Chapter 36
Nash
It’s very clear that Ayla isn’t happy about whatever it is that we just witnessed between Alani and Donavan. She doesn’t say a word as we follow his truck to the bank.
The second we arrive, Alani is bolting from the man’s truck, and Ayla is climbing out of mine.
Parked across from each other, I watch Donavan lock his eyes on Alani, his jaw clenched angrily as his gaze follows her into the bank.
He keeps his eyes locked there, despite knowing I’m parked right across from him.
I argue with myself, knowing this is really none of my business, but at the same time, anything that has the power to hurt Ayla pisses me off. It’s very clear there’s more than just a goddamned quick abduction in play here.
I climb out of my truck, knowing full well that Donavan is a wild card. He could just as easily shoot me in this parking lot as he could drive off before I get to the driver’s side window.
He doesn’t drive off as I approach, and that leaves me wary of the first option.
He narrows his eyes at me when I block his view.
“Got a fucking problem?” he growls, after rolling his window down.
“I was about to ask you the same thing.”
He pulls his gaze from mine.
“Explain to me how a girl who you abducted feels comfortable enough to not only climb in your truck but slap you in the face without fear.”
“I don’t fucking hurt women,” he says, his voice low and filled with warning.
“You abducted her,” I argue.
“I tried other ways to keep an eye on her. It didn’t work.”
“You fucked her,” I surmise.
There’s a long beat of silence, but I don’t need a response from him to know it’s the truth.
“You took advantage, asshole. She’s like fucking eighteen. She—”
“She wasn’t a fucking virgin if that’s what you’re accusing me of,” he snaps, the bitterness in his tone making me think he’s upset that she wasn’t. “I didn’t drug her. I didn’t abuse her. In fact, I couldn’t keep her off my dick.”
“That’s enough,” I hiss, feeling dirty with the conversation even though they’re both adults. “Ayla’s going to be pissed that you’re doing the whole barely legal thing with her little sister.”
“I don’t fucking answer to Ayla, now do I?”
The tone he takes when saying her name makes me want to climb through the fucking window and rip his head off.
“Watch it,” I warn, despite knowing I have less of a chance of winning against this rabid motherfucker than I had if I chose to fight one of those leather-wearing pricks.
Thankfully, the man isn’t going to force me to find out because he snaps his jaw closed, his eyes locked across the parking lot.
I reposition, watching both Ayla and Alani walk out of the front of the bank. Ayla has an envelope in her hand, and I’m glad she has something. I imagine she was feeling anchorless with nothing to call her own. The money doesn’t solve anything, but I know it will help her on some level.
Alani doesn’t bother to look in this direction as she climbs into the back seat of my truck.
I head back in that direction, not bothering to say another word to Donavan. If we’re all lucky, this will be the last time we see his ass. Angel really needs to research who he’s working with, because the way he chose to handle this situation is beyond fucked up.
I try to meet Alani’s eyes as I climb inside, but she’s too busy looking down at her cell phone.
“Did that work out for you?” I ask Ayla, as I pull my seatbelt across my chest and click it into place.
“Yes,” she answers.
I feel awkward just sitting inside the truck, but I have no idea where she wants to go.
“Need to go back to the hotel?” I ask after no one offers any suggestions.
“Take me to my dorm,” Alani says.
“Please,” Ayla adds with a soft smile.
I back out of the parking lot, locking eyes with Donavan one last time, and I see the truth there. Whatever occurred between him and Alani isn’t over, and anyone would be a fool to get in the way of that.
“I’m going to have to go back to Plano. The hospital I worked at will have copies of everything I need. I’m going to use Alani’s computer to order a birth certificate,” Ayla says, as if she’s walking through her next steps to herself rather than informing me about her plans.
“The one to the right,” Alani says when we draw closer to the college.
I turn in the direction she points, knowing neither of these women are ready to be on their own in the world.
Neither have said anything or mentioned noticing Donavan’s fucking dark truck following us from the bank.
He could be anyone. He could be someone wanting to hurt them.
As diligent as Ayla thinks she is, she’s fucking not.
Alani finally notices him when he parks in a restricted spot closest to the walkway she’ll have to pass to get into her dorm. She scoffs, but there’s a hint of something else on her face as she looks in my direction.
“Thanks for the ride,” she mutters, and I get the feeling that she’s doing it at Ayla’s insistence, not because she’s actually grateful.
If Ayla told her sister everything, then the woman has every right to hate me.
We both watch as Alani crosses the parking lot, Donavan already out of his truck and standing at the hood.
With her nose slightly tilted to the sky, the girl walks right past him, not bothering to acknowledge his existence.
Donavan looks livid at being ignored, but he doesn’t reach for her.
Hell, the man doesn’t even call after her as she walks away.
He simply climbs back into his truck, his eyes locked on the door she disappeared through.
“They slept together, didn’t they?
“Yeah,” I answer.
“She’s always been a little wild,” Ayla mutters. “It scares me now more than ever.”
Ayla turns to face me. I don’t know what the tears balancing on her lower lashes mean, but I sure as fuck know what I want them to.
“Thank you,” she says.
“It was just a ride to the bank.”
My fingers twitch with the need to wipe the tear away as the first one rolls down her cheek.
“It was more than a ride to the bank.”
I nod, understanding what she means.
It would be in both of our best interest to let her go, to keep my fucking mouth shut and let her climb out of this truck. Doing so should be easy. I’ve never had a problem walking away.
The thought of doing it now brings physical pain, an ache in my chest and the twist of my stomach.
“Let me take you to Plano,” I offer, knowing how fucking ridiculous the offer is. Plano is four hours in the opposite direction of where I should be heading, which is home, so I can fully recover from the fucking torture Pirro was so happy to dish out.
She watches my face, her eyes traveling a slow trail over every feature. It feels like a caress, like she’s going to say no, and she’s trying to commit everything about me to memory.
“I have to go to Plano, but then I have to come back here to get my birth certificate. I’ll have to use Alani’s address because I don’t have one.”
“I can bring you back.”
She takes a deep breath. I know she’s gearing up to tell me to fuck off, so I have no idea why I say what I do next.
“Use my address. I can take you to Plano, and then you can come back to my place. I can even set you up in Plano if that’s what you want.”
“A ride would be great,” she says, and I don’t miss the fact that she doesn’t agree to anything else.
She knows she needs a ride. She knows it would be dangerous for her on a bus. She’s not foolish enough to turn it down, but having anything to do with me after? Not going to happen.
“Do you want me to come back? Like tomorrow or—”
“I want to go today,” she interrupts, her cheeks pinking. “I mean, if that’s okay? I just want to start getting my life back together. I feel like I’m having to start from scratch.”
“Okay,” I say, even though I feel like she’s cutting me off at the knees.
I made my offer, and she wasn’t interested. I’m not like Donavan. I’m not going to take her prisoner because it would be easier than letting her make her own decisions.
“I won’t be long,” she says as she climbs out of the truck.
Donavan doesn’t speak to her through his open truck window when she walks past, and I think back to how he’s handled this situation. Maybe telling her what she’s going to do rather than allowing her to choose is the best way to go.
But she spent months being told what to do. She might listen if I attempted it because she once again feels like she has limited options, but she’d hate me more than she probably does right now.
The best thing for both of us would be for me to drive away and leave her to make her own choices, ones that don’t include me, but I just can’t manage it.
I know where this will leave me, but I’d rather have just a little more time with her before she discards me. I’ll take what I can get from her even though I know I don’t deserve it.