Page 157 of Through the Water

I grinned at her, before cocking my head to the side. “You heard the lady, Noah. Can we make a stop?”

He gave me a solemn nod in return. “The car is on its way. We’ll lose the press and then circle back around.”

The hopeful look spread into a full-blown grin, and she began clapping her hands in excitement. I decided then and there that I didn’t want any gifts this year. All I needed was to see her happy. Although, I wouldn’t necessarily turn down wrapping her up in ribbons and bows and making love to her under the tree either.

Ari rose onto her tiptoes and slid her arms around my neck to press light kisses along my jaw, her lips parting on a soft sigh. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Now, kiss me.”

At that moment, she could have asked for anything. I would have done my damnedest to deliver.

I placed a tender kiss against her nose and the arch of her lips before capturing her mouth fully with mine. My eyes remained open, fixed on her beautiful face, silently telling her she was safe. Loved. Desired. Worshiped.

My brave girl.

We pulled apart just as the car arrived, and I shrugged out of my jacket, draping it around Ari’s neck to shield her from the wolves waiting just outside the front doors. I refused to give those assholes any more material.

Keeping one hand on her shoulder and the other around her waist, we followed Noah through the doors and into a sea of reporters. My father positioned himself against Ari’s left side, keeping his arm extended to prevent anyone from getting too close.

“Ariana, have you spoken with your father?” A disembodied voice called out.

“Are you still engaged to Brad Phillips?” yelled another.

“Killian, is there any truth to the rumors that you bought girls from Trident Holdings?”

Jesus Christ.

“No comment,” I clipped out impatiently, moving faster.

The shutters clicked in tandem, filling the gray sky with blinding flashes of white that left me disoriented. At some point, this had become our routine, dodging photographs and questions that were growing more ridiculous by the day while scurrying toward the safety of hired cars.

I never felt like we were in danger. If anything, the daily trek through Dante’s fifth circle of hell just left me annoyed and in need of a shower.

That all changed when I heard the shouts. I lifted my head to find a group of picketers gathered across the street, calling for the death of the mother of prostitutes.

“‘You must take them out to the gate of that city and stone them to death—” one man bellowed, holding up a sign depicting Ari as something of a demon, complete with horns and glowing red eyes. “The young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you!’”

Stoning.

Brain injury.

“Noah!” I roared, tightening my grip on Ari until my knuckles went white. My heart thundered against my ribs like a bomb counting down to explosion as I scanned their faces, trying to identify the threat.

“I’ve got eyes on them,” he confirmed calmly as if they were a troop of Girl Scouts selling cookies.

A woman raised her fist, shrieking, “Whore of Babylon!”

“God hates whores!”

Convinced we were seconds away from an attack, adrenaline spiked through my body and prepared my muscles for battle. I’d throw her over my shoulder and run for the car if I had to, weight limits be damned.

Ari’s spine went stiff beneath my hand, her green eyes wide with terror. My father saw it at the same moment I did and leaned down to whisper, “We’ve got you, Ariana. You’re safe.”

She gave a jerky nod in response, mashing her lips together to stop them from quivering. Something about seeing her frightened stoked my rage and made my blood pump harder and faster, urging me to eliminate the danger myself.

What are we willing to do to keep Colleen’s daughter safe?

I was willing to plow through a line of religious zealots using only my fists.

When we reached the curb, Noah hustled us into the backseat of the waiting SUV and slammed the doors. I slid across the middle seat and clutched Ari to the front of my body, close enough that I could feel her racing heart.

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