Chapter 6 #2
This is where I should tell him that I did more than simply marry Barrett to protect my daughter, but I want to hold on to this short reprieve a little longer.
My back isn’t pressing as hard against the racking as it was.
My attraction to this man is undeniable, but it’s also wholly inappropriate and downright dangerous, not least because I’m a married woman.
“It’s going to take time to unpack everything you think you know about me,” Ash continues.
“And I get the feeling there’s a lot I need to learn about you too.
All I ask is that you keep an open mind when you process what I’ve said.
When you’re ready to accept that I’m telling you the truth about Ethan, we’ll take things from there. ”
“But what…?” My words catch on the emotion clogging my throat. I wasn’t prepared for him to have this effect on me. Time and again I’ve made decisions that firmly exclude Ash from my life. What’s done, can’t be undone. “What do you want from this, Ash? Because if it’s Piper…”
Ash cups my face. “I won’t impose myself on her unless and until I’ve convinced you that I can be a good father.
” His thumb swipes across my mouth. “But I can tell you now, I won’t walk away and pretend she doesn’t exist. Barrett isn’t her father.
I am.” His jaw flexes, but he manages to keep the anger out of his voice when he adds, “She’s my daughter, Belle. My responsibility.”
“I’m sorry about what Barrett said out there. About Piper.”
Ash’s pecs twitch with tension beneath my palms. “I don’t care what Barrett thinks. He’s not taking my place in Piper’s life.”
I close my eyes so I don’t have to look at the pain I’m about to inflict. “Barrett legally adopted Piper when we got married. He said we could protect her better that way.”
And just like that, the moment of calm is over. Ash swipes my hands off his chest, and takes a step back. “Protect her from who? Me?”
“It felt like the right thing to do at the time,” I try to explain. “I knew you were about to find out about her, and I didn’t know how you’d react. I just wanted to keep her safe. With everything you were involved in–”
“No,” Ash cuts in. “I’m not the one who brought danger to your doorstep, Belle. Barrett did that. Barrett. Fucking. Emerson,” he repeats. He rakes a hand through his hair. “How the hell could you fall for that prick?”
“Because he’d been good to me!” I say, raising my voice. We’re back where we started, angry words bouncing between us. “And he needed someone to–”
I purse my lips shut and turn my head.
In a flash, Ash is back in my space. He pinches my chin and forces me to look at him. “He needed someone to what? Marry him?”
I squirm beneath his scrutiny. “It doesn’t matter. It’s done now.”
Ash’s eyes bore into me and he sees me. He sees all of me. “Fuck,” he says under his breath. “You didn’t fall for him, did you? You don’t actually love him.”
I pull his hand from my chin. “I owe him a lot,” I whisper.
Ash looks to where our hands are now clasped together. Naturally, it would be my left hand he’s holding. His fingers explore the two rings that mark me as someone else’s wife. “Belle…”
A fist hammers on the door. “Ash! We have a situation out here!”
Before he answers, Ash lifts my hand. “We’re not done here. And we won’t be done until these monstrosities are off your finger.”
“Ash!” the voice repeats.
“For fuck’s sake, Jake. Come in!” Ash yells as he releases me and turns.
The door swings open and a man in a bullet-proof vest strides into the room carrying weapons similar to the guards at the entrance. Jake looks to be in his late thirties with salt and pepper hair. He gives me the same withering look everyone else has given me, before addressing Ash.
“Katarina is out front having a fit because we won’t let her in.”
My gasp has both men glancing in my direction. Ash’s eyes narrow on me. He wants to know why I reacted to the name, but he shelves that question for now. There’s another on his lips that’s far more imperative. “Who’s with Piper, Belle?”
My stomach flips. “My friend, Tandy. And we have security too,” I add, if only to reassure myself that Ash’s palpable fear is unwarranted. The only threat to my daughter was Ash, and he’s promised to stay away for now.
“What kind of security?” Jake asks as I search one of the pockets in my dress.
I pull out a Kleenex and a lipstick before my clammy fingers wrap around my cell phone. “His name’s Ray. He–”
Ash spins to Jake. “Get a team over there. Now!”
I’m dialing Tandy’s number when Hunter appears in the doorway, blocking Jake before he can leave. “They’re already on the way.”
No one’s asked me where to send help. They already know where we’ve been staying, and before I can be shocked by that fact, Tandy answers her phone.
“Hey, how’s the party?” she asks. “Have you seen Quinn yet?”
“Where’s Piper? Is she OK?”
“I’m here, Mommy!” comes Piper’s voice, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.
A sob of relief is ready to explode from my lungs, but I force a trembling smile, hoping it’ll mask my fear for Piper’s sake. Is she still in danger? I check the expressions on the three men watching me, settling on Ash. His eyes are shuttered, his emotions guarded again.
“Why are you still up?” I ask. “It’s past your bedtime.”
“Tandy wanted to read me another story.”
“Yeah, right, that’s how it was,” Tandy mutters. “And who’s telling tales now, Piper?”
“Sorry, Tandy,” my sweet little girl says. “I just wanted one more. Can I stay up for just one more, Mommy?”
I’m looking to Ash when I say, “Are they OK to stay there?”
He nods. “We’ll make sure the hotel’s secure.”
After explaining to Tandy in the vaguest terms that there’s a security issue, I tell her not to leave the hotel suite or answer the door to anyone until I get back.
I’m painfully aware that Ash has been listening to his daughter’s voice for the very first time as I say goodnight to Piper and end the call. I slip my phone back into my pocket.
I don’t know what to say. Nor does Ash apparently.
“Rory’s put his staff on alert,” Hunter says, breaking the silence. “They’ll guard the suite until our men arrive.” He glances to me. “No one’s getting to her.”
“Thank you.
Hunter scowls. “It’s my job to look out for my brother. And now that extends to my niece.”
But not to me, is what he’s telling me.
“Give me a second, and I’ll follow you out,” Ash says to him. “And I’d like to be the one to deal with Katarina.”
“Ash, what’s going on?” I ask when the others have left.
“We need to get you out of here,” he says, but when he tries to pull me towards the door, I resist.
Hunter’s barbed comment has unsettled me. It’s been clear from the moment I arrived, that I’m not welcome. How can I trust these people? How can I trust the man I’ve been running in fear from for all these years? Is this some artful manipulation?
“Stop for one minute!” I snap. “You said I should trust actions over words, but the only thing I’ve seen you do so far is set a trap to get me in here alone. Is this another trick so I’ll leave with you?”
Ash drops his head with a sigh, taking a moment before looking at me again.
“You make a good point, but no, this isn’t a trick.
I wish it fucking was. Please, Belle.” He grinds his teeth before adding, “I’ll take you to Barrett, and then I want you to go back to the hotel.
Don’t let Piper out of your sight, and don’t stay in Chicago any longer than you have to. Go home to Poulton Springs.”
“Ash, you’re scaring me,” I admit, which is only marginally better than being scared of him.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to frighten you, and maybe I am being overcautious.
I’m only just getting used to the idea that I have a daughter to worry about,” he says pointedly as he leads me to the door.
“It’s going to take time for me to assess all the risks, but first and foremost, I need to know if Barrett’s told the Barkovs about Piper. Does Vasili know she’s mine?”
I never imagined I’d want to share any of Barrett’s private business with the Griffins, but I’m willing to accept that the Russians are more of a threat than Ash. “He wouldn’t have even known Barrett and I were married until today. As far as I know, no one’s interested in Piper.”
“Then let’s keep it that way,” Ash says as we hurry down the corridor.
When we rejoin the crowd, all heads are turned towards the entrance where I can hear raised voices.
“Barrett said people like the Barkovs don’t target families,” I say. “That it’s against the rules.”
“Firstly, Barrett knows fuck all about the people he’s involved himself with,” Ash grits out.
“Vasili will use anyone if it works to his advantage. He was going to hold Quinn hostage when he found out she was carrying a Griffin.” His arm is around my waist and he gives me a gentle squeeze.
“When I said I wanted to protect Piper, that’s the kind of threat I was worried about. ”
Panic twists my gut. “Then how do we keep her safe?”
“Now you’ve met Jake, get used to seeing his face. He’ll be stationed in Poulton Springs for the foreseeable future. Unblock Quinn’s number and she’ll send you his contact details. And mine.”
“Ash…”
“Don’t fucking argue with me, Belle,” he grumbles. “This isn’t about you and me. There is no you and me.”
That statement hurts more than it should.