Shaking her head, she palmed my cheeks. “You are not stupid.” Her words surprised me. “Impulsive? Yes. But stupid? Never.”
I blinked, unsure of what to say.
“She’s right, you know,” Clara added. “What you did was something we all would’ve done. No questions asked.”
Fire danced in Shelby’s eyes. “Exactly! That’s why I didn’t think twice before coming after you, the consequences of not waiting for back-up be damned.”
“W-why?” The stuttered word rolled off the tip of my tongue before I could stop it. “You know Dominic could have hurt you. And I’m not worth you being hurt over. Not when—”
“You are worth more than you’ll ever know, Ashley Ward,” she interrupted, squaring her shoulders. “And you never forget that. As for why I did it… I swore that I wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt you again.” She paused and pulled in a deep breath. “And, sugar, I always keep my word.”
Head bowed, I didn’t try to stop the sob that broke free, its mighty force nearly ripping me in half. Legs shaky, I fell into Shelby, twining my arms around her warmth like vines.
She held me in return, her strength pouring into my very soul. “Please,” I cried, my cheeks resting against her chest. “Don’t ever let go.”
If she did, I feared I’d shatter.
Yet again.
Arms tightening around me, she buried her face in my hair. “I’ll never let go,” she replied, her tone steady. “On my life, I promise I won’t.”
It was a promise she kept.
And one she never came close to breaking.
* * *
“What’s your name?”
I snapped my head up at the sound of the masculine voice, one I’d never heard before.
A twinge of fear flared in my belly when my eyes locked with a pair of steel-grey ones that belonged to Detective Moretti.
Sucking in a small breath, I leaned back against the plastic chair, where I sat next to Heidi, who held my hand firmly in hers. “Ashley,” I whispered, not wanting to anger him. “Ashley Ward.”
He jerked his chin down once. “Ashley, my name is Anthony Moretti. I’m a homicide detective at Toluca Police Department.” Unclipping the shiny badge affixed to the front of his pressed slacks, he held it up for me to read. “If you have a minute, I’d like to talk to you about Dominic West.”
I hunched my shoulders.
Then sunk in the chair.
Reading my anxiety-riddled expression, he clipped his badge back in place and slowly moved my way. When only three feet separated me from him, he squatted, bringing us eye to eye.
Though I knew he wouldn’t hurt me, having him, a man I didn’t know so close almost sent me into a tailspin.
Leaning against Heidi, I ducked my head, pushing a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “I don’t have anything to say about Dominic.”
Liar! The voice in my head screamed.
Tell him about Carmen.
Tell him about Jade.
Tell him about Ad—
Mind in free-fall, I ripped my hand free of Heidi’s and fisted them, refusing to listen to the words repeating on a loop in my head.
As much as I wanted to disclose every horrific crime I’d witnessed Dominic commit, doing so wasn’t an option. For one, as much as it hurt to admit, I doubted anyone would care, especially that he’d killed Carmen and Jade.
Despite being the most beautiful people I’d ever encountered, to some, they were nothing more than worthless whores, the dregs of society. Being murdered by their pimp, a man as vicious as he was vile, was just par for the course.
Two, deep in my heart, I knew Carmen wouldn’t want me to divulge what happened that night. Instead, she would’ve wanted me to move on, to finish school, to fall in love, and to live a happy life—the very thing Dominic stole from her and Jade both.
And right or wrong, I wanted to make her proud.
Unable to hide the tsunami-like emotions whirling inside me, I let the tears that had been blurring my vision fall.
Heidi, Lord bless her, hugged me in response, holding me close. Ever since Shelby and Clara left the room twenty minutes before, she’d been by my side, the silence that had stretched between us nothing less than comfortable.
“I understand you don’t want to talk about Dominic,” Moretti continued, his forearms resting on his thighs. “And I’m sure you have plenty of reasons for wishing to remain silent.”
If he only knew.
“But I need you to understand something.”
Convinced his words were the start of a well-delivered threat, my heart flew into a tizzy, thumping away at warp speed. He may not have been a fan of Dominic—that became clear the second he slammed his face into the sidewalk—but what if he was on Ellington’s payroll?
“I won’t t-talk,” I stammered. “Not—”
“He’s not going to hurt you, Ashley,” he said, interrupting the slew of panic-stricken words about to roll off my tongue, rapid-fire. “Not ever again.”
Heidi froze. “How?” she asked, surprising me. It was one of the few times I’d heard her speak, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love the sound of her voice.
It was different but beautiful.
Just like her.
“How can you be sure?” she added, her narrowed blue eyes full of suspicion.
“I can be sure,” Detective Moretti replied, “because, after today, Dominic West won’t ever walk the streets of Toluca County again.”
It was my turn to freeze. “What?”
His eyes softened. “This is strike number three for him.”
I didn’t understand.
Like, at all.
“I don’t… I mean, I don’t get it.”
He nodded and stood, crossing his arms over his chest. “D-boy,” he snarled, “already has two violent out-of-county felony convictions, something I was just notified of. And now, after his latest stunt, he’ll be charged with a handful more. Attempted kidnapping, possession of a firearm by a felon, drug trafficking, not to mention assault and battery on a female. None of which he has a prayer of beating in court since the entire event was caught on the shelter’s security cameras.”
My hillbilly genes were coming through strong because I still didn’t comprehend exactly what he was saying. Not even close. “What does that mean?” My voice was high-pitched, my words rushed, making it obvious that I was working myself into hysterics.
“It means he’s going away. For a long time.”
Going away? “To prison?”
Detective Moretti nodded. “To prison.”
“How long is a long time?”
“My best guess? Twenty years.”
My world stopped turning.
My lungs quit working.
And my heart? I swear it stopped beating.
“Twenty years?” I wheezed in disbelief.
He smiled. “Twenty years.”
I didn’t bother to wipe away the tears that spilled down my cheeks. “He’s going away,” I croaked, the relief clogging my throat nearly choking the life out of me. “And I’m finally free.”
Heidi hiccupped, tears of her own falling.
“Yes, you’re free,” he whispered, sliding his hands into his pockets. “And from this day forward, you always will be.”
His words were the truth.
Because that day, I got a second chance.
As for el diablo? Just like Anthony said, he later got twenty to life.
Part Two
From Darkness Came Hope
“He stepped down, trying not to look at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, even without looking.”
— Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
Chapter Six
Chase
Seven Months Later
It was a Saturday, at half past six.
Both mentally and physically exhausted, I sat in the middle of the sofa, my bare back pressed against the supple leather cushion behind me.
"Chase," Bianca, the ann
oying-as-hell brunette straddling my lap, purred, her soft hands massaging my shoulders. "Why don't we go to your bedroom?"
Shifting her weight, she rolled her hips, trying her damnedest to seduce me into giving her the exact thing she'd been fighting like hell to get the past two years. "There's something I want to show you."
She wouldn't be showing me shit.
When I didn't speak or make a move to get up, she upped her game. Raking her tongue over her bottom lip, she pinched the hem of her tank top and began to lift it over her head, exposing her flawless skin to me, one slow inch at a time.
The move was meant to be seductive, but it didn't entice me to touch her.
The only thing it did was irritate me.
More than ready to put an end to whatever game she was playing, I gently wrapped my hand around one of her wrists, halting her from revealing the top half of her tits. "You need to stop."
A well-rehearsed pout formed on her gloss-coated lips, annoying me further. "Why?" she asked, grinding her crotch down onto my non-existent erection. "I know you want me."
I almost laughed.
The chick was crazy.
I didn't want her.
Not at all.
But that truth, one I'd made perfectly clear plenty of times in the past, hadn't seeped in yet.
"No," I said, making myself clear yet again. "I don't. How many times do we need to go over this?" Sounding like a complete dick wasn't my intention, but it couldn't be helped. I was beyond tired of her clingy shit. "I'm not interested, Bianca. Never will be, so do us both a favor and give it a rest."
Surprise crossed her face at my words, but it morphed into straight-up pissiness when I lifted her off my lap and deposited her scantily clad ass onto the cushion beside me, crushing the magazine she'd been looking at earlier.
Leaning forward, I rested my elbows on my thighs and nodded toward the door. "It's past time for you to go." I stood, grabbing my shirt from the back of the sofa and slipped it on, hiding my tanned skin from her view.
"So, that's it?" Bitch mode activated, she jumped up, crossed her arms over her chest, and glared at me, her bony hip cocked to the side. "We're not even going to make out?"
I blinked.
She couldn't be serious.
One look at her face, and I knew that she was, in fact, serious.
"Oh, for fuck's sake," I hissed, crossing my arms over my chest. "Did you not just hear what I said?" When she didn't reply, I took a deep breath and continued. "Bianca, listen to me. I. Am. Not. Interested. So why in the hell would we make out?"
Her mouth gaped. "You have got to be kidding me!" she screeched, fisting her small hands. "I swear, Chase, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were…"
"You'd think I was what?" Chin raised, I urged her to keep talking. "Go ahead, finish what you were about to say."
A malicious smile curved her lips. "I'd think you were gay." Eyes shining bright, she flicked her long hair back over her shoulder. "You're not, are you?' Cause if not"—she reached out and ran a manicured nail down the center of my chest—"then why don't you prove it?"
Fuck this.
Reaching my limit, I took a step back. "Trust me, Bianca, I'm not gay. Not that it's any of your business," I said matter-of-factly. "I just have no interest in sticking my dick in a hole that's already been plowed more than a county mile's worth of cornfields."
My words were harsh.
But they were the truth.
Most people would've found it hard to believe, but at eighteen, I understood that sex was about more than just getting off.
My older brother, Ty, the man who'd raised me after rescuing me from our abusive father, started pounding that fact in my head the moment I hit puberty.
Women are more than a place for you to bust a nut, he'd said, over and over. You treat their bodies with respect, or you stay away from them altogether.
I'd listened.
"You bastard!" Bianca screamed, her cheeks tinged red. "How dare you!"
I shrugged. "Just calling it like I see it."
Mad as hell, she snatched a glass of water off the end table and slung it at my head. I moved to the side, dodging it just in time and turned, watching as the spiraling glass hit the wall behind me, shattering.
I whistled, the quarterback in me impressed with the throw. "Well, hell, Bianca," I said, wide-eyed. "Maybe you should try out for the football team. With an arm like that, Coach may bench my ass in favor of you."
She shrieked again, this time louder, but said nothing as she stomped toward the apartment door, her heel-covered feet slamming against the hardwood with each step.
I chuckled, her antics reminding me of a pissed-off toddler. "And people wonder why I stay away from chicks," I mumbled to myself.
The front door burst open just as she reached it, and my brother, of all damn people, stepped inside, his blue eyes filled with alarm and confusion.
"What the fuck is going on?" he asked, looking from me to Bianca, then back to me again. "I heard someone yelling all the way down in the parking lot. Sounded like a cat was being tortured to death."
Bianca's eyes narrowed. "You're such an asshole, Ty," she snapped before shooting one last sneer in my direction. "Guess it runs in the family."
Without another word, she stormed past Ty and disappeared into the hall, leaving nothing but ringing ears and the smell of expensive perfume in her wake.
Shaking his head, my brother shut the door. "Tell me you're wrapping up with her."
I froze, my shoulders tensing.
"Pack of condoms in the bathroom hasn't been touched, Chase, so don't bullshit me," he continued, his tone accusatory. "Unless you're buying your own, then I don't know what the—"
"There isn't shit to wrap up," I interrupted, the urge to shove my fist into his face growing with each word he spoke. "I know better than to stick my dick in crazy."
Arms crossed, he stared at me with an inscrutable expression. "You mean to tell me as much time as that girl spends over here, that you're not fucking her?"
I was offended. "What did I just say?" I may have been a lot of things, closed-off, angry, and selfish just to name a few, but I wasn't a liar. "If I say something, I damn well mean—"
"Calm your hot-tempered ass down," he said, interrupting. "I was just asking a question."
"No, you were insinuating," I fired back, my temple pulsing with a heartbeat of its own. "And I don't like that shit."
Eye twitching, he moved closer. "If you two aren't screwing around, then why is she always over here?"
I slid my hands into the pockets of my sweats. "Just because I'm not giving her my dick, doesn't mean she isn't trying to get it." Again, it was the truth. "And just so we're clear, I never invite her over. She always tags along with one of the guys. Tonight, it was Grant. When he dipped to go see Emma, she stayed."
Much to my annoyance.
Ty nodded, understanding finally making its way into his thick skull. "Good, because a girl like that"—he paused, shaking his head once more—"she's not what you need. Not when your entire future is on the line."
Having already heard this lecture more than once, I moved back to the couch and plopped down, stretching out my sore legs.
"Don't worry, big brother, I know," I replied, lacing my fingers together behind my head. "My football scholarship is gone if I mess up again."
And by mess up, I meant that I couldn't beat anyone else's ass like I'd done a year before when a rival player tried to manhandle one of our cheerleaders after a game.
I had no tolerance for that bullshit.
Already pissed from losing, I'd seen red when he tossed her over his shoulder despite her pleas to be left alone. Without thinking, I'd reacted and beat the prick until he lost consciousness, a move which resulted in me being thrust into court-mandated anger management classes.
Despite knowing I took the beating too far—prick deserved it—and having to deal with the fallout and nearly losing my full-ride to Charleston Southern
, I didn't regret my actions.
Not the least bit.
The girl, Ellie, had needed help.
I'd given her that.
"As long as you understand what's at stake, then I'll back off," Ty said. "But Chase, I'm telling you, if you slip—"
His words dissipated when someone pounded on the door three times in rapid succession.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
I dropped my head back. "Please tell me that isn't Bianca again."
The sound of Ty's footsteps filled the apartment as he moved back toward the door. "It's not, Bianca," he said, wrapping his hand around the knob. "It's someone crazier. If I were you, I'd suggest you grab your cup out of your gym bag and put it on fast-like. Christ only knows what's about to happen."
Had he lost his damn mind?
"What in the Sam Hill are you talking—"
"I heard that, you dadgum blond-headed troublemaker!" Doris Davis, or Grandmama as most called her, shouted through the door. "Now open the door before I pull out my flyswatter!"
"What did you do?" Ty turned, his eyes meeting mine. "The only reason the Crazy Old Biddy would show up here is if she's ready to throw one of us a beating."
"I didn't do shit," I replied, standing. "What did you do?"
He shook his head. "Nothing."
"Lord have mercy," Grandmama mumbled from the other side of the door. "Listen here, you two. I ain't got time for this. I'm busier than a one-legged cat in a sandbox, and if you two dummies make me late for where I gotta be next, then I'm gonna take out my swatter and pop you both right on your scrumptious behinds."
I cringed at the thought.
Not because I was scared of a flyswatter, but because I knew Grandmama would pinch my ass a time or two before whacking me.
Besides being the town busybody, she was a self-proclaimed Granny Cougar.
No man was safe around her.
"Ty, let in her before she shoots the door open. Christ knows she's probably already digging her gun out of that massive bag she totes around everywhere."
Every Kiss You Steal: A Redeeming Love Novel (Book 7) Page 6