Chapter Thirty-Four
Steele
Cooper had to drag me out of the bar. Once I’d run out of alcohol in my own home, I had walked to the pub. Unbeknownst to Ashlynn, I’d followed her to England, just to make sure she didn’t need anything while she settled back in. I had my men watching her a half-mile out, so she was oblivious to my interference. But if Topher came within a half mile of his daughter, or anyone else did, I’d know about it.
Luckily, Cooper drove me home. The walk from my townhome wasn’t a long one, but I could barely keep one foot in front of the other.
“Steele, you’re a goddamn mess. I’m tired of following you back and forth from Paris to London. I have better things to do than to waste my time in your jet. You’ve become such a whiny bitch.” Cooper swore at me repeatedly as he tried to push me into the passenger seat of his car. We both had drivers for business meetings, but in my personal time I liked to drive myself around, and so did Cooper.
“I’m not a mess. Or a whiny bitch.” But even I could hear how much I was slurring my words. I could barely sit up in the car, and when Cooper accelerated, I thought I was going to be sick.
“You are, Steele. Why didn’t you just keep her? She would have stayed with you. You could have convinced her to love you back if you’d kept her.”
I really didn’t want to talk about Ashlynn. The second she’d pulled out of my driveway in her little car, my insides felt like they were being pulled out of my stomach with a hot iron rod. The farther she drove away, the worse it got. It took me all of five minutes to jump in my car and follow after her.
I was a bit annoyed that she didn’t notice me watching her as she directed my men where to put items and unpacked her belongings. I’d parked just outside the gate, and stayed and watched her for over an hour, yet she was unaware.
I wanted to call her and yell at her, scold her for not being aware of her surroundings, but she wasn’t mine anymore.
Ashlynn wasn’t mine in any capacity.
The reality of it had hit me so hard that I’d driven straight to London and consumed all the alcohol I had in the townhouse, and then several more drinks at the bar before the bartender had called Cooper to come from Paris and get me. That was one good thing about drinking at a bar you owned, I supposed.
When I woke up the next morning, I was so hungover that I could hardly move.
“Quincy?” I called out weakly.
“You left him in France, dumbass.”
I opened one eye a tiny crack and could see Cooper sitting opposite the bed.
“What in the hell happened last night?” I tried to sit up but then instantly regretted it.
“You mean before or after you drank London’s entire supply of alcohol?”
I groaned. Even I could smell the liquor on me.
“You tried to drunk dial Ashlynn.”
“Fuck.”
“I stopped you.”
Thank god. The last thing I wanted was for Ashlynn to realize how bad this was for me. It was bad enough that I fell for her and she wouldn’t admit her feelings for me, but if I called her, drunk out of my mind and pining, I’d have absolutely no dignity left. At least when I said goodbye to her, I’d made it a clean break. I gave her what she needed, then hoped we could both move on.
But it was clear that it was going to take some time.
“Are you okay if I leave? I need to be back at the warehouse in France tonight for that large cigar shipment. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t choke to death on your own vomit.”
Part of me wished I had.
“You can go. Thanks…for being a friend.”
Cooper stopped walking and turned at my words. I’d never once acknowledged him as a friend.
“No problem, man.”
I knew I shouldn’t keep tabs on her, but I couldn’t help myself. I constantly opened up the app on my phone, watching her location move around the English countryside. Just seeing the flashing dot from her tracker made me feel connected. She stayed close to the house I’d bought her, only leaving to go to the market or the coffee shop. Based on the amount of time she spent in the coffee shop, I guessed that she was working there. I didn’t want her working, at least at a job that she didn’t enjoy, but she wasn’t my concern anymore.
But when her dot traveled into London one Saturday evening, and then into a club, I was down the stairs and out the door before I could even stop to think. Blood pounded in my ears as I drove, my car flying down the streets. I had no clue what I was going to do, but if she was with another man, I had to know. Maybe it would force me to move on, seeing her with someone else. Seeing her laugh and toss her beautiful hair, her white smile illuminated in the light. Something primitive dwelled within my chest, beastly and unchecked.
I knew exactly what I’d do. I’d tear him from limb to limb.
I didn’t even bother to stop my car when I pulled up to the club. I tossed my keys to the bouncer along with a hundred pound note. I had no clue if they offered valet parking, but I didn’t care.
The club was jam-packed and loud. Strobe lights were flashing everywhere, and I suddenly felt older than hell as I saw men and women drinking, dancing, and laughing all around me. The music pounded, the smell of cigarette smoke hit my nostrils, and the ground was sticky from spilled drinks. This was not my idea of a good time, and I had a hard time believing it was Ashlynn’s pick either.
A woman approached me as my eyes were scanning the crowd. “Looking for someone?” she asked, batting her eyelashes.
“Yes,” I said, moving past her.
She followed me, and then put her hand on my arm. “Me?” She winked.
“Sorry, no,” I answered rudely, focusing on my main goal: find Ashlynn and make sure she wasn’t with anyone else.
The woman pouted and sauntered off, and I moved closer to the stage where the DJ was. People were bumping into me left and right. Someone even spilled a drink on my shoes, but I didn’t care. I was too determined.
When I spotted her, my heart stopped. She was standing with a group of women, her hair pulled up into a half ponytail with the ends cascading down her back. She was wearing a dress that was far too revealing in my opinion, in an environment like this where any man could look at her. Her hips swayed to the song, and she was smiling, but her gaze was far away, like she wasn’t really part of the crowd. However, from her movements, I could tell that she had already had too much to drink. One of the women she was with said something to her and she nodded, heading towards the bar with her. Like there was an invisible cord between us, I moved with her, following her to the corner where she and her friend sat.
She hadn’t seen me, but I could see her reflection in the mirror behind the bar. I moved in close enough to eavesdrop on their conversation.
“Did you see anyone you like?” her friend said, flipping her blonde hair off her shoulder. “I think you really need to get shagged.”
I wanted to throttle this woman. Whoever she was, I hated her.
“No,” Ashlynn said, as the bartender passed her a drink. She took a large gulp and then set the glass down. The light caught her hand as she moved it, and the ring I bought for her for our fake engagement sparkled and reflected the light.
She was wearing it on her left hand.
Holy hell. Maybe there was still hope for us after all. I felt my chest tighten in hope, but then at that exact same moment, a wave of dread hit my stomach and all the blood drained from my face.
A man, tall and handsome, sat next to her. He tapped her shoulder, flashing her a smile, and then said something quietly to her. I couldn’t make out what he said, but I saw her face blush slightly, saw the red creep down her neck. I knew Ashlynn intimately, and I knew whatever he’d said to her was flattering. He pointed to the dance floor, and she looked at her friend, who nodded emphatically. She still hesitated, but she let him grab her by the hand and pull her out into the throng of people, moving in sync with the music. They stood a couple of feet apart, Ashlynn looking uncertain, but then the man moved in and pulled her body close to his.
Her mouth opened in surprise, but he kept tightly ahold of her. I knew she was uncomfortable.
Before I knew what was happening, I had stalked over and punched him in the jaw.
The shock on Ashlynn’s face was enough to pull me out of my rage-fueled fury. The man stumbled backward, bumping into another group before slinking away into the shadows, where he belonged.
“Steele,” she slurred, looking at me angrily. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Her friend came to her side, grabbing her arm to pull her away from me.
I practically roared. “She’s mine! I’ll take care of her. If you know what’s good for you, leave.”
The blonde looked at Ashlynn, who nodded. She scampered off quickly back to whatever group of friends she came with.
“You can’t be here.” She pushed me lightly, not hard enough to even make me sway.
I grabbed her arm, feeling the electricity surge through me the second our skin connected. It was like every single synapse in my brain fired at the exact same time, urging me to hold on to her and never let go.
“I’m not yours to boss around,” she mumbled, her heel catching on absolutely nothing, yet she stumbled anyway.
“When you make bad choices that could hurt you, you are mine to boss around.” I pushed her through the door into the cold night air. The music thudded inside, the vibrations palpable, but the rest of the street was still. She instantly shivered, and I sighed and pulled off my sweatshirt and tugged it over her head. She struggled pulling her arms through, and up until that moment I didn’t realize just how inebriated she was.
I stood there in my t-shirt, staring at this woman who captivated my entire existence.
She opened her mouth to yell at me again, but then turned her head and puked all over the sidewalk.
By the time I got her to my townhouse, she had fallen asleep. I drove incredibly slow this time, completely opposite of my rage driving before. She had definitely overindulged, and I worried about her getting sick again. I didn’t give a damn if she puked in my car, but I knew she’d be incredibly embarrassed about it when she sobered up.
I pulled up into my garage and killed the engine. Most of my security team was gone, having been reassigned to watch Ashlynn’s house. I was pissed that they didn’t let me know that she left her home and came into London.
I walked over to Ashlynn’s side of the car and opened the door. She slept with her mouth wide open, her head tilted back unladylike against the headrest. A tiny bit of drool pooled in the corner of her mouth.
She’d never looked more beautiful.
I undid her seatbelt without waking her, and I scooped her up in my arms. She weighed hardly anything, and I was now worried that she hadn’t been eating properly. She had lost weight at the beginning of her captivity with me, but she’d put it back on before she was taken by her father. When she’d come back to take care of me, she was definitely thinner, but again she seemed to go back to her natural weight when she was with me at my estate.
I hated that she wasn’t eating well. I wanted her to be healthy and curvy.
She started to rouse as I carried her up the stairs.
“How did you find me?” she asked weakly.
“Your tracker,” I said, waiting for her to fly off the handle or even strike me at the invasion of her privacy.
“Oh,” was all she said, and then she rested her head against my shoulder and passed out again.
I brought her up to my bedroom, and when I set her down on my bed I had a flashback to the first night we’d spent together here. I sighed, wanting nothing more than to relive some of the passion we shared, but instead I focused on putting her to bed like she was a child.
Her dress had ridden up to her waist, exposing her toned thighs and the silk black panties she had on. I gulped hard, pulling the zipper down her back as I removed her dress. I hardened considerably in my jeans, but when I saw how thin she truly was, it was enough to push my desire right out the window.
Obviously she hadn’t been faring too well during our separation either.
I went through my closet and found one of my t-shirts, removed the sweater, and replaced it with the shirt. I kept her in just her panties, knowing that she wouldn’t be cold with me next to her.
She turned her head slightly as I tucked her into my bed. “Steele…” she murmured, grasping for me as I crawled in next to her.
“I’m here, Ash.” I pulled her tightly into my chest, warming her supple skin with my body. I covered her like a blanket, shielding her from the cold night and whatever lurked just outside the light and in the shadows.
“Don’t leave me.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I replied, my lips grazing her forehead softly, watching as she drifted off.
It took me forever to fall asleep. The entire time I held her in my arms, I was scared shitless of losing her again. Even now, I feared that she’d wake up and leave as soon as her hangover was finished.
But I wouldn’t allow it this time.
Last time she left, I gave her space to figure out what we had and how she felt.
But no more.