Chapter Four #2
Ashley ignored the open door. ‘What-whatever my father did to you…’ she began haltingly, her head still bowed, ‘This company has nothing to do with him. I have nothing to do with him. I haven’t seen him since he went to prison.’
‘Such a loyal daughter,’ he mocked. ‘I’m not surprised.
Most people cut bait with a con, I find.
’ He couldn’t keep the bitterness from spiking his voice.
He’d lost all his family and a lot of friends once he’d gone to prison.
His mother had blamed him for his arrest, even though she’d known he was innocent.
You should have known better, Nico. For the sake of your brother, you should never have aimed so high.
Other people had preferred to pretend they’d never known him, even after his innocence had been proved.
He was still tainted, which was why he’d changed his last name.
He wasn’t ashamed, but neither would he have his prison sentence define who he was now by having it appear every time someone searched for his name.
Slowly Ashley lifted her head. Her face was mottled with distress, her lip pearling with a tiny droplet of blood from where she’d bitten it.
‘If this is some kind of revenge, you really are targeting the wrong person,’ she insisted, her voice trembling.
‘If you want me to beg, fine, I’ll do it.
I’ll beg.’ She knotted her shaking fingers together, holding her clasped hands out in front of her.
‘Please don’t do this. You’re hurting innocent people. My staff—’
‘Can get other jobs.’ Nico forced himself to sound dismissive, although she’d prodded his one weakness without even realising it.
He did not want innocent people to suffer…
but Ashley Woodward was not innocent. As for her twenty-two employees, once they were vetted and cleared of any involvement in Woodward’s affairs, perhaps he’d consider finding jobs for then.
‘Did you invest in his company or something?’ Ashley asked desperately. ‘Did you lose money?’
Nico leaned forward. ‘I lost my life,’ he snarled.
‘And everything and everyone that mattered to me. And you were part of that, princess, so enough with your “damsel in distress” act. I’m not buying it, and I never will.
’ With that, he gave her a purposeful push towards the door, his hand on her shoulder.
Ashley stared at him, her eyes wide with confusion and shock as she caught herself with one arm flung out to the door handle. ‘I was?’
Nico had had enough. ‘Go.’ He raised his hand as if to push her again, although he knew he wouldn’t. He’d already made his message clear. As he’d told her before, he wasn’t cruel—not the way her father had been.
Finally, Ashley seemed to accept defeat.
Her eyes still sparkled with tears and her lips trembled before she firmed them into a line.
Lifting her chin a notch in a way that gave Nico an unexpected flicker of admiration, she eased herself out of the car.
She closed the door politely, not slamming it, and left him alone with his revenge.
Nico exhaled slowly, willing himself to feel the sweet satisfaction of that delectable dish best eaten cold, but he felt nothing.
He was empty inside, as if a cold wind was blowing right through him.
He’d finally achieved what he’d set out to do—the last remaining connection to Woodward Investments, as it was, was about to be dismantled and destroyed.
Chase Woodward was in prison and his daughter had nothing.
Why did he not feel the way he’d thought he would, the way he needed to? Maybe if he gave it time…
Irritated with himself, he rolled down the window to check that Ashley Woodward was good and gone, only to see her standing a few metres away, limping pitifully.
Her ankle really was injured, maybe even sprained.
For the second time that day in relation to this woman and her ailments, Nico swore under his breath.
And then, hating himself for his own weakness, he threw open the limo door and climbed out, striding toward Ashley.
‘You’re in no condition to go anywhere,’ he snapped, his voice sharp with irritation. ‘Why don’t you hail a cab?’
‘I don’t have my wallet or phone,’ Ashley replied with trembling dignity. ‘But please don’t trouble yourself on my account. You haven’t so far,’ she flung at him, ‘So I’m not sure why you’d change now.’
Again, Nico felt that flicker of admiration for her courage…and promptly squashed it. He didn’t need Ashley Woodward appealing to his sympathies.
‘You obviously need that ankle tended to,’ he told her gruffly. ‘You can come into my office building and be seen to. Then I’ll get you a car to take you wherever you need to go.’
She turned to stare at him in disbelief.
‘Why would you help me now?’ she asked, sounding genuinely curious as well as completely defeated.
‘You’ve already taken everything from me.
What does being decent do for you now?’ Her lips twisted bitterly.
‘Does it give you a little thrill? You don’t need to kick me when I’m down. You can just pretend to help me up.’
‘I am helping you,’ Nico replied through gritted teeth.
Her words pierced him in a way he hadn’t expected and didn’t entirely understand.
Ashley Woodward had been complicit in his unjust arrest and imprisonment.
Whether she remembered her part in it or not was irrelevant…
even if the fact that she might have forgotten remained galling.
He thought he’d almost prefer her to be deceitful.
‘Now stop arguing,’ he added, wanting to cut off any more uncomfortable accusations she might make, ‘And come with me.’
He took her by the elbow, intending to help her into his building, but by the way she limped he realised she couldn’t put any weight on her ankle at all so, swearing again, he lifted her into his arms in one sweeping movement and strode towards the office doors.