Chapter 18 Ashton
TWO DAYS LATER
“Is your little girlfriend tired of being dragged in the media?”
“I don’t want to see you post another thing about her, give another interview about her, or speak on her at all. If you do, I swear your world is gonna be fucked up.”
“I knew you were messing with that girl all along.”
“You didn’t know shit. Just because I’ve got an issue with you running your mouth like diarrhea don’t mean I’m fucking with her. The last thing you need to be worried about is who I’m fucking when you’re throwing your twat at the entire starting lineup of the Pumas.”
“I couldn’t care less. It’s just the fact that you’ve been dragging me about it while you’re doing the same thing.”
“Yeah, whatever. You can believe what you wanna. Have you been sending me text messages?”
“What messages?”
“Messages that say: ‘I know you’re not perfect, but I love you still.’ ‘Why do you hurt me so badly?’ ‘You’ll soon learn no one loves you more than me.’ ‘She can never compare to me, what do you see in that bitch?’”
“What? No. It sounds like you’ve got a stalker on your hands, and it’s not me.”
“One final question.”
“What, Ashton?”
“Where the fuck did you get that photo from of Chanel climbing into my car at her parents’ house that you’ve been showing off on social media.”
“Don’t worry about where I get my shit from. You need to worry about who’s sending those damn text messages to your phone.”
“Like I said, keep her name out of ya mouth and mine too.”
“And if I don’t? You don’t rule me anymore, Ashton, and I’m not scared of you.
I can give all the damn interviews I want to.
Your mother fucked me over by keeping me from having your child, and she did the same thing with that prenuptial agreement.
My stupid ass mother backed her up, and I walk away with nothing but five million dollars and the apartment here in Chicago after eleven years of marriage. ”
“It’s more than you deserve for fucking around on me the way you did. Why don’t you tell one of your fuckboys to fund your lifestyle?”
“Fuck you, your mother, and that whore, Chanel Dubois, who you’re screwing.”
“What did I just tell you about letting her name come out of your mouth?”
“You don’t run me, Ashton. I will say whatever I want to say, post whatever I want to post, and interview with anyone I want to, and I’m not done telling the world about your trifling ass and that trifling ass ho.”
“They’re lies, Zoe.”
“I don’t give a shit. You should’ve given me more in the divorce settlement, and you shouldn’t have let your mama screw over me like you did.
If you didn’t pay the way I wanted you to pay, you will pay one way or another.
So I’ll keep traipsing my ass to all these talk shows that are willing to pay money to hear my story.
I’m gonna get paid, baby, one way or another, unless you want to offer a settlement. ”
“I’m not offering you a gahdamn thing, Zoe.”
“Then I guess I’ll be doing the talk show and blog circuit.”
The vein in my left temple was throbbing, as was the nerves in my shoulders. If I didn’t calm down, I would blow a fucking blood vessel and have an aneurysm. Zoe wasn’t worth any of that. I clenched my fists and bit down on my back teeth before I spoke.
“Zoe, . . . look out your window.”
“What? Why?”
“Because you know not to fuck with me.”
“I’m not scared of you.”
“Look . . . out . . . your . . . window.”
I heard the sound of her heels clicking on the marble floors of her apartment moments before I heard the curtains rustling.
“Ashton! Who the hell is that?”
I chuckled.
“Ashton, I’m not playing with you? Who is that man waving at me?”
I stopped laughing long enough to explain. “It’s your worst nightmare if you don’t keep Chanel’s muthafuckin’ name outta your mouth, and mine, too, while you’re at it.”
“You’d better stay away from me Ashton, and call off your thugs!”
“You ain’t ever gotta worry about me again as long as you do what the fuck I tell you to. Got it?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
I ended the call and quickly made another one. “Salvatore?”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks, man. I think she got the message.”
“I’m sure she did. But just to be on the safe side, I’ll show my face here and there over the next few days.”
“A’ight. Cool by me. Do what you need to do.”
“Ciao.”
“Bye, Sal.”
I ended the call and blew out a breath before I turned to see Chanel watching me from the doorway.
“They know where my parents live?”
I sighed and dragged my hand down my face. “Yes, they do. But don’t worry; I’ve already got protection on them.”
“What kind of protection? Police? Because Tommi hasn’t mentioned a police detail.”
I sat down in a chair at the island and pointed at the one beside it. “Sit down, Chanel.”
“I need to understand what’s going on here so that I can warn my parents.”
“Sit down, Chanel.”
She did what I ordered, heeding the dark warning in my tone. “What?”
“How much of that call did you overhear?”
“Enough to know that she has been flashing photos of me getting in your car outside of my parents’ place, you told her to look out her window, and then you made a call to someone named Salvatore. What the hell is going on, Ash?”
“Salvatore is my cousin on my father’s side.
You know that I’m biracial, and my father is Italian.
Well, Sal is my father’s brother’s son. He’s a soldier in the mafia, and he’s no joke.
Chanel knows that I have family in the mafia, but we’re not that close to that side.
She’s never met them, and she doesn’t know much about them.
But she knows not to fuck with them, and now she knows not to fuck with you. ”
“This is crazy. Are you kidding me? We cannot play with the mafia, Ashton.”
“Nobody’s playing with shit, but I also don’t play about a damn thing connected to me. You’re now connected to me, baby girl.”
“Oh my gosh. What have I gotten myself into?”
“You’re not into anything. You’re protected. The cops weren’t doing a good enough job, so I did what needed to be done. I just wanted to make sure your folks are good. You’re okay, because you’re with me.”
“I need to call them.”
“Go ahead.”
I hadn’t meant for her to overhear that conversation.
She had been upstairs taking a nap when I saw the latest post on Sociogram about me being a cheating bastard who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants.
I could’ve let it go, but when I saw the picture of Chanel climbing into my car and her parents’ house in the background, I couldn’t let it go.
I headed outside, and Titan followed me. I needed to blow off some steam, but I didn’t feel like working out. I grabbed an old football from the back porch and threw it. Titan took off to fetch it and came running back. We did that a few times before I kneeled and patted his head.
“You’re a good boy. You’re about the only person in this gahdamn world I can truly depend on not to judge me about shit.
Mama and Papà would have a fit if they knew I called Sal.
Chanel’s in there freaking out, and Amé would shit an entire brick.
Coach would probably bench me or beg them to pay out my contract so the team would no longer be associated with me. ”
I looked into Titan’s soulful hazel eyes as he stared up at me. It was ironic how much our eye color matched at times. The green in his hazel eyes were deeper than the amber, and his color was almost the same as my green eyes.
“Hey.”
I turned to look over my shoulder and saw Chanel stepping out of the back door.
“You good?”
She nodded and crossed her arms over her chest.
“I have a game in a couple of days.”
“I know.”
“It’s a home game. Are you going to your parents’ house while I’m there?”
“No. I’ll be just fine staying here. It will give me time to start on your article.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I’ll be comfortable by myself.”
“I’ll leave Titan here with you.”
“I think Titan is starting to like me a lot.”
Smirking, I replied, “He’s not the only one.”
She hung her head and tucked her bottom lip into her mouth. “Ash, we barely know each other. You can’t possibly like me that much. All you know of me is that I’ve been all in your face and in your business the last few weeks.”
“That’s a lie. You’ve been hanging around locker rooms and interviewing me for the last five years.
Telling crass jokes to show that you can hang with the best of ’em, cursing me out whenever I tried to be chivalrous, and I even bought you cupcakes for your last two birthdays when you were covering our games. ”
“You know what I mean. After all, here I was thinking that you were in a beautiful marriage all this time, and it was a lie. Do I really know you, or do I know what you want me to know?” Her voice grew soft and intimate.
“Maybe that’s why we’re holed up together in the mountains. It’s for us to get to know each other better. I’m enjoying getting to know you better.”
“Well, I’m enjoying getting to know you better, too, Ashton. I honestly adore everything about you.”
I stared at her for a while, and she smiled curiously at me. “What?”
“Don’t think I’m strange, and don’t judge me, a’ight?”
“Never, Ash.”
“Think I’m falling for you, girl.”
“Falling?”
“Yeah. Don’t make me say anything more than that.”
Her eyes were wide as she searched mine, but she didn’t say anything else. I changed the subject. “Why don’t we have a backyard camping trip tonight?”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“What’s the problem?”
“You want me to stay overnight outside in the snow?”
“Yeah. What’s wrong with that?”
“Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” she exclaimed, quoting a line from The Wizard of Oz.
I laughed at her silly nature. Shoving my hands in my pockets, I took a few steps to bring me closer to her. Staring down at her, I replied, “Baby, you don’t have to be afraid of lions and tigers and bears when I’m on the scene. I’m the one who you should be afraid of.”
“Oh, I guess you’re gonna be like Mystikal?”