19. Ari
19
ARI
“ T alk to me, Damon.”
“About what?” he asked as he forced me to mingle.
Was he really trying to pretend that something wasn’t wrong?
Throughout the party in the reception hall, he’d essentially showed me off like a trophy. He kept an arm wrapped around me, and I could feel the tension ease from him as he moved through the crowd. The farther we got away from Michael Lane, the more comfortable he became. Unfortunately, for me, the more comfortable Damon became, the more un comfortable I became. I tried to rationalize his odd behavior, but the more I thought about it, the more I worried. The more I worried, the more my brain tried to make the pieces fit together.
We spotted Prince Lucas across the room. He brushed his brow with two fingers as he talked to some gorgeous brunette.
That was our signal. He’d just been outside in the hall. There were only two guards in the vault room, which matched the intel we’d gathered. Our guard schedules were correct.
I took Damon’s hand. “Can I talk to you outside?”
He pressed his lips together, knowing exactly what I wanted to discuss with him. We headed to the balcony, but there were a few people smoking, so I led him down the stairs into the hedge maze.
“What was that with Michael Lane? Do we need to abort?”
“I—What? No. We continue. And that was nothing. It’s fine, but stay away from him. He’s dangerous.”
“Half the people in there are dangerous. Who is he and what does he have to do with why we’re here? He called you Damon. He obviously knows you. This is worst-case scenario.”
He shook his head and tried to turn back toward the house. I grabbed his elbow, keeping my voice low, and dragged him farther into the gardens. “I’m your partner. You need to talk to me or I can’t help. He clearly is a problem for you. Start talking to me. All I want to do is help, Damon. He spooked you. Now tell me what’s going on. If we need to abort, then we will.”
He frowned. “We’re not walking away. Besides, he won’t say a word about me. If he does, then Reaper shuts down the auction. He’s here for something. He needs this auction to go on.”
“Did you steal something from him? Who is he?”
He shook his head. “No one. Let it go, Ari, for once in your life. This is the past. It has nothing to do with you. Focus on the mission.”
Why couldn’t he talk to me? “When he poses a risk to the plan? Is that how you deal with problems? Just pretend them away? Tuck them in a box and bury them? Like they never happened. That what you did with Dad?”
“Christ, Ari.” He started marching farther into the garden and then whipped around. “God, you have spent your entire life judging his decisions. After your mom died, your dad did everything for you. He provided for you and protected you, yet you have no idea how good you had it. Some of us have no fucking choice but to bury the goddamn past. Instead, you whine that your father didn’t love you enough. For fuck’s sake, Ari.”
I staggered back like I’d been slapped. “How dare you?”
Despite having our jammer on, he kept his voice low and tight. “How dare I? It’s true. You’ve been so mad at him for leaving you, but he was doing the best he could, and he loved you more than you know. But you held on to that anger and resentment and completely shut down your life. You push everyone away. You use him shutting you out as a reason to keep everyone at bay. You think he would want this for you? Sure. You’re brilliant. Well respected. But you are hiding behind a screen. It’s not the real Ari. The Ari I knew had a sense of mischief in her. When her father wouldn’t teach her, she taught herself. Following behind him, using his tools, learning what every single one did. Now you’re an analyst? Come on, Ari. You are just like me. You want to be in the field getting your hands dirty, feeling the adrenaline pull at you. But you shut down. And you’re looking for a reason to shut down now. But I am not going to give you one. The real reason you stay out of the field is you’re afraid you’ll love it. You’ll love doing this and it could cost you your life. You’re scared.”
“You are so full of shit. Who I am has nothing to do with who you are. You’re hiding something from me, and I need to know what it is before we go into the field.”
“God, woman, we are in the fucking field already. This is it. This is what it looks like. It’s scary, it’s terrifying, and hell, people might die.”
“I told you, no one’s getting hurt.”
“You told me I couldn’t hurt anyone. Which, by the way, I don’t do, Ari. I don’t hurt people.”
“Yeah, sure you don’t.”
He winced as if I’d slapped him, and immediately, I wished I could take the words back because I didn’t really want to hurt him.
At the same time, there was a part of me that wanted to explode, to lash out—a part that wanted him to feel the frustration, the pain, the anger. Because while he had gone on to become some kind of wealthy billionaire thief, I was still mentally stuck in that garage, unable to move on with my life.
“Who the hell is Michael Lane? Tell me.”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, Ari. Knowing isn’t going to change anything. It isn’t going to make you feel better. It isn’t going to make you better at your job or make you a happier person. None of it matters.”
“Damon, tell me who he is.”
He shook his head. “No, I’m not doing that.”
“You have to. You and I are going to walk into a vault room tomorrow and try to pull off something impossible. So don’t you sit there and tell me that you’re not going to trust me enough to tell me who the hell he is and what he is to you. Because I need to know. Especially if he’s going to interfere.”
Damon swallowed hard. “You think he’s going to interfere?”
“If he doesn’t know who I am already, he’s searching. He was far too interested. And I get the impression he knew my father.”
There was something on Damon’s face. A flicker of anguish. I only recognized it because it was an expression that I wore often and publicly hid behind a barrier. “Ari...”
“Tell me who he is. Because if he recognized me and wants to get that diamond before we can, we’re in hot water, and Galen is going to kill me. So explain yourself.”
“Michael Lane is the man who killed your father.”
Damon
My gut churned and roiled. I’d known the moment I’d seen him that this was unavoidable. I’d had no plans to ever tell her. Hell, I had tried to take him off the board three times in the hopes of never having to.
I watched her warily as she absorbed the shock. The denial hit first, then the full weight of what I had just told her sank in. And then she collapsed.
Immediately, I unbuttoned my tuxedo and cocooned her in it, then wrapped myself around her. She shook her head. “No, please don’t tell me this. Please don’t tell me that man who stood there, smug and smiling in my face, don’t tell me he gets to walk around the earth and my father doesn’t.”
“I’m so sorry, Ari. I’m sorry, I should have told you.”
“Why would you keep this from me? All these years, I thought... You know what I thought.”
“You thought I killed him?”
“No, not really. I thought you got shot at by the police or security. I didn’t know it was someone else. Another thief. Someone determined to take something from him. You didn’t tell me.” She pushed me, and the gravel on the path shifted under me, almost causing me to fall backward. Ari stood and started walking.
“Ari, wait for me.”
“I will not wait for you. I don’t think I can do this.”
“You can do this. You are stronger than you know.”
“No, I’m not okay. I’m not. What am I supposed to do with this? The man who killed my father is at this event, and you expect me just to pretend I don’t know?”
“What you’re supposed to do is give me a part of it to carry. Talk to me.”
She shook her head and broke into a run toward the lake. She was fast, but I still caught her easily at the edge of the water. I wrapped my arms around her again and tugged her close. “I’m sorry, Ari. I’m so sorry.”
She shook her head as tears welled in her eyes and she tried desperately to hold them back, refusing to cry.
“Ari, let go.”
She kept shaking her head. “No, I can hold it together. I have to hold it together.”
I just kept holding her. “Not with me, you don’t.”
“I don’t want to be this person who can’t move on. This person who pretends her world is great. I don’t want to pretend. I want to be able to move past this.”
“I know, Ari. I know. I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
“What am I supposed to do? I’m going to go in there and stab him.”
“Well,” I said as I stroked her back, trying to ease some of the tension out of her. “Leave some for me.”
“Let me go and I will.”
“I’m the rule breaker, not you. Besides, stabbing involves blood. You don’t want to get any blood on that beautiful dress you’re wearing, do you?”
“I thought you said everybody was ogling my tits.”
“Well, they are. But so long as those tits walk into my room tonight, then everything is fine.” I stopped, rethinking exactly what I’d said. “Oh shit, I’m sorry.” But surprisingly, that made her smile.
“It’s okay. I have nice boobs.”
I snorted a laugh. “You know what I meant.”
“I don’t know how to do this. He’s in there walking around, and my dad is gone. He’s a horrible person and deserves to die.”
“He is. Unfortunately, horrible people don’t always get what’s coming to them. We’ve got to stay focused, Ari. You and me against the world. Can you do that?”
“How do you do that? Not let the hatred eat at you? I can compartmentalize, but this feeling... This is something else.”
“I’ve had practice. You’re going to be okay, Ari. He’s a horrible person, and I have been thinking up ways over the years to make him pay. And he will, but not right now. Not this weekend. He’s not our target, okay?” Finally, I saw her tears streak down her face, and I gently swiped them away. “Ari, he doesn’t deserve your tears.”
“I know. And I know I am not going to change the plans, but can we please just make sure that whatever we do, that man does not walk away with whatever it is he came to take?”
“The only way that happens is over my dead body.”