Take Me with You (Take Me #2)(44)

He sighed heavily and ran his thumb across my hand and then over my mother’s engagement ring sitting on my right ring finger.

“What’s it like to have a father who loves you, Ari?”

Unbidden tears sprang to my eyes. I tried to keep them back by blinking furiously. My throat closed up. I swallowed back the pain and anguish I’d heard in Grant’s voice. When I finally had my voice under control, I answered, “I’m sure your father loves you, Grant.”

“No, I can’t be sure of that. Your father wants what is best for you. He raised you right, sent you to get an Ivy League education, bought you a BMW, met you in the city to get dinner, gave you your mother’s engagement ring as a birthday present. He even stupidly, if I do say so, tried to get you to date someone he approved of. That is a father who loves his daughter. My father only ever brought death, depression, and destruction on my family.”

“People show their love in different ways,” I whispered. “My father is a hard man. He works constantly. I hardly saw him while I was growing up. I can’t compare it to what you went through, but I would never describe my upbringing as warm and loving.”

“You’ll never realize how good you have it,” he muttered.

“I’m not denying I had a privileged childhood. But you have people who love you, Grant, people who took care of you afterwards. Your father did not make you the man you are today.” I sat up on my elbow and looked down at him. “You’re not half as bad as you think you are. Your aunt and uncle raised you right. Sydney loves you so much. The guys are your family. You didn’t let your circumstances dictate your devotion to the people who matter to you.”

Grant ran his fingers back through my hair and looked up at me as if I were a shining angel. “You matter to me, Princess.”

“You matter to me, too.” I bent down and softly kissed him on the lips. “Did your dad say what he wanted to talk about?”

“No.” Grant closed his eyes and heavily blew out. “I didn’t exactly wait for him to tell me.”

“So, maybe he wants to get to know you?” I offered hopefully.

He fiercely shook his head. “No way. You don’t know him. You didn’t hear him. When I called him out on it, he immediately dropped into his military voice. I know that voice. He isn’t a good person. He’s a murderer, Ari. He doesn’t deserve a chance to talk to me. And I’m sure he doesn’t even want that.”

“Okay,” I said hesitantly.

“You don’t get it. When he went to prison, the last thing he ever said to me was that I had killed my mother, and when he got out, he was going to make me pay for it,” Grant said, a pained look on his face. “I don’t doubt for a second he’s waiting for the opportunity to kill me. You shouldn’t either.”

“I believe you.”

I was chilled to the bone. Who would tell a ten-year-old kid he was responsible for his mother’s death? Better yet, who would tell a ten-year-old kid he was going to make the kid pay for what he had done? Grant had had no part in what happened, and he had been torturing himself about it ever since. His dad’s parting words hadn’t helped anything mentally. The thought of having a psycho get out of prison to enact retribution was terrifying.

“Good. That’s why I think you should leave with the girls for spring break.”

“What?” I asked, confused by the subject change.

“I know your roommates are going to Florida for the break next week. You should go with them.”

“Why? I was planning on staying around campus, so I can work on papers and get some extra lab time in.”

He looked at me in disbelief. “Lab work over getting a tan?”

“I don’t get tan. I go from pasty white to lobster red and back.”

“Ari, I don’t want you to be in town if he shows up,” he earnestly told me.

I sat up straight. “Wait! You think he’s going to show up here?”

Grant clutched his side as he struggled to right himself. “You’re severely underestimating him if you think he won’t.” He reached forward and caressed my cheek. “I want you to be safe. I’d be worried about you if you were here. He tracked down my phone number. With his military background, I’m sure he could locate my address, or at the very least, get information on the band since it’s readily available. Now that he’s played his first hand, the second will follow.”

“I’m not leaving you here if you’re in danger!”

He leaned forward until our foreheads were resting against each other. “I know we’ve argued a lot, Ari, but you are the most important person in my life. And the bastard won’t hesitate to use any advantage he has. You understand?”

“Grant…” I whimpered.

“Please—for me.”

“Okay, Grant, I’ll go,” I consented with a sigh. “But you should go to the police if you think you’re in danger.”

He groaned and pulled away from me. “I’m not involving those idiots. They’re not going to do anything unless he actually does something illegal. Trust me, they won’t think a phone call constitutes that.”

“It doesn’t hurt to alert them—and me. You have to be sure to check in with me.”