Chapter 26

My worst nightmare is finally over, but I can't shake the way it made me feel. Ari is tired of my helicopter parent routine, but I can't help it.

I almost lost my girl.

Mason brought her back to me, though. He's apologized time and time again, claiming that his mother's actions are his fault, despite the fact that I keep telling him her actions were hers alone. His mother had it out for me from the moment she laid eyes on me.

Turns out she was crazier than we thought. She paid Marigold, the woman from the day care, to let her take Ari without a trace. Marigold is in jail, awaiting trial.

I wish I could say the same for his mother. They have her locked up in a state mental hospital. Apparently she lost her shit in jail. Even though she claims she is not insane, her lawyer had her involuntarily registered. If she ever recovers, she will be formally charged, but until then, she is there with no sign of release.

The public fallout from this has been over the top. You would think the president murdered someone with the way the media is reporting on it every second. Mason has been working round the clock trying to get everything calmed down, yet at the same time he has still made time to be here with us. I'm beyond grateful for him.

That's why I left him upstairs in bed, sleeping. He deserves a little rest.

Arianna is determined to drive me up a wall, though. It's been a month since everything went down, yet she is acting like nothing happened.

The therapist says this is normal, and that she is still processing everything. The first week she had nightmares, but they've started to subside. It helps that every time she has one, Mason is right there to hold her until she falls back asleep. The bond between them has only grown since this whole ordeal.

It doesn't help my anxiety knowing she wants to get back to normal, though. I don't think I'm ready to let her out of my sight. I haven't even been going into work unless Mason can stay with her.

He's hired security for her and all, but I can't trust a stranger to care for her. I did that once, and they basically sold her. No, she is better off here at home with me.

"Good morning, Bug." I gently wake her. "You ready for breakfast?"

She blinks her little eyes open, looking up at me all sleepily.

"Waffles?" she mutters.

"I can make waffles. Go to the bathroom and meet me in the kitchen."

I kiss her head, hugging her a little closer before letting her go.

"Love you, Bug."

She mumbles something that sounds like love you as she goes to the bathroom. I make my way into the kitchen and take out the ingredients I need to make waffles. When Ari finally makes it to the kitchen, I'm already working on my first batch.

"Did you brush your teeth?"

"Yes." She lays her head on the table as she stares at me.

"What do you want to drink this morning? Orange juice or apple?"

"Milkshake," she grumbles.

I sigh. She's been testing boundaries again. I know it's my fault. Those first few days, I would jump to give her anything she asked for. I was so grateful to have her back that I didn't care if she should have it or not. I wanted her to be happy.

Now that more time has passed, I've been setting the rules again. Only this time, they are a little different. A little stricter.

"You know ice cream isn't allowed. If you don't choose, I'll give you water."

She huffs. "Apple juice."

I pour her some into a cup and take it to her. Then I go back and pull the waffle from the iron. After cutting it into bite-sized pieces, I slather butter on top, then add syrup. To keep it healthy, I put some berries on top.

"Here you go, Bug," I tell her, sliding the plate in front of her before going back to make my own.

We eat in silence. My bug isn't the best morning person. Considering I never was until I had her, I don't blame her.

Once we are done, I take the dishes to the sink.

"Go get changed, and then we can decide what to do today."

She runs off to her room, much more awake now. When she makes it back to the living room, I'm picking up some of the toys she left out last night.

"So do you want to do one of those science experiments we watched yesterday? I can get Thomas to bring us what we need."

"No. I want to go to the park. I want to play on the swings."

"Not today, honey. We can do something fun here, though."

"I've been inside forever. I want to go outside," she pouts.

"We can go in the backyard?" I offer.

She crosses her arms over her chest and stomps her foot. I know I am about to have a big tantrum on my hands. We have been playing in the backyard, but she's grown tired of it already since there's nothing for her to play on.

I wonder how much a nice jungle gym would be…

I know the park would be better. I could take her. She would be with me. The idea that someone could walk up and grab her has sheer terror rushing through my veins. Even with myself and the security guard, all I can think of is losing sight of her and then not being able to find her.

While her nightmares have started to fade, mine haven't. Every night I dream of her being taken again, only this time we don't make it in time or we don't find her at all.

"Mommy, I want to go to the park. Why can't we go?" Ari cries.

"Bug, I'm not ready to take you yet."

"You never let me do anything fun anymore," Ari cries, running into her room, slamming the door shut.

I have no clue what to do. I know I need to let her go at some point, but how do you get over the panic? How do you get over your child being taken? All I want to do is protect her. Is that so bad?

I can't help but feel like I'm failing her as a mother, and I hate it.

* * *

Another day of putting out fires.

That's the first thing I thought when I woke up this morning. Olivia has already left the bed, so I don't even have her to make my morning a little better before I have to deal with the shitshow that has become our lives.

Everything has imploded. The board is scrambling to get their ducks back in a row. Many of them have mentioned that I should have known about this, but when I brought up the fact that I tried to sever ties with the foundation and they denied me, they backed down. The only one not giving me shit is Mr. Lingle. He knew as well as I did that something like this was coming. My mother was a ticking time bomb. None of us realized how far she would actually take it. I thought she would simply make some decision with the foundation that would make The Williamson Group look bad.

No, she went full psycho, kidnapping my child and all. To say the media is having a field day would be an understatement.

I've been taking many of the interviews via phone calls from my home as much as possible, citing the need to be with my family at this time. The ones I can't put off, I go in quickly and finish them before heading back home. I refuse to take any outside of Boston.

While the foundation is taking a hit, I've been able to spin the story in a way that The Williamson Group is protected. I'm the poor father who almost lost his child. That's all they can talk about.

The foundation will recover. I've already agreed that Eli will step in to manage it until we hire someone to take over. He's working on that now. He doesn't want to leave my side for long. He's planning to move the home base back to Boston, the way it was always meant to be.

Leaving our bedroom, I find Ari and Olivia locked in a heated battle in the living room.

"Mommy, I want to go to the park. Why can't we go?" Ari cries.

"Bug, I'm not ready to take you yet."

"You never let me do anything fun anymore," Ari cries, running into her room, slamming the door shut.

"You are going to have to loosen the reins sometime," I say as I walk toward her.

"She was kidnapped. How can you be so nonchalant about this?"

I rock back on my heels as her words hit me right in the chest.

"Is that what you think? It kills me to know that she was almost hurt because of my family. I want to wrap her in bubble wrap and never let her out of the house again, but that's not realistic, Olivia. All we can do is take more steps to keep her safe. I hired a security guard that will take care of her when we aren't with her. I have my assistant Alex weeding through nanny applications, so that way we can narrow them down and pick one so she doesn't have to go back to day care. Once we have a nanny picked out, we can find Ari some classes so she still gets the socialization she needs before she starts school in a couple of months. I don't care if it pisses you off, but I went ahead and signed her up for the best private school in the area that has their own security and will allow ours to be on site as well. We can protect her without limiting her."

"You did all of that without me?"

"It needed to be done, so I took care of it."

"I'm scared to let her out of my sight," she admits.

"I know." I pull her into my arms. "It's been a month, though, and Ari's frustrated and sick of the two of us. I think it's time to let her go out for a bit and run around like a normal kid. I could call the guys and you can call Chloe. Maybe they can go to the park while you and I spend some time alone together."

She doesn't say anything for a long time. Then she takes a deep breath.

"Okay. Call them."

She pulls away, using her own phone to call Chloe.

I send a mass text to my friends, telling them to drop everything and meet at my place. While I'm at it, I shoot off a text to Alex, asking him to cancel my meetings for the day. Then I make my way back into our bedroom. It takes me a minute to find what I'm looking for, but when I do, I smile. I wasn't planning this today, but it feels right.

When the guys show up, I pull Eli aside.

"Can you let the hotel know I need my regular room?"

He nods. "Sure, no problem."

"Thanks, man, I appreciate it."

Then we walk over to the group that now includes Chloe. Ari is up in Max's arms, Iris at his side.

"You said all hands on deck," he says when he sees me looking at her.

"The more, the merrier. Will you guys take Ari to the park and whatever else you want to do for the afternoon? Olivia and I have something to do. Gerald will also go. He's waiting outside."

"Gerald is the best. You'll love him, Ari. He usually keeps candy on him," Max jokes.

He's not wrong. Gerald is our go-to security guard for events. Now he's the full-time guard for Ari.

"I get to go to the park? Mommy said no." Ari cuddles into Max's neck.

"Mommy said no because she couldn't take you, but she decided to call in backup." I give all the credit to Olivia.

"Thank you, Mommy. Can we go now?" She looks at the group.

They all laugh as they walk out the door. Olivia squeezes my hand as she goes.

"They will be okay."

"Logically, I know that, but I'm traumatized. Anytime she's out of my sight, I feel like I'm pushed back to the day she was taken. I'm trying, but it's hard. She's my baby. I don't know what I would do without her."

"I know, Livvy, I know. I'm right there with you, trust me. Let's get your mind off it, though. I want to show you something."

She smiles. "I thought you had meetings."

"I canceled them. Fuck that place. You're more important."

"Such a charmer," she teases, but lets me lead her out to my car.

"Only for you, Livvy."

The ride is quiet with both of us lost in our own thoughts. While she's probably busy worrying about Arianna, I'm daydreaming of how this might go. She could lose her shit on me.

I hope she doesn't, though.

When we pull up to the hotel, she looks over at me, confused.

"Have faith," I tell her before getting out of the car and going around to open her door. Tristen is at the front desk, holding out a key for me. I smile, taking it before pulling Olivia to the guest elevators.

When I press the button, she gasps. "Our room?"

I didn't realize she considered it ours. That only makes this all the more special.

"Shh, you're going to ruin the surprise."

She giggles, but mimics zipping her lips. When the elevator dings open, I lead her down the hall to the room. Then I open the door and gesture for her to go inside first.

"Wow, it looks exactly how I remember. I won't lie, I've been tempted to come take a peek since I started working here, but never had a real reason to." She stands at the window, looking out.

"I asked them not to change anything about the room. When you left me that night, I wanted some way to remember it. I would come into town every couple of months and stay here without anyone knowing."

She turns to face me. "Really? It was one night."

I shrug. "It was a magical night. One that kept me going for a long time. I never forgot you. I tried to find you a couple of times. I didn't have much to go off. Sometimes I would just walk the streets and hope to catch a glimpse of you. I knew it was a long shot, but it comforted me."

"I thought of you often too. It was a little different because I had Ari. I see you every time I look at her."

"We made a beautiful daughter. I'm sorry I missed so much of her life." I step forward, pulling her into my arms.

"It wasn't your fault. I should have insisted I see you personally."

I shake my head. "You couldn't have known. It doesn't matter now. No reason to live in the past. I want to look toward our future."

"I'd like that."

Deciding it's now or never, I pull the ring from my pocket and drop to my knee. Her hand flies to her lips as she gasps.

"It may seem like it's too soon because we only just reconnected, but I feel like I've loved you forever. The fact that you gave birth and raised my favorite person in the world only adds to that. I don't need time to decide if I want to spend the rest of my life with you or not. I'm all in. I have been since the beginning. If you aren't ready to get married now, then we can wait as long as you want. All I know is that I want you to know my commitment to you is real. I'm never going to waver. You are the one and only person in this entire world for me. I love you, Livvy baby. Will you be my wife?"

Tears are flowing down her cheeks as she just stares at me. For a minute, I think she might say no, but instead she says nothing at all.

"Livvy baby? Can you say something? You're worrying me."

She nods yes, sucking in a breath. "Yes."

"Yes, you will say something, or yes, you will marry me? I need to be clear here."

She laughs, grabbing my cheeks to kiss me. "Yes, I will be your wife. Today, tomorrow, forever."

Kissing her hard once, I pull back and put the ring on her finger. Then I sweep her up into my arms and swing her around.

"You won't regret this. I will spend the rest of my life loving you."

She smiles, looking at her ring. "I knew it."

"Knew what?"

"That you wouldn't let your fiancée walk around without a huge statement piece. Jesus, how much did you spend on this? You know what, I don't want to know. It doesn't matter. You know I don't need your money, right?"

"I know, but it's not mine anymore. It's ours. The fact that you don't want it just makes me that much more sure about giving it to you."

"I love you, Mason. I can't wait to be your wife."

"I love you, Livvy baby. Now let me show you how much."

I spend the rest of the afternoon showing her how much she means to me, knowing that she and Ari are my reason for living.

Life can't get any better.