by Eva Luxe
Because he was such a good father, he’d be anal about any detail when it came to Ariel’s safety.
“Who are you?” the woman asked. She snarled and looked at me as if I were the devil incarnate. “You’re one of Darien’s whores aren’t you? I knew it!”
“Excuse me? I’m Ariel’s nanny. And who are you?”
She raised her chin. “I’m her mother and Darien’s wife.”
It was as clear as day that this beautiful crazy woman had never loved Darien. Money hungry, I could see it in her eyes. Her eyes were green with envy and greed.
Ariel held onto my arm and shook.
A weird smell came off of this woman…
The name of it was on the tip of my tongue.
“I’m here to get my daughter. I don’t want any strange people around her.”
“I’m her nanny. I assure you, Mr. Thrilling has checked my─”
Ariel gripped my arm. “I’m not leaving!”
“Yes you—”
Her mom started in, but I interrupted her.
“No she’s not. Now leave or else I’ll have to call the police. Ariel has to get to school”
“Stop it, Mommy!” Ariel said, her voice quivering with fear.
“Her father would’ve told me if her mother was coming, and I happen to know this is his custody day,” I told her. “You need to go, because he’s my employer and Ariel’s legal guardian, and I’m letting not her go anywhere until I hear it from him.”
There was no way this wired up woman was laying a hand on— hey!
“Get off of me!”
Ariel screamed and tried to kick her mother. “Let Willow go!” she cried.
Ariel’s mother knocked me on the ground and slapped me.
Shit. I wasn’t a punk, so I got a few licks in before she hopped off of me and dragged Ariel off.
I ran after her, the adrenaline in my veins pumping.
Did people think they could come crash into other people’s lives and take people they loved away from them?
Sam. Ariel. Darien…
They didn’t deserve the bullshit that life was throwing them right now.
“Hey! I said let her go!”
Ariel’s mother, or whatever she was called, reached into her purse and pulled something out.
I didn’t know what it was until I heard that electric crackle and felt that paralyzing shock to my torso.
A taser.
I fell down, unable to move. The only thing I could do was lie there and hear Ariel cry as she was dragged off by that crazy bitch.
Minutes passed before I could get up and stagger back to the house. The phones were still down and my cell phone was nowhere around.
I went to my bedroom to get my phone only to discover that it was out of charge.
Fuck.
I couldn’t even call 911 if I wanted to.
There was only one option left, and that was to go to Darien’s office.
And I didn’t know where it was located.
Still, I had to get out and find it.
I was beginning to be able to walk better and went into the garage.
He said he’d help me get a car, and I was sure he wouldn’t mind me borrowing his… hmm, damn it.
Had I gone to the wrong garage? There was only one other car in here, and it was another Lamborghini.
Sighing, I managed to find the car keys hanging up on the wall across from the car. There just wasn’t time to do anything else.
I opened it up, slid inside and prayed that it wasn’t a stick shift.
Yep, automatic. Though it did come with e-gear, which was pretty awesome.
The car roared to life when I pushed the on button and I was ready to go.
I had to be careful. This car was one of those close to the road ones, not meant for the big city with its inclines, declines and horrific soul sucking pot holes.
That was when it hit me.
A car like this? It had to have navigation.
After I pulled out of the driveway with a surgeon’s precision, I messed around on the touch screen in front of me.
I found the GPS and punched in the name of Darien’s company.
Three seconds later I had real time directions.
“Take a right, then travel five miles…” the voice said as I began to drive.
Zooming around the twists and bends of the road should have been fun in a Lamborghini. Sam would’ve loved this. When things calmed down, I’d have to make sure to tell him I’d driven a six-figure car!
And hopefully I’d get to add on that I gave that woman who took Ariel away an epic beat down.
Bitch, tasing me like that…
In twenty minutes, I was nearing the address and threw the Lambo in the garage.
“Excuse me, miss, you need to sign in,” called a security guard.
“Oh, sorry!” I ran over and scribbled my name and details down. “Do you know where Darien Thrilling’s office is? It’s an emergency.”
“It’s on the twentieth floor.”
Chapter 13 – Willow
The elevator doors opened, and I popped out of them, running over to the secretary. Just as I approached her to tell her I needed to speak to him, Darien came out of a side door.
“Dar— Mr. Thrilling!” I didn’t want to address him by his first name around others. The last thing he needed was gossip or a scandal.
“Willow? Where’s Ariel?”
I ran over to him. “Her mother came and took her away!”
“What?”
“I tried to stop her, but she slapped me and tased me!” I cried, worried that Ariel was going to be hurt.
Darien ran down the hallway and I followed him.
“I’m so sorry!”
“Don’t apologize, I’ll have her in trouble for this! You can press charges!”
We got to his office, and he ripped the phone from its base, damn near pounding each key as he called someone.
“Morgan,” he growled.
I was standing awkwardly in the middle of his office. I felt useless.
It was like I couldn’t protect anyone, not Sam, not Ariel, and next up was probably Darien.
“I don’t care! She’s the nanny and I have an agreement! If the court finds out what you did─”
He paused. I could hear Morgan’s voice squawking though the phone.
“You had better. You have one hour, or else I’m going to the court. And a taser? Serves you right if she presses charges.”
He slammed the phone down and sat down in his seat.
God.
Darien was a good father. What the hell was Morgan doing? Using his daughter as a way of hurting and getting back at him because he didn’t want a gold digger by his side?
“Darien?” I held my hands together, choosing my words carefully. “Is Ariel okay?”
He had his chin nestled on his hands and elbows on the table. “Yes, she’s bringing her here. I’m sorry she hurt you.”
He closed his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows.
He slammed his desk with his fist and I jumped back.
I needed to calm him down. Quick.
“You know. I hope you don’t get angry, but I had to take your Lamborghini to get here…” Wow, when I thought about it, that only seemed like it’d make him angrier. I mean, it was a six-figure car, and the newest model too.
“Really?”
He lifted his gaze back to me, calming down.
“Yeah, well, my cell phone wasn’t charged. The phones weren’t working, and I wasn’t going to sit by and watch some crazy bitch—I mean, woman─take Ariel away. Ariel said she didn’t want to go with her. She even said she wasn’t her mommy.”
I hung my head down. Ariel needed a mommy, a good one.
“Thank you for putting up a fight. You didn’t have to—”
I gawped at him incredulously. “Yes I did!”
The phone rang and Darien picked it up.
“Hello? Yes, I’ll be right out.” He hung up and f
lashed me one of his sexy grins again.
“How’s the car? Still there?” he teased.
“Yes, I know how to drive low cars. My brother Sam had one.”
A pain struck my chest, and it was hard to breathe for a moment.
That car of Sam’s… the car that was now sitting in a junkyard, scrambled to pieces from the accident.
“Willow, are you okay?” Darien asked, placing his warm large hands on my shoulders.
He stroked the side of my face and I sighed.
I wanted to cry. But now wasn’t the time to show weakness.
“I’m fine.”
When he left the office, I sniffled and reached over to Darien’s desk phone. Another payment was due soon, and since my family didn’t update me on his condition, I had to do it myself.
I dialed the hospital and waited.
The nurse got on and told me he was okay, but that he had a small complication that was fixed.
I had a heart attack, but they told me that he was stable now. It was just a reaction to some medicine they gave him.
Sigh.
The door opened from behind me and Ariel ran over to me.
“Willow!” she exclaimed.
I turned around and hugged her. “I’m sorry,” she cried. “That bad lady hurt you.”
“I’m fine,” I assured her. “It would take more than a crazy lady with a taser to take me down if my Ariel needed me!”
Chapter 14 – Darien
“Willow,” I said, interrupting them. “You two need to get home and rest. I’m sorry that happened to you.”
“Daddy, Mommy hurt Willow!” Ariel, cried.
I glanced over at Willow, who shrugged.
“Well, like I said, she had a taser with a good shock on it. Maybe a slap or two, nothing serious—”
“Nothing serious?” I echoed. “What do you mean nothing serious? You should press charges.”
“Well, I didn’t know who she was, and she was trying to take Ariel away from me. I knew you would’ve told me if her mother was coming. Everything was just so suspicious. Was that your ex?”
“Unfortunately, yes. I don’t know how I ever was tricked. Here, let me take you guys home.”
I patted Willow’s back and wanted to rest my hand on her shoulder. But since I was at work, I had to drop my arm back to my side.
Ariel clung to both of us as we made our way to the elevator.
Ariel knew to push the down button and mashed it a few times, hoping it’d make the elevator arrive faster.
“So, how was it?” I asked Willow.
“How was what?”
“Driving in a Lamborghini?”
She began to blush, a rosy hue blossoming on her face. “Oh, that! Sorry about that.”
I grinned. “There’s nothing for you to be sorry about.”
“It’s a six-figure car and I could’ve hurt it.”
“I have insurance. Plus, I bet you enjoyed yourself.”
“Too busy panicking to enjoy myself too much.”
“But of course.”
The elevator arrived, ringing to signal its arrival. Ariel ran to where the elevator light shined and waited up against the golden reflective doors. It opened, and she hopped in.
“After you,” I said, making sure Willow was inside.
We were lowered down into the garage area and I saw that Willow had parked my navy blue Lamborghini next to my car.
Good idea.
“Daddy! It’s the Lammy!” Ariel said, running over to the Lambo.
“It rides very smooth,” Willow commented.
“Indeed. A good car. Limited edition model too.”
My phone rang in my pocket. The caller ID said it was coming from my building.
“Yes?” I answered.
“Mr. Thrilling, the Mizamotos just called to say they will be arriving early for their two thirty meeting with you.”
“Thank you, Ms. Hart.”
I hung up and sighed. “Damn it.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Let me call you a cab. I have a meeting to attend.”
Willow chuckled. “We can’t just leave the Lamborghini sitting here. Let me drive Ariel back, we’ll be okay. This time I’ll have a bat waiting for Morgan if she shows up.” She swung her hands as if she were hitting a home run. She had a pretty good swing, too.
“I never intended for you to be a body guard as well,” I said. “I might have to give you a raise. Okay, you two have fun.” I dug into my pocket, pulled out my wallet, and held out a couple hundreds.
“This is for all the trouble you went through. Thank you.”
Willow smiled. “No, thank you. But─” She plucked the money out of my hand, grinning “─I will stop and get a new booster seat before we go home. I assume it’s okay if she stays home from school today?” I nodded and she turned and waved to Ariel. “Come on, we’re gonna ride in the Lamborghini I’m driving, Ariel!”
“No speeding,” I reminded her.
“You’re a worry wort, you know that?”
Willow put Ariel in the car and was gone in the blink of an eye,
Now I could concentrate on my anger. It was still boiling inside me that Morgan thought she could walk onto my land and rip my child away from me.
When I returned to my office, I gathered the folders and papers for today’s meeting.
My mind was supposed to be on business, I had a billion dollar company to run. Success didn’t stay unless it had a damn good reason to.
But Morgan, what she did was unforgiveable. Everything she did was unforgiveable. My fists rested on my table, balled and trembling.
In a fit of rage I swiped all the things from my desk. The phone, a keyboard and a few other things clattered to the floor.
She wanted her money, she wanted control over me. If Willow hadn’t been there, what would she have done to Ariel?
There was knocking at my door. I shook my head and regained my composure.
When I opened the door, it was my secretary, Ms. Hart.
“Sir, are you okay? I tried to call, but your phone didn’t go through.”
“It’s okay, I’ll be out in just a second.”
I closed the door and went to get the folders that were still miraculously on my table.
There it was again, the faint trail of Willow’s floral perfume. Allowing my mind to rest on her for a moment brought me a brief moment of tranquility. She looked after Ariel the way a real mother would.
I walked past my secretary and she lifted her hand to get my attention. “Ah, Mr. Thrilling. I’m so sorry. The Mizamotos just called in again. They had to cancel. They said an emergency came up and they will be calling to get in touch and reschedule.”
“Okay, thank you Ms. Hart.”
Inside my office, the remnants of my anger still lingered in the air. I straightened up my desk and sat down, taking out my phone to make sure Willow and Ariel were okay.
The phone rang a few times, but she picked up.
“Willow?”
“Hey, Ariel’s holding the phone for me. We’re almost home. Something wrong?”
“No, just checking in on you two.”
“We’re fine. Thanks.”
“Hi, Daddy!” Ariel added in. I could see her smile in my mind.
“Hello, princess. Well, don’t let me take your time. Be careful on the road.”
“I will. See you later.”
I hung up and turned on my computer. Talking to Willow gave me motivation. A motivation to keep going, because getting stuck on Morgan’s antics wasn’t going to get me anywhere.
Nowhere positive, anyway. The phone rang, and I picked it up.
“Jerry, what’s wrong?” I leaned back in my seat and stared out the window of my office.
Jerry, my lawyer, harrumphed on the phone and took a loud swig of his drink.
“Morgan’s lawyer just called. That fucking bastard. I don’t like him. I bet she’s sleeping with him.”
“Get to the point,
Jerry. What’s happening?”
“Her lawyer called over. Morgan’s heated about something. She wants to pursue full custody. I knew this crazy woman was going to do something before the divorce was final. Two years and now she decides to try to act like a mother.”
My gaze shifted from the sky, down to the buildings and the streets below. My office had floor to ceiling windows, it wasn’t for the faint of heart or those afraid of heights.
Heights took my stress away. If anything, I needed to be sitting on a ledge right now.
“She never was a mother. Ariel is nothing but a credit card to her. My strings that she can pull to make me dance to her demands. Anyway, I know all this, I got served this weekend. I told you that.” I got up and walked to the window, shoving one of my hands in my pocket.
The roads were so busy below. People who lived easy lives, people who were going through hell.
And even way up here, hell managed to find me.
“Well, we’ll handle this. She’s not getting away with this. You’re a good damn father. And that’s something I rarely see out here nowadays. Leave it to me.”
My grip around the phone tightened. “I want a restraining order.” If Morgan wanted to be crazy, she’d pay the fucking price for it.
“I’m already on it.”
“She attacked my nanny,” I growled.
“Nanny? God, Darien. You should’ve told me you hired a nanny. I bet she’s a hot little number too, nice and young? And you’re probably sleeping with her too, huh? That must be why she’s so pissed. Not that it’s any of her damn business.”
“It isn’t. And I’m not.” I was relieved to be able to say that. “But she thinks anything other than Ariel and my work is a threat to her monthly meal ticket.”
I walked back to my chair and swiveled back around to my computer. I had money to make and a family to protect.
“Huh. She’s not even hiding it. Well, let me do my black magic. See if you can get the nanny to press charges, okay? And make sure you up your security around the house.”
I tapped the pen to my lips. I did need a better gate and a few extra cameras.
“Will do.” I said, I hung up the phone.
If Morgan was ballsy enough to go up to my home and take Ariel, then tase Willow, she’d be crazy enough to do something even riskier.
Chapter 15 – Darien
“Willow? Ariel?” I called out, looking for my two favorite people in my life. “Willow, Ariel?” I called out again.