Chapter 86 Kashton #2
“I’d never…” She stops herself from saying she’d never cheat on her husband, because she’s done that.
They were already married when she was on the run in Vegas.
I know a part of her thought Saint was dead, and this life was behind her, so she had convinced herself it was okay.
“I’d never do that to Charlotte,” Ashtyn says instead and adds, “And Haidyn would never do that to his wife.”
I rub my hands on my jeans and stand. “I’m sorry for bothering you.” Stepping into the bedroom, I’m walking toward her door when she stops me.
“You’re right.”
I turn to face her as she steps inside.
“It’s hard to have the life I had and then give it up only to be brought back.” Her watery eyes scan the bedroom. “And it be…different.” She rubs her hands together. “But that’s no excuse for my behavior.” She swallows and it looks like she wants to say more, so I stand where I am and wait.
“I, uh…there was this couple in Vegas…they would come into Glass while I was working. I always thought she was beautiful and she was usually high on drugs.” Ashtyn sighs.
“She would offer me some, and of course, I never turned her down.” She rolls her eyes at herself.
“There were a couple of times I went home with them.” Tears fill her eyes, and she sniffs. “It was you.”
I shake my head. “I never…”
She gives a rough laugh when I trail off. “Saint told me that you had an identical twin and that she had been following you.”
“You thought it was me in Vegas, but…”
“It was her,” she whispers. “Vivian.”
Of course. It all makes sense that my twin was there because she fucked Adam. That bitch had been pretending to be me for years. Well, I guess she was me. She picked and chose when she wanted to play my life. She wanted to replace me. All because of Isabella.
Ashtyn continues at my silence. “When I saw you walk into Bill and Janice’s wedding reception, I panicked. I asked Saint who you were, and he didn’t know, but I thought I knew. So I was mean to you. I thought you were here to sabotage me and Saint. Using Kashton to do it.”
“I love him,” I tell her, and she nods, the first tear running down her cheek.
“He told me he’s known you for six years.”
I nod, wondering when they had that conversation. “I was in Las Vegas,” I tell her, and she glances up at me with her tear-filled eyes. “I was there helping Adam spy on you.”
She swallows.
I sigh. “Your brother was worried about you. After everything that happened and your mother being killed.” Ashtyn sniffs. “I followed you to New York because Adam wanted to make sure Saint hadn’t killed you.”
Ashtyn chuckles, though I don’t know why she finds that funny. Maybe he was close a few times. Who knows. I couldn’t and didn’t want to get inside of Carnage to watch her twenty-four seven after he brought her back.
“I’ve been trying to push you away, hoping you’d leave because I was afraid you’d tell Saint what I did while in Vegas. I’m ashamed of who I was. Of what I did to Saint while I was there on the run.”
She had seen my twin and thought that I came here to tattle on her? I mean, I do know what she did, but I’m not that type of person. “That’s not my story to tell.”
It’s not like I know every little thing. I know enough, but even I know that wouldn’t change Saint’s mind. She’s his Lady. Me being a tattletale wouldn’t do anyone any good.
She nods, licking her lips.
“And if he wanted to know, he’d ask you.”
Her eyes meet mine, and her face drains of color. It’s as if she just realized that he hasn’t asked her about those four years she was on the run. Maybe he already knows. Or maybe he’d rather not.
Truth is, no one is perfect, and we all make mistakes that we must live with. You get to decide what you’re going to tolerate and what you will kill for.
She wipes a tear from her cheek. “Then you died, and Kash…he was so hurt. And he left us. I knew Kashton loved you, and I was so mad when you showed back up with my brother.” Her breathing picks up. “He was dead. I…I just want a chance to know him, and here you are, staying with him.”
“Hey.” I take her shaking hands in mine.
“I’m so sorry,” she cries.
I pull her into my arms and hug her. As much as I don’t like her, now I understand why she felt the way she did. I’ve done extremely irrational shit and said some horrible things to people who didn’t deserve it.
“It’s over.” I rub her back. “Everything will be better.”
She pulls away, and I let her go. Ashtyn rubs her tear-streaked face and gives a rough laugh. “Sorry, I’m an emotional wreck.”
“You’re fine. A lot has happened.” But things are going to be different now. I feel like I can finally breathe. Evan is here trapped in a cell, my crazy twin sister is dead, and I’m married to the best man in the world.
It can’t get any better.
Kashton and I were ushered into a room in the hospital wing. “What are we doing in here?” I wonder.
He shrugs. “No clue.” His tatted hand holds mine, both resting on my thigh.
“Yeah, but what did he say?” I dig. “Word for word.”
He looks over at me. “Just that they needed to see us.”
The door opens and Devin enters, followed by Gavin.
“Is Eve okay?” Kashton lets go of my hand, jumping to his feet. “Did you find something?”
I had a checkup yesterday after my talk with Ashtyn, and they said I was healing nicely. The drug that I managed to get on my skin still lingers, but my husband is taking care of it now. He fucks me until I pass out. Plus, he’s got Devin giving me IVs to help flush my system.
“She’s fine,” Gavin says, and Kashton falls back down beside me, picking up my hand again. I pat his arm to tell him it’s okay, and he leans over, kissing my cheek.
Devin sits behind his desk while Gavin pulls up a seat on the other side of me. “You’re scaring him.” I try to laugh it off as a joke, like my husband is the only one worried, but I am too.
“When Bill was finally able to get you out of Dollhouse, Gavin called me, asking about your records. They both knew you had been here at Carnage.” I nod and Devin continues. “But there were no records that I could find.”
“What does that mean?” Kashton asks.
“At the time, I just thought Garrett had them destroyed. But after lots of digging, I’ve been able to locate the records of when you were here. And I found you were seeing a doctor…” Devin trails off picking up a piece of paper on his desk. “Dr. Kelly Fran.”
I look at Kashton and then nod to Devin. “I’m not sure of her name. But, yes, I was forced to see a female doctor.”
“What were you seeing her for?” Gavin asks me.
I sigh and answer, “I don’t know.” He frowns, and I feel the need to explain.
“I—”
Kashton holds up his free hand, cutting me off. “Why are you asking her this if you have the records?” he snaps. “You tell us what my wife was seeing her for.”
“There are no records a Dr. Kelly Fran exists. That’s why we need to know what Eve remembers.”
Kashton huffs, and Gavin nods at me to continue. “Go on. What do you remember?”
“The first time Garrett took me to see her, she was here.” I gesture to the room.
“The hospital at Carnage. I was probably sixteen.” The days all ran together, and I didn’t celebrate my birthday.
“She seemed friendly enough, but I attacked her when she tried to touch me. My father choked me out, and when I woke up, I was back in my room.”
“How did you feel?” Gavin questions.
“Sore for a few days.”
“Sore where?”
“It…” I sigh. “It’s hard to explain.” My mind was foggy and my whole body hurt. Of course that could have been the fact that I was fighting her and my father choked me out.
“It’s okay,” Devin assures me. “Did you ever see her again?”
I nod. “Yes. The next time Garrett escorted me to the room, he ordered me to get naked and lie on the table. I noticed it had restraints on it that time, unlike the first.”
Gavin nods and looks over the papers on the desk. “Keep going.”
“She, uh, tied me to the table and started an IV…whatever she gave me made everything foggy. I fell asleep.” I shrug it off to keep from alarming my husband. “It happened quite often after that.”
Kashton looks away, but I can see his jaw ticking at my confession.
“Every time I would wake up in my room. I’d be sore for a couple of days, but it was nothing I couldn’t tolerate.” I look back at Devin. “Garrett never explained why or who she was. Just that it was required for me to see her.”
He nods and looks at Gavin.
“What the fuck is that about?” Kashton demands, leaning forward, and I give his hand holding mine a reassuring squeeze. “Tell us what you know.”
“Oocyte retrieval,” Gavin says.
Kashton sighs. “Speak in terms I understand.” He’s on edge after what I said happened to me.
I understand, but it’s no reason to be mad at them.
Devin never hurt me. If I ever needed to see a doctor, our fathers made sure it was someone else that came by.
I think they were afraid that Devin would let my presence here slip to one of the boys.
There’s still so much that I haven’t shared about my past. Mainly because I’ve blocked it out.
Devin places his folded hands on the table. “Oocyte retrieval, also known as egg retrieval, is a procedure performed where the woman’s eggs are retrieved from her ovaries. The patient is put under sedation. It’s why you don’t remember what happened.”
I sit up straighter, and so does Kashton.
“I don’t understand…” my husband says. “What are you implying?”
Devin gives me a soft smile. “Garrett had your eggs retrieved and froze them. With Kashton’s sperm and a surrogate, you two can have children of your own.”
Tears sting my eyes, and I try not to get excited, but this is what I want. To give him children. To be a mother to his kids.
“A surrogate?” Kashton goes on at my silence.
Gavin gets up and walks over to the door. Opening it up, Sin and Elli enter the room. Sin has his son strapped to his chest, and Elli is cradling their daughter.
Kashton stands and pulls me up with him. My hand is sweating in his, but he doesn’t seem to mind. “What’s going on?” he wonders.
Sin and Elli exchange a look, and she smiles when her husband starts to speak. “When I heard Devin say it wasn’t completely true that Adam said Eve couldn’t have children, I knew we had to do something. We’ve spoken to Saint and Haidyn,” Sin adds. “And we want to help you guys.”
I take my hand from Kashton and rub it on my legs nervously. “Help us how?”
Sin glances at me as he softly bounces the baby on his chest. “Devin and Gavin cleared Laura this morning to be your surrogate.”
I look at Ellington. “No—”
“This is what you want, angel,” Kashton interrupts me.
I search his hopeful eyes, and my heart hammers in my chest. How do I tell him what I’m feeling? As much as I want us to have children of our own, I don’t deserve them. Not after what I did. “I…”
“I know what you’re thinking.” He speaks softly, and I swallow the knot in my throat. “Stop, Eve. You deserve this.” Leaning down, he kisses my forehead and whispers, “You’ll be a wonderful mother, angel.”