by Sam Crescent
“Fine. We’ll help every single step of the way. You’re always going to be family to me, Ash. Blood or not, I’ll help you.”
****
Earl
“What do you want me to do?” Caleb asked.
I didn’t want him to talk. He’d already said enough, and now I was pissed off. Sitting in my office, in my kingdom with the Knight threat close at hand, this wasn’t the news I wanted to hear.
“This is what she wants?” I asked.
“This was all Ashley’s suggestion. Nothing Emily or we say is going to change that. She wants a clean break.”
Against the Monsters’ Crew liking, I’d found a way to get regular updates about my woman. I’d asked them first, but they’d refused. Then I’d gone to Emily. After that, I’d reached out to Drake.
They were all loyal to the Monsters’ Crew and to Ashley. So I’d had no choice but to hire someone to find out how my woman was doing.
Ashley had struggled.
No, she was downright fucking in pain. I didn’t know how they managed to get close to her, but I’d been sent a video of the noises coming from her room. The man I’d hired had turned up dead with the Monsters telling me not to send anyone else or they’d all end up the same way.
We were all kings in our world, and working together proved difficult. The fact Caleb was even giving me this call was a giant fucking leap.
“Why are you calling me now?” I asked.
“I didn’t have to call you,” he said.
I wanted to drag his ass right in front of me so I could pound it. Then he’d be done with his smartass answers.
“I know what you didn’t have to do, fucking prick. I want to know why you’re contacting me now when you told me to stay the hell away.”
I’d dropped Ashley off, and once I returned to my penthouse, I had given in and called to see how she was doing.
I got nothing.
The truth was, I shouldn’t be calling Caleb. I shouldn’t even care what Ashley was doing. I’d made my decision clear. She and I were over. I’d gotten what I wanted, and there was no going back.
Only, staying away from her was proving to be difficult. This wasn’t a decision I’d taken lightly. I hadn’t wanted to get rid of her. Ashley was mine. I still fucking saw her as mine, and one day, she’d be mine again, but until I sorted out the fucked-up problem that was my life, I couldn’t risk her.
People would kill her to spite me. I was the enemy, not her, but she was an easy target. A weakness of mine. One I had to keep protected at all costs.
By severing ties, any connection people had made for her meaning something to me was severed.
“She can’t leave the country,” I said. There was no way I’d be able to fucking survive with her in another country.
I’d lost count of the number of times I’d tried to get to her, only to stop myself when I was so close. I was doing this to protect her. Not because I wanted to.
My apartment was fucking lonely. My bed even more unwelcome. I slept in my office or a hotel room. Women made attempts to come on to me, and I took them back to my hotel room. Not to do anything with. I paid them to shut up. They stayed for an hour, and then I kicked them out.
Whores liked to embellish the truth. They got paid for their silence. I helped to create the image of Ashley meaning nothing to me. The women were nothing. Even having them in my apartment or my office felt like a fucking betrayal. If my grandfather could see me now. He’d consider me a disgrace to him, to men. Women were nothing more than ornaments or toys. To be used and put back until you needed them again.
They were a product. A commodity.
And right now, I was fucking falling apart because the one I wanted now wished to leave the country. To start a life elsewhere, and it was all my fault.
“Hello, Earl? Are you even listening?”
“Shut the fuck up, Caleb.”
The line went dead. The bastard had hung up on me.
Running a hand down my face, I dialed his number and waited for it to ring. It went to voicemail.
“You piece of vile fucking shit.” I called again. If he didn’t answer, I was going to make him pay. I’d drive down there and tear out his balls. I’d make him pay in every single way possible.
Rage rushed to the surface.
I was tired of people getting in my way.
Just as I was about to hang up myself, Caleb answered.
“Now, do you want to use nice words?”
“Listen here, don’t test me.”
“Don’t start.”
“You want to play this game? Hang up on me again, and I’ll make the call that can guarantee Emily’s life is in the fucking balance.” It was a low blow. I could do it. I had the power.
“You wouldn’t do that to Ashley.”
“I think it’s safe to say I will do anything for my woman. Think of what you did to get Emily back. You sold her to me without fucking blinking. No wonder my woman wants to be far away from you. She doesn’t trust any of you.”
“I’m not going to stop Ashley from leaving.”
Damn it. Deep down, I knew he couldn’t stop Ashley. My woman wanted a clean break. From the video I heard, she’d never said the words to me, but in some way, she loved me. Ashley fucking loved me. What she didn’t know was she owned me. All of me, she had me in the palm of her hand. The moment I cleared this shit up, I was coming to get her.
I wasn’t going to be held back.
I loved her so fucking much, and being apart from her, well, the beast within me boiled with a rage unlike anything I’d ever felt. I had to wonder if I should feel sorry for my enemies. The moment I finally got the chance to let loose, they were all going to suffer.
“Everything she wants is hers. I’m paying for it. Guards are to be with her at all times, but she’s not going to know about it. I want to know when she leaves and where she’s going. I’ll have men stationed at each point. Money is all hers. If she needs a job.”
“Earl, you don’t have to tell me any of this. We’ll take care of it. She’s one of ours.”
“No, she’s not yours. She will never be yours. You sold that right to me.”
“And Earl, you gave it back when she landed her ass right back here. This is done. I won’t call again.”
He hung up, and I threw my phone across the room.
I’d find a way to protect Ashley.
She was mine. She didn’t know it yet, but the moment it was right, I was coming for her.
Chapter Eighteen
Ashley
Two weeks later
I was leaving tomorrow. Excitement filled every single part of my body. My hands shook a little. I’d be alone, but there was already a job lined up for me at a restaurant on the other side of London. I wasn’t going back to the place that knew me as my other name. I’d be free to be myself, and I couldn’t wait.
My bags were already packed.
Rather than check on absolutely everything for the sixth time, I’d decided to head to the kitchen to cook one last meal.
A cake was already cooling. I’d made the frosting, and that was waiting to be spread all over. Now I was baking an entire head of cauliflower, crazy but also fun. I’d been trying out a bunch of new recipes the past few weeks after seeing some experiments online. This one I was baking in a tomato roasted sauce.
It sounded so good. My mouth watered for a taste, and the scents coming from the sauce made me hungry.
“I’m going to miss you,” Drake said, coming into the kitchen.
I smiled at him, keeping my hands busy as I made a salad.
Amelia, River’s sister, was also around. I’d rarely seen her. She either kept to her room or ate in the kitchen. She wasn’t mean, but I’d come to realize she was incredibly shy and had a way of sneaking around the house undetected. Three days ago, I’d managed to meet her. She’d been eating breakfast when I entered. For a good ten minutes, she didn’t say anything until she finally spoke hello softly to me.
I’d kept on talking to help fill the silence. I didn’t know if it helped, but I liked to think it did.
She was … different.
“You’re going to miss my cooking,” I said.
“You can’t cook well. Honestly, it’s disgusting.”
I laughed as he wrinkled his nose. “You’re cute when you lie.”
“Damn, woman, I’m clearly losing my touch.”
“No, you’re not. I get it. You don’t want me to feel bad for leaving and then you’re going to have to find another cook.”
The cook who had been here before I turned up quit. Everyone had asked for me to cook instead. I didn’t even know their name, and I never saw them in the kitchen. At first, I thought they were happy to not have to do any work. Now they lost their job, and I did like cooking a lot.
Emily told me not to worry about it, and so I didn’t. Tomorrow would be the start of a whole new life for me. One I intended to grasp with both hands.
I couldn’t wait.
Earl Valentine.
His name was like a whisper in my ear.
Even as the days were filled with excitement where I held control over what I could think about. If he so much as came close to the surface, I got busy. I made sure I was distracted. He couldn’t invade my thoughts, at least not for too long.
At night, that was a whole different game.
I couldn’t stop him from invading them.
He did so all the time. The nights were always the worst. When memories flooded and desires rushed through my body as if they had a right to. They didn’t.
I hated it.
Even though I was carving an entire life out for myself away from all of this, he still filled my mind.
I wondered all the time if he was okay.
Did he think about me?
“Earth to Ashley,” Drake said, snapping his fingers.
I swatted at his hand but smiled, not letting him see where my thoughts had drifted. “Don’t go snapping your fingers in my face. It’s so rude.”
“I’ve got a call. You were way too off in your own little world. We’ll talk when I get back.”
I laughed. “You don’t have to keep trying to make me feel better.”
“I can see it, Ash. You’re not a very good liar.”
Pressing my lips together, I tried to gain focus once again and forced a smile to my lips. “I’m fine.”
“Are you saying that because you believe it or to make me believe it?”
“Does it even matter which one?” I asked.
I didn’t know what I was doing, why I was even talking to him. He was right, though. I was a bad liar.
Once he left, I looked at the salad in front of me and tuned Earl Valentine out of my head. Thinking of him didn’t help.
With my focus back on food, I went to the fridge. This was going to be a fully loaded salad, with everything on it. Olives, artichokes, salad leaves, avocado, and so much more. I even grabbed some feta.
“Just keep working, Ashley. It’s all you can do. Just keep working.”
The salad was done. The cauliflower was finishing in the oven, and I glanced around, seeing the cake. I tested to see if it was cool enough. My hands shook a little, but I ignored them and began frosting the cake.
This was what I was still doing when Caleb entered the kitchen.
“Hey, Ashley.”
“Hey.”
“How are you doing?” he asked.
“Fine. You?”
“I’m great.”
“Good.”
Silence.
I was happy with the silence. He’d moved behind me. I heard the coffee pot being taken out of his holder, poured, and then pushed back in.
I ignored his presence. My attention was on the cake in front of me.
I could never get smooth sides. It sucked. I continued to do so though, using it as a way of not having to talk to Caleb.
I should have known my life wouldn’t be that easy, though.
“Can we talk?” Caleb asked.
I paused and stared across the kitchen at the doorway, looking at the potential escape. I could just leave. “No, we can’t talk.”
“I know you’re angry and you’re hurting.”
“Stop it,” I said.
“Ash, you’re Emily’s best friend.”
Holding the palette knife, I whirled around and glared at him. “Exactly. I’m Emily’s best friend. You don’t get to call me Ash.”
“Everyone calls you Ash.”
“Not you.”
Caleb frowned. He lowered his cup and placed it on the counter. “And why don’t I get to call you Ash?”
“This is all your fault.” I had promised myself I wouldn’t say anything.
“You’re clearly tired. We’ll talk another time.”
“I’m tired. That’s what you’re putting this down to. You don’t even see what you did, did you?”
“I saved you.”
“And then you fucking sold me,” I said. “I get that you saved me, but it wasn’t because of me. You saved me for Emily, and I am grateful for that. I spent seven amazing years with her. She’s a wonderful friend. I don’t have a problem with you until you negotiated her return.”
He continued to glare at me. “I did what I had to do.”
“You sold me as if you had a right to. My body. Every single part of me.”
“Look, you fell in love with him, didn’t you?”
“And you think it makes it okay?” I asked. “You sold me for my piece of flesh that was supposed to be my choice. It’s my body, but to save my best friend, I didn’t put up a fight. I never expected to fall in love, and I certainly didn’t want to feel this way. I hold you responsible for all of it. You being the big, bad monster that you are, you should have found another way. I don’t like you. I will never like you. Emily could do so much better than the four of you. So no, I’m not okay with any of you. Nothing you say will ever make any of this okay. You think I forgave you? You think I really wanted to be sold?”
The tears I hadn’t spilled for two weeks came to the surface. I didn’t even realize how much I hated the Monsters’ Crew until this moment.
Analyzing my life, I knew they were the ones who put this crap in motion. Their desire for Emily had set me on a course of pain.
I loved my best friend, and I’d do anything for her.
These men, however, I didn’t owe them a damn thing.
Caleb didn’t say anything. I turned my back on him, and he stormed out of the kitchen. If he thought we were cool, well, I’d just proven we weren’t even on the same page.
“That was a little cold,” Amelia said, appearing around the corner.
“You were there the whole time?”
“Enough to hear.” She spoke so softly as she stepped into the room. She wore a large shirt and sweatpants. Her body was always covered, even when it was warm. Her hair was down, long blonde lengths, almost white in color, and she had shockingly blue eyes.
She was stunning, breathtaking to look at.
“Do you want to have a seat?” I asked.
She lowered herself into the chair. Her hands clasped together as she looked at me.
“Are you okay?”
She always looked ready to bolt at a moment’s notice.
“I’m fine. Everyone is sad that you’re leaving.”
“I thought you’d be glad. I’ll be one less person to avoid,” I said.
“I don’t intend to avoid anyone. It’s a habit.”
I noticed how white her knuckles were. “A habit?”
“You only get hit so many times before you start to learn to avoid them.”
“Oh.”
Amelia winced. “Sorry. That was an overshare.”
“You got hit a lot?”
“I was a girl. I was unwanted, and as I grew, I was told I was an ugly baby. Always a disappointment. Compared to River, I didn’t walk as early as him. Nor did I get out of
diapers until I was like three, I think. I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I’ve always been a disappointment. I’m not as clever as he is.” Amelia tucked her chin against her body.
“Who hit you?” I asked.
“My dad. My mom. My nanny. Anyone who felt I needed to be hit just hit me. It was easy for them.” She whipped out her arm. “So easy. At school, girls do it, so do guys. I’m a punching bag.” She shrugged.
“Amelia, you need to tell your brother.”
She shook her head. “He’s busy with running everything. At least I’m not traveling the world anymore, being left in places and having to wait to be picked up. It’s nice just having a room to myself.” She smiled, and it was so sweet, almost wistful. “My life isn’t so bad anymore.”
I didn’t know what else to say to that.
“I am going to miss you. I hope you find whatever it is you’re looking for. You deserve some happiness.”
I wasn’t sure what to make of that. How much had Amelia heard? What did she know? She didn’t stick around. She gave me a quick hug, which I reciprocated, and then she was gone.
I stood alone in the kitchen. Time passed. The scents of the food filled the air.
Gripping my neck, I tried to massage the kinks that had worked into my body. Nothing eased the tension.
“I can’t believe it’s your last night,” Emily said. “And of course you won’t let us cook for you.”
“I don’t mind cooking.”
“I know.” Emily chuckled. “You always have a way of making us feel better, and I don’t have the first clue what to do to help you.”
“Don’t make this hard, or about you.”
“I’m not that selfish, am I?”
I smiled. “You can be when there’s something you want.”
She released a sigh, putting a hand on her swollen stomach. “I don’t want you to go.”
“Well, I want to.”
“Is it so awful here?”
“Not too much, but this isn’t my home. I’m not happy here, and it’s time I started to live my own life, you know?”
Emily groaned. “What about when I give birth? I don’t want you to miss it.”
“I won’t. You call me, and I’ll be on the first plane back. I promise.” I moved around the counter and went to her side, pulling her in against me and pressing a kiss to her head. “Nothing is going to change. You’re going to see that. You were doing fine when I wasn’t here.” I couldn’t bring myself to say his name.