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“I can call her,” Aria agreed.

“Any luck with the attic?” Cooper asked.

I fielded that.

“No. Today we’re finishing the tear out and Aria has some filming today. Tomorrow we’ll worry about the attic.”

“If it’s alright with you I want to search your car.”

Aria’s gaze swung to Cooper.

“My car?”

“Yeah, we need to know if you were followed from your house or if there’s a tracker on your car.”

“A tracker?” The question whooshed out of her.

Cooper glanced at me then at Aria.

“It’s a just precaution,” he attempted to backpedal.

“Right,” she huffed. “My car’s at my house. I can give you the fob if you need to get inside.”

“That’d be helpful.”

I didn’t miss Aria’s jaw tighten at Cooper’s request. And it was then it hit me—she’d taken everything in stride. Not a single complaint outside of the time and money she was losing on her house, but nothing about her personal safety. Not that first mention if she was scared or concerned. And the fuck of it was, I hadn’t asked. I’d been too busy getting in her pants to notice if she was afraid or worried.

Yeah, oh yeah, I was a total motherfucker.

“No one’s gonna get to you,” I told her.

Aria sat up taller and squared her shoulders.

“I know.”

“Even if Cooper finds a tracker on your car, nothing changes. You’re still safe.”

“I know.”

Her brave face was impressive but I didn’t miss her tell. When she didn’t want to show weakness or for someone to think she had one, she squared her shoulders preparing for battle. It was a show of strength but also a dead giveaway that she felt she had to prove she could take care of herself.

If that wasn’t enough, she swung the conversation away from her safety and back to the house.

“Should I call Brittney now?”

Zane was eyeing Aria closely. He’d caught it too, which meant Jonas caught on before both Zane and me.

“Ivy baby, take her to my office, yeah?”

Ivy caught Zane’s tone and nodded.

“Can I have my daughter first?” she asked.

“Nope.”

With a long suffering sigh the woman pushed back from the table.

“Come on, Aria, we’ll grab a coffee before we go up.”

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