did your asshole dad show his ass again?”
