Like I did every day I spent with Ryker.
But given everything I'd learned, the reality that he'd been stalking us for years, it made it impossible to think of finding a way out of this. How could you make someone understand his obsession wasn't healthy, and that he would be better off finding someone who he could have an actual relationship with?
"Dad," I whispered, reaching around his waist to tug him into a hug.
"You two have fun. I've got the kiddos covered. We're going to order some Chinese food and play board games until bedtime."
"Okay," I whispered, moving to each of my kids and giving them hugs and kisses goodbye.
"Princess, Mommy," Ines said with glee, running her fingers all over the satin fabric of my dress.
"You're the only Princess here, baby girl," I whispered, lingering with my lips on her head. Axel gave me a knowing look, hugging Ryker goodbye and looking positively gleeful that the man was pushing me out of my comfort zone. I didn't leave the kids for anything other than work. I never wanted to be away from them, especially not after Chad's death. So choosing to leave them voluntarily felt like a horrific step in a direction I wasn't ready for, but it wasn't like Ryker had given me much choice.
Not with his gruff command that we were going out before he told me my father was coming to babysit.
"See you in the morning, Little Man," Ryker said, stepping toward the front door and pulling it open after he squeezed Ines in for a tight hug.
I wouldn't be home to tuck my kids into bed for the first time. Even with Ryker's help, I always kissed them goodnight, and the realization made my feet stick in the kitchen. "Come on, Sunshine," Ryker said, and there was a gentle command in his voice that I couldn't argue with. I knew I'd be getting in the car even if he had to carry me there.
With a deep breath, I forced my legs to move. To carry me into the entryway so that Ryker could place his hand on the small of my back and guide me out the door. When he closed the door behind us in silence, the lock clicked closed as my father activated it behind us. It was unnecessary with all the security on the property, but I appreciated the touch.
"They'll be fine," Ryker assured me as he guided me to the car. There was patience in his steps as he went slowly for my benefit and let me take each step reluctantly.
"What if Ines needs me?" I asked him, pausing as he stopped to open the passenger door of the Maserati for me. He tucked my hair behind my ear, studying the motion intently before his bright eyes met my dark ones.
"You're her mother, Sunshine. She'll always need you, but she'll be okay with her grandpa tucking her in for one night." He kissed my forehead and gestured me into the car. With one last wistful look to the house, I nodded and climbed in. The leather immediately cushioned me, feeling somehow comforting despite the coolness of it. It was early June, and the nights still got chilly quickly. With the sun setting in the sky after a fairly overcast day, the temperature had dropped quickly.
“I hate missing bedtime,” I whispered, wincing when Ryker gave me a knowing look. “If I could have had one thing with my mom, it would be for her to tuck me in at night. What if they feel like that?”
Ryker reached down to touch my cheek, brushing back the single tear that gathered. “You f
eel that way because you never had your mother there to tuck you in, Tesoro. Those kids know without a doubt that they’ll have you back tomorrow night.”
“Unless they don’t,” I said, turning my head back, so I severed our connection. “You never know what will happen.”
Ryker closed the door, going around to his side to climb in and start up the car. I hated to admit that the sound of the Maserati engine felt like it vibrated through me, to the part of me that would always be my father's daughter who could appreciate the sound of a fantastic engine. Even if I was terrified of the driver. “You will not live your life afraid to go to dinner, Calla. I won’t let you.”
When Ryker turned around in the driveway, he went slow. The dirt road wouldn't be kind to the car if he went too fast, and the beauty of that car shouldn't have been wasted on a dirt road at all. It belonged in a pristine garage in the city or at the Bellandi estate.
But Ryker seemed to have a passion for an eclectic mix of old and new.
He drove through the gate, and I watched in the side mirror as the gates closed behind us. It appeased me to know that if my kids should ever be without me, they were at least as safe as possible, tucked inside the property and guarded by professionals and my father. Dante waved from outside the fence, patrolling the property as I sometimes saw the guards do.
Whoever Ryker and the Bellandi family had pissed off to warrant such security, they must have been a big fish for all the fuss.
I didn't speak to him as he drove, trying to calm my frayed nerves about being alone with him.
I was going on a date with my stalker who liked to kill people in his free time.
It sounded absurd, even in my head. I had no idea what I was to him, what the obsession meant inside that twisted head of his. For all the talking Ryker did, he said very little. From what I'd seen of him with other people, he wasn't always as talkative as he was with me and the kids, but that didn't mean that he gave me any more details about his life than he gave to absolute strangers.
It was like he was an expert at diversion, at guiding me away from topics I had a feeling he didn't want to talk about. Like his family.
"What do you need from me?" he asked as the city came into view. He drove too fast, weaving through traffic like a professional, but there was always tension in his body when he drove. Like he couldn't quite get comfortable with it, but if he had to do it, he would do it his damn way.
"Where are we going?" I asked, glancing over at him momentarily. His eyes seemed to glow in the lights shining off the dashboard, practically luminescent as he looked over at me. He held my eyes as an amused smirk crossed his face and then he turned back to the road.
"Angel's," he answered. My eyes widened, because I'd never been there before. Even before the kids, that had been out of Chad's price range and he'd never been one for dressing up. He'd hated the uniform he wore for work and always claimed that if he had to wear a monkey suit to work, he wouldn't wear one outside of it.