My Dad's Best Friend Is My Guardian.

Chapter 18

Ryan's POV

" I didn't realize they knew we were here. I was so careful not to let her out of my sight."

"Listen, we don't have much time to worry about that now. Just think. Who did you see her interacting with at the club last night?" My hand runs over my face, stressed with how fast these men found our location. While I wait for Tyler to figure out who Amerie interacted with last night, I walk to the door of the bedroom she was in. Peeping through the crack at Catherine, watching her worried face while she looks over her daughter. 

"There was just a handful of women she interacted with. Wait... There was a man. He didn't seem like a threat to me, but he offered her a drink." Tyler finally lets me in on the night's events. 

"Did she drink from what he offered her? Did he say anything?!" I turn back to look at Tyler sternly. 

"No. He drank it and hid amongst the crowd. She looked really upset with him and the women she was with looked uncomfortable." Tyler runs hands in his hair, I see him pulling at the ends in frustration.

"It's okay, son. She is safe now, that is all that matters. Try to find out who that man was, he is the only one from the night I'd worry about. Get the cars ready for our safe house, I'll try to get her awake and we will meet you down there." I shooed him out, walking into the room Catherine and Amerie are in. 

"Catherine... I have to get her up and we have to move quickly. You can either come with us or meet us there.  She will need an explanation; it might be better coming from you than me." I whisper softly, rubbing my hand across her back. 

I can see her flinch under my touch, so I dart my hands back into my pockets. Looking down at the floor.

"Ryan... You were supposed to hide her from all of this. But instead, I can see by the way you look at her... how you use to long for me... you made your own selfish decision to bring her here with you. I will meet you guys at the safe house. I will tell MY Amerie everything." She gets up from the bed and stands in front of me, her eyes narrow. 

My eyes leave her locked stare and look at the ground again.

"You're right... I'm sorry." I breathe out, my shoulders slumping down. Her hand pats my shoulder before she exits the room and closes the door.  

I did this. He had one wish for me... to keep her safe. I was the selfish one in bringing her here. I thought we could protect her. 

I was wrong. 

Catherine is right... Maybe the only reason I care, and desire Amerie so deeply is because she is the exact representation of the Catherine I let slip from my grasp. 

The Catherine I met when I was 18 and she was 19. Life looked so beautiful when I looked at her. But James stole her heart... He was also 19, he had a good head on his shoulders-- he had life figured out.

I never told her how I felt because I knew she deserved better than me. I was a coward. When James proposed to her after our company was released to public eye in New York 2 years later, they bought their house in California to raise a family. While I stayed back in New York and handled the in-person meetings. 

I never liked going back to California, I had to watch my last hope for her die that day I stood behind James at the altar. The rest of the night was a blur, which I don't remember much. But I just found out I had a son 4 years ago. The one night stand I had at the bar after the wedding, assumed a 22-year-old boy wouldn't want the responsibility. Which is fair, I was in no place to take care of a son, but I would have provided for them. She just chose to throw it all on me when Tyler turned 16 and became reckless. So, I spent the year guiding my son to take action in life, led him to helping me with the family business while he finished school. He asked to remain hidden out of anger towards me and didn't want handouts. He showed us all how talented and smart he was, so I left him back in California to take care of his mom while I returned back to New York. It had been 3 years since I last saw him in person, but he has helped the company a lot. He knew the truth about Catherine and was the one helping keep her safe as well. 

 James deserved her way more; he had the motivation and the strength to take on all our battles. I was just so focused in the business that I let him handle the hard dirty work.  He always protected her though, I knew I never could. Yet here I am trying to own up to a promise, and I am failing the other love of his life. I don't know how he kept his cool around them when Catherine had no idea what truly hid behind the dark secrets of our company or how he always made sure Amerie was clueless. I've let so much crumble beneath me and I wish he was here to give me some type of guidance in this mess. 

For now, I will stick to my promise and make sure nothing happens to his daughter.

Author's Note:

Hey guys, I love how many people are here to see how it ends. I have read a lot of the comments and figured the least I could do is start writing more. 

Thank you for being amazing...

More to come ;)