Chapter 32
Chapter
Thirty-Two
ASHER
When Cinder texted me to tell me some guy was bothering Anabelle at the bar, I couldn’t get there fast enough. I was already worked up on the short drive there. But when I walked in and saw him gripping her wrist, I just about lost it.
I wanted to race across the bar and pummel him into sawdust. I knew if I did, I would probably black out in my rage as I had once before in my life. And I didn’t want Anabelle to witness that. That was the only thing that prevented me from crossing the distance between us.
But when he called her a slut? Fuck. There was no way I was letting that go.
That piece of shit can try his worst, I don’t care. I have enough money and influence to make myself untouchable. Something he should already know.
Once I have Anabelle safely in the car beside me, I sit with my hands on the steering wheel, knuckles white while I try to control my breathing and slow my heart rate. I need to calm down before I can speak rationally with Anabelle.
She seems to instinctively know this, because she doesn’t say a word.
Once I’ve gathered myself, I turn my head and look at her. “Are you okay?”
She nods. “How did you know where I was?”
“After you mentioned that you go there sometimes on Saturday nights, I called the owner and told her that if there were ever any problems for you, I was to be notified right away. She told her workers. Put your seat belt on.”
Anabelle does as I said without argument. Perfect. She’s always so perfect.
“Are you upset that I did?” I don’t care if she is. I’ll do what I have to in order to protect her.
“I probably should be, but no, I’m not.”
The sensation in my chest from her words has me rubbing it after I slide on my seat belt. I pull out of the parking lot, anxious to get her back to Midnight Manor. Not seeing her for two days was fucking torture.
“My car is here.” She looks out the window as we move farther away from it.
“I’ll send someone to pick up your car. Give me the keys.”
She pulls them from her purse and passes them to me. I slide them in my pocket.
“Given that you were at the bar, I take it your visit with your mother didn’t go well?”
I hear her sigh, and I glance at her again. Pain coats her features like paint.
“No, same as last time. No change.”
After I press the button for the gates to the manor, I squeeze her hand. “I’m sorry.”
The vehicle moves through the low-level fog on the grounds tonight. It’s not common this time of year in general, but it’s not uncommon here at Midnight Manor all year. It’s just another one of the unexplainable things that add to the manor’s lore.
I have to take the road slowly because I can’t see more than five or six feet in front of me. She’s quiet and contemplative during the ride, and I don’t bring up any of the questions I have for her. They can wait until we’re safely ensconced inside.
Once I’ve parked, I lead her to the front door with a hand on her back, then take her to the library. I could have chosen either of our bedrooms, but as much as I want to be buried inside her, we have things to discuss.
Rather than turning on the overhead lights, I flick on one of the lamps on the table in the sitting area and lead her to the couch. The room is dim, and the shadows play on her face, making her look even more young and innocent than she already does.
I need to voice the question that’s been burning in my throat from not asking it on the drive over here.
“Who is LeBlanc to you?” I attempt to keep my voice even, but I’m not sure how successful I am when she blinks rapidly at me.
“You know him?” Her head tilts.
“Not exactly. He’s tried to make trouble for my family a few times since he’s become sheriff. I’ve had to make a few phone calls to the governor and a senator to put him in his place.”
“Oh. I didn’t know that.” She frowns. “Galen and I dated back in high school. Ever since I returned to Magnolia Bend, he’s been intent on getting me back. He seems to think we’re the perfect couple and should be married and raising babies together.”
Anger, swift and stinging like a slap to the face, lashes me. “You can do better than him.”
She holds my gaze and nods. “I know.”
That was a stupid thing for me to say. She can do better than me too. A man who’s unwilling to commit or have a serious relationship and get married. Anabelle deserves to have someone who wants all those things with her.
But no matter. I’m not giving her up. Not yet anyway.
“Why is he so persistent?” I narrow my eyes. Could she have given him reason to be?
She shrugs. “I have no idea. I’ve made it abundantly clear that I want no part of him. He’s like the Teflon man, and the insults I hurl at him just bounce away. Though I think you made your point. Thank you for defending me.”
I cup her chin. “I will always defend you, remember that.”
She nods, and I drop my hand. “I suspect he will leave me alone now that you’ve intervened, though I hope you don’t get in trouble for hitting a police officer.”
“Don’t worry about me, Anabelle. I’ll be fine.” Something about that statement shifts something in her body language. “What?”
She opens her mouth, looks hesitant for a moment and closes it, then opens it again. “I wanted to ask you something.”
“Ask then.” She bites her bottom lip, and I pluck it out with my thumb and forefinger. “Speak, Anabelle.”
“How did your parents die? I’m sure you’re aware that rumors have swirled around for years, but I don’t actually know what happened.”
My shoulders drop, and I push a hand through my hair, gripping the base of my neck. Not the topic I had hoped to cover tonight. I’d planned on my cock getting reacquainted with her pussy.
At my hesitation, she says, “If it’s too painful, we don’t have to talk about it. I just… I can’t help but wonder after all we’ve talked about.”
“My mother was murdered by one of my father’s enemies, and my father was murdered by someone else.”
Her hands fly to her mouth. “I’m so sorry, Asher.”
It’s been so long since I’ve talked to anyone about this. As far as my mother is concerned, I’ve only ever talked to my brothers about it, and as for my dad, my brothers and I steer clear of that conversation for our own reasons.
“I’m not sorry about my father, which you can probably guess, but my mother…” I rub at the pain in my chest, at the pain on Kol’s face when he told me he’d found her. I have to squeeze my eyes shut to remove the image of my mother’s bloodied body.
Fuck, I don’t want to talk about this. Not at all.
But maybe it will be like when I spoke to Anabelle about my father’s beatings… maybe I’ll find some sense of peace from it.
“My mother was very unhappy in her marriage to my father, for obvious reasons. He had a business associate, someone who used to come around the manor a lot. They weren’t friends, more like adversaries, but they spent time together because they enjoyed one-upping each other and taunting the other.
” My voice is monotone as I continue. “From what I understand, at some point, he and my mother began an affair. She was planning to leave my father, but when it came down to it, she told the man she couldn’t do it.
I don’t know why. Maybe if she’d left and taken us with her, we all could have been happy somewhere else.
But for her own reasons, she wouldn’t leave my father.
When the man confronted her about it, he stabbed her through the heart with her garden shears.
Whether it was a jealous rage, or he was just so incensed he wouldn’t have the coup of stealing Ramsey Voss’s wife, I don’t know.
Kol found her out in one of the gardens. He was only ten.”
I blink out of the memory and look at Anabelle, who has tears streaking down her face. My sweet, sweet Anabelle who feels so much. Using both hands, I swipe away her tears.
“That’s so sad. Your poor mother. You poor boys.”
More tears drip over my thumb, and I bring it to my lips, tasting her saltwater tears.
“What happened to him? The man who killed your mother?”
“He was arrested and held for trial. Didn’t make it, though.
He was stabbed to death in jail while he was awaiting trial.
The killer left the shiv in his chest, right where his heart is.
Just like he did with my mother.” A low chuckle escapes.
“That might be the only thing in my life I ever felt thankful to my father for.”
Anabelle slides over and pulls me into a hug, pushing her hand into the hair at my nape. At first, it feels foreign, allowing someone to try to comfort me physically. But after a few heartbeats, I let myself sink into her comfort and surround her with my hands, accepting her offering.
She pulls away and places a palm to my cheek. “That’s so tragic, Asher. I’m sorry. What happened to your father?”
I place a finger over her mouth. “No more talking. All you need to know is that this land is soaked with the blood of many people, and he’s one of them. That’s all I can tell you.”
Anabelle studies me for a moment then nods, leaning in to kiss me. When our tongues meet, I feel the horrible memories float to the recesses of my mind and disappear like the mist on a lake when the sun comes out.
Too soon, she pulls away and stands from the couch.
I’m going to protest, but without a word, she lifts her tank top over her head, toes off her shoes, slides her shorts and panties down her legs, then finally removes her bra.
When I reach for her, she bats away my hand and leans in to undo my shorts.
With my help, she splays them open and gets my boxer briefs down under my ass.
She straddles me, and I take a nipple into my mouth, swirling my tongue around then nibbling with my teeth as she sinks down on me until I’m fully seated inside her. Anabelle groans and threads her hands through my hair as she circles her hips.
I lose myself in her body as she rides me. And for tonight, I don’t worry about controlling the scene or having her do my bidding. I just let her offer me the comfort of her body.
Later that night, after tossing and turning for an hour in my room, I sneak into hers, slide into her bed, pull her close, and finally fall into a deep sleep.