Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Henry
The highway stretched before me like a gray ribbon, cars flickering past in a blur of color and motion.
Every flash of chrome made my pulse hitch, my grip tighten on the wheel.
It was probably irrational to worry that someone could be following us, but old instincts died hard.
If anyone were following us, I’d know. I’d see them coming. I’d stop them.
Ariana seemed completely oblivious to the anxiety filling me as she sat in the passenger seat. Her lips curved into a faint smile as she admired the passing landscape, sunlight flickering over her face in golden bands.
For a fleeting moment, I let myself imagine this was normal.
That we were a regular couple going away for the weekend.
This was why I wanted to get away. To help her feel some semblance of normalcy. To do something more to prove she wasn’t my captive. That I wasn’t like Victor.
That I could meet her halfway.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked, stealing a glance at her.
“Just taking it all in,” she replied, still watching the world fly by. “I’ve never been to Atlanta before.”
“Really?” I furrowed my brows. “I thought you’d have been everywhere.”
She shrugged. “I went wherever Victor demanded I be.” Her expression fell, becoming distant.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring him up. I hoped this could be a Victor-free weekend.”
“I didn’t take you for an idealist,” she teased, glancing my way.
“What do you mean?”
“Thinking we can have a Victor-free weekend. At least right now.” Her gaze softened, becoming almost wistful. “Maybe one day, the years I spent with him will feel like nothing more than a distant dream. But right now, I’m constantly having to remind myself he doesn’t control me anymore.”
Without thinking, I reached across the console and threaded my fingers through hers. Her skin was warm. Soft. Grounding.
“He’ll never hurt you again, Ariana. I won’t let him. Not while I’m still breathing. I swear to you.”
She didn’t answer, but her fingers curled gently around mine before she slipped them free, turning her gaze back to the passing trees.
“Has this always been home?” she asked, her change of subject obvious. “After you…left Maine?”
“My mom’s sister lived outside the city,” I responded. “I was sent to live with her and her husband. A few months later, she learned she was pregnant and told my social worker she couldn’t handle me anymore.”
“But she was your aunt.”
“In her defense, I was a really angry kid. Angry at my dad. At the world. But at myself more than anything. I don’t blame her for sending me away. I was a lot to handle.”
“I’d say you’re still a lot to handle,” she shot back playfully.
“Truer words have never been spoken.” I flashed her a grin.
“Is that when you were sent to your first foster family?”
“It was.”
“How was that?” she asked, almost hesitant.
“Some decent families. But the system’s stretched thin. Troubled kids like me don’t exactly make life easy, so I got moved around a lot. I learned not to get too attached to any one place. Or person.”
“That sounds so lonely.”
“It was. But then…”
“Yes?” She perked up, obviously interested in this part of my life. A part I hadn’t talked about much.
Which was why I wanted to take her to Atlanta. To meet one of the people who knew me then.
“I met Samuel. He goes by Gideon now, but that’s a story for another time. He was another foster kid. We lived in the same home for a bit.” I laughed to myself at the memory. “God, we butted heads at first.”
“You?” she said in mock disbelief.
“I know. Shocking.” I huffed a laugh. “But he’s like a brother now. You’ll meet him tonight. He lives in Atlanta with his wife.”
Her head turned sharply toward me. “Really?”
“If you’re okay with it,” I added quickly. “If you’d rather do something else, we can. I want to show you who I really am. And Gideon… He’s family.”
“Sounds like the perfect opportunity for some payback.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Payback?”
“For the morning I walked in on you and my mom talking about me as a little girl. I plan to get all the dirt on you from your friend.”
“On second thought, maybe we won’t go see him.”
“Too late. You promised. I can’t wait to learn all your secrets, Henry Fontaine.”
“I’m looking forward to it, Ariana Summers.”
She relaxed into her seat. “I like that.”
“What?”
She shifted her eyes toward me. “Hearing you call me that.”
“It’s who you are to me.”
“Thank you.”
She peered at me for a protracted beat, something unspoken simmering between us. Then she turned back to the window, a smile still playing on her mouth.
The rest of the drive passed in comfortable silence, and soon the Atlanta skyline swallowed us in a wall of glass and noise.
After navigating through the typical Friday afternoon traffic in downtown, I turned into the garage beneath my building and punched in my code. The gate lifted and I steered toward my reserved spot.
With our bags in hand, I led Ariana toward the private elevator tucked behind a steel security door and keyed in the code before pressing my thumb to the scanner.
“A bit of overkill for an apartment building, don’t you think?” she teased at the doors slid open.
“This isn’t an apartment building,” I replied.
“Oh?”
“It’s my building. As in I own it. My firm’s headquarters are here.”
“So…we’re at your office?”
“Yes.”
“Do you sleep in your office here, too?”
“Not exactly. I have an apartment on the top floor. Makes for a much quicker commute.”
“Workaholic.” She rolled her eyes. “You do know there’s more to life than work, right?”
I narrowed my gaze at her as the doors closed. “I’m starting to realize that.”
The elevator began its rapid descent, the hum of the motor filling the silence. I was grateful for the speed because being in this small space with her — so close I could feel her warmth, see each subtle breath — was testing the limits of my restraint.
She looked at me like she saw something I didn’t even know I was showing. Like she’d already peeled away the armor and found what was underneath.
She always had that effect on me.
When the doors opened again, I guided her into a small foyer, keyed another code into the security panel, and pressed my thumb against the next scanner.
“So much security,” she murmured.
“I needed to know you’d be safe here.”
She darted her eyes to mine. “Did you have all of this put in…for me?”
I gave a noncommittal shrug. “I’m trying a new thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Compromise.”
“Compromise,” she repeated like she’d never heard the word before.
“You’ve obviously been restless. And while I want you to feel like you’re free to go wherever you want, that’s not possible quite yet, so I had additional security measures installed in my apartment here so I could be assured of your safety. I know it’s not ideal, but—”
Before I could finish my statement, she threw her arms around me, wrapping me in a tight squeeze.
For a second, I didn’t move, completely taken aback. Then I slid my hand along the curve of her spine and pulled her closer. Her scent consumed me, and I lowered my head, breathing her in. Lavender, powder, something uniquely her.
She curved back slightly, pressing her hand to my cheek, her thumb grazing the stubble along my jaw.
“How do you always manage to surprise me?” she whispered. “And confuse me?”
“I don’t mean to. I’m just trying to show you who I am. The real me.”
“I think I’ve always seen the real you, Henry. Even when you didn’t want me to.”
“Maybe so.” I swallowed hard. “But now I want you to. All of it. The good and the bad.”
“I want you to know me, too. The good and the bad.”
Her tongue swept across her lower lip, drawing my attention to her mouth. It would’ve been so easy to close the distance. To take what I’d been wanting for weeks.
But I couldn’t. Not yet. I needed her to choose me. To trust me.
So I did the hardest thing I’d done in quite a while. I let her go.
“Come on. I’ll give you the grand tour.”
Pushing out what sounded like a frustrated sigh, she followed me into the open space, then froze, her eyes wide as she took in the wall of glass overlooking the city. Sunlight poured through, illuminating everything in sight.
“It’s no Star Island,” I said sheepishly, “but I hope you’ll be comfortable here.”
“Star Island was nothing more than a prison.”
“Then I hope you’ll feel free here. Like you can breathe.”
“That’s how I feel whenever I’m around you.” She held my gaze, allowing her words to sink in. Then her expression brightened. “Even if you drive me fucking crazy at least once a day.”
“It’s my superpower.”
With a wink, I placed a hand on her lower back and steered her deeper into the penthouse, unable to shake the feeling in my gut that this weekend was about to change everything.
I only hoped it was for the better.