Take Me with You (Take Me #2)(52)

I dialed his number with clumsy fingers and held the phone. I desperately wanted to get away from his place, but I didn’t trust myself to drive.

“Hey, Princess. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you yet.”

“Your dad was here.”

“What?” he asked, losing his happy tone and promptly becoming serious.

“I came over to your place to pick up some clothes I’d left behind. When I was leaving, he was standing outside your door.”

“Fuck!” he cried. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

“I know. I know,” I muttered.

“I f*cking knew this was going to happen. Fuck!” There was a crash and some more cussing before the phone was muffled, and everything came out faint and distant. “Yeah. I f*cking heard you! Fuck off. Don’t make me f*ck up your face again, *.”

After a few more seconds, Grant returned. “Sorry about that. Fucking Donovan was in my space again. Fucker. It’s hard to have a private conversation on this goddamn tour bus.”

“It’s okay, Grant.”

“It’s not f*cking okay! Goddamn it. What am I going to do, Ari? I can’t leave you there, all alone, to deal with this. I can’t have you in danger. I’ll never be able to sleep or focus or anything.”

“We’ll figure it out, okay?”

“What did he say? Tell me everything.”

I sighed. “He was asking where you were. I tried to play it off, but I was wearing your dog tags. He recognized them and asked me to give you a message. He said he’s waited thirteen years, so he’ll keep waiting for you to come back. He’s just…staying in the area, I guess.”

“Oh, Jesus Christ! Why? Motherf*cker can’t take a goddamn hint. Look, Ari, I need you to stay the hell away from my place. He might have already figured out who you are, but I hope not. I’m going to…I don’t know…f*cking figure this out.”

“Okay,” I whispered.

“Princess,” he murmured “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

“Just a little shaken up. I’ll be fine.”

“I wish I were there right now. I wish I could ditch the tour and come back to you.”

I laughed softly. “No, you don’t. You love performing. You love being on tour.”

“I know,” he agreed easily. “But I’d still rather be there and know you’re safe. I wish you’d get my gun. This proves you need it.”

I didn’t automatically dismiss the idea this time. “Maybe you’re right, but I don’t feel comfortable with it.”

“Okay. Just…please stay safe—for me. I’m going to figure something out, and I’ll call you back when I do.”

I ended the call with Grant and suspiciously stared around at the road. I didn’t feel much better about what had happened. If anything, I was more paranoid. I didn’t know what Grant had in mind to help the situation, but I was shaky and uncertain as I drove away from his place. With Grant gone, I knew that there really was no protection from his father.

Fucking f*ck, f*ck, f*ck.

Fuck.

That was the only word running through my mind after I’d gotten off the phone with Ari. I’d warned her this would happen. I’d told myself over and over that it could happen. But the reality of my dad being anywhere near my girl made my blood boil. It made me want to get on the first plane out of the next closest city and f*cking find the f*cker. I’d teach him a thing or two I hadn’t known when I was only ten.

Miller walked into the back room where I was attempting to get shit under control. I couldn’t handle the fact that there wasn’t any f*cking privacy, especially not when no one knew about my dad, and I didn’t f*cking want anyone to figure out the details.

“Bro, you okay?” Miller asked.

“Yeah. Fine,” I ground out. I knew I sounded anything but fine. My hands were shaking with the unbridled anger spreading out from my chest.

“Donovan is spouting off about you and Ari being in a fight about your dad,” he said softly.

“What?” I nearly screamed. “I’ll f*cking kill him. He doesn’t know what the f*ck he’s talking about.”

I stormed toward Miller, but he blocked my path.

“He wants a rise out of you. I didn’t want you to be blindsided when you walked back out there.”

“Get out of my way. I want to pummel his face in.”

Miller just stared at me—completely calm and completely in control as always. “I’m not going to let you do that. You should let this shit with Donovan slide. Obviously, something else is wrong that’s setting you off. Is it Ari?”

Fuck. I couldn’t tell him.

“No. We’re fine. I’m just…” I glanced away from him.

“Bro, I’ve known you nearly your whole life. I know you can’t talk to McAvoy or, God forbid, Vin, and you’ve got shit on your chest. You should probably say it now.”

I sank into the chair next to me and buried my head in my hands. “My dad got out of prison.”

“What?” Miller asked in surprise.

When I glanced up at him, the look on his face showed this was the last subject he’d thought I would bring up.

“I don’t know the details about that, man, but isn’t that a good thing?”