"Wh..what are you doing here?" she asked as she moved out of the way to let him into the room. She shut the door behind him and walked across the room so she was near the couch. She cast a sideways glance at the bed and wondered if her father would know that she and John had made love.
"Your brother called me." He said. He could tell that she was a little nervous with him being there. "Ari what has been going on?"
"John and I got stuck in the elevator a few weeks ago. At the time we couldn't stand each other. We got in this huge fight and we learned a lot about ourselves and each other because of it. We decided to be friends. We've been hanging out the last few weeks and ….I love him Daddy."
Ted Sr. looked at his daughter and sighed. He could see it in her eyes that she was telling the truth. He knew Ted Jr. was not equipped to deal with the fact that his little sister was also a beautiful woman with a mind of her own. He stepped forward and hugged his daughter who was on the verge of tears.
"As long as you're happy, I'm happy." He said kissing her on the head. Just then there was a knock on the door. He let her go and watched as she opened the door. John stood there in front of her with flowers in his hand. He spotted her father and the color drained out of his face. Ted Sr. smiled as John walked into the room. "John, nice to see you again."
"You too sir. I just came by to…"
"He knows John. It's ok." John looked from Arianna to her father and seemed to relax a little.
"Just do me a favor and treat her right and promise me that you will never put your hands on her like that last asshole did." Arianna's face turned white at her father's words. She hadn't told any of the men in her family. "I know all about it and before you ask, just know that I have my ways. Now, I am going to go talk to your brother and see if we can't get this all patched up before Kristen's birthday party this weekend. Of course John you're invited to come." John looked at Arianna who simply shrugged, still in shock from the revelation that her father knew Josh had hit her.
"Thank you sir. We will be there." Ted Sr. hugged Arianna and kissed her on the head before shaking John's hand and walking out of the room. John turned to look at her. She was still in a state of shock. How could her father have known? She had been so careful to keep this from him and her brothers.
"So this Josh guy hit you?" She nodded.
"We had this huge fight because I caught him with this girl that was supposed to be my friend. He told me I was being stupid and I told him that if he could keep it in his pants, we wouldn't have a problem. He backhanded me. I left that day and haven't spoken to him since." She said as tears came to her eyes at the memory. He hugged her and kissed her on top of the head.
"I promise you baby… nobody will ever hurt you again." She looked up at him and smiled. She couldn't what he'd just said. He had promised to protect her. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and dialed Randy's number.
"Hello?" Randy said a little out of breath.
"Hey man, I was just calling to let you know that Ari and I are gunna take a rain check on breakfast. Wait. Why are you out of breath?"
"I uh…..Sam came in a little early. Allie wasn't feeling so well so she left her with my mom."
"Enough said and next time you're having sex DON'T ANSWER YOUR PHONE. Dinner. 730. Meet you in lobby. Bye." He hung his phone up and looked at Arianna who had made her way back over to the bed. He raised his eyebrows and smiled at her. "What are you doing?"
"Maybe Randy's phone call gave me a few ideas." She smirked as he walked back over and kissed her. Things quickly got heated and soon they were making love.
John had never felt so complete. He could see himself being with Ari for the rest of his life and the thought both excited and scared him. He had given his heart away once only to have it stomped on. Could he really do it again? He looked at Arianna as she lay sleeping. The answer came to him as quickly as the question. He already had. Arianna had his heart.