“What can I do now?” She looked out the window with a sigh. “I wish we could go to the playground.”
“What’s your favorite thing to do at the playground?”
“Swings, of course.” Wasn’t that everyone’s favorite?
> He slipped his arms around her from behind. “One day you’ll be able to go play on the swings. Just not at the moment with this guy still out there.”
She sighed. “What if we never know who it is?” That’s what truly scared her. That she’d always have to worry about this threat hanging over her.
“That’s not going to happen. I know we don’t have any real leads. But he’ll slip up.”
“Maybe he’s disappeared. Maybe seeing you guys around me scared him off,” she said hopefully.
“Perhaps. Things will be easier at Sanctuary. You’ll be able to have more freedom to move around. No one will get to you there.”
She pulled back so she could look up at him. “Who called you?”
“Oh, I’ve got someone doing some work at the cabin.”
“What?”
He tapped her nose. “You’ll see, nosy.”
A knock at the door had her turning. Bain walked over and opened it. Dominic said something to him quietly that had her man turning towards her with a frown on his face. “Dominic said your sister is here. She wants to talk to you.”
She rubbed her forehead. “Oh. That’s just awesome.” She guessed she should have known that someone would turn up when she’d ignored them all day. She’d just hoped they would give her more time. “I guess I’ll go talk to her.”
She gave Dominic a small smile.
“I’ll have her wait in your office, sweetheart,” he told her warmly.
“Thank you.”
Bain drew her into his arms, squeezing her tight. “I’ll come talk to her with you.”
“No. Thank you, but I’ve got to deal with my family at some stage.” She did let him hold her for a while, though. Gabrielle could just wait. Finally, she drew back and took a deep breath.
Time to put on her big girl panties.
When she walked into the office, her sister was sitting behind her desk.
“Gaby?”
“It’s Gabrielle, not Gaby.”
“Right. Sorry.”
“Surprised you agreed to see me. Did you need permission from your new boyfriend?”
“What are you talking about? Of course, I don’t need to get permission from Bain. Why would I?”
“He’s calling all the shots now, isn’t he?” Gabrielle sneered. “Don’t lie and tell us it’s not because of him that you’re moving to some dinky little cabin in the middle of nowhere.”
Arianna sighed. “If you’re only here to pick a fight then you need to leave. I know you’re all upset with me for giving up my career—”
“You’re so selfish, Arianna! Of course, we’re upset. This affects all of us and you couldn’t even call us to let us know. We had to hear about it from your agent.”
“I was going to call you, but before I could, you and mother started sending me those awful messages.”