Invidious Betrayal (11 page)

One of them, one of the men who’d raped her, stood in front of the hostess just a few hundred feet away. Aria’s entire body stiffened and her hands began to shake. Ian tightened his grip, giving her a little tug to get her attention. In his eyes, Aria saw anger, sorrow, and comfort.

Before Aria could ask what they were going to do, Amy seated herself next to Ian. Another woman who had been waiting tables sat next to Aria. Both of the women’s aprons, the only identifying part of their uniform, were gone. Without a word, Amy placed her hand on Ian’s cheek, moved her face close to his, and kissed him. The waitress sitting next to Aria lifted a menu, hiding both their faces as she moved nearer, as if they were deciding what they wanted to order.

“No,” said the hostess coolly, “haven’t seen or had any young couples like that today, but it’s still early.”

One of her rapists was so close.

“All right, beautiful,” the man said, sounding distracted. Aria got the feeling he was looking around. “Anyone in the bathroom?”

Aria heard the sound of keys clinking together.

“Nope, not without the key,” the hostess sang.

A phone rang. Aria heard her rapist answer it. He grunted a few words, cursed, then after what felt like forever, the bell over the door chimed. Aria didn’t dare take a look. Her heart was racing by the time the hostess came over to their table. Her eyes were filled with compassion and understanding as she looked at Aria. “All clear, but you two better get going. It looks like the guy who’s dressed like he starred in
Goodfellas,
has a few buddies and they’re combing the area for you both.”

Aria watched Ian as he glanced out of the window. The man that had come in the diner—a heavyset, dark-haired guy—was making his way across the street toward the two men standing in front of the bank. When Ian stood, Aria and the two women got to their feet as well.

Amy grabbed hold of Ian’s hand, but Aria didn’t even think about the possessiveness of that move. Her green-eyed monster was in hiding because fear had bullied its way to the forefront.

“You should leave out the back,” Amy said, as she pulled Ian through the dining area and into the kitchen. The girl who had sat next to Aria rushed ahead and opened the back door that led to a clean, but narrow alley. The woman looked left, then right, before she waved them over.

“We didn’t pay,” Aria said.
What a stupid thing to think of at a time like this
, she thought as she moved through the doorway.

“Oh, I think your brother can pay me later,” Amy said, as she stuffed a piece of paper in Ian’s hand then kissed him again. The kiss was short, but Aria was sure that Amy slipped him tongue, again. All she could do was watch as Ian kissed the waitress back. “Be safe and call me when you get her home,” Amy said, pushing him out the door and into the alley.

Aria didn’t protest as Ian took her hand and quickly pulled her through the long passageway. They reached the end and turned onto a quiet residential street lined with beautiful brownstones. Every so often Ian would look up at the corner street sign, then glance at his watch and increase their pace. She did her best to keep up, stumbling a couple times, but Ian was there to right her.

He didn’t say where they were going, and she didn’t ask. They were moving away from those men, and that was enough for her. They finally descended into the subway station, where Aria took her first true breath of relief since waking this morning.

She tried to pay attention to where they were heading, but her mind kept taking her back to the café. The man’s voice played and replayed in her head the entire time as she sat quietly beside Ian on the subway train. When Ian stood and took her hand, she was half-aware of her surroundings, and half-locked inside the memory of the hell she’d experienced. She was grateful she had been blindfolded; there were no images of last night to review, but she knew she would never forget the sounds, smells, and pain of her ordeal.

“Aria,” Ian held out his hand, “we’re here.”

Her head snapped up and she looked to him, then to the large, arched entryway to a condo complex. How had she allowed herself to zone out the entire way here?

Nodding, Aria gave Ian a small smile as she entered before him. She knew he was worried and despite zoning out, she could feel his eyes whenever they were on her. When Ian wasn’t checking out their surroundings, his gaze was on her. She was ashamed to admit that she had mixed feelings about his level of concern. On one hand, she didn’t want it, on the other; she knew that she needed it.

Ian led Aria past a small flower garden, around a corner, and under some stairs to unit 105G. He glanced over his shoulder a couple of times to make sure she was with him, aware of the here and now. She’d seemed to be out of it since they’d left the café, but he figured that it was common for victims of the type of trauma she had experienced. He hated to leave Aria at the mercy of her thoughts, but he didn’t want to intrude, especially if she was thinking about her assault. Besides, he felt guilty—if it wasn’t for him, the events of last night would have never happened to her.

It took a few jingles of the rarely used key he kept on his key ring and a bit of shoulder strength to push the door open.

“Whose place is this?” Aria asked him.

Ian motioned for her to go in first, then he closed the door behind them and placed his keys and backpack on the high table in the small foyer. “It belongs to a good friend of mine. He travels a lot, so we’ll be alone. No one knows he and I are friends, so no one will look for us here.”

Ian did a quick glance around the condo as if for the first time. It was small. The kitchen could barely fit two people at the same time, the decorations were general, and there was nothing that screamed home, but that never bothered him. The place was spotless, the furniture and appliances still held that brand-new look to them, and he had privacy here. Even though it looked like the model condo that realtors showed potential buyers, it was one of the few places Ian actually felt at home in.

He entered the small galley kitchen, watching Aria over the breakfast bar as she slowly took in her surroundings. Ian opened the refrigerator and took out two bottles of water. He unsealed the lid on one and placed it on the bar for Aria, then he opened the other and downed it. While he drank, he continued to watch her as she reached between two backless barstools, picked the bottled water up and twisted the top to close it, then sat the water back down.

Yeah, he got it. She should be leery of accepting drinks from anyone, including him. Ian tried not to be offended because trust had to be earned.

Aria’s eyes moved over the flat television that sat on a basic wooden stand, then to the two bookcases filled with Blu-ray discs, DVDs, and video games. Slowly, she lowered herself on the sofa, but said nothing.

Ian moved from the kitchen and through the living room until he came to the entryway to a hall that led to the bedrooms. “We can stay here until we figure things out. There’s a bathroom down that hall; the first door on your right. If you keep going, you’ll find two rooms. You can have the master bedroom. There’s a bathroom inside, so you won’t have to share with me.” He picked up the remote control from the television stand and placed it on the coffee table within her reach. “The place has been empty for a while, so I’ll go grocery shopping in the morning.” He opened a few windows. “We’ll order take-out tonight. Menus are in the kitchen drawer. I’ll eat anything, so you choose.”

“All right,” she said quietly.

He glanced at his watch then went and grabbed his backpack from the foyer. “I’m going to take a quick shower. Will you be all right while-”

“I’ll be fine.” Aria cut him off. She picked up the remote and turned on the television.

“You should call someone to let them know you’re okay.” Ian pointed to the phone on the coffee table. Aria nodded, but didn’t move.

Ian watched her while she stared at the television. Her eyes were glued to the screen, but Aria didn’t seem like she was watching the program. She was inside her head again and probably didn’t even realize he was still in the room. Ian sighed as he moved down the hall toward the bathroom. He wondered what her life was like before all this. Had Aria been happy, free spirited, maybe even in love? Ian didn’t know the answers to those questions, but he knew he wanted to get her out of this mess, so she would have every opportunity to attain all of those things.

When he finished in the bathroom, he found Aria in the same place he’d left her. She was just hanging up the phone. She sat on the sofa with her knees pulled to her chest and her chin rested on them. Ian heard enough to know she had called home and had spoken to her mother. That comforted him.

“I know everything sucks right now, but we’re going to get you through this.”

Aria eyes lifted. “Why are you helping me?” Her voice was muffled due to her resting her chin on her knees.

Ian sat at the far end of the sofa, leaving the middle cushion between them free. “I just want to do the right thing, keep you safe. It would be easier if you let me take you to the hospital and call the cops.”

Aria pulled her bottom lip into her mouth. “I can’t,” she sighed. The cut on her lip must have hurt because she grimaced, then let her newly moistened lip free.

Ian took a deep breath. Aria’s strength was unparalleled as far as he was concerned and her beauty affected him deeper than any woman he’d ever come across. He’d touched and tasted her but that hadn’t dulled his fascination. In short, Ian felt he must exercise extra control of his body when he was around her.

Only her
.

It had taken him by surprise when the waitress kissed him—both times—but he’d felt nothing. The earth didn’t tremble, the stars hadn’t sparkled brighter, and his heart hadn’t stopped. But when his lips had touched Aria’s…

Ian forced the inappropriate thought from his mind. He didn’t want to think of the events of that night as anything but wrong. Only a first-class asshole would think about touching her again so he focused on her words.

“Would you have admitted the part you played if I had gone to the hospital?”

“Yes,” Ian said with no hesitation. “I would have.”

Aria sighed. “Then you would have gotten in trouble.”

Ian shook his head, not believing what he was hearing. “So you were protecting me?”

“Not entirely.” Aria closed her eyes and sighed. “My dad is kind of a cop. Well, he’s the sheriff of Land’s End Township, Pennsylvania, and he never cared for Gail. He’s sort of verbal about it, too. My dad’s verbal about a lot of things.” She chuckled but there was no humor behind it. “I went with her yesterday even though he wasn’t happy about it.”

“So you refuse to get medical attention because your dad was right about your so-called friend.”

“If you say it like that, then it sounds dumb, but you don’t understand.” Aria opened her eyes, but she didn’t look at him. “My dad is very protective of me.” She sat up and nervously rubbed her hands over her knees. “Do you know why I went with Gail in the first place?”

“Why?” Ian asked, hoping he didn’t sound as eager as he felt for the morsel of information.

Aria took a deep breath then exhaled. “Guys in my town don’t treat me the way they do the other girls. My first kiss when I was ten was identical to the one I had at Glen Howard’s party last month. Neither had the passion a kiss should. I later found out that my dad had been intimidating them all, all of the guys I knew. The word around town is, ‘don’t ask Aria Cole out on a date unless you plan on marrying her.’ I wanted to go somewhere he doesn’t have any control. Guess I got what I was looking for, huh?”

“Don’t say that. Don’t you ever say that,” Ian said, through clenched teeth. Anger was something Ian felt was useless; most emotions were, so it surprised him that he was so angry—had been on an emotional rollercoaster since meeting her—that he wanted the men who hurt her to suffer severely. “You didn’t deserve what happened to you. And your dad would be more concerned with your health than saying ‘I told you so.’”

“That’s not the only thing I’m worried about,” Aria admitted. “My dad was raised on old-school justice. Instead of an eye for an eye, my dad takes two. He wouldn’t rest until all of you were dead or suffering daily. Because there’s little evidence of what happened, he’d take your punishment into his own hands. He wouldn’t care about your circumstances, the why or who set you up, and he wouldn’t care what happens to him when he was done. He would hunt you all down and kill you one at a time until one of you killed him. I can’t let him risk his life or our family because I was stupid.” She hung her head. “My dad can never find out what happened to me.”

Ian said nothing for a moment as he soaked in what Aria said. He couldn’t say he was surprised, he would respond the same if she were his daughter. He finally nodded. “I understand, but I don’t agree that this should just get swept away. After what was done to you, and my part in it, the least I can do is respect your wishes.” By the way she stiffened; Ian knew he’d said something wrong.

“Please let’s not do this. I don’t think I can take another apology from you. I just want to forget it all happened.”