Chapter 11 Ella
ELLA
We pull up to Kyle’s building, and I’m a mess of nerves.
“You are not to leave my side,” Asher says for probably the fourth time. “And Robert will stay near the two of us. The rest of the team will pack.”
“If there’s anything left to pack.”
His eyes blaze. “There’d better be, or I will destroy his life.”
I swallow hard. I may not have known Asher for very long, but I know that wasn’t an empty threat.
His brothers, Declan and Sterling, are with us in the car and have been not so subtly looking back and forth between Asher and me the whole way here.
I can’t tell if they’re concerned or curious. But they stay silent.
The four of us wait in the car while the rest of the security team works to get inside the building since I don’t have my keys with me. How they do it, I don’t know, but soon the doors open and the team files inside. Then the four of us, plus Robert, follow them in.
Asher calls Chief Olsen as we ride the elevator up and explains what he’s doing.
“That is breaking and entering,” Chief Olsen grumbles over the speaker. Asher’s keeping him on speaker so he can hear firsthand everything that’s going on.
“Ella lived here. Her ex didn’t allow her to put her name on the lease, but she lived here for nearly two years. He’s locked her out for over a month and denied her the ability to pack her things. That’s theft.”
They argue back and forth before Asher finally throws down the gauntlet. “I’m not asking permission,” he growls. “I’m alerting you to the situation out of respect. I can pull my funding from your stations if you’d rather that.”
“Fucking hell, Langford. You can’t just do whatever you want.”
“Today, I am.”
Chief Olsen grumbles something else unintelligible.
“This is hardly major criminal activity. Plus, I’ll sweeten the deal. You make sure we’re clear on everything, and not only will I not pull my funding, but I’ll also throw in some cars. At the last police gala, you let me know that three of your stations needed cars. How does a dozen sound?”
“Fine,” Chief Olsen snaps. “But you’d better do this straight. Not one fucking mistake!”
“I have my best security officers with me. They don’t make mistakes.”
The elevator dings, and we step out. My throat tightens immediately as I think about the last time I was here.
How Kyle was threatening and violent. The realization hits me of how bad it could have been and how lucky I am that I got away before his mood shifted again and he hurt me even further.
I start to shake. It’s ridiculous, irrational.
I’m here with plenty of help and protection.
And yet, I can’t force my mind to push away the fear.
I get a little light-headed for a moment, and then I’m a few steps behind everyone else. Asher stops and turns back to me. He reaches for my hand with his free one and pulls me close.
“You okay, Ella?”
“I . . . just had a wave of anxiety,” I say through a shaking voice. “Sorry, it’s just that the last time I was here, Kyle was so angry. He was throwing things and he . . .”
I stop myself, not wanting to unload any more drama onto Asher.
“He what?”
“Nothing.”
“Tell me.” His tone leaves no room for argument, so I swallow and blurt out the truth.
“He tried to stop me from leaving with force. Then he . . . he threw me against the wall and chased me to the elevator.”
I thought I’d seen Asher’s eyes angry. They flash with a new level of rage I’ve never seen. He holds me tighter for a moment, and I take a few deep breaths.
“Normally I would never ask you to do something like this. But I don’t trust that piece of shit to be honest about what’s yours. I want you here so you can make sure we get all of your things. But I promise, you’re safe. He won’t even get near you.”
I nod.
We stop in front of Kyle’s door where Robert is already yelling for Kyle to open up. Kyle is yelling back. Asher holds up the phone so Chief Olsen can hear the exchange.
Kyle must see me through the peephole. “Ella! What the fuck are you doing here? And who are all these men?”
“I already explained who we are,” Robert says. “We are Ms. Hale’s security team, and we are here to collect her things. And this is your last warning. I will break down your door if you don’t open it up.”
“I’m calling the police!” Kyle yells.
Asher steps up to the door with a cruel, vindictive smile on his face.
He holds his phone near the peep hole. “Here’s the thing, Kyle, is it?
I have the chief of police right here on the phone with me.
Call the police all you want. No officers will come for you.
No officers are going to help you. So, you can open the door, and we can simply walk through it, or we can break it open, and you will have a door that won’t close for a few days until it’s fixed. You decide which sounds better to you.”
“Fuck you!”
“Yes, fuck me. That doesn’t change the situation. We are not here to harm you. If you cooperate, you have my word on that. We are here for Ms. Hale’s things, only. You have until the count of three to open the door, or we’ll break it down.
“One,” he says, deadly calm.
“You can’t do this!” Kyle screeches.
“I can, and I will. Two.”
“Fuck!”
“Thr—”
The clink and slither of the chain sliding out of the lock sounds from the other side of the door.
Then the deadbolt and two additional locks click.
Robert shoves the door open, and Kyle jumps out of the way with a shout.
Nine men flood their way into the apartment and walk around Kyle as if he’s a piece of furniture sitting near the door.
He stands with his eyes wide, his mouth opening and closing in shock.
At that same moment, Matthew arrives with a team of movers carrying empty cardboard boxes. There are now about fifteen men moving through the apartment, pulling open drawers, cupboards, closets, and grabbing anything and everything that looks like it belongs to a woman.
Kyle turns toward me. “How dare you do this, Ella!” he yells, glaring at me. “You stupid whore!”
I open my mouth to retort, but both Asher and Declan descend on him in a flash. He stumbles backward and bumps into the couch, then falls backward onto it.
“Keep your mouth closed,” Asher says in a deadly whisper, leaning down over Kyle, who’s flat on his back on the couch. “You are not allowed to address Ella. You don’t look at her. You don’t speak to her. You don’t say her name.”
Asher backs up and Declan takes his place standing over Kyle, and when Kyle moves to stand up from the couch, Declan shoves him back down onto it with one hand.
“Sit. And stay,” Declan orders him. “You can get up after we’re gone.”
Asher grabs my hand again, pulling me to his side, and a wave of relief washes over me, diluting my fear.
It’s strange that even though I’m in the same room as Kyle, who I was with for three years, that I feel more comfortable with Asher, who I’ve only known for two days.
If my mind wasn’t so muddled from the tense circumstances, it might scare me to admit how good it feels to be close to Asher, and how safe I feel with him.
He gives me a gentle tug and we make our way through the apartment, checking the bedroom, bathroom, and all the closets and drawers.
As we do, tears start to burn my eyes. More than half of my things are missing.
Kyle didn’t just get rid of my clothes—books, jewelry, shoes, make-up—so many of my things are gone.
I march back into the living room with Asher still by my side. “What did you do with all of my things?” I hiss at Kyle.
“I sold them,” he sneers. “I needed money for my new business.”
“So, all the money you stole from me wasn’t enough?”
“New businesses cost a lot of money. And you deserted me. You got what you deserve.”
Asher looks like he might kill Kyle, so I pull him out of the living room.
I do one last sweep with a fuming Asher before determining that everything of mine is packed up.
It only took fifteen minutes, and all of it fits into just five boxes.
My only consolation is that my most nostalgic and treasured items that are utterly irreplaceable are at my mom’s house in the attic.
The security team and movers begin to file out.
“Dec, Sterling,” Asher says to his brothers. “Take Ella. I have one last word to say.”
Declan links his arm through mine and gently leads me away with Sterling as Asher leans over a quivering Kyle, who’s still on the couch now under Robert’s icy stare.
“You are never to contact Ms. Hale in any way, ever again,” I hear Asher say as Declan leads me away.
“If I see you near her, if I see your name on her phone, if I so much as hear of your existence in relation to hers again, I will destroy your life. There will be nothing but shreds for you to pick up.”
“You okay?” Declan asks once we’re out in the hall.
I shrug. I don’t even know what to think at this point.
“Don’t worry. I know this situation is . . . unorthodox. But Asher is a good man. The best. This is exactly who he is; he protects those he loves with everything he has.”
Those he loves? My stomach somersaults. I know Declan is referring to Asher’s family, and not me, but the way he said it so casually toward me has me reeling.
“We hardly know each other,” I say quickly.
“Yes, well, because of the . . . project, that is going to change.”
“I know this situation is crazy,” Sterling adds, “but if anyone will protect you through it, Asher will. Asher is possessive of what is his. Whatever that dumb fuck, Kyle, has done to you, it will never happen again. Asher won’t allow it.”
“We’re all done and out, Chief,” Asher says into his phone, exiting the apartment. Kyle slams the door behind him. “No violence, no robbery. Only Ms. Hale’s things were gathered.”
“I want those cars within a week,” Chief Olsen barks.
“Done,” Asher says, hanging up the call.
As we make our way downstairs, I do everything I can to hold it together; I don’t want to cry in front of everyone.
And I know I’m being silly. They’re just things.
Things can be replaced. And if I agree to Asher’s proposal, I’ll have more than enough money to replace them.
But the idea that someone I loved, someone who I thought cared for me, who I was ready to marry at one point, would take my things and burn and sell them is a lot to take in.
It’s a deep cut to think that Kyle could just turn on me at the drop of a hat.
“Where are we delivering the boxes?” Robert asks as we step out of the elevator.
“I . . . shit, I don’t know.” A couple tears spring free, and I swipe them away. Everything is hitting me all at once. “I’m staying with my friend Zahra, but her apartment is tiny, and her boyfriend lives there, too. The few things I have there already take up too much space.”
“Take them to my apartment,” Asher says.
“I don’t want to impose.”
“Ella,” he says firmly. “You are not an imposition.”
The boxes are placed in the second car, and Robert, Matthew, Declan, Sterling, Asher, and I ride in the first.
“Did you say he stole all of your money?” Asher asks as we start driving.
I sigh. “He got a hold of my social security number and banking and credit card information since we lived together. He drained everything I had to invest in his new business without saying a word to me about it.”
“What a fucking prick,” Declan hisses under his breath.
“Now I want to go back and punch him,” Sterling agrees.
“Where do you bank?” Asher demands.
“I already have all that information for you,” Matthew chimes in. “I was going to give it to you this evening.”
“Send it now.”
Asher spends the next fifteen minutes of the drive barking at the CEO of my banking institution, demanding that my money be reinstated immediately.
He looks over the details I gave Matthew and absolutely shreds the man over the fact that it’s been a month, and the situation still hasn’t been rectified.
Then he does the same with my two credit cards.
By the time we reach Langford Holdings, my phone pings with notifications from my bank and both credit card companies that my accounts are back in order, with profuse and profound apologies attached.
The emails go on to inform me that my credit cards now hold a zero percent interest rate, and the bank deposited a fifty percent bonus into my account balance as an apology.
Holy shit, Asher wasn’t lying. When he wants something, he gets it. And then some.
I kind of want to call the CEO of the bank myself and give him a piece of my mind over the fact that it took a threatening call from Asher to get my things in order, when that should have been something I could have easily rectified myself since they’re my accounts, but .
. . I got my money back, and that’s what matters.
So, I can’t say I’m upset about Asher swooping in and saving the day, but it’s also just fucked up that he had to.
And it’s also maybe a tad fucked up that I’m feeling all sorts of butterflies over it.
And I think that’s what’s so surprising about Asher.
He’s known to be cold and ruthless, but in just the three days I’ve known him, I’ve seen his generosity and how he fights for the people in his corner.
He allowed Matthew to take me shopping when I was just an employee on his PR team.
He dropped everything to storm Kyle’s apartment for me.
And now he’s completely turned around my financial situation.
He didn’t have to do any of these things, and yet he did them without a thought.
If this is what it’s like to be under Asher’s protection, I can’t say I hate it.
Sterling’s, Declan’s, and Asher’s words ping through my thoughts.
Asher is possessive of what is his.
He protects those he loves with everything he has.
I take care of the things that are mine. No one fucks with me or mine.
I know that if I accept Asher’s proposal I won’t be his, not really, but he has already shown a loyalty toward me that I never would have believed possible—and with all the uncertainty that this situation will hold, I feel confident that I will be in good hands with him. At least I hope so.
As I click out of my banking emails, I notice another email from my lawyer; he has the final copy of the contract for me to sign. I show the email to Asher.
“Are you ready to sign it?” he asks, quietly.
I take a long breath. I don’t see any other way now. “Yes.”
“Good.”