Daddy's Angel (Montana Daddies 7)

“Fuck! How the fuck did they get there so quickly?”

“It took awhile for us to get out of the building and parking lot then walk here.” Dominic frowned. “Estelle is still there since she was waiting for Joe to return after the concert and he’s worried about her. I don’t think we should take Arianna back there. Not yet, anyway. Not until the crowd has cleared away.”

“I have somewhere safe I can take her. You head back to the apartment; help get Joe through to Estelle. I’ll look after Arianna.”

Dominic glanced down at Arianna, but Bain wasn’t even certain she was following everything they were saying.

“You sure you want to take her?”

Bain gave him a look. “Just get us a ride. I got this.”

Yeah, maybe he wasn’t acting in the most professional manner. But right now, he’d give Arianna whatever she needed if she’d just stop fucking shaking and making those small whimpers.

A town car pulled up fifteen minutes later. Dominic opened the door.

“Hop in, Arianna,” Bain said to her quietly as she continued to cling to him.

She took a deep shuddering breath then moved into the car.

Dominic grabbed hold of his arm as he went to slip in after her. “You sure about this?”

No. He wasn’t sure about much. Which was a strange situation for him to be in. He always knew what he was doing. But he was going on gut instinct right now.

And his gut told him that he needed to look after Arianna.

8

She couldn’t breathe. Oh God. She was going to lose it. Right here in this town car. At least Bain had moved the privacy screen into place. Still, she didn’t want him to see her lose it.

Get it together, Arianna.

She attempted to breathe, to calm the nausea bubbling in her stomach. But nothing was getting through. There was heavy weight on her chest.

She could still feel the hands grabbing at her. Only in her head, they pulled her away from Bain, away from safety. They tore at her. Hurt her.

Don’t hurt me.

“Arianna? Are you okay? Ari?”

His voice tried to reach through the panic, but it wasn’t working. She could still feel it clawing at her, threatening to pull her under.

“Angel? Calm down. You’re okay.”

Angel. She liked him calling her that. Like she meant something to him. What would this man do to protect someone he cared about?

Everything. Anything and everything he had to.

God, she wanted that.

“Shit. You’re having a panic attack.”

How did he know that? She was usually so good at hiding them. She dug her fingernails into the palm of her hand. The slight bite of pain helped her push back the panic.

“What are you doing?” he demanded. He forced her hands apart placing his palms on hers. “Do not do that again. You hear me?”

His voice was demanding. A pure command meant to be obeyed.

“Don’t hurt yourself.” He raised her hand to his chest. “Feel my breaths. Follow me. Breathe with me. In. One. Two. Out. One. Two. That’s it. Good girl. Doing so well, Ari. So brave. Good girl. Keep breathing. You’re safe. In and then out. Well done.”