Chapter Thirty-Six
Ashlynn
I should have known that my father wouldn’t have believed my flimsy story about needing time away. He probably had security cameras all over the warehouse, watching everything. I’d been so stupid. Of course he knew I was the one who rescued Steele. He’d watched me unlock the door and help him hobble out into the waiting limo.
And now Steele was going to pay the price.
I had to stop him.
“Take me with you. Or else I’ll do something stupid, Steele. You know me. I’ll be reckless, I won’t give up. Please. I can calm my father down.”
Steele looked at me, his eyes possessive. It was clear that the look meant that I was his, and there was no way he would ever let me go again.
So I was shocked when he nodded to the bedroom. “Go upstairs and get dressed.”
I ran upstairs like lightning, flying into his room and looking for a pair of sweatpants to put on. I was pulling clothing out of his closet when I heard the bedroom door close, and heard a thud as something heavy was set against the frame.
My heart sank.
Of course he wasn’t going to let me go.
I ran to the door, pounding on it. “Steele, let me out! I’ll never forgive you for this—ever! Please, I can do this!”
There was nothing but silence on the other side of the door. I slumped onto the floor, frantic. There had to be a way to get to my father, there had to be a way to talk to him—
I caught Steele’s phone out of the corner of my eye. He’d dropped it on the couch in his hurry to get to Cooper.
I scooped it up, my fingers shaking as I redialed the last number.
“Steele?” My father’s voice came out as a hiss, and it was so sickeningly evil that I almost dropped the phone.
“No, it’s Ashlynn.”
He laughed, a cruel laughter I’d never heard from him before. The sound echoed through the phone, chilling and unsettling.
“I can’t believe I didn’t see it. All your questions about what was going to happen to him, your desire to know where he was being held—all this time, you’ve been playing his little whore.”
My breath caught in my throat, tears in my eyes as my father insulted me. I’d always known that he wasn’t a good man, and that he wasn’t a nurturing or caring father, but deep down I’d assumed that he loved me. I couldn’t believe that I’d escaped Steele just to get back to this man. It was clear that the enemy wasn’t the man in my bed—it was the man whose blood I shared.
I steadied my voice, willing myself to be strong for Steele. “I don’t know what I was thinking,” I cried, the tears real but the sentiment behind them false. “It must have been Stockholm syndrome. He has me locked in a room at his townhouse in London—please, send men to rescue me!”
He grumbled on the phone, then barked some orders to others in the room. “After this, you’re staying in New York. I’m going to be running for a senate seat soon, and I need a dutiful daughter at my side. If I send men to free you, you’ll do this for me.”
I didn’t even bat an eye at the lie. “Of course. I just want this all to be over. I want to come home to New York—reestablish my life.”
“Be ready,” was his only response.
I wondered where Steele’s security team was. My father’s henchmen had no problem breaking into the townhouse. It seemed incredibly odd that he would leave his security so lax, especially given what happened with my father.
My father had sent three men, and they broke down the door to Steele’s bedroom easily. I followed them out the front door to the street, slipping inside the large SUV.
“Where are we going?” I asked, fastening my seatbelt.
“We’ve been instructed to take you directly to your father.”
I almost smiled, so grateful that my plan was working. If they were taking me somewhere else, I’d have to ditch them, and that was going to be hard. Then I’d also have to figure out some way to track down my father and Steele. This made it a lot easier.
The ride to the warehouse was silent.
We got to the industrial area of the city, and I recognized my father’s company logo on one of the buildings. I was surprised that he would set up a base at one of his own warehouses. It meant that he didn’t think Steele had any reinforcements coming. But he did.
He had me.
Two men ushered me inside, and it was easy to locate my father.
He had Cooper and Steele tied to chairs. Steele was looking down at his feet, and Cooper appeared to be unconscious.
The second Steele heard footsteps, he lifted his head up. He had a bloody lip and a large gash on his forehead, but other than that he looked unharmed. But when his eyes met mine, his facial expression became livid.
I knew I’d hear about this later, but right now I just wanted to get Steele out of here so we could have a later.
My father proudly stood between the two men. I was disgusted by the way he gloated over his prisoners.
“Ashlynn, come,” he snapped, pointing at the side next to him.
I started to walk towards my father, too scared to hesitate at his orders with two lives in the balance, but Steele spoke up. “Let her go. She wants to be free of you and your lies, corruption, and hate. Free her, leave her be, and I’ll give you my entire empire.”
My father’s grin was almost grotesque. “I don’t think so. She’s my daughter. My property. After I kill you, I’ll take your business anyway. This way is much cleaner. Once you’re gone, your little friend here will give me your financial information and I’ll take your fortune, too.”
My anger was palpable. It raged within me, boiling my blood as it moved through my body. While my father’s blood ran through my veins, Steele had my heart. It was evident in the way his eyes pleaded with me, begging me to let him go.
But I couldn’t. I knew I could live without my father. But I couldn’t live without Steele. I’d tried to let him go, tried to walk away. I managed to be free of him twice, but I was never really free.
Because he held part of my heart in his hands.
I continued my slow pace towards my father, my heart beating rapidly and my eyes focused. I stood next to him, and he pulled out a gun and aimed at the back of Steele’s head.
My knife gouged my father’s side before he could fire it. He dropped the gun, and I kicked it away and then sliced the bonds holding Steele in place.
My father screamed, but his men stood still, completely unprepared for this scenario. By the time their eyes moved from my father to Steele, he was already up and holding the gun to my father’s temple.
“Drop your weapons,” Steele commanded, his strong arms wrapped around my father’s robust neck. “Kick them towards the center of the room and leave, or I’ll kill everyone you’ve ever cared about. Ashlynn, go collect the guns.”
The two men looked at each other and slid their guns towards the center of the room, and then they backed out. I quickly gathered the weapons and locked the door.
“You don’t pay your people enough, Topher,” Steele mused, his hand steady. “My men wouldn’t have backed down. Look at Cooper. You beat him unconscious and he still didn’t give you what you wanted.”
My father was sweating profusely, blood running down his side. I hadn’t done any major damage; it was just enough to stun him and cause him to panic and drop his weapon.
“Ashlynn, don’t let him do this,” my father pleaded, looking at me. His eyes were tearing up, fearful of his own death.
Pathetic. Even when Steele was faced with his own mortality a few minutes earlier, he begged for me instead of his own life.
Steele pressed the gun harder into his temple. “You don’t talk to her. You don’t say anything to her unless she allows it.”
“Do it, Steele.” I turned my back and waited for the gunshot. I’d made my decision.
But the sound never came. I looked over my shoulder, expecting my father to call out and beg me.
Instead, it was Steele who pleaded.
“Ashlynn. You’ll never have another father. I’m sure he loves you in his own twisted way. And I know, deep down, you love him. It doesn’t have to be this way.”
“It does. I—I choose you, Daniel.” I said the words, and the tears trickled down my face, but something inside of me burst. I felt…free. This entire time my ideology of freedom had been completely wrong. Loving Steele, choosing to be with him despite everything—that was freedom.
“You don’t have to choose, my love. You know I’d like nothing more than to kill him, but you are more important than my revenge. I grew up without any family—I don’t want that for you.” The sincerity on his face nearly broke me. He’d sacrificed so much for me, and it was only fair that I would do the same for him.
“He’ll come after us—this is the only way.”
Steele shook his head. “No it’s not. There’s a thousand ways I can keep him in check. My reach extends throughout Europe and North America. There’s several countries I could get him easily imprisoned in. For one thing, his taxes and schemes are highly illegal. It won’t be hard to put him in prison for the rest of his life.”
My eyes burned.
“Ashlynn, please,” my father pleaded. “I promise I won’t come against you.”
“You do, and I’ll kill you with my bare hands,” Steele sneered.
“Okay,” I whispered. That was all the confirmation Steele needed.
“Do you still have my phone, Ashlynn?”
I nodded guiltily. “I’m sorry.”
He ignored my apology. I knew I’d hear about my reckless behavior later. “Call Mario, he’s listed under favorites. Tell him to send back-up.”