Chapter 41
forty-one
My phone won’t stop buzzing.
Mom. Dad. Sisters. Even my brother.
Everyone wants answers, promises, control. Dad’s swearing to keep me safe at home. To find Moretti’s son and take care of him. Supposedly, his family doesn’t know where he is.
But I have a sneaking suspicion…
I think he’s with whoever was sending him nudes. And all I know about her is that she had brown hair.
Even still, I do feel slightly guilty for not speaking to my family for the past few days. So after a call to my mom, she’s on her way to pick me up and bring me to their house. Only so I can gather up my things for the new semester.
Aiden insists that I stay in his room at Theta Manor instead of returning to the freshman dorms. And I’m used to it now. So yeah. That’s happening.
“This is a gorgeous place,” Mom says, stepping out of the car with two of my dad’s guards.
“I designed it. Well, I drew it back at…camp. And Aiden built it based on the drawings I made.”
Her eyes sparkle. “I knew you had that in you.”
“Did you?”
She snorts. “Yeah, Ash. You’re not like your sisters. You construct mountains. Then move them. It’s impressive.”
Heat hits my eyes, and I blink back tears. “I’ll give you a tour. Sometime.”
Something shifts between us that’s subtle, but real. Her shoulders lower and the armor cracks.
When she turns to me, she isn’t the woman who negotiated futures like contracts. She’s smaller. Fragile in a way I’ve never let myself see before. She looks like a person. And not just my mother.
“I’m sorry,” she says quietly. “I should’ve known he was dangerous. I should have protected you.”
She gathers me into her arms, and for once, I don’t stiffen.
“I thought I was doing what was best.” She continues, voice rough. “I wasn’t.”
I breathe in her familiar scent. Soothing, yet complicated. “I don’t know how to forgive everything,” I admit.
She nods once. Accepts it. “Understandable. And acceptable. Maybe we can try again.”
A weak laugh slips out of me. “Well. At least I know where my talent for bad decisions comes from.”
Her mouth curves, just barely. “Unfortunately, you get it from both your parents.”
We don’t fix anything.
But for the first time, we’re standing on the same side of the damage.
The chocolate waves of her hair ripple as she nods eagerly into my chest. “Come on. Let’s get you home…or your other home.”
“I want to grab my things from my old room,” I say, as we settle into the back seat of the Range Rover.
“I had the staff wash everything you brought home already. Are you, um, staying with Aiden?”
“I will be, yes.”
“He’s pretty special, huh?” Brown eyes glance my way as I try and fail to withhold a grin.
“Yeah.”
My fingers crawl over my neck, missing that collar. There was something soothing about it. Like a bond between him and me that was there even when we weren’t physically together. Maybe I’ll put on the old one when we get back to Theta.
As soon as we get into the house, Dad rushes me and gathers me up, scanning my face and arms carefully for the bruises. His thumb brushes over my lower lip.
Mom’s a tyrant, but Dad? He’s a total softie.
Tears drop over his cheeks as he sees the yellowed skin under my eyes. Leftovers from Talon.
“It’s all my fault. I should never have trusted him… I was sure I was doing the right thing for you. And I failed you, my firecracker. I’m so sorry.”
“I understand, Dad.”
Dad’s a bit na?ve, too trusting sometimes. And toward the wrong people. I know he meant well, but…he didn’t protect me. Not like Aiden would have.
He pulls me close for another suffocating hug and guides me into his office.
I sink into the soft pink swivel chair in the back as he kicks his feet up on the desk. Our usual positions. Hands behind his head, he casually places his blond hair back into place and studies me like I may break.
“Is Aiden treating you okay?”
“Dad!” I roll my eyes. “Yes. Better than okay. Better than anyone. He’s the man I’m going to be with.”
As if he’s suddenly afraid of me, he drops his legs and hunches over the glass top. “Ashlyn, I think he’s playing you.”
Exasperated, I only half listen. “What do you mean?”
“He gambled his way into nearly half the casino,” Dad says. “Underground fights. Blackmail. Forty percent, firecracker. Enough to burn us down.”
I stare at him, the words landing like a heavy weight.
“Forty…percent?” I whisper.
My pulse drums in my throat as I sit up. He once said he’d destroy my father’s empire, but I never thought he meant it literally.
Aiden Cardell doesn’t need shares in a casino. The only reason he’d take them…is to hurt me. To hurt us.
Nausea claws up my throat as the realization settles. What if the whole thing—our games, our heat, our everything—was him setting up the win?
Is he capable of something like that?
Absolutely.
“I don’t think…”
Why would he build me a house from my drawing, though? Get a tattoo of my handwriting? Of the key he’d used to open my journal?
“I’m going to pack.”
Dad stands, smoothing out his sleeveless T-shirt. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? You don’t want to stay with us? I have the guards on high alert. No one can get in here.”
He means Talon…and Aiden.
Nodding, I swallow and think about needing a moment. One in my old room, my old bed. To think. Make sure I can count all my cards.
“I’ll stay tonight and then decide.”
“Good idea,” Dad says, walking with me toward the stairs.
As I reach the threshold of my bedroom, my phone dings with a text.
Scout
So, uh… Can I call you? I don’t want to type this stuff.
Me
go ahead
I shut and lock my door, then flop onto the bed.
“What did you find out?” I ask when the phone rings.
“Rowan isn’t good. I’m genuinely concerned about him. He’s acting like he’s on something.”
“On something. Like what?”
“I don’t know, but he’s high. And has that here, but not here look.”
Unsure why she’s so focused on him, I shake my head. “Okay, but did you find out what was at the scene of Julien’s murder?”
“Yeah. He gave me the vial. White, milky stuff. It was Somnovara. Used for surgeries. Fast-acting, fades quickly. And if someone were to give it through a needle, it would last even less time than that. So I’m asking my mom if she knows someone who can look into the remnants of what’s left in it without alerting Northview. ”
“That drug alone wouldn’t kill him?”
“Unlikely unless mixed with other central nervous system depressants…alcohol…or other substances—”
“Ones we don’t know about because there wasn’t an autopsy.”
There’s a pause, then, “As per usual.”
So many missing and dead students at Northview. So many unknown reasons.
“Thanks, Scout.”
“Yeah, I’m in this now, too. I’ll keep you updated if my mom finds out anything at the hospital.”
The moment I end the call, Aiden rings, and I hesitate, but answer.
“Baby girl, where are you?”
“I’m at home.”
Frigid silence stills the voice on the other end. “No, you’re not. I’m at home, and you’re not here. I had errands to run and needed to step out to take care of some things, but I came to check on you…”
“I’m at my parents’ place,” I say flatly, waiting for the fire to ignite.
“Okay.” His tone says the opposite.
I light the match. “Were you going to tell me that you own forty percent of my father’s casino?”
Venom laces his words. “I see where this is going…”
“I guess that’s a no, huh?” My face flames molten hot. “Fuck you, Cardell. Seriously. Did you do this all for revenge?”
“He told you that to make you mad at me. Keep us apart or cast a wrench between us. Don’t buy it.”
He can’t see, but my eyes narrow with suspicion. “So you don’t own those shares.”
He takes a long inhale and says, “I do.”
I get hot all over. “And you’re trying to slip by with it without—”
“Baby, I’m seriously coming there to pick you up after this…this task I have to do. Stay right where you are, safe with your family. Then, I’ll be there to grab you.”
“No, you won’t!” I scream, throat raw with the force.
“Better be ready. Get your asshole ready too, because I swear to fuck, Ashlyn”—at the rage in his voice, my phone trembles in my hand—“you got me all kinds of pissed off now… How could you even think for a moment that I’d do this for revenge?
I love you! I built you a house! I… I did it without even knowing you’d ever be mine, but I had to do it because I’m obsessed with you. ”
I gasp in outrage. “How could I think that? Because you told me you’d destroy his casino.”
He’s silent for so long, my rage dissipates only mildly by the time he responds.
“’Kay.”
“’Kay,” I mimic.
And with that, I lower the phone to end the call.
Before I do, he yells, “I’m coming for you!”