Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Henry
The horizon was still smeared in shades of silver and pale pink when I stepped outside the following morning. The air held a crisp February bite. Sharp enough to sting your cheeks, but soft enough to remind you that you’re alive.
Sometimes I forgot how much I needed mornings like this. How much I craved them.
When my father had moved us to the middle of nowhere, isolation felt like punishment.
I needed noise. Lights. Movement. Wanted to drown out the echoes of everything he forced me to endure.
After I left the military, that was precisely what I did.
Atlanta gave me all the chaos I could handle…and then some. Traffic, sidewalks teeming with people, a constant barrage of sights and sounds.
Somewhere between long hours and sleepless nights, I started dreaming about quiet. About air that didn’t taste like exhaust. About somewhere I could just breathe.
That was why I bought this place. At first, it was a weekend retreat. A place I could go to recharge my batteries.
Now, it was home. I worked out of the city one or two days a week. The rest of the time, I stayed here, where the only thing demanding my attention was the dog at my side.
At least before Ariana.
Now, I didn’t want to leave because of her.
Not out of worry. I had eyes everywhere. The entire property was wired into my system. If anyone stepped foot on the land, I’d know.
I stayed because every second I spent in her presence, I found another reason not to go.
Cato dropped a mud-stained tennis ball at my feet, whining softly. I tossed it into the pasture and watched him tear after it, kicking up dust in his wake. As he zoomed through the grass, my gaze drifted toward the guesthouse.
And my thoughts drifted to Ariana.
To last night.
To the moment in the kitchen she’d stood before me, the soft light glinting off her hair, her eyes hesitant but warm. The way her voice trembled when she thanked me. The way her lips parted when I leaned in.
A brush.
A whisper.
A spark.
It had taken everything in me not to push it further. Not to drag her against me and lose myself in her the way I’d been craving for days now.
But she needed space.
And I’d promised myself I’d give it to her.
Even if it killed me.
Cato pawed at my leg, panting heavily through the ball in his mouth.
I reached down and took it from him. “Good boy.”
The sound of a door slamming closed caught my attention. I looked toward the guesthouse in time to see Ariana step onto the back deck, bundled in a sweatshirt and leggings, her hair loosely tied back. The morning light shining on her made her appear almost ethereal. Like something out of a dream.
Cato immediately abandoned all loyalty and bolted toward her.
“Careful, bud,” I called out, jogging after him. “She’s still healing.”
“I’m fine,” she said, laughing as Cato bounded up the steps and pressed his head against her hip. She scratched between his ears, her voice low and tender. “Hey, pal. You’re happy to see me. Aren’t you?”
“Do you blame him?” I remarked, leaning against the railing. A subtle blush bloomed on her cheeks. “I’m about to take him for a long walk to tire him out.”
“Sounds invigorating.”
“Want to come?” I asked before I could stop myself. “If you’re feeling up for it.”
She hesitated, biting her lower lip. That same lip I’d kissed less than twelve hours ago.
Then she nodded. “I’d like that.”
She held the railing as she carefully stepped down the stairs. She still had a slight limp, but every day it got better. I still took it slow, allowing Cato to dart ahead.
When he stopped and looked back at me expectantly, I threw the ball. It arced high against the pastel sky, cutting through a veil of morning mist.
“He’s so playful,” Ariana remarked.
“He still has a bit of puppy in him, I suppose.”
“How old is he?”
“About three. The vet guessed he was ten or eleven months when I found him.”
She tilted her head. “You didn’t go to a breeder or something?”
“Absolutely not,” I scoffed. “To each their own, but I prefer to help the animals who need it.”
“So you rescued him,” she exhaled, as if another piece of the puzzle had just snapped into place.
“Yeah.” I glanced at her, admiring her silhouette in the early morning light. “Let me guess. Victor only allowed dogs with pedigrees worth more than most cars.”
“I wish.” She rolled her eyes. “He hated animals. That should have been my first clue he wasn’t a good person.”
“What kind of sociopath doesn’t like animals?” I mused as Cato flopped down in the grass, rolling happily around in the dust. “Especially dogs.”
“The worst kind,” she said with a laugh. “Where did you find him?”
“Here,” I said, motioning toward the north edge of the property. “Near the old graveyard.”
She stopped mid-step. “There’s an old graveyard?”
“By the original house. A log cabin from the mid-1700s.”
“There’s a log cabin?”
I chuckled, my smile growing. “Sure is. Even survived the Civil War. The current main house wasn’t built until the early 1900s.”
“Wow.”
“I’ll take you up there sometime,” I offered. “When your knee’s a little stronger. It’s a bit of a hike.”
She smiled softly. “Sounds wonderful.”
I tried not to read too much into her answer, but it warmed something in my chest all the same. Gave me hope she wasn’t counting down the seconds until she could be free of me.
“So you found Cato by the graveyard?” she pressed after a few moments.
“Poor guy was skin and bones. I didn’t plan on keeping him. Just wanted to help him get healthy.” I tossed the ball again. “Two years later and he’s still here. Now I can’t imagine not having him in my life. He’s definitely happy to be back here, that’s for sure.”
Ariana’s smile turned wistful. “He didn’t like the snow up in Maine?”
“He actually loves the snow. Miami, though?” I grimaced. “Not so much. He likes space. Freedom.”
“I can’t blame him there,” she said quietly, and I could hear the hidden meaning in her words.
“Guess so.” I shoved my hands into my pockets, unsure what to say.
As much as I wanted to remind her she was here for her own safety, I knew it was a sore spot. I didn’t want to argue. Not now. Now when we were finally getting along.
“I’ve never been a fan of Miami myself,” she admitted after a beat. “Everything there feels fake. The people. The places. Nothing’s real. It’s definitely not the life I imagined when I was a kid.”
“What kind of life did you imagine? What did you want to be when you grew up?”
There was so much I wanted to learn about her now that I knew the woman I thought her to be was nothing but a facade. An act she put on to protect herself from her husband.
“You mean other than a ballerina or black belt in karate?”
A chuckle escaped. “Naturally.”
She looked across the field, a wistful smile tugging on her lips. “I had lots of dreams when I was younger, but the one I always returned to was landscape architecture.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “I always liked the idea of taking something ugly or forgotten and making it beautiful again.”
I studied her profile. The quiet conviction. The spark of who she might have been before all of this. Before Victor.
“It’s not too late, you know,” I offered softly. “You’re still young.”
“Can’t say the same for you, old man.” She smirked, cutting through the tension.
“Don’t they say forty is the new thirty?”
“I think people who are forty say that.” She playfully nudged me.
“You’re only as old as you feel,” I countered.
She slowed to a stop and faced me, peering at me through her lashes. “And how do you feel?”
The air between us shifted, becoming thicker, charged. I could have told her the truth. That I felt alive for the first time in years. That I wanted to touch her. Taste her. Breathe her in until she filled every empty space I’d once been content to ignore.
Instead, I said, “Peaceful.”
She stepped closer. “Peaceful?”
“Yeah.”
Her lips curved faintly. “I like peaceful.”
“Me, too.”
The words came out low and rough.
I leaned toward her, drawn by a magnetism I couldn’t control, the world narrowing to just her and me. Not the lies I told. Not the constant threat to her safety. Right now, nothing else mattered except this moment. This heat. This want…
Until Cato barreled into my side, almost throwing me off balance.
He dropped the ball at my feet, looking at me expectantly, his tail wagging like he’d done me a favor.
“Cockblocker,” I muttered.
“Doesn’t look like he cares.”
“What can I say? He likes my balls.”
Her laughter echoed around us, bright and unguarded. The sound of it reached deep inside me, thawing pieces I thought had died years ago. I’d do anything to hear her laugh again. To give her a life where she had a reason to laugh like this every damn day.
“What about you?”
“What about me?” I threw the ball again, and Cato sprinted after it.
“What was your dream as a kid? Did you always want to be a hacker?”
“I’m in cybersecurity,” I corrected.
“Same thing.”
I chuckled and stared ahead. “I’m not sure I ever had dreams as a child. My dad ripped us away from our normal life when I was young. After that, my one dream was surviving. Getting my mom and brother out of that hellhole.” I released a humorless laugh. “You already know how that turned out.”
Ariana stopped and reached for my hand. Her fingers were cool, but her touch was warm and grounding.
“It’s not your fault.” She held my gaze for several long moments, allowing her statement to sink in. “Say it,” she murmured, like she did when I first told her about my fucked-up family.
“It’s not my fault.”
“Good.”
She dropped her hold on me and continued through the dusty pasture. “What about after?”
“It’s hard to have dreams when you’re constantly moved from foster home to foster home. Back then, my dream was to one day have a suitcase to put my belongings in, instead of a garbage bag.”
I had no idea why I was sharing all of this with her. I never spoke about my past, especially my time in foster care. But with Ariana, I found myself wanting her to know this side of me.
I wanted her to know the real me.
And maybe that was exactly what she needed in order to finally trust me.
“Computers offered me an escape. I liked how predictable they were. There was no gray area. Just zeroes and ones, when it all comes down to it. After I left the military, the NSA tried to recruit me. I decided I’d rather make my own rules, so I started a private firm instead.”
She tilted her head. “What is it about ‘cybersecurity’ you like?”
“I guess I like the idea of outsmarting people who try to hide their misdeeds.”
Her lips curved. “Like Batman.”
“I suppose. Just without the leather suit.”
“That’s a pity. I think I’d like you in leather.”
A chuckle rumbled from my throat. Twenty-four hours ago, I never expected to see this side of Ariana. To be able to joke and talk so easily like this.
I’d never admit it to him, but Blake was right.
I met Ariana halfway, and now the taut rope between us had loosened.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said as my phone buzzed. I pulled it from my pocket, Blake’s name flashing on the screen.
I gave Ariana an apologetic smile. “I need a second.”
“Sure.”
Turning away slightly, I answered. “Yeah?”
“There was nothing at Schaffer’s,” Blake said, his voice tight. “His place was clean. Too clean if you ask me.”
I pushed out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose.
I knew the chances of Schaffer keeping incriminating files easily accessible were slim. But I was still hoping for something to go our way.
“I’m looking into other property holdings to see if he kept them somewhere else,” he continued.
“Where are you? Are you still in Miami?”
“Nah. Flew back to Atlanta this morning. I’m already at the house. Didn’t expect to find you gone, though.”
“I’m walking Cato. I’ll be there in a few.”
I ended the call and pocketed my phone.
“Everything okay?” Ariana asked.
“Blake couldn’t find anything at Schaffer’s home or office relating to the women he sterilized.”
“Does Blake work for you?”
“More or less. I forgot you haven’t met him yet. He’s sort of…secretive,” I explained, unsure how else to describe him.
“And these files… They’re important?”
I blew out a long breath. “Until we know why Victor paid those men to abduct you, everything is important.”
“You need to go. Don’t you?”
“I’m sorry.”
She waved me off. “It’s okay. My knee’s getting a little sore anyway.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
She shrugged. “I liked learning about this side of you.”
“I’m glad,” I replied, my mouth curving up in the corners.
We made the short walk in silence, but it wasn’t awkward. It was comfortable. Whatever tension was between us yesterday had evaporated. As if it were all a dream.
When we reached the guest house, we said our goodbyes, and I watched as she climbed the steps.
But before she could slip inside, I called out, “Ariana.”
She paused, glancing over her shoulder at me.
I hesitated, debating my next course of action, not wanting her to feel pressured. But I wanted more of this.
More of her.
In whatever way she’d let me have her.
“Want to walk with me again tomorrow?”
“I’d like that.” Her smile was small but real.
“Me, too.”