“I have faith you won’t. I trust you, Henry.”
It didn’t matter how many times she’d uttered those three words to me. I’d never tire of hearing them. To me, it was better than her telling me she loved me. I knew how difficult it was for Ariana to trust another person after everything Victor had put her through.
I could only hope to never do anything to make her regret putting her trust in me.
“The garage is all set up,” a voice cut through, and we both snapped our heads toward the door to see Blake standing there. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Ariana drew in a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
Blake shifted his attention to me, a silent question crossing his expression. He didn’t need to say the words for me to know if he was asking if I was ready.
I doubted I’d ever be ready for what we were about to do.
But I gave him a small nod anyway before touching a hand to Ariana’s back and guiding her out of the bedroom and down the stairs.
When we stepped into the attached garage, I was immediately hit with a wall of humidity. It was still technically winter, but the air was thick with the sort of humidity that usually preceded a storm. I stole a glance out of one of the small windows, noting the palm trees swaying with the strong breeze, gray clouds visible in the distance.
I prayed it wasn’t a warning of what was to come.
“Will this work?” Blake asked as I stepped farther into the garage.
He’d spent the last few hours grunging up my formerly pristine garage. The floor now contained several oil spots and the walls were stained from what appeared to be years of wear.
It would hopefully be enough to convince this guy that Ariana was being held somewhere other than a luxurious house in Coral Gables.
“I think so,” I stated around a hard swallow.
He grabbed a few things off a nearby workbench and approached Ariana. “You’ll need to wear these,” he said, holding up a pair of zipties and a dirty rag.
She extended her arms in front of her, placing her wrists together for him.
He shook his head. “Behind you.”
“Right.” She let out a nervous laugh. “Of course.”
She turned around, putting her arms behind her.
Blake moved to secure them with a ziptie, but before he could, I snatched it out of his hands.
“If anyone’s going to bind and gag her, it’s me,” I stated, even though the mere thought had bile rising in my throat.
Blake gave a small nod before stepping back, giving me the space I needed.
I grabbed Ariana’s wrists and ran my thumb along the soft, unblemished skin.
“I like it when you tie me up.” She glanced over her shoulder and waggled her brows.
I wanted to laugh, but I couldn’t. Not when this would set in motion a series of events I still wasn’t mentally prepared for.
“I’m fine,” she stated, her gaze searing into mine.
I ran my thumb along her skin a few more times, then wrapped the ziptie around her wrists, securing it, albeit loosely.
“Is that too tight?”
“Henry,” she sighed, her eyes finding mine once more. “You’ve said it yourself. We only have one shot at this. Everything needs to be perfect. So make them tighter.”
I briefly closed my eyes, hating everything about this.
