Chapter 36 Everett
THIRTY-SIX
EVERETT
Iexit Kashton’s room the following morning at the same time Saint walks out of his at the end of the hallway. Kash steps out behind me just as the door across from his opens and a brunette joins us.
Her wide blue eyes meet mine and she gasps. “Eve.” They go to Kashton and then back to me. “How have you been?”
I walk the short distance and hug her. “Hey,” I say awkwardly. “Pretty good. How about you?” I haven’t seen her since the wedding reception, but I like that she remembers who I am.
“Kash, can I speak to you in the office?” Saint asks, walking past us toward the elevator.
“Yeah. I’ll be right there.”
“Go ahead.” I turn and give him a reassuring smile. I’m a big girl. We don’t need to make it awkward. He doesn’t need to walk me out. I know where to go.
“Oh, uh, okay.” He glances at Charlotte, and then his eyes meet mine again.
I nod at him as he gets on the elevator with Saint.
Instead of waiting on the elevator, we decide to take the stairs so we can catch up. I get a glimpse of her wedding ring, but I already knew she married Haidyn. Like I said, I know a lot about her. Even before we met at Bill and Janice’s wedding reception.
We exit on the second floor, walking out onto the top of the grand staircase.
The sound of someone sniffling gets our attention, and we both look down over the balcony at the foyer below.
I watch Charlotte stiffen out of the corner of my eye when she spots Ashtyn walking up to Haidyn.
He looks like he’s going to ignore her until she calls his name.
“Haidyn?”
“What, Ashtyn?” He sighs heavily. Either he’s had a long morning, or he doesn’t want to be bothered by her.
Ashtyn goes to give him a hug but stops when he crosses his arms over his chest. Instead, she lowers her voice, softly speaking to him, and she nods a few times before rubbing tears from her face.
This bitch!
I can’t stand her. I feel like there are several reasons as to why I don’t like her, but the main one is because I know what the Spade brothers went through for her.
If she had protected them instead of running, their lives would have been different.
They wouldn’t have been tortured for six months.
And shooting Saint? What was the point in that?
She was willing to kill him to save herself.
If you ask me, that’s not a woman who is in love.
Charlotte wraps her hands around the railing as Haidyn’s phone rings.
He pulls it out of his pocket and answers.
“Hello?” His deep voice carries up to the high ceilings, and he gives her his back.
Ashtyn understands their one-sided conversation is over.
I smile at how disappointed she looks that he chose anyone else over her.
“Do you trust your husband?” I ask, turning to face Charlotte.
“Absolutely,” she answers without hesitation. Then her brows pull together, like she’s confused about why I asked her such an absurd question or possibly how I know they’re married. But even if I didn’t already know that information, the diamond on her finger gives it away.
“Do you trust Ashtyn?” I dig.
She nibbles on her bottom lip for a second before she responds. “She’s been in their lives for a long time, but I know my husband. And”—she gives me a confident smile—“he would never do anything to hurt me.”
I don’t want to put thoughts in her head, but I also know how these whores work.
“Let me share a little insight with you, Charlotte.” I step into her, and her smile drops.
“Even though your husband isn’t currently sticking his dick inside her, that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t slide it in herself if he were to give her the chance. ”
She reaches down and places her hand on her flat stomach, and I sigh. “You’re pregnant.” I should have known. That’s what the Lords do—knock up their Ladies as soon as they can. Of course Haidyn is no different. Guess I don’t know everything.
Charlotte smiles at me. “I am. Ashtyn was there for me when I needed someone. Plus, she’s been through a lot.”
“We all have,” I add. “That’s not an excuse to be a cunt.”
She places her hand on my shoulder. “I know they have a past, but I’m his wife. His future.”
I admire her level of trust. I wish I could have that with someone.
Kashton might say he loves me and wants to marry me, but our future isn’t going to be the same as Haidyn and Charlotte’s.
I’ll let him think he can heal me, but I know he can’t.
You can’t undo as much damage as I have.
Love isn’t the answer to everything in the real world.
We both stand silently, watching Ashtyn make her way up the grand staircase. She doesn’t see us until she reaches the platform. Ashtyn gives us both a big, fake fuck-you smile. Well, that’s how I see it. It may be more of a I hope you just didn’t see me trying to hug your husband like he’s my own.
“Hey, ladies,” she says. “Eve, right? I saw you at the reception.”
She tries to act like we didn’t sit at the same table that evening. I skip the small talk. “I’m here to see Saint. You know where he is?” I ask.
She glances from me to Charlotte then back to me, tilting her head to the side as if she’s not sure whether to believe me. She’s probably wondering why the fuck I’m here. Did I stay the night? Why would I want to talk to Saint when it’s clear I’m fucking Kashton?
After a long second, she finally answers. “If he’s not in the office, he’s down in the basement.” Swallowing nervously, she adds, “Need me to get him for you?”
I wave her off. “I’ll find him.” Give her a dose of her own medicine.
Maybe I plan on sucking his dick under his desk, or maybe I plan on letting him fuck me in the elevator.
Or maybe I want him to bend me over his desk so he can fuck my face while Kashton pounds my pussy from behind. Who knows? The choice is mine.
After a long second, she finally speaks. “Okay. Let me know if you need anything.”
I ignore her, but Charlotte smiles before Ashtyn disappears down the hallway and out of sight.
“It was good to see you, Eve. Hopefully I’ll see you again soon.” With that, Charlotte goes the opposite way.
I take the grand staircase down to the first floor. Haidyn is placing his cell in his pocket. “Might want to rein that in,” I suggest in passing.
“Excuse me?”
I come to a stop and face him. He looks like he wants to ask me what the fuck I’m doing here, but he already knows—his brother.
My stare drops to his wedding band before I meet his eyes. “The woman you let hang on you who isn’t your wife.”
His eyes narrow on mine, knowing Ashtyn wasn’t hanging on him like I just accused him of.
But the situation will at the very least put doubt in Charlotte’s mind.
A woman can only tell herself there’s nothing there so many times before she stops believing it.
And she knows about their past. That’ll make her doubt him faster than anything.
I don’t want to see them fail.
And I can’t stand for a woman who pushes boundaries when she’s aware he’s with someone who isn’t her.
“Never know who might be watching.” I remove my sunglasses from my hair and put them over my eyes. “Like your actual wife.” Then I turn and exit the Carnage doors as my cell vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out to read the text.
We need to talk. My office downtown.
The message from my dad instantly ruins my mood. Can I just have one good day? I feel like that’s not too much to ask.
KASHTON
Lunch. I’ll be at your house to pick you up at noon.
I send the text to Eve. It wasn’t a question, so I don’t need a response. Setting the phone down on my desk, I lean back in my chair and smile.
Haidyn enters the office with a sour look on his face, and Saint also seems tense. The past twenty-four hours with my girl have made me feel much better.
“So, Eve?” Saint says. “Sure that’s a good idea? I mean…more than once?”
Obviously, they know that I’ve been seeing her, but they don’t know the extent of it. They have no clue I’m going to marry her. “The best decision I’ve ever made.”
Haidyn grunts and Saint just chuckles.
“She’s the one.” I smile and Saint looks skeptical.
“The one?” he asks slowly.
I nod. “I’m obsessed. She’s like crack.”
“How would you know?” Saint asks. “You’ve never done crack.” I open my mouth, but he continues. “She’s a founder—”
“So is your wife,” I counter.
“Yeah, but…” He trails off and looks at Haidyn, who softly shakes his head.
You better not fucking say it. “But what?” I bait Saint.
“Nothing.” He decides to not say what he was originally thinking—she’s useless. I already beat the shit out of a few guys for calling her that, and I won’t treat my brother any differently.
The door to the office opens and Ashtyn enters. She gives a smile as she walks over to Saint. Her eyes scan the room, looking for someone else in here, and her smile grows when she realizes it’s just the three of us Spades. “What is everyone up to today?”
“Working,” Saint answers. Haidyn puts his attention on his computer, so she looks at me at his dismissal.
It’s pretty fucking obvious he’s distancing himself from her. I’ve had my head buried in the fucking sand for far too long, so now I watch everything. Too much went on, and if I had just opened my eyes and paid attention, I would have seen what was happening.
All that I was blind but now I see bullshit.
I get it, though. Haidyn has a wife, and Saint isn’t going to tell Ashtyn to step back.
Saint isn’t like that. He knows we’re not going to fuck her.
She’s back here at Carnage and belongs to him.
That’s all he cares about. And now, with the babies on the way and her brother dead, he’s going to let her do and have whatever she wants.
She’s his wife. I can’t say I’d do it differently, because I’m not in his shoes.
Ashtyn has been a big part of our lives for as long as Saint has.
Now things have changed for Haidyn, but not for Ashtyn.
She still wants to be his baby girl. And I don’t know Charlotte all that well, but I can’t imagine she’d put up with that.
Haidyn is her husband and she’s not going to share him.
My phone vibrates, and I look down to see it’s a response from Eve.
Can’t. I’m busy today.
I chuckle and type back.
It wasn’t a question, angel.
“Same.” I finally answer Ashtyn.
“Can we all go for a ride later?”
Haidyn finally speaks to her while his eyes remain on his computer. “Charlotte and I have plans.”
Saint looks at her. “Sweetheart, you’re pregnant. I’m not putting you on the back of my bike.”
“I trust you.” She frowns.
He shakes his head. “Too many things can happen that I can’t control.”
Even when we had our chosens, Ashtyn was still ours. Saint let us have a piece whenever we wanted. I wouldn’t say he regrets that, but we quit after they got married. He made her an honest woman, and I wanted nothing to do with her sexually after.
She turns and plops down on the couch, nibbling on her bottom lip. She looks bored and confused. She went from life on the run to being kept here at Carnage like a prisoner.
“Why don’t you go see what Charlotte is up to?” Saint offers. “Maybe have a girls’ day.”
“She just left,” Ashtyn answers, and I watch Haidyn to see if he reacts.
He doesn’t. I’m surprised he let her leave without him with everything that has been going on around here and the women who have turned up dead.
“She went to spend the day with Blakely. They invited me, but I thought I’d let them have some alone time.
” Ashtyn shrugs. “They have a lot to talk about.”
Yes. They just recently found out that they are related. Who knew the two fucked-up women in our world are twins? Guess we should have seen that one coming.
“I called Elli, but she has plans with Sin today. She said she’ll be here tomorrow, though.”
Sitting up straighter, I ask, “Are Devin and Gavin delivering the babies?” Sin hasn’t mentioned it.
She shakes her head. “No. They’ve got another week.”