Ripple Effect (Effect 1)

He asked, “Are you friends with the Stevensons?”

The Stevensons were throwing this party. I was glad I didn’t know them.

“No, I’m here with my girlfriend. She’s a friend of the family.”

Ainsley spotted me and started coming my way. She was graceful and confident as she walked through the room. She had a strong presence, but around me, she had become laid-back and comfortable.

She walked up to me, and all I could think about was my mark on her right now.

My mark. My Ainsley.

I was about to introduce her when she stiffened and looked like she had seen a ghost. Her face turned pale.

Gerald spoke, “Ainsley, it’s good to see you. It’s been a while. How are you doing?”

Lydia was next to speak with more life than I thought she could have at this point with how defeated she seemed, “Oh, Ainsley. It’s wonderful that I’m finally getting to meet you. Gerald has talked so much about you. I hate that you haven’t been able to come over for dinner yet.”

Who the hell is this guy? And why is he so familiar with my girl?

Ainsley stood there, shocked, unable to move as her eyes widened. Adrenaline began pumping through my veins as I prepared myself for whatever Ainsley needed. I glanced back at Gerald, who was looking between Ainsley and me.

Her voice was small as she said, “Adam, please get me out of here.”

I grabbed her by the waist to escort her out when Gerald reached out and touched her arm. I would have thought he’d electrocuted her with how she jumped back. I moved her behind me, and she latched on to the back of my shirt as if she was afraid something else was about to happen.

I stepped in and adopted my no-nonsense tone as I said, “Gerald, I suggest you not touch my girl again. It’s apparent she doesn’t want to talk to you. If you push this further, I can guarantee I will be the one to end it. I don’t know what is going on, but you need to stop.”

Gerald stopped looking at Ainsley and turned his attention to me. His eyes became even darker, if that were possible, like a volcano brewing, waiting to erupt. “She’s my daughter. I think I have the right. You might be dating her, but she’s not yours.”

What.

The.

Fuck?

The first thing I needed to do was get Ainsley out of this situation, and then I’d get all this shit sorted mentally. Ainsley had become mute beside me. I brought her to my side and wrapped my arms around her.

I said, “You have one thing wrong. Ainsley is mine to protect.”

We were starting to get an audience. It was time to go, so we started to leave. Ainsley was trying to hold it together as her world was slowly unraveling.

Hell, she’s tough.

We were approaching the exit when Ainsley stopped.

“My mom. We have to get my mom out of here. He can’t get near her. Adam, I have to find my mom.”

Her voice was urgent. She turned and started frantically scanning the room. I looked over at Gerald, who was otherwise engaged, talking to someone else. He was still occasionally watching us. I wanted to pummel his ass into next week.

“We’ll find her, baby. Don’t worry. He’s not going to hurt either one of you.”

She wasn’t listening to me, and she must have spotted her mom because she took off at almost a jog. The room was swarming with people, and the conversation felt deafening as this situation unfolded. I kept glancing back to Gerald, who was now out of our line of sight. Hopefully, he’d stay put.

Ainsley made it to her mom. She pulled her mom out of a conversation with another woman.

“Ainsley, please, your manners—”

She cut her mom off, “Mom, he’s here. We need to go. Dad’s here.” Fear laced her voice.

Christine’s eyes looked scared as she glanced around the room, but then she nodded to Ainsley. I glanced back, thankful the fucker still couldn’t see us.

I stopped both Ainsley and Christine when they turned to walk back toward the exit that Gerald was near. “Let’s go out the back exit over here, so we don’t attract extra attention.”

They both started heading for the back exit as I walked behind them. Ainsley was holding her mom’s hand for dear life as we left the banquet hall. My body was gearing for a fight if one was needed. That shithead isn’t going to get near either one of them. The shutting of the banquet hall door muffled the music noise as we left. I checked, and we were alone in the red-carpeted corridor.

Ainsley was frantic. “Mom, come stay with me for a few days, please.”

I looked at Christine’s hand, and it was shaking ever so slightly. Other than that, she seemed that she had pushed away whatever fear had taken over a few minutes ago. “I’ll be okay, sweetie. I need to get home. Don’t worry.”

“Please come home with me.”

I was two seconds from dragging Christine home with us from the sound of Ainsley’s voice.

Christine kissed Ainsley on the forehead. “I had mentioned dinner to Adam. I’d like to see you both again. Does this Wednesday work?”

Ainsley looked stunned into silence. Hell, I was speechless from watching her mother act as if the man who had beaten her countless times wasn’t standing on the other side of those wooden doors. It was as if Christine wasn’t comprehending the situation.

Ainsley was desperate. “Mom, yes, I’ll come this Wednesday. Please call me if you need something. Please don’t let anyone in the house, Mom. Set your alarm.”

“I will. Sweetie, you worry too much.” She turned to me. “Take care of my baby girl. She means the world to me.”

I took Christine’s offered hand. “I promise. I won’t let anything happen to her.”

Christine hugged her daughter. “I love you, Ainsley.”

“I love you, too, Mom.”

Christine turned and started making her way to the parking garage. I didn’t know what to do as Ainsley watched her mom disappear behind the elevator door. I was at a loss. I touched her shoulders, and she turned to me, her eyes filled with water. She grabbed me by the waist and started sobbing into my chest. The muffled cries filled the hallway we were in.

“Shh…I’ve got you. He’s not going to touch you, Ainsley. He’d have to kill me first.”

The sobs continued. “Don’t let me go. Please don’t let me go.” Her cries tore through me.

“Ainsley, I’m not letting you go. Baby, you’re mine.”

She sobbed harder as I picked her up and started carrying her to the car. I didn’t want any of these assholes seeing her affected like this.

Who the fuck invites someone like Gerald to the same event as his ex-wife? Ainsley had been right on her assessment of Donna. Bitch.

By the time I had my girl back in the car, she was working on getting her emotions back under control, like I had seen her mother do in a matter of minutes.

Ainsley needed to talk. She needed to let it out.

Her eyes were swollen as she said, “I’m sorry I lost it back there. My family is all sorts of messed up. I started panicking the moment I saw him. I haven’t seen him since he walked out on us.”

“You’re not the only one wi

th a messed-up family. It’s okay to be vulnerable with me. I think after what we’ve shared over the last two weeks, you’d know how important you are to me.”

She nodded and looked out the window. “I do.”

It felt good to put my emotions out there. Saying that helped quiet the beast trying to convince me to pull away, the one afraid of getting injured emotionally again.

I pulled the car out and decided to take her back to my place. In fact, I wanted Ainsley to stay with me until we saw if her dad was going to make further contact with her.

I needed to talk to Brandt to let him know I wanted to fire Gerald’s law firm. There was no way I could let them continue to represent us.

Asshole.

Ainsley was reflective the entire ride home, and I didn’t push her to talk as I played some low soothing music to mask the silence and give her privacy. She stared out the window. I pulled the car in the garage, and robotically, she got out and headed for the door into the house.

At a loss for words, I racked my brain on what to do. The distance that was between us felt like a canyon. I needed to feel her. I wrapped my arms around her waist as the garage finished closing.

“Hey, baby, do you want to talk?” I nuzzled her ear.

She turned in my arms and grabbed me tightly, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Yes. You should know what you’re getting into. I’ll understand if you want to stop seeing me.”

The thought of walking away from her wasn’t even an option at this point. I put my finger underneath her chin and brought it up, so I could see her beautiful face. “Ainsley, I’m not leaving at the first sign of trouble. I’m committed to this, to us. I thought we shared something deep together.”

She nodded. “We did. I’m just…I just…”

I kissed her briefly to silence her. There was no reason for her to explain herself. I led us into the house and straight to my bedroom. She kicked off her shoes and crawled underneath the blanket. I followed and brought her against my body. She was tracing the dragon tattoo on my forearm.

As her hands made their way down the body of the dragon, she said, “My dad would come home each night, and if things didn’t go exactly as he wanted down to the minutes, he would say, ‘Christine, you and I need to talk this evening.’ That always meant that he was going to punish her. As the years passed, it was rare when I didn’t hear those words at night. Almost thirty minutes after my bedroom door shut, I would hear my mom’s muffled cries along with occasionally hearing what I assumed was her body being slammed into something. After the beating was done, he would come to my room and stand in the door while I pretended to sleep. I don’t know what he would have done if I had stirred. I never slipped. When I would come down for breakfast in the morning, my mom would greet me like nothing had happened. The only way I could tell was from the slight wince or limp she would have at times.”