Chapter 8 #2
I keep shooting, my aim getting a little better but nowhere near as perfect as Ashton’s, and it sucks.
I hate to admit I’m actually jealous of him.
We spend a couple of hours at the shooting range, grab lunch, and then head back to the compound.
Since I’m the only one of us who owns a car, I drive.
“When did you start working for Dante?” I ask on our way back.
“A few weeks ago. Called me up after dinner and asked if I wanted to make a few bucks. Told me I’d get college credit too, which is more than I could have asked for.”
Of course, he did.
“Are you going to be at the compound every weekend?” I ask. While I’m not thrilled that Ashton is working for my father, at least he’s a buffer between Dante and me.
“Not sure,” Ashton says.
“You don’t know your hours?” I glance at him briefly.
“He gives me assignments, tells me when he needs my help with a job. It’s not a big deal. Easy money and an even easier passing grade for my work-study that everyone’s required to do.”
“What kind of assignments?” I grumble, wondering if he has anything to do with Rhys missing or any involvement with the little boy, Rylan.
Ashton exhales a heavy breath. “That’s above your pay grade.”
“Are you fucking with me?”
Silence fills the vehicle, and Ashton reaches for the radio to turn it on.
I swat his hand away.
“Seriously, you’re not going to tell me anything?” Annoyance pricks under my skin and I swerve the car off the road, slamming on the brakes. “Get the fuck out.”
“What?” Ashton’s eyes widen as I point at the car door.
“We’re working together, and if you can’t tell me what you’re up to, then I can’t trust you. Walk home.”
Ashton’s mouth is agape. “It’s freezing outside, and we’re twenty miles from your parents’ place. There’s nothing around here; we’re in the middle of nowhere. You’re not serious.”
“I’m dead serious. Get out of my fucking car.”
Ashton huffs and opens the door. “Your funeral.” He steps out into the cold, the wind blasting me when he gets out. A moment later, he slams the door shut.
I hit the gas and pull back onto the road.
Not ten minutes later, my phone rings, repeatedly.
Nova’s name flashes up on the dashboard as an incoming call.
After I ignore her the first two times, she keeps calling.
I finally answer.
“I’m busy right now,” I say.
“You’re fucking dead to me if you don’t turn around and pick up Ashton,” Nova shouts at me through the phone.
“Well, hello to you too.”
“You’re an asshole, do you know that?” Nova is on a roll.
“I’m just teaching him a lesson.”
“Why?” Nova asks. “What’d he do that was so terrible that you decided to leave him on the side of a deserted road?”
My jaw tightens. “I don’t owe you an explanation.”
“Well, I already heard Ashton’s side. If I have to drive over there and pick him up, you’re dead to me.”
I shift in my seat, glancing in the rearview. I haven’t seen a car driving in the opposite direction since dropping Ashton on the side of the road. “I would have thought you’d be taking my side, since we’re family,” I say.
“Yeah, well, you’re becoming more like your father every day.”
I hang up on Nova, but she calls right back.
“See!” she shouts at me. “You’re proving my point. Quit being a stubborn jackass and go get Ashton.”
“Fine!” I shout and do a U-turn on the two-lane road. “I don’t know why you care about Ashton. You always complain that he watches shitty documentaries and hogs all the popcorn.”
I’m met with her silence.
Finally stumped her.
About damn time!
“Just pick him up.”
I grumble at her. “I am, I’ve already turned around. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
This time I hang up for good, and a minute later, I can see Ashton walking in the distance, heading in my direction.
I contemplate driving past him, just to be an asshole, but think better of it. I’ve seen a few lone snowflakes already; the weather could be turning any minute.
I pull to a stop, unlock the car door and he silently gets in.
“You called my sister to tattle on me. Real mafia of you,” I say, turning the car back around in the direction I was previously heading.
Ashton secures his seatbelt while I hit the gas, trying to make up for time. Snow slowly begins to blanket the sky, but it hasn’t laid yet on the ground.
“Would you have rather I called your father?”
Point taken.
I reach for the radio and let the music drown out the silence, but it does nothing to dispel the tension in the car as we head back to the compound.
We leave early Sunday morning, and as a peace offering, I drive Ashton with me back to campus.
The tension is still heavy between us, but we had spent most of Saturday evening pretending everything was fine.
It seems neither of us wanted to piss off Dante, who was in a vile mood.
“You don’t have to worry about me replacing you,” Ashton says as we near the exit.
“What are you talking about?”
“This internship for Ricci Enterprises, it’s just for the semester.”
I snort. Is that what he really thinks will happen? My father will just let him work for a couple of months for the family business and then leave.
He’s stupider than I thought.
“You’re an idiot,” I mutter as I turn onto the main road that leads us near campus.
“I fully intend to work for my father after I graduate. Dante is just a means to an end.”
He’s got to be joking. “Does he know that, because Dante doesn’t just let men walk away after everything they’ve been involved in and seen?”
“Aurelio and Dante are old friends. I’m not worried.”
I pull up out front of our building.
“You should be.”
“Why are you so worried about me? Worry about your girlfriend and her kid.”
I pull into a parking spot, my breathing catching in my throat. “Is that a threat?”
I kill the engine, and Ashton unbuckles, hopping out of the car before answering me.
I climb out of the car, appalled that he hasn’t even answered me yet.
“If you come after Harper or Zeke, I will kill you.”
Ashton grabs his bag from the trunk and holds up his hands. “Relax, I’m not going to go anywhere near your girlfriend.”
“Or her son,” I grit between clenched teeth.
I reach for my bag, grabbing it and slamming the trunk shut.
“I’m not in the business of hurting little kids, and neither is your father. Just don’t fuck this up and everything will be fine.”
“Another threat. You sound more like Dante every second you’re in that house,” I shoot back.
“Thanks,” Ashton flashes a smile my way. “Your dad would be so proud.” He heads up the walkway toward the front door.
Bastard.
I lunge at Ashton before he makes it inside, yanking him back around to face me as my fist lands blow after blow to his face.
The sting feels good across my knuckles.
His arm comes up, blocking another repeated blow and uppercuts me across my jaw.
I stumble backward for a second.
Fuck, that hurts.
Liam comes running outside, apparently hearing the commotion.
He grabs me from behind, yanking me off Ashton, breaking up the fight.
It’s not the first fight he’s had to break up, but it’s never been off the ice.
“What the hell is wrong with the two of you?” Liam shouts at us. He shoves us inside like a den mother disappointed in her young.
“He started it!” Ashton points at me.
“Yeah, well, he threatened my fiancée and her son,” I growl, ready for another round if Liam releases his hold on me.