Rushing to the bathroom, I felt like screaming when I found it empty. Turning, I hurried next door and flung my daughter’s door open to see them both sleeping with a book between them. Leaning against the door frame, I tried to calm my beating heart. I hadn’t imagined her. She was here. Alive.
Moving closer, I leaned over and took the book from her hands, closed it, and gently laid it on the nightstand. Carefully picking her up, I cradled Ari close to me, carried her back to my bed, and laid her down. Returning to my daughters’ room, I covered her up, gently stroking her hair. After kissing her forehead, I closed her door behind me.
Crawling into bed next to Ari, I curled myself around her and had just closed my eyes when I heard her say, “Rebekah was outside Baltazar. She heard what you and Shadow were doing in the shed.”
“Shit,” I groaned, rolling onto my back. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”
Ari turned over and looked at me before saying, “And say what? She’s only four years old.”
“I don’t know.”
“I’m not going to ask what you were doing. Your hands tell me enough. But what I am going to ask is that you be more careful where Rebekah is concerned. She sees and feels everything, Balthazar. She loves her Uncle. She’s too young to understand what he did. You know that.”
“I know,” I said, turning to face her and smiled. “So, you met my daughter. I was going to introduce you tomorrow.”
“I should have met her before everything happened. When did her mother die?”
“A few days before I met you.”
Ari slowly sat up, digesting what I just said. Yet when she turned to look at me, I froze. I’d seen many expressions across her face, but the one she was giving me right now was murderous. “Excuse me?”
“Mia died of a gunshot wound a couple of nights before you found me on the road. When I rescued you, we had already had her funeral. She was dead maybe a few weeks before you came here.”
“And a few days later, you married me.”
“Yeah.”
“Get out.” She seethed, getting up from the bed. “I need you to leave. Right now.”
“Why!” I said, getting to my feet. I didn’t know why she was pissed. I’d never seen her this way, and though she was turning me on, I opted for treading lightly.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done to that little girl? Her mother just died, and then you go and marry another woman. A woman she only met tonight!”
“I said I was going to introduce you to her tomorrow.”
“That’s not good enough, Ghost! She’s grieving for her mother. She doesn’t want to meet her father’s new wife. She wants her mom.”
“Becca will understand. I will explain it to her.”
“And what will you say?”
“That I fell in love with you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“She’s four…not fourteen!” Ari shouted, stomping her foot. God, she was stunning when she was all riled up. I couldn’t stop my dick from getting hard. She was amazing. Yet when she saw my aroused state, she then took a deep breath and pointed to the door. “Leave. Now.”
“Baby, come on. It’s not that bad.”
“Oh yes, it is Ghost. It’s unbelievably bad.”
“Why are you calling me Ghost.”
“Because I’m mad at you!”
A knock at the door stopped me from responding. When it opened, I sighed as Roxy stepped in. “What in the tarnation is going on in here?”
“Ghost is leaving.” Ari clearly said.
Roxy looked at me, waiting. “She’s mad because I didn’t tell Rebekah about her.”