Christian lowered the magazine to his lap and glared dangerously into Ned’s eyes. “You’re not going to do anything that would hurt Arianna. Understood?”
Ned looked to Arianna and back to Christian, defeat in his eyes. “Understood.” He grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair and placed his sun hat on his head. He walked out of her office without so much as a glance back.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Oh, my God! Christian?”
“What? How did you…what just happened?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just had my guys do a bit of research on your uncle. I wanted to know what he was about and what he was hiding. You should know me by now, Arianna. I’m a Romero, and we don’t mess around when it comes to protecting those we love and care about. I’d do damn near anything I had to just to make sure you were okay. Understood?” He arched a brow and looked so sexy when he did. She reached over to hug him.
He embraced her tightly and pressed his lips to her forehead. She felt a delightful spark of energy rush through her from the soft, magical touch of his lips on her skin. God, she loved the way he felt. All the time.
“Oh, Christian. I’m so sorry that I never trusted you before.”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
“You heard Uncle Ned. Mental illness can run in our bloodline and…I…I mean, you would want to have children with me knowing that…?”
“Hey, don’t even finish that sentence. And don’t insult me. I love you, Arianna. My love for you is unconditional. Besides, you don’t suffer with depression.”
“I did once. Not like that. I mean, Dad has delusional disorder and so did Grandma. The trouble with that disorder is that sometimes it can go undetected because, depending on how severe, most people can function in their day-to-day lives. I didn’t want it to get out-”
“Hey, it’s okay. We’re going to make sure your dad gets the best treatment and we’re going to move forward, okay?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“God, Arianna. You’re so…amazing, you know that? It must have torn you up inside, seeing your father like that. You kept up the pretense with him not just because you didn’t want to have him humiliated but you didn’t want him to lose his business. You’re one brave woman. As painful as that was, you did it for all the right reasons. Who could fault you for that? Heck, if that’s the kind of genes you have, I’d be honored to procreate with you.”
She smiled appreciatively and hugged him closely.
He glanced at his watch. “Come on. Let’s go check on your father.”
“I love you, Christian Romero.”
“I love you, too, Arianna. Just don’t ever hold back on me again. Don’t ever take on anything like this on your own without giving me a chance to help you. Promise?”
“That, I promise.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The next couple of days, Arianna had addressed some members of the hotel staff, including Tiff, about her father not being well, though not going into details. Many of them had suspected something was wrong. Although her mother rarely left her room when she was…around, the staff never saw her since Dad returned from Murumba. Even during drills in the past, she would explain it off that her mom had stepped out.
Arianna sat at her desk in her office flipping through some files and sifting through invoices while thinking about the events of the past few days. She was more grateful than ever to have Christian by her side, supporting her. He was the greatest thing that had happened to her. She didn’t know what she would have done if he wasn’t in her world. Oh, God! She could have lost everything. Her father would have been gone completely if her uncle had stepped in with a dramatic hostile takeover of her father’s beloved “home.”
Thankfully, her uncle agreed to sign official documents, declaring it best that the hotel keep its current management since he would not be in a position to manage the facility. After all, he had new issues surrounding unpaid taxes that he would have to face. Arianna wasn’t at all against helping him out whenever she could. He was still her flesh and blood, she just wanted her uncle to get the help HE needed for his gambling addiction and hostile behaviour, or more accurately, anger management shortcomings. She just wanted everyone to be okay. She didn’t like to see any one knocked down in life.
For now, her father was her priority—as he’d always been.
The truth was that Arianna had an explosive, crippling fear that her father, if anyone knew the truth about his “bout” of delusion, would be hauled off by men in white jackets and locked away in a padded cell.