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Ariel hugged her arms around herself, her cheeks stained red. “Larson. Right. From the way I see it, he’s either after me because he’s had a years-long obsession and is literally insane, or he’s working for our father who hasn’t given up the idea of selling me.”
“Tell me about the first option,” I asked. “How did ye first encounter him?”
Her eyes flashed with emotion. “It was in middle school, and I was maybe twelve when I first became aware of him. He started following me around. I had no problem telling him to go away, but he’d lurk in my eyeline or sit next to me if we were in the same class because he was that level of weirdo. No conversation, just always watching. I only wanted him to leave me alone. His attention was embarrassing, and I already had enough kids who hated me because of my family.” She swallowed, paling further. “Then things escalated. Not long before my fourteenth birthday, he followed me down a corridor and told me I needed to listen to him and stay away from other boys. I laughed in his face. He pushed me against the wall, smothered me with his palm, and shoved his other hand up my shirt.”
“Shite,” Raphael muttered.
Pure anger tightened my muscles. Larson needed to hurt for that.
“It was like I wasn’t even a person to him, just a thing with no feelings and opinions he could ignore. Next thing I knew, he opened a door and tried to push me inside. I slapped him and finally managed to scream, and someone heard me and came running. He let me go. After that, I never saw him again. Dad decided to give me away in marriage, so I didn’t return to the school.”
“I’m so fucking sorry,” Raphael said.
Ariel climbed to her feet. “Don’t. It’s no one’s fault but his. That’s really all I know. Nothing about his family, friends, enemies, or anything else. That one line of conversation before his assault and nothing more. I thought all about this when we suspected him of attempting to kidnap Daisy, and I’ve racked my brain. I’ve got nothing else useful to say because I didn’t want to know anything about him so I ignored his existence.” She padded to the door and paused in the frame. Lifted her focus to me. “I’m done when it comes to men trying to ruin my life. I call the shots now, and whatever he’s doing won’t change that. I’m going to the bathroom. Back in a minute.”
She left, and Raphael sighed.
“I was only a year above her in school, but she didn’t like to acknowledge me in the corridors—typical siblings—then I’d moved on to the high school when it happened. I didn’t know half of those details. Only that he grabbed her and she yelled. Even that became lost in what happened next with our dad. No kidding, she’s done with being fucked around. She’s lucky to be alive.” He scrubbed his eyes. “Fuck, sorry. This must be triggering for ye, considering what happened with your sister. If it makes things easier, I’ll ask Ben not to involve ye in my family’s problems. He can assign Valentine.”
“No,” I said fast, then took a steadying breath. “No, I’m good. I want to help, and God knows I’m better placed. Can I ask what your father did with regard to selling Ariel off?”
Raphael dipped his head. He’d told me a brief version of this in the past, explaining why sometimes he had an American twang to his words, though faded now. His sister’s was stronger, and I guessed that was part of her sense of identity. But beyond Raphael’s short telling, there hadn’t been the cause to go into detail. Just like I’d never confided the worst of what happened to my family.
It didn’t make for easy chat.
“Our father took our family from Scotland to California after establishing links with organised crime groups there. He owned a successful logistics company with an arm on the West Coast and transported illegal products under the cover of his legitimate business. But, he was desperate to be an insider, and not just a contractor, because that was where the trust was and therefore the big money, so he tried to achieve that by marrying in.”
“Using fourteen-year-old Ariel,” I confirmed, my stomach sickening.
Raphael raked back his brown hair, still mussed from sleep. “Gabe had already left after Dad tried the wedding trick with him. We were banned from ever talking about our older brother, but he and I kept in contact. The minute we suspected something was going on with Ariel, Gabe extracted us in the middle of the night by helicopter, taking us far from our father’s reach and keeping us hidden. For a long time, Ariel didn’t trust Gabe. Or anyone, aside from Effie who took her under her wing.”
“Lucky that Gabe and Effie married,” I mused aloud.
Raphael cracked a smile. “For them, but also for Ariel. It’s the reason she doesn’t want to give up work. We’re both pretty certain that Effie’s pregnant.”
I exhaled, a bigger picture forming in my mind. That was why she’d resisted my suggestions for her to quit work.
Raphael nudged me. “Don’t judge her too harshly. I know she seems standoffish, but she’s been through a lot.”
“Wasn’t judging her,” I muttered back, though that had been the opposite just a short while ago.
Ariel returned, her cheeks their normal colour now and her poise resumed. “I thought of something we should try.”
We both waited on her.
“Larson was friends with Justin, Daisy’s ex-housemate. He might be able to give us some clues, if we can squeeze them out of him. Daisy and I are hanging out together later at her place, so we can make the call then.”
Raphael gritted his teeth. “We should also talk to Dad.”
The siblings shared an expression of apprehension.
“In both cases, I want to listen in,” I said.
I wanted a reason to be around her. To talk to her and share her space. I’d misjudged Ariel Gordonson, and my insane act today of kissing her had become mixed up with an equally strong need to protect her.
Ariel shrugged like it didn’t matter. “We’re interviewing Daisy’s candidate at four. I’ll check she doesn’t mind, and if so, we could do it after? That’ll be mid-morning in California.”
Her brother pressed his lips together in a grim smile. “I can’t be there. I need to sleep then cram in some final reading. Gabe’s working, too.”
