Mafia Rules (Mafia King #1)

25. EVE

25

EVE

A sh tumbles forward, pushing Dereck against the wall. The veins in his neck and arms are visible as he holds him there. “Is this him, Eve? The fucker that put his hands on you?”

I can feel my heart pounding in my chest, the tension rising as I realize how furious Ash is. “No, I mean yes, but he was helping me get my stuff in.” I walk over to them and put my hands on Ash’s chest. “It’s okay. Nothing happened.”

“I just dropped the last of her stuff off, man.” Dereck winces in pain while Ash pushes him harder into the wall.

“Please.” I pull at Ash’s arms and see my touch visibly calm him before my eyes. “Let him go, please, you’re scaring me.”

Ash listens to me, taking his hands off Dereck, but he remains standing chest to chest with him against the wall. I pull on his arm to get him away, my hand shaking. I’d never seen him that angry before.

“Get the fuck out of here. If you come back, I’ll fuckin’ end you,” Ash yells after Dereck as he escapes out of the door.

“What was that?” Seeing his anger causes my voice to shake with unease.

“He laid hands on you, Eve. What the fuck are you doing with him?” Ash’s hands cradle my head, and I watch the anger in his eyes give way to tears. “No one can touch you, sweetheart.”

“I went to my old place to get the last of my stuff. I didn’t realize there was so much, so he offered me a ride.” I wrap my hands around his wrists, resting them there.

“I would have taken you.” He lifts my face up to him and kisses my lips gently.

I brush his hands away, remembering the anger that I still have for him. “I needed my space from you.”

“I don’t want space.” He hugs me tight, wrapping his arms around my waist. “We need to talk about today, Eve.”

“I’m not ready,” I say, rejecting him again.

His eyes narrow, and he tilts his head to the side with a sigh. He’s slouching, arms hanging limply at his sides. He looks disheveled in his dress clothes from this morning, which are now wrinkled and messy.

I focus my attention on the boxes, stacking them in manageable rows so I can push them toward the elevator.

“Let me do that.” Ash picks up a few boxes. “You get the elevator.”

“I don’t need you.” I stand motionless, arms crossed, to convey my message effectively.

“I know you don’t, but please let me help you.” He puts the boxes down and leans in close to me, his hand resting on my back. “I love you, Eve. I’m sorry I failed you today. It won’t happen again.”

The heat of his breath makes my cheeks blush. I feel dizzy when he’s close. I wanted him to hold me and never let me go. But I can’t forget how he made me feel today. I wouldn’t be dismissed again.

“I’ll get the elevator.” Reluctantly, I take a step forward, feeling sad as the distance between us grows.

I hold the door open inside the elevator while Ash stacks all the boxes neatly. There's barely enough space for both of us in here. He is standing in front of me, expression intense as the door shuts behind him. His eyes lock with mine, tears welling in both of our eyes.

The elevator ding interrupts us, and we reverse the process from downstairs. When the elevator is empty, I walk to the apartment to unlock the door.

I'm not allowed to help lift anything; Ash takes care of bringing them inside and discreetly stacking them in the corner.

“You know, I have space in my condo for all your stuff.” Ash casually sits on the couch with a sly grin, exuding confidence. He leans back on the couch, his arms hanging over the backrest and his ankle resting on his knee.

I hold back a smile that's itching to show. The thought of sharing a home with Ash makes me happy. But I still feel raw. I sit at the edge of the couch, as far away from him as possible. I don’t want to give in to him, but I know I will.

“Talk to me, Eve.” His hand falls from the back of the chair to my butt. “This is driving me fucking crazy.”

“I hate Sasha,” I blurt.

“Me too. Okay, we are on the same page.” He rubs my back. “What else?”

“I didn’t appreciate getting dismissed today.” I lowered my gaze, unsure of how he would respond to that. Being this close to Ash made it hard to be mad at him.

Ash sits up next to me, his arms encircling me, pulling me back on the couch onto his body. “I should have said something. I regret not doing anything. My father just has this control over me.” He pauses.

“I hated how happy Sasha was,” I whisper in a hushed tone, hesitant to raise my voice for fear of crying again.

Ash lets out a sigh, then kisses my cheek. “Sasha is not going away. My father slipped her into every one of my business aspects.”

As I sit up and prop my back against the side of the couch, I stare directly at him. I wasn’t sure I could deal with him working closely with her. Would I lose him to her either way?

“I can’t do anything about that. But I can control her contact with me.” I could feel the warmth of Ash's hand on my stomach, his fingers sliding over the smooth material of my dress.

“What if I won’t accept that?” I push his hand off me, scared of his response, but needing to know.

He looks at the ground, takes a large breath, and lets it out. “I don’t know what to say. I have little control over business affairs.”

“What if she gets you to fall for her again?” My voice is low and tears fall uncontrollably. I wasn’t ready to let him go, but I didn’t want to feel the pain of him working with her and falling for her later.

“That will never happen. No one can take me from you, love.” He leans in and kisses my lips softly. When I don’t reject him, he kisses me again, this time hard and deep. His hand is on my knee, and he slides it slowly up my inner thigh. “I’m all yours. No one can control that.”

Just as we were lost in the moment, the sound of keys jingling in the lock brings us back to reality. Ash reclines on the couch, and I hastily fix my skirt just as Macy enters.

Macy steps in with bags and freezes when she sees us both on the couch, clearly interrupting something. “Hey, guys...”

“Hi, Macy,” Ash says, getting up to take the bags from her arms. “Kitchen?”

“Yeeahhh.” Macy watches Ash's backside as he walks away toward the kitchen.

“What the fuck?” Macy mouths as she sits next to me on the couch. Then she notices the boxes in the corner. “What’s all that?”

“Don’t get mad at me.” I lift my hands up and take a moment to pause.

“Get mad at her,” Ash infiltrates our conversation as he returns and sits in the chair beside me.

I roll my eyes in Ash’s direction, then take a deep breath to confess to Macy where I went tonight. “I went back to my old apartment to get the rest of my stuff.”

“You what?!” Macy yells, looking from Ash, then back to me. “Why didn’t you ask me to go with you?”

“I don’t know. I was out walking, and I ended up there. I was going to leave and come back later, but Dereck came home. He had already packed my stuff, so I took it.”

“How? You don’t have a vehicle. You can’t Uber all that shit.” Macy points to the large stack of boxes.

“Dereck brought them here, and we said our goodbyes. He’s not drinking anymore, so it was fine, and there’s no reason for me to see him again now,” I say as fast as I can and take a deep breath when I’m done.

“And you're done with him?” Macy asks.

“Yes. There’s no chance anything would happen with him. I swear.” I hold my hand up.

“That’s good to know,” Ash says, smiling, lounging in the chair, with legs spread apart, arms casually draped over the sides, exuding an irresistible allure—and sexy as fuck.

“We should get going. We have plans for tonight.” I glance at Ash, not forgetting about the ropes and how deeply I was craving him on top of me.

“I’m ready when you are, beautiful,” Ash says, holding his hand out for me to take.