Chapter 26

Even Mark knew what the hell that ring was, keeping his voice level, but still demanding to know who had given it to her. Arielle had simply shown him the box, which had no name attached and immediately began scouring the people in attendance, mentally checking them off the list as he recounted what they had given her for a gift. His green eyes narrowed on the boy she had been dancing with, the boy who was staring directly at him and felt his mind sliding pieces of information into place, snorting.

"Daddy..."

"Gary, run."

"Gary?" That last piece clinked into its place and he began storming towards the MAN, who was no longer a youth any longer but an adult now.

"Mark stop!" Jasina reacted instinctively and ran to stand between Mark and Gary, holding her arms out with pursed lips. "You're ruining our daughter's birthday and this is NO way to treat a guest, no matter WHO it is!" When he growled and tried moving her, Jasina wasn't budging, knowing Mark wouldn't dare lay his hands on her. She would end up slapping him again in front of everyone, eyes narrowing. "I invited him, okay? I'M the one who let him come to her birthday because it's what Arielle wants! She's been talking to Gary since he got out of juvie and came to me first because she knew how you would react. Like an overprotective jackass of a father who doesn't think before he acts! Now stop this before you completely destroy her golden birthday; we'll discuss this later, but right now you need to suck it up and leave Gary alone. He's here because of me so if you want me to leave, I will, but you are NOT throwing him out of your daughter's birthday party or I will NEVER speak to you again!"

She had invited the little bastard who had been sixteen years old and running around with twelve year old girls. The little bastard who had supplied the labor and the equipment to LOCK THEM IN HIS BEDROOM! And the icing on the cake was that she was standing right there in front of all these people, basically treating him like Trish treated Steve, a bitch.

"Take that little punk and BOTH of you get the fuck off my property." Mark ordered in a low dangerous voice, becoming dimly aware of Steve holding him back. When Jasina just stared at him, he lunged forward, grunting when he was jerked back. "NOW!"

"I'd be happy to and I'm sure Arielle appreciates you ruining her birthday party, her GOLDEN birthday party." Jasina refused to cry in front of him and wrapped a protective arm around Gary's shoulders, stopping him before he could say a single word. "Not right now, Gary. Come on, you'll see Arie again, I promise." If she had to, she would let Gary move in with her temporarily, knowing he had nowhere to stay right now and would even help him find a job. Jasina wasn't surprised when Arielle rushed past everyone, including her father, throwing her arms around Jasina as tears poured down her face. "I'm sorry Arie. I tried..." She winced when Mark roared for everyone to leave that the party was officially over and she felt terrible for her daughter. "If you want to come stay with me, you are more than welcome." Jasina quickly added before heading through the house as fast as her heels could go, refusing to let Mark hurt the man her daughter loved.

"Not now Trish, go after them." Steve ordered when it looked like Trish was about to open her mouth and bitch Mark out. "Go on now, woman. I got him."

"Not for long." Mark growled, beginning to step out of the hold Steve had him in, finally bending over and letting Steve slide over his back.

Steve tripped him before he could go after Gary and Jasina. "Now...just calm down, you already fucked up yer daughter's birthday, you lookin' to go to jail too?"

"That bitch snuck him in here, KNOWING how I feel about the little bastard!"

Steve did the only thing he could when Mark wouldn't stop his rampage; he pushed him onto the patio and then into the pool. "Cool yer ass down!"

Jasina got Gary safely into her car and went to slip behind the wheel, when Trish came out of the house bellowing her name. "Stay in here, do you understand?" She demanded, staring into Gary's guilty dark eyes.

"Yes ma'am."

"Good boy, thank you." She shut the door and met Trish halfway, blinking as tears slowly slid down her cheeks, trembling slightly from Mark's explosion. "I'm sorry..."

"No! Don't you DARE apologize! This is his fault, not yours! He doesn't want anyone to be happy because he's a miserable old bastard himself!" Trish wiped a few of her own tears away, knowing Arielle was beside herself right now. "Did you know about the ring?"

"No." Jasina actually smiled through everything, touching her face. "But I'm glad he gave it to her because it proves just how much he loves her. Maybe I'm fooling myself and maybe I'm even a bad mother, but I believe it wholeheartedly. And I wanted my daughter to have the best birthday of her life and it was ruined..."

"Because of Mark, not you." Trish cupped her face in her hands, wanting Jasina to realize she didn't do anything wrong. "You did what you felt best, Jasi. No one can fault you for that and Arielle did have a great birthday, up until Mark found out about Gary. But that doesn't make you a bad mother. You're a great mother, never forget that."

"Thanks." She cringed when she heard glass breaking inside, hoping Mark wasn't destroying Arielle's gifts and blinked when her daughter suddenly ran out the front door.

Arielle had grabbed a bag, stuffed her important things into it and hauled her ass right out of the house, tears streaming down her face. She knew her Dad would never lay a hand on her, but that didn't make his explosive temper any less frightening. She was pissed off too, on top of being afraid, hardly believing he had just done that in front of all those people, ruining what had been a special night. Jasina heard something in the backyard that sounded like water and felt her teal eyes widen when Steve came barreling out of the house moments later, blinking.

"TIME TO GO!" Steve bellowed, actually lifting his pregnant fiancée in his arms and raced to the truck, knowing Mark would be after him as soon as he could.

"STEVEN! What the hell is going on?" Trish shrieked in surprise, looking past his shoulder at a bewildered Jasina, her own eyes widening when they heard Mark cussing up a storm. "What did you do?!"

"Shoved him in the pool to cool his ass off!"

It was definitely time to go as Jasina opened the door for her daughter, practically shoving her inside with her bag and peeled out of there just as Mark came stalking out of the front door, dripping wet from head to toe. Arielle scrambled into the backseat along with Gary, resting her head on his shoulder, unable to stop crying while he wrapped his arms around her. They had gotten what they wanted, to be together, but not in the way either of them wanted. Mark almost took off after them on his Harley, but by the time he was straddling it, reaching for the key, he came to his senses a bit. Enough to know he couldn't drive, not in this rage, and then an image of Arielle's tear streaked face flashed before him, freezing him altogether.

"Shhh it's okay baby doll." Gary soothed, running his fingers through her hair and looked down at her hand, frowning. "Where's your ring?" He watched her pull it out of her bag and handed it to him, locking eyes briefly with Jasina in the rearview mirror, watching her nod once. "I wanted to do this when you opened it, but this is better than nothing. Arielle, this ring is my promise that I will love you forever, no matter what you do, and I will stand by you. Do you accept?" When she nodded and cried harder, Gary slipped the ring on her finger and kissed her softly, wrapping his strong arms around her before burying his face in her hair. "I love you, Arie."

Someday he would marry her, but a promise ring was all he could do right now. Jasina couldn't help letting a few tears slip down her cheeks and silently vowed that if Gary ever hurt her daughter in any way, she would castrate him, especially after what Gary said. When they reached Jasina's apartment, Arielle had stopped crying, mainly because she was out of tears, her nose plugged, and throat felt raw. She leaned on Gary as they followed her Mom inside, letting him take her bag from her lifeless fingers. As soon as they were inside, she headed straight for the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind her.

Gary looked at Jasina almost helplessly.

"Give her some time, Gary. Her father just destroyed possibly one the happiest nights of her life." Jasina quietly said, placing a hand on his shoulder, a frown marred on her features. "She loves you, but what Mark did tonight crushed her, especially in front of all those people. Just let her have some time alone."

Tonight definitely called for some wine and Jasina didn't care who was there, knowing she would probably have nightmares of Mark's emerald eyes turning to pure acid when she defended Gary. There was no way to patch whatever was left between them, it was officially over. Nodding, Gary stood there, unsure of what to do or even say and looked around skeptically.

Never in a million years would he have ever imagined being inside Jasina's apartment, with her being civil to him. Arielle said her Mom understood about them, but he hadn't been entirely sure, considering he had helped lock Jasina and Mark away for a weekend in the ranch. Clearing his throat, he raked a hand through his hair, messing it up without even thinking about it.

"I have a motel room I can go to."

It was also where his small bag of things were and Gary really didn't trust the owner to not go into the room and steal them. He didn't have a lot, but it was all in that bag that couldn't be stolen. A pair of keys were tossed his way, Gary barely catching them before they could clock him in the nose.

"You're staying here with me and Arielle. I'm afraid Mark will try hunting you down and your chances will be better if you're here. Not to mention, Arie needs you right now." Jasina explained, pouring herself a glass of wine while trying to stop trembling, taking a deep breath. "I'm trusting you to take my car, please don't wreck it."

"I can take a bus, ma'am." Gary held out her keys, not surprised in the least when she began shaking her head. "I wouldn't want to risk anything happening to your car, I'm stayin' in a...shady part of town." He jumped when there was a knock on the door, his eyes darting over to it, expecting that to be Mark with a loaded gun and absolutely no mercy.

"Go sit down in the living room, I'll take you to get your things tomorrow."

Jasina didn't want to go anywhere else tonight and had a few of Mark's things that accidentally got caught in the mix with hers when she moved out of the ranch. Pressing her finger to her lips, Jasina took one last sip of wine and tried gathering her wits, padding over to unlock the door. If Mark tried barging in her place, she would call the police and have him arrested on the spot, reluctantly opening the door.

Randy was standing there with an expectant smile on his face, having intended on asking her how the party went and if Arielle liked his gift. He was mildly surprised when he noticed her car in the parking lot, figuring the party would have lasted longer. When he seen the look on Jasina's face, the smile vanished instantly.

"What happened?" He immediately asked awkwardly.

Her heart slowly dislodged its way from her throat as Jasina stared into the worried blue eyes of Randy, tears instantly streaming down her face. "Thank god it's you." She whispered, throwing her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly as her entire body trembled against him from head to toe.

Jasina felt Randy instantly return the embrace and needed this more than anything, clinging to him for dear life. Mark had scared her nearly to death tonight and Jasina honestly thought it was him at the door, ready to stampede over her with a shotgun aimed at Gary. She couldn't even talk and felt Randy back her into the apartment, the door closing behind them, having buried her face in the crook of his neck.

"Who else would it-" Randy trailed off when he realized just who else it could be, the only person he knew who could effectively tear Jasina to pieces. Scowling, Randy held her a bit tighter and buried his face in her hair. After a moment he let go, his piercing blue eyes fastening on Gary. "Hello."

"Hello, I'm-"

"Gary, I'm assuming. Arielle mentioned you." Randy looked down at Jasina, assuming Gary being here had something to do with whatever had her troubled.

"Has Arielle come out of the bathroom yet?" Jasina asked quietly, pulling away from Randy to wipe her tears away, frowning when he merely shook his head. "Alright, there's a spare bedroom down the hallway you can use. Randy, I really hate asking this, but do you have anything Gary can borrow for the night? His stuff is at the hotel on the other side of town and..." She chewed her bottom lip, trying to gather what little dignity she had left. "We need to stay in tonight." She wasn't going to tell him what happened at Arielle's party, flat out refusing. "Please, it would mean a lot to me personally."

"Why don't you just tell me where he's staying and I'll go get his things?" Randy suggested, not about to embarrass Gary by informing him that while he was muscular, he still wouldn't fit in anything Randy owned. When Jasina began shaking her head, he pressed a finger to her lips. "I don't mind and he probably would like his own things, it looks like he's had a rough night too."

Nodding reluctantly, Jasina knew there was no use arguing with Randy and he would be fine because he'd been in a lot of dangerous situations. His job required it. "Hurry back." She pleaded in a whisper, feeling him brush his lips against her forehead and let Gary give him the information on where the hotel was.

Jasina wanted to go with him, but couldn't leave her daughter and Gary alone in case Mark showed up. Swallowing hard, Jasina locked the door behind her and finished her first glass of wine, her mind completely frazzled. Arielle emerged out of the bathroom, still wearing her party dress though it was now looking a bit rumpled and less glamorous. She had discarded her shoes and taken her hair down along with washing away the tears and make-up from her face.

"Who was at the door?" Arielle asked softly, sniffling a little as she sat on the couch, tucking her legs underneath her and smiled waveringly when Gary sat down next to her.

"It was Randy, sweetheart." Jasina answered, sitting down in the nearby chair, leaning her head back. "He was nice enough to go get Gary's things from his hotel room. He's going to stay here with me for awhile until he gets on his feet." She'd already decided it, knowing Mark would be a raving lunatic for at least a good solid month or more, hoping Gary didn't run into him in town because all hell would break loose. "You can stay here too if you want, Arielle, but you two are having separate rooms."

"Mom, you're no fun." Arielle said, aiming for teasing but it came out sounding flat, having a feeling she would probably wind up sneaking into Gary's room anyway. Not for sex, there was no way she was ready for that, but Arielle didn't want to spend their first night back together in the next room over, unable to sleep and thinking about him either.

"You told your boss about me?"

"Randy is cool, trust me."

Jasina couldn't even crack a smile at her daughter's dull tease, too worried about what Mark was going to do and wished she could forget about him. Why couldn't she? He was a heartless brute who didn't care about anyone except himself, not even his daughter! The way he embarrassed her on her golden birthday...Jasina felt sick as she set her second glass of wine down and excused herself to walk into the bathroom.

"Do not let anyone in here without my consent." Jasina ordered before closing the door, falling completely apart.

"Yeah, because I'm really going to open that door for just anyone..." Arielle snorted sarcastically.

"Your Mom is worried, take it easy on her."

"He ruined MY birthday, totally spazzed on EVERYONE..." Arielle began to chew on her thumbnail, sighing when he pulled her hand from her mouth. "Sorry bad habit."

"One you've had since you were ten." He smiled tentatively.