Chapter 48
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
The light from the television flickers against the ceiling in uneven bursts, bright enough to bleed through my closed eyelids. My head pounds as I shift slightly on the couch, and the ache in my ribs reminds me why I’m here instead of in the bed.
I open my eyes slowly. The penthouse is quiet. Morning sunlight peeks through the blackout curtains, streaking across the ceiling, giving the room enough light to see, but not so much that I want to close my eyes again. For a few seconds, I stare at the ceiling trying to figure out what day it is.
Bits and pieces of the last two days come back. The lights in the courtyard. The pavement. The hospital. Andy. Karson’s arms around me at the rest stop while I sobbed into his shirt in relief.
My stomach knots.
Carefully, I push myself up a few inches against the couch cushions. The movement tugs at my ribs, and I curse under my breath.
“Son of a bitch.”
The TV flickers again, grabbing my attention. Turning my head to get a better look at the screen, my eyes widen when I see it’s the news.
A familiar face appears in the top right corner over the anchor's head. Jack Steele in a perfectly pressed suit, perfect hair. The same controlled smiles he’s worn ever since I’ve met him. The one he uses to help people feel comfortable around him.
The anchor stands outside of The Steele Group office building, and unlike any other time the news has done a story on Jack or Melissa, she doesn’t look the least bit impressed. The banner across the bottom of the screen reads:
brEAKING: FEDERAL PROBE FREEZES STEELE GROUP ACCOUNTS AMID ALLEGATIONS OF CHARITY MISCONDUCT
My heart stutters.
A noise from the kitchen pulls my attention from the coverage, and I look to see Karson standing at the kitchen island. He shakes a prescription bottle, dropping some pills into his palm. He puts the bottle down, grabs a cup of coffee, and heads my direction.
He sits down next to me and offers me the medication, which I take a little too quickly, and then the cup to wash it down.
Fuck, everything hurts.
Handing the cup back to him, I watch him for a moment, looking for some kind of reaction to the news that’s playing, but he gives nothing away–just takes a sip of the coffee as well, then leans back into the couch getting comfortable.
I study him a moment longer, then glance back at the TV.
“I can’t believe this,” I mutter.
Karson makes a low grunting noise, and I turn back to him.
“You did this.” It’s not a question.
“I did,” he says, the corner of his lips tipping in a sadistic smirk.
The Steele’s have been untouchable for as long as I can remember. Their influence and power goes back generations. I never thought I’d see their empire collapse in my lifetime, but here we are.
My heart swells in my chest.
“How?” I breathe.
Karson glances at me for a second before pulling himself to the edge of the couch and turning toward me. The movement makes my chest tighten, and my stomach immediately twists in knots. His warm hand wraps around mine in my lap, and he lets out a sigh.
“Last night after you had been asleep for a while, I had Parker come stay with you so I could go deal with Tristan–” he pauses. “Andy, whatever you want to call him.”
“Oh…kay,” I say slowly, but my pulse quickens.
Karson tips his head to the side, his pretty gray eyes watching me carefully.
“I asked him why he took you.”
I say nothing, waiting for him to tell me what he got out of that conversation.
“He said you were promised to him,” he says softly.
The words don’t make sense at first. My eyebrows pull together as the little hairs on the back of my neck prickle.
“Promised to him? What does that even mean?”
Karson doesn’t look away from me, and his hand gently squeezes mine.
“It means,” he says softly. “Jack and Melissa arranged for you to marry him.”
The room spins, my vision going blurry as the words hit like a ton of bricks.
“Marry–” the word dies in my throat. “That’s insane.”
Karson’s expression darkens. “Apparently, it wasn’t a suggestion. It was going to happen.”
A sick feeling twists in my stomach. Bile rises in my throat and I swallow it back down.
“When did–” I stammer, my hand trembling in his. “When did they do that?”
Karson hesitates before answering.
“Before they adopted you.”
My head shakes automatically, causing the throbbing I feel at the base of my skull to intensify.
“That’s not possible,” I whisper. “They didn’t know me before that.”
Karson’s jaw ticks as he scoots closer to me.
“That’s the thing, doll,” he says quietly, his hand coming up and cupping the side of my face. “They did.”
A cold shiver runs down my spine.
“What do you mean they did?” I ask.
There’s no possible way they knew me before they adopted me. No way in hell.
“Tristan told us that Jack had a business partner years ago. Someone who figured out the kind of shit Jack was involved in and decided he wasn’t going to stay quiet about it. He wanted to stop him.”
I blank at him, trying to understand where this is going.
“Okay…”
Karson’s thumb strokes my cheek.
“That man had a wife,” he continues. “And a daughter.”
My chest suddenly feels too tight, my breaths quicken through my nose.
“What happened to them?” I ask.
Karson holds my gaze. “The wife died.”
My stomach drops.
“And the husband?” I croak.
“He survived,” Karson says gently. “But Jack immediately had him locked in a psych ward, saying he was unstable. A psych ward The Steele Group funded.”
A knot the size of a golf ball forms in my already painful throat, and I try to swallow past it.
“That’s horrible,” I breathe, my pulse pounding in my ears.
Karson’s expression doesn’t soften.
“It gets worse,” he continues. “A couple years later, their daughter went into the system.”
Tears fill my eyes and I try to blink them away. I already know what he’s about to say. I can feel it, but I shake my head anyway.
“No.”
Karson’s voice is soft when he says it.
“You were their daughter.”
The tears spill over my lashes, hot on my cheeks. My hands shake, and I try to pull my head away from Karson’s touch like it's burning me.
“No,” I repeat in a whisper. “No, that’s not true. Both of my parents died in an accident when I was three. I lived with Nana and Papa until–” I try desperately to rein in the onslaught of emotions. My entire body trembles, and my breathing becomes fast and heavy. “No, no, no.”
“Ashlynn, look at me,” Karson says in a firm but gentle tone, both hands cupping my face as he tries to reel me back in from the spiral I feel myself falling into.
My eyes dart all over his face frantically before finally locking onto his.
“There you are. Breathe for me.”
I suck in a breath, my ribs telling me when it’s enough, and shakily let it out.
“Good,” he coos. “Just like that.”
Another shaky breath leaves me.
“This…this can’t be real,” I whisper. “Why would they do that?”
“Because Melissa couldn’t have children.”
My brow furrows. “What does that have to do with me?”
“They knew exactly who you were,” he says quietly. “And they wanted you. But Melissa didn’t actually want to raise a kid.”
A hollow feeling opens in my chest. All the years of feeling unwanted, neglected, abused and mistreated. It all starts to make sense.
“So they paid people. DHS workers, foster homes–anyone who could make sure you stayed exactly where they wanted you. When you were old enough, and Melissa didn’t need to do anything more than mold you into the perfect heiress, they picked you up and brought you home.”
My stomach twists violently. A fresh wave of tears streams down my face.
“So all those homes…” I whisper.
Karson nods once. “All funded by them.”
The room feels too small, like the walls are closing in around me.
“Ashlynn,” Karson takes my hands again, lifting one to his lips, brushing a soft kiss to my knuckles. “I’m so sorry.”
“M-my father,” I say shakily. “If he survived the accident, where is he now? Is he still where Jack put him?” I sniff. “Karson, we need to get him.”
Karson stills. The shift is subtle but I feel it. Fear curls in my gut.
“What?” I ask, my voice barely there. He exhales slowly.
“He escaped the psych ward a couple of months ago.”
My heart slams against my chest.
“And?”
Karson’s hurricane eyes search mine.
“Do you remember the man who jumped off the top of Abaddon?”
Cold dread fills my veins. I stare at him, shaking my head.
“I had them run a DNA test at the hospital. Ashlynn…” he pauses. “That was him.”
“He…found…” I whisper before it all comes crashing into me like a tidal wave and a guttural sob escapes me.
“Nnnnoooo.”
My heart splits in two. My chest cracks wide open, and I fall apart.
My vision blurs through the flood of new tears.
If he was here, that means he found me. That he never gave up on me.
That he wanted me. Years of loneliness, anger and grief come out all at once.
A pain I thought I already knew all too well, but it didn’t compare to this.
He was alive. And they kept him from me.
Karson stands and moves to sit on the chaise lounge behind me, his arms carefully wrapping around me as he tries to hold me together.
He doesn’t speak, just gently rocks me back and forth while the sobs and pained screams rack my body.
Unable to hold myself upright any longer through the emotional and physical pain, he gently lays me down on the cushion.
He never moves. Eventually, the sobs slow. My head feels like it’s being split in two, and my lungs burn. I close my eyes, and let the pain swallow me whole.
When my eyes open again, the streaks of sunlight are gone and the moon glows softly around the curtained window.
The TV is still on, replaying the coverage I saw this morning.
Karson breathes evenly from behind me, his arms still draped around me.
I carefully turn onto my back to get a better look at him.
His lips are slightly parted, and messy sandy colored strands fall across his forehead. I reach up to brush my fingers across his strong jaw, and his eyes open.
“You’re awake,” he says groggily. I’m not sure when the last time was that he slept, but I’m glad he finally did.
“Karson,” I say softly.
“Yeah, doll?”
I chew on my lip, already knowing the answer, but needing confirmation.
“Do you think they’re the reason you could never find me?”
He nods immediately.
“I know they are.”
His jaw clenches and he tightens his hold around me carefully.
“They erased you. I’m not sure how, but it was like you never existed.”
I exhale softly, determined.
“Then we burn it all down.”
Karson reaches up, twirling a lock of my copper hair between his fingers.
“Anything for you, doll.”