66. Alexander
Alexander
“And you haven’t heard from her since?”
I shake my head as I swing my backpack onto my shoulders. “Nope.”
“Have you tried calling her?” Jason asks.
“I don’t want to pressure Aarya to talk if she’s not ready to. She ran out of the house like she couldn’t get away from me fast enough. Meanwhile, Giuliana hasn’t stopped asking me if we can visit her art gallery.”
The kid is relentless.
“It’s been a week, man.” McKinley claps me on the back as we step off the plane. “You should reach out, just to see where her head is at.”
Trenton puts up his hood, flicking his eyes to mine. “Cassidy has been in the writing cave, so she hasn’t spoken to her much either.”
“That’s okay, I don’t want to put her in the middle. I’ll just give Aarya a call.”
“No harm in trying,” Jason agrees.
We say goodnight, and then I hop on my bike to head home.
Only, I don’t head home.
Being at an away game helped keep me distracted, but now that I’m back, I don’t think I can look my daughter in the eye while I lie to her about why Aarya hasn’t been back to see her room.
Aarya doesn’t have kids, so I don’t expect her to know that you can’t tell a child that you’re going to do something unless you plan on doing it. But she did, and now I need to end this so I don’t have to keep stringing Giuliana along.
I know Aarya wants to back out of our plan. I guess I just need to hear her say it.
After the twenty-minute ride into Jersey City, I park my bike in front of the gallery and pull off my helmet. Running a hand through my hair, I step onto the sidewalk and peer through the window.
Aarya is talking with a man at the front desk.
At first glance, it looks harmless. But her arms are wrapped around her midsection, and her shoulders are hunched—nothing like the sassy, confident woman I’ve become accustomed to.
Whoever this man is, he’s entirely too close to her, and something about the way he’s looking down at her has the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.
I rap my fist against the glass door, admittedly a little too hard, but it gains their attention, and I don’t miss the relief flashing in Aarya’s eyes when she spots me.
The man walks over and unlocks the door before cracking it open. “Gallery is closed. Come back tomorrow.”
I stick my foot through the opening before he can close the door. “I’m not here for the gallery.”
His head snaps to Aarya. “Do you often have visitors here after hours?”
Her eyes widen as she scurries over, clutching her purse to her chest. “No, I don’t. He...he’s...”
She stammers, so I step in. “I’m here to pick her up. We have plans.”
His eyebrows hit his hairline as gets a good look at me. “Oh, shit. You play for the Goldfinches.”
He knows me, so I need to be careful. “And you are...?”
“Carter Stevens.” He sticks out his hand as he puffs up his chest. “This is my gallery.”
Ah, so this is Aarya’s boss who’s been harassing her.
I crush his hand in a firm shake as anger spikes in my gut. “Nice to meet you.”
“How do you know Aarya?” he asks, pulling his hand back and rubbing it with the other.
Good. I hope it’s broken.
“She’s my girlfriend.” I slip my hand in hers and tug her through the doorway until she’s safely outside beside me, away from this creep.
Carter’s eyes narrow on her. “I didn’t know she was with anyone.”
“Well, now you know.” I tilt my head. “It was nice meeting you, Carl.”
“It’s Carter.”
“Right, right.” I turn to face Aarya. “Ready to go?”
She nods, and offers her boss a quick wave. “Night, Carter.”
“We’ll finish our conversation tomorrow then,” he says.
“Sure.”
I can guarantee they won’t be finishing whatever conversation they were having.
I unbuckle the spare helmet attached at the back of my bike. “Put this on, and don’t argue with me.”
Aarya swallows as she takes the helmet and pushes it over her head. I tilt her chin to adjust the buckle underneath, lowering my voice so her boss can’t hear me. “Did he touch you?”
She eyes him over my shoulder. “No.”
I jerk the bottom of the helmet, forcing her eyes back to mine. “Look at me, Aarya. Did he touch you?”
“No. Just get me out of here.”
I shrug out of my leather riding jacket and put it on her, zipping it up to the top.
It’s colder when you’re riding, the air temperature dropping the faster you go.
Though we won’t be going too fast around the city streets, and the ride to her apartment will be quick, I make a mental note to get her proper riding gear as the winter temperatures continue to drop here in New Jersey.
I mount the bike and lift the kickstand, planting both my feet on the ground. “Hold onto my shoulders.” I reach back and flip down the passenger foot pegs. “Then swing your left leg over to the other side.”
Aarya does as I say, mounting the bike behind me.
“Now wrap your hands around me and hold on.”
Her hands slide around my waist, and I pat her hand. “You ready?”
“No.”
“I promise, I won’t go fast.”
She presses her body against mine, squeezing me tight. “Okay, I’m ready.”
I turn the key in the ignition, hit the kill switch, and press the start button.
The engine rumbles to a start, and Aarya’s fingers dig into my ribs.
It’s too loud to talk her through this, and I don’t have mics synced up through the helmets—another thing I add to my mental list of things I need to do.
All I can do is get her home safely, and show her that riding with me won’t be as scary as she thinks it is.
I pull out onto the road, and she grips me so tightly that I can barely breathe. But I don’t mind the feel of her holding onto me like this. Like she knows I’ve got her. Like she trusts me.
I want to show her that she can.
I take it slow, easing around each turn and staying in the lane instead of splitting like I would if she weren’t on the bike with me. After whatever just happened with her boss, my only focus is getting her home and finding out what that piece of shit did.
Within minutes we arrive at Aarya’s apartment.
I park and prop the bike on the kickstand before sliding off the seat and turning off the engine.
I don’t take nearly enough time to appreciate how adorable she looks sitting on the back of my bike as I wrap my arms around her and scoop her off the bike.
When her shoes hit the pavement, I tug her close so I can unclip the buckle under her chin and pull off the helmet for her.
Her chest heaves as she stares up at me, eyes wide and her wild hair all over the place.
“Well?” I pull off my own helmet and set both of them on my seat. “What do you think?”
“That wasn’t so bad.”
I chuckle. “I told you, I’m a safe driver. Maybe next time you won’t have to squeeze all the air out of me.”
She grimaces. “Sorry.”
“That’s okay. It’s still better than Mac. He jokes about putting his dick in my ass the whole time he’s behind me.”
That earns a smile out of her. “Not surprising.”
I stare down at her, needing to know what happened with her boss. “You okay?”
She averts her eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Hey.” I tip her chin. “The truth.”
She heaves a sigh. “Carter wants to promote me.”
“Is that what you want?”
She hikes a shoulder, glancing around at the quiet neighborhood around us. “I’d want it if there weren’t any strings attached.”
My anger flares. “Did he imply that there were strings attached?”
“He always implies things. Maybe he’ll stop now that he thinks I’m dating the captain of the Goldfinches.”
“He’ll definitely stop if I put my fist through his teeth.”
“Easy, Big Man.” She pats my chest. “Never would’ve thought you’d be one for violence. Then again, it turns out that there’s a lot I don’t know about you. A bike. A daughter. Seems like there’s a lot you’re hiding.”
“Well, I’d like to discuss that with you.” I slip my hands into my pockets. “That’s why I came to the gallery tonight. I was hoping we could talk.”
She nods like she figured as much. “Let’s go upstairs.”
I lock up the helmets and follow Aarya up to her apartment on the sixth floor.
“I used to live in Cassidy’s building, but I’m trying to save as much as I can so I downsized.” She glances up at me as she turns the key in the lock. “It’s not a big fancy house in the suburbs.”
“It’s fine. I don’t judge.”
I glance around the small space as we walk inside. The kitchen and living room are open in one area, and the bathroom and bedroom are off to the side. The furniture is minimal, and there’s a small TV across from the dark-gray couch.
“I eat, I sleep, and I shower. This place serves its purpose.” She tosses her purse onto the bistro table near the kitchen and stuffs her keys inside it. “Fair warning, I have a cat. He isn’t friendly and he hates everyone, so don’t be offended if he doesn’t let you pet him.”
I glance around looking for him. “Giuliana has been begging me to get a cat.”
“How’s her arm?”
“The cast is a pain in the ass. She’s itchy and sore and uncomfortable.”
She nods. “I broke my ankle in middle school. That shit sucked.”
I shake out of my jacket and lay it over the back of the chair. “How’d you break it?”
“My mom was dating one of her asshole boyfriends at the time, and I got in between them when they were arguing. He pushed me and I rolled my ankle.”
“Jesus.” The more I hear about her past, the more I understand why she views men the way she does.
“My mom really knew how to pick them.” She shrugs like it’s nothing. “Want anything to drink?”
“No, thanks.”
She gestures to the couch, and we take a seat on opposite ends. I spot something furry and black moving along the back of the couch out of the corner of my eye.
“No sudden movements,” Aarya whispers.
I smirk. “Animals usually love me.”
“Well, you haven’t met this animal.” She watches her cat with caution as the cat approaches me. “Dash must’ve had a bad experience with a man because whenever he’s around one, he—”
Dash, the vicious monster that he is, climbs his way down my shoulder, along my chest, and curls up in a fluffy ball in my lap.
Then he lets out a singular meow.