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His hand fell away from my face and he sat back on my bed. His eyes studied my face, and I tried to look open and honest even though I knew I was anything but at the moment, because I was keeping this giant secret from him and he wanted me to spill the beans.
"You're joking right?" he asked incredulously. "You have got to fucking be joking. Jesus Christ, Ariel. You can't be that dense."
My head jerked to the side as if he'd struck me. "What?" I croaked out. "What are you talking about?"
He shook his head and laughed bitterly. "Now isn't the right time for this. And you can keep your goddamn money, neither Simon nor myself want your money if we can't have you. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Forget about the bullshit and tell me what's going on here. We're family, you and me, and if there was ever a time for you to be honest with me, now's that time."
I was so confused and I didn't have it in me at the moment to try and figure out the puzzle that was Trenton. My eyes were puffy and sore from crying, and I knew from experience they were bloodshot all to hell and were probably scary to look at. My heart hurt, and I needed to prepare myself for what was to come. I didn't have room for much else.
I decided to go for a little bit of honesty even though I couldn't share it all with him. He was supposed to be my guardian, my protector, after all, and what I was about to do flew in the face of everything he'd been taught and every instinct he had.
Still, I didn't have it in me to flat out lie to his face like I was supposed do to everyone else.
"I can't tell you everything," I said in a quiet rush. "I wish I could, but I really can't. You just have to trust me and know that I would never do anything to jeopardize our family. I understand why Ty and Dash got upset earlier, I really do, and later they'll understand what's going on, but right now I can't tell them. I can't tell you."
"But, you're leaving us?"
I nodded and quickly whispered, "I'm coming back. I'll always come back. I just have to do this one thing... for them. If they know what's going on, they'll want to come with me, and I can't risk that. I can't risk them." I can't riskyou.
He studied my face carefully, those silver eyes of his not missing anything. "Quinton knows, otherwise he wouldn't be so calm."
I nodded again but kept my mouth shut. I had already said too much.
"I bet he is having a hard time keeping his mouth shut right about now," Trenton muttered angrily. "I didn't even know what was going on, and I couldn't sit down there with them any longer listening to the shit they are saying about you. Not without putting my fist in someone's face, which is where it was going to end up. I guess I don't give Quinton enough credit. I left Simon down there so that he can keep tabs on all of them and everything they say. He'll give me a rundown of everything later. One of us needed to be with you though, so here I am."
I wanted so badly to ask him what they were saying about me, but I knew that would be the stupidest move ever. I already knew more than enough, and I'd heard more than I ever needed to.
"They don't understand what's happening," I said in their defense.
Trenton's lip curled in disgust. "I don't give a fuck. They have no business talking about you like that and they ought to fucking know better. They've had you a lot longer than Simon and I have, and neither of us thought anything bad about you when we heard what was going down. We were worried about you, yeah, and we wanted to know why you'd do such a thing, but it wasn't enough to make either of us talk shit about you. We'd never do that, and it pisses me off that that's what's going on right now. You don't deserve that, I don't care what you did."
I sighed and laid back down on the bed. Without my headband, my hair fell into my face and I lifted my hand to pull it back, tucking it behind my ear. I wasn't sure how much Trenton knew about Annabell and the relationship she'd had with some of my guys. I knew he knew of her and he'd seen her in the flesh before, but I wasn't sure if anyone had ever shared the story with him or not. She was someone most of them were very guarded about, and I couldn't see them sitting down with Trenton and rehashing all the horrible shit she'd done to them and why they'd come to me with trust issues and a whole lot of baggage. He didn't understand.
"Everything hurts more when your heart is involved," I told him. "If your heart was involved, you might see things differently than what you do now and, who knows, you'd probably be down there with them talking about what a horrible person I am."
Yeah, there absolutely was bitterness in my voice there at the end.
Trenton looked at me like he thought I was crazy. "Jesus, it's like you're blind or something sometimes. I know you're not stupid, but really, I don't get it."
I frowned at him, upset because that had not been a nice thing to say to me and I really didn't need more people not being nice to me right now.
"What are you talking about?"
"If you don't already know, then I'm not going to tell you. I will, however, tell you that once you're gone, I'm going to corner Quinton and beat the truth out of him, and if he doesn't let me in on what's going on then I just might beat the life out of him too. We'll have to see how it goes, but I know if he can be okay with this then I will have to find a way to be too."
I wasn't worried about Quinton, he could take care of himself. And if he wanted to tell Trenton then I'd have to trust his judgment, it would be too late for them to stop me, so I could be okay with that. The rest of it I didn't have the energy for.
"Now," Trenton said, breaking into my thoughts, "we're going to get you under the covers and then I'm going to make you some tea and a light snack. I can't imagine you're in the mood or have the stomach to put down something heavy right now, but you need to eat. I don't know what you're walking into, but you might need to keep your strength about you, so don't even bother to argue with me."
Why were the men in my life so freaking bossy?
Without waiting for me to respond, he stood up from the bed and pulled the corner of the comforter back, taking the sheet with it. He pulled them back as far as he could get with me laying on top of them, and then he slid his arms underneath me, scooping me up. He laid me back down on the bed and pushed me under the covers until I was back in the middle of the bed. He pulled the comforter and sheet over me and tucked me into bed. He placed the remote in my hand and leaned down. His lips brushed across my temple and he murmured, "I'll be right back."
My lips parted and my eyes widened. He was usually so careful not to touch me in any way outside of a hug that I hadn't expected him to kiss me, even if it was meant to be comforting and sweet and nothing more.
Trenton slipped out of my bedroom and I heard the door lock from the outside. Hmm... he must have made himself a key for my door. When, I had no idea, but it didn't bother me that he had one.
Using my remote, I backtracked two episodes and hit play. Trenton came back not ten minutes later and he carried a tray aloft in his hands. He closed the door with his heel and sat the tray down on the bed beside me. He went back to the door and locked it without having to be told to do so.
