Sweet Harmony (22 page)

As Daniel led her through the front door of the school,
he glanced at her, his eyes wide with concern.

"You okay?" he asked.

"No."  She sniffled defiantly because she knew there was snot running down her face. She was not a pretty crier. "I'm never going to forgive the person who did this. I'm so angry I could spit poison."

"I'm surprised anyone would go this far," Daniel said. "I thought they'd
try to hurt you, not Owen."

A horrifying thought struck her at that moment. If Owen had been hurt, Daniel could be next.
She realized she was being selfish allowing the guy to risk his life for her like this.

"You don't have to
stay with me, you know," she said. "There's a chance you could be next."

To her surprise, Daniel stopped in his tracks. He seized her shoulders and stared into her eyes with his lips thin.

"Don't you ever say that," Daniel said. "I told you I'd take care of you and I will."

She was so shocked by th
e amount of passion in his voice she was momentarily speechless. All she could do was nod.

"Good." Daniel stared down at her shoes. "I think the only thing I have to worry about right now is losing you. Ja
y and I were helping you long before Owen. Did you notice that?"

"N
o," she said. "Not until now."

"The person who pushed Owen down the stairs must have some reason not to go after Ja
y and me," he said. "If he didn't have a reason, the two of us would have been taken down a long time ago."

That made a lot of sense. She nodded, biting her bottom lip.
Boris cleared his throat beside her.

"But wouldn't it make more sense if a girl had done all this?" she whispered.
"Why is a boy out to get me?"

"Right now, not a heck of a lot makes sense." Daniel groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. "Why didn't Owen text you the name while he had the chance?"

That was also a fair point. Why hadn't he? Texting a name was a lot simpler than having a full scale conversation. Still that didn't matter. She was going to figure out who'd hurt Owen if it killed her. She shivered even though she wasn't cold. Probably it was the stress.

"Let's go." Daniel started to pull her along again.
Boris followed.

Daniel led her down the steps and by the oak tree.

"Annamarie," somebody said.

It took her a moment to realize the person who
'd called her was Jaiden. The guy stood by the oak tree, his hands in his pockets. Since he hadn't gone to the dining hall for lunch like the other students, that meant he didn't know about Owen. She waved him over and realized too late the guy would instantly notice she'd been crying. About now, her eyes were probably the size of fat clams.

"What happened?" Jaiden asked, his eyes lingering on her
s.

She opened her mouth to explain, but nothing came out but air.

"Owen was pushed down a flight of stairs and was badly hurt." Daniel came to her rescue yet again.

"What?" Jaiden
gasped, his face going milky white. "Who'd shove Owen down the stairs?"

"It's the same guy who hurt A
nnamarie," Daniel said.

"He's hurting other people now too?"
Jaiden asked.

"Only because Owen helped
her." Daniel gritted his teeth. "Jay, do me a favor and take her to my room. I'm going to do some sniffing around."

"I'm coming with you,
" Annamarie cried. "No way I'm going to let you investigate alone."

"
You're not coming." Daniel locked eyes with her.

"I'm not going with Jaiden," she snapped.
"I'm going with you."

"Boris, grab her and drag her to my room," he said. "Don't let her leave."

"Yes, sir," Boris said.

"I'm a black belt." She sunk into a fighting stance as Boris took a step toward her.

"So is he," Daniel said.

"Dan, isn't this too much?" Jaiden asked.

"Nothing is too much to maintain Annamarie's safety."

When Boris reached for her arm, she dodged. Unfortunately, since
the man was trying to protect her as well as capture her, she hesitated before throwing a punch. The beefy man seized her around the waist and threw her over his shoulder. She yelled and kicked, but her knees met a body as strong as steel. Stupid Daniel. This was his entire fault.

"I'll be back soon." Daniel patted her cheek as she
flailed in rage. "Don't worry about me."

"
Daniel, you rat," she said. "Tell Boris to put me down right now."

"See you later." Daniel waved at her.

"I hate you!" she yelled as Boris walked with her over his shoulder.

"No you don't," he called back.

Jaiden shook his head and then followed behind them.

****

Boris stood by the door of Daniel's apartment, a mountain of bulging muscles. She and Jaiden sat on the couch. She wasn't sure what made her angrier—the fact that she'd been dragged here like a rag doll or that Daniel had ordered Boris to imprison her. Frustrated, she gnawed at her nails. It was a habit she'd broken after her mom had threatened to take away her karate lessons if she didn't stop. Now with all the pressure she was under she couldn't help herself.

"I've never seen Dan like this before," Jaiden said, his eyes dark.

"Really?" she asked. "He seems to be his egotistical self to me."

"He isn't doing this for himself,
though," Jaiden said. "That's why it's surprising. He's doing all of this for
you
to keep you safe."

It was hard for her
to be mad at Daniel after Jaiden said something like that.

"He's going about it
in the wrong way." She attempted to fume, but it was futile.

Jaiden chuckled.

"Maybe, but you know how he is." Jaiden shrugged. "His heart is in the right place, even if he's overbearing."

"He's a confusing guy." She blew out a sigh and leaned back.
"How did my life get so complicated?"

Jaiden shrugged.

She groaned. "If I didn't have enough to think about in regards to Daniel, now I have to worry about Owen too…"

For a horrifying moment, she remembered her friend sprawled out on the carpet, his breathing shallow. She
shivered. It was easier for her to be angry at Daniel. She stood up and looked around for something to distract herself from her emotions. Packets of ramen sat on top of the microwave. Even though she wasn't hungry, preparing food would give her something to do other than recall what she'd seen. She refused to cry again, especially not in front of Jaiden.

"
Are you okay?" Jaiden asked.

She
picked up a cup of ramen, tore open the top, and poured water from a bottle inside.

"Sure." She made
an effort to keep her back to him in case he saw the lie in her eyes. Her throat was thick with tears again, but she was building a dam and refused to shed a tear. "Do you want something to eat? These cups of ramen are really good."

Jaiden didn't say anything. He just stood up.

"I'll make you one," she said because he didn't say anything. "Boy, are you in for a—"

Two warm arms wrapped around her
middle. She could feel Jaiden's hot breath in her ear and could smell sweet cologne.

"Don't try to hide your emotions
from me," he whispered. "Your shoulders are shaking because you're so overwhelmed."

She hadn't realized that trying not to
weep was causing a physical effect on her body.

"I've
showed my weaknesses enough," she said.

"Maybe, maybe not." Jaiden hugged her tighter
. "If you want to cry, you can."

"I'm not going to cry
." It was as much a vow to herself as it was a promise to him.

"Fine," Jaiden said. "Then just stand here and let me hold you."

She didn't move until long after the microwaved beeped, announcing her food was done.

Chapter Twenty

Annamarie paced, her fists clenching at her sides. Jaiden was sleeping on the couch and even Boris's head drooped. It was late, so she shouldn't have been surprised it was hard for everyone to stay awake. Unfortunately, she was so worried she couldn't have slept even if she'd been given a horse tranquilizer and was laid to rest on a cloud. She checked her phone for the time. Surprisingly, she had three missed calls from her dad, but she was in too much trouble to care about that now. She'd return his calls later.
Daniel, where the heck are you?
Now instead of being mad he'd forced her to come to the dorm, she was mad because he was taking so long. Who was he to make her worry?

After five minutes, the
lock turned, announcing someone's arrival. Daniel stumbled into the room and Boris stepped to the side.

"You!" she said,
rushing up to him. "What took you so long?"

Even though there were bags under his eyes, Daniel managed a cocky
grin.

"Worried about me, darling?" he asked.

"No way." She turned her face away, if only because she was blushing due to truth of his words.

Jaiden, who must have woken up during the commotion, yawned and stretched.

"You took a long time," Jaiden said.

"I had a lot to do." The grin slipped off of Daniel
's face. "I was looking for that guy, Alexander, who saw Owen get pushed. I managed to find him and he told me everything."

"What?" she and Jaiden chorused together.

"He said Nathan Dawson was the one who did it," Daniel said.

The name sounded familiar to her, but she didn't know why. She was horrible with names.

"Isn't Nathan Dawson the guy who got into big trouble for sneaking into the girls' locker room and watching the swim team undress?" Jaiden asked.

"Yeah, he's a real freak." Daniel nodded. "I remember he lost his position on the basketball team because of
that, even though he was a star player."

She strained her mind. The fact Nathan was a peeping Tom was disgusting, but what did that have to do with her?

"Why would Nathan want to hurt me?" She started to chew her nails again. "It would be one thing if I'd pissed him off, but I can't even remember his face."

"
You haven't met him?" Daniel probed.

"His name sounds familiar, b
ut maybe I heard about him through the gossip mill," she said. "A nasty story like that wouldn't die down after a couple of weeks, would it?"

"
That's true," Daniel said. "At any rate, I couldn't find the guy, no matter how hard I looked."

"Does Mrs. Carmichael know he
pushed Owen?" Jaiden asked.

"Naturally." Daniel nodded. "The first thing Alexander di
d was report everything to her."

"Maybe he was just scared of getting expelled," Jaiden said. "
This might not have anything to do with Annamarie."

"It does." Daniel's jaw tensed. "I can feel it."

"But if she and Nathan have never even exchanged words, why would he go after her?" Jaiden shook his head. "That doesn't add up."

"No, I agree with Daniel." She was just as shocked as everyone else
by that fact. "There's no way this can be a coincidence. If only we could meet with Nathan…"

"Mrs. Carmichael is going to come in handy for on
ce," Daniel said. "She seems just as angry as I am. She's already planned to expel Nathan, but she's also going to threaten him with assault charges if he doesn't tell her what's going on. Nathan's eighteen and old enough to go to jail, so being arrested on charges like that could really mess up his life."

Wow. So the woman she'd once believe
d was a tyrant was actually on her side after all.

"
What if he doesn't come back to school?" she asked. "If nobody's seen him, then he may have run away."

"The police have already been notified of what's happened and are looking for him." Daniel's muscles clenched. "His mother is the
owner of Winnie Abigail Corporation, a multi-million dollar franchise. I was told by Mrs. Carmichael that the woman has already been notified and that she's also sending out a private investigator to look for Nathan. The guy has so many people on his tail that the only way he's not going to be caught is if he disappears into thin air. He'll have to confess, one way or another."

Her shoulders slumped with relief. At least Nathan would be caught. Unfortunately, that wouldn't reverse what had happened to Owen.

"You did a good job, Dan." Jaiden leaned against the wall.

"I don't take too kindly to those messing with
people that are precious to me." Daniel gave her a long look that left little doubt that he was talking about her.

Jaiden
stilled.

The tension was thick in the air again. Wasn't there too much at stake for
their jealousy to be a concern now? The stress from the day was catching up with her and she found herself becoming exhausted. She yawned, unable to stifle it. Daniel echoed her yawn with one of his own.

"It's late," Daniel said. "I think we could all use some rest. Annamarie, you can take the bed. I'll sleep on the floor next to you. Jay, like usual, you can take the couch."

"I want to sleep on the floor too," Jaiden said.

"
The floor is ten times harder than the couch." Daniel glared at him. "I'm doing you a favor."

Jaiden let out a derisive snort.

Her patience was wearing thin…well, thinner than usual.

"W
ill you two stop it?" she shouted. 

Even though she yelled a lot, this time it was different.
Her voice was venomous. It was enough to make even Daniel freeze.

"I'm sick and tired of this fighting," she
said. "You're best friends. The two of you should be ashamed of yourself for letting me come between you. If the two of you fight again tonight, I'm throwing you both out the window. Yes, I know we're on the top floor."

Daniel opened his mouth to speak. "Annamarie—"

"No." She held up her hand. "Thank you for helping today, Daniel, but I'm exhausted and going to bed."

She went to the bedroom and
lay down on the mattress, muttering under her breath. With a growl, she pulled the blankets around her and made a cocoon out of the goose down comforter. She made an effort to slow her breathing, but unfortunately, her burst of anger was taking its toll. Even when she shut her eyes, it was difficult for her not to fume.

Time passed. She fidgeted and
opened her eyes a crack.
Maybe I overreacted just a little,
she thought. It was just that she was frustrated. Her friend was injured, some mad guy was on her tail, and she was going to end up losing Daniel because she refused to disrupt a friendship. Anybody would snap. She fidgeted again. Her exhaustion may have caught up with her, but her brain was wide awake. She let out a groan and piled the pillows on her head.

The door squeaked open.

"Annamarie?" Daniel called.

"I'm asleep," she muttered.

"You're the most coherent sleeping person I've ever met," Daniel said, laying a spare blanket on the floor by the bed.

She ignored him as he lay down.

"Why does the fact Jay and I are fighting freak you out so much?" Daniel asked. "It's between the two of us."

For a moment she considered lying. Her whole life, her family had dealt with emotions one way—via channeling. Her mom and dad channeled their emotions into their instruments and she channeled hers
into karate. Yet some part of her wanted to talk to Daniel, as crazy as that was. Despite all of the fights and the frustration, she knew she could trust him if only because he was so much like herself. She sat up and stared down at him.

"Did
you know I've been alone most of my life?" she asked.

"What?" Daniel sat up too, his blue eyes glistening even in the dark.

"My parents weren't very attentive because they were always focused on performing. Up until now, I was homeschooled by a really old tutor," she said. "I made friends in karate class, but I moved so much that I never got really close to anyone. My brother was too young for me to hang out with. So mostly, I hung around by myself. I learned to be independent at a young age, but I was lonely too. Then I look at what you have. Jaiden has been your friend since you were babies. Because I know what it's like not to have friends, I don't want you to lose Jaiden. That's why it kills me to see the two of you fighting because of me. I know when the two of you argue it isn't like when you and I do it—it's real. It's not just dumb bickering that means nothing."

At first Daniel didn't speak. Instead he climbed onto the bed and sat beside her.
The sudden closeness made her cheeks warm.

"Is that really what you were worried about?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." He chuckled.

"You jerk!" She threw a punch at him.

"That's enough." Daniel seized her wrists and
pinned her to the bed. "Stay still for a moment, will you?"

She glared at him but didn't move, mostly because she was shocked due to how close Daniel was. Having the face of an Adonis hovering
above her own was intimidating.

"I don't want you to worry about me and Jay anymore," he said. "We've been friends for
eighteen years. I know it'll be hard for him for a while once you and I start going out, but I'm not going to let you or him go. I'm selfish like that."

"You're so pompous." She squirmed. "You keep assuming I'm going to date you
even though I haven't said yes yet."

"You like me, don't you?" he asked.

"I…I…" She looked away defiantly. "Maybe."

"Maybe?" Daniel chucked and released her wrists. "I guess I'll just have to turn that maybe into a yes."

"What are you going to—"

One second he hovered a centimeter above her, the next, his lips came crashing down on hers. Her eyes open
ed wide in surprise and her heart thundered in her ears.
This is my first kiss,
she thought, stunned.
She admitted she liked the pressure of Daniel's warm, hard mouth against her own and the brush of day-old growth against her skin. His fingers curled in her black hair. She was being transported into heaven. Finally, she had the sense of mind to close her eyes.

She was under no delusion that she was a good kisser. Instead she
lay like a cement block, letting Daniel guide her lips to where he wanted them to go. By the time Daniel drew back, he was smirking. She stared at his cocky expression, dazed. Had she really just been kissed? She was so stunned she barely noticed that she'd placed her hand against her lips. They still tingled from where Daniel had kissed her.

The guy
lay down on the bed next to her and gathered her in his arms. Probably she should have made him go back to the floor, but she didn't. She wasn't sure she was coherent enough to issue the command anyway.

****

Annamarie was roused from a deep sleep in the middle of the night. Her head throbbed as she looked around the room. Where the heck was she? Why was there an arm around her waist? It took her a moment to realize that Daniel was snoring right next to her. At first she thought it was his noisiness that had woken her up, but then she heard her cell phone ringing. She pulled it out of her pocket—she'd slept in her jeans—and was stunned when she saw the person who was calling. It was Owen. Holy crap.

She lunged out of bed while answering the phone at the same time.

"Owen, are you okay?" she said.

Daniel let out a massive
groan and opened his eyes.

"A-Annamarie…" Owen's voice didn't sound
right. It was a frog's croak.

"
What room are you in?" She needed to go the hospital ASAP if he was awake.

"Don't know," Owen whispered slowly. "Head hurts."

She remembered him lying on the floor.

"I know your head
hurts," she said. "I know."

Something banged.
She heard a female voice.

"Oh, Mr. Riesling, you're awake," said a bubbly
woman. "What are you doing up?"

"Need
to talk to Annamarie," Owen said.

"Go back to bed, Mr. Riesling," said the woman. "Looks like I'll have to bring the doctor in to give you some more medication. You need your rest."

"No!" Owen yelled. He must have dropped the phone because something clattered and his voice became distant. "I woke myself up…Annamarie…Annamarie…She's going to get hurt."

"
You must have had a nightmare," the woman said. "I'll give you a prescription to help you fall asleep. It's going to be fine."

"
Wait a second," Annamarie cried. "Don't give him anything yet. I have to hear—"