by Lexy Timms
This man was disgusting. There was no way any of this was true.
And then, James started producing evidence. One by one, screenshots of text messages from Kallie’s phone started filling the screen. Conversations with Eris outlining a plan to use the honeymoon to try and catch him. Ash’s stomach dropped. Message after message flooded the screen. So many it made his head spin. Dates and times and the last four numbers of Kallie’s number. All there in front of his eyes.
“How did you come across these messages?” the woman asked.
But Ash was no longer paying attention to the interview.
All he could do was look at the messages. Text messages that outlined the plan so effortlessly. A heartless plan to trap him. Messages about their first encounter together. How Kallie had “made the right decision” and how “she couldn't thank Eris enough for her support.” Messages about the day they spent together. How “romantic it had been” and that Kallie “felt she was on the right path to freedom.” How she never thought her “rebound guy” could’ve turned into “something better for her life” and how “she made the right choice in not going back.” That things were “almost complete” and that she couldn't wait to “get home and live the rest of her life.”
And Kallie was nothing, if not organized.
Ash couldn’t believe it. The whole fucking time he’d been worried about shacking himself up with a gold digger, and now he’d let one in the first time he dropped his guard . What the fuck was going on? How the hell had he let Kallie in that far? How could he not have seen it? She was good, he’d give her that. He could sniff out a gold digger five miles away.
Kallie kept telling him to trust her, and he had. But looking at these messages on the screen, it was clear as day. Now he had definitive proof for the nagging voice at the back of his head that kept telling him to be careful.
Kallie had been planning to trap Ash for his money.
His ass hit the couch and his phone hit the floor. He looked down to his feet and swore he could see his heart bleeding on the floor. He put his head in his hands and fisted the tendrils of his hair, trying to calm the anger rising in his stomach.
He’d trusted her. Pursued her. Chased her.
Loved her.
And she was nothing but the kind of woman he had tried to avoid.
Chapter 24
Kallie
Kallie couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Those text messages were utter bullshit! She hadn’t sent any of those to Eris. They didn’t even message while she was there. They talked on the damn phone. And what was this crazy shit about her leaving him? He fucked one of her bridesmaids! The wife of his damn best man!
Why was James lying like this?
Kallie sat in her office watching the interview as call after call came into her videoconferencing. She ignored all of them, sending off messages that she was unexpectedly out of the office for the day and would call them to reschedule. But they all knew. The entire fucking country knew what was going on.
The problem was, absolutely none of it was true.
Eris kept calling her, but she kept shooting the calls to voice mail. Was James really that big of an asshole? Was he so butthurt at her leaving him after he cheated that he had to go and slander her entire reputation to the entire nation? And what was Ash thinking right now? She knew it couldn't be good. The only reason she knew those text messages were fake was because she was one of the parties called into question. But even Kallie had to admit that the messages looked real. Whoever James got to fabricate those insane things was good.
But Kallie never deleted Eris’s messages.
All she had to do was show Ash that she hadn’t talked to Eris via text message at all. Only on the phone while she was on the island.
Kallie ignored another phone call from Eris before she dialed Ash’s number. But he didn’t pick up. She hung up and called again, but this time it sent her to voice mail. She opened up a text message—ironically enough—and messaged him. And she saw that he read them. But he didn’t respond.
So she called one last time before she began to panic.
Something was wrong. Which told her he’d seen the interview. And if he wasn’t picking up, that meant that James was somewhat making sense to him. She had to get to him. She had to take a page out of his book and go to him, front and center. She closed her laptop after putting on her “out of the office” notification on her email, then slammed out the room. She ran down the stairs and darted across the street, horns honking and cars slamming on their brakes. She ran into the parking garage and hurried into her car, then wasted no time getting to Ash’s place.
She was going to confront him with the truth if he wasn’t going to pick up.
She smoothed her hands over her blouse, then rang his doorbell. She shuffled on her feet with her phone in her hand, prepared to show him the last message she sent to Eris. She was in the airport about to take off, then there isn’t another message from her until after she landed back home again. She had her call logs ready to show him their phone calls, but there were no text messages in sight.
It took a long time for Ash to finally be heard behind the door. And to Kallie, it seemed as if he considered not answering.
He opened the door and relief flooded her veins until she saw the cold look in his eyes. Instead of stepping off to the side, Ash blocked her from his apartment. Looming over her with a dark look on his face.
This wasn’t good.
“Hey, Ash. Could I come in?” Kallie asked.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said.
“I really don’t want to talk in the hallway. Please?”
“No.”
“Ash, none of what’s going on in that interview is true. James is a spurned lover and he’s being petty. Those text messages? They aren’t real. Look.”
Kallie handed Ash her phone, but he didn’t take it.
“Okay, fine. I’ll hold it,” she said. “Look. The last text message I sent to Eris was before I left the airport, and the only other message I sent to her was after I landed, once I left.”
“So they’re deleted,” Ash said.
“No, look. My call logs. See?”
Kallie swiped through them, scrolling through the few times Eris and she had talked on the phone on the island.
“I called Eris if I ever had to talk with her. I didn’t text message her. All of those messages on the television are fabricated. Every last one of them.”
Kallie looked up into Ash’s eyes and silently begged to see their light. To see her playful, boyish Ash come alive. Her entire reputation was being slandered. People were splattering disgusting things about her on the one social media page she did have. She knew her business was going to tank, there was no question about it. And she needed Ash to believe her.
Ash was the only thing she would have left once James was done with his tirade.
“Don’t you believe me?” Kallie asked.
Kallie watched his face turn to stone. Immovable. Unwavering in his glare. She felt herself melting into the floor. She could see all of the sternness in his eyes that she’d encountered with his mother. Her hands were shaking. Her heart was fluttering a million miles a second. She wanted to reach out to him. To feel his arms drape around her and tell her things were going to be okay. She felt tears brewing at the sides of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She had cried enough over James’s antics and she wasn’t going to let him control her any longer.
She wanted Ash.
She loved Ash.
“No,” he said.
Kallie felt the breath leave her lungs. It felt like she’d been punched in the gut. She took a step back, like someone had backhanded her across the cheek.
Then, Ash became cruel.
“I can’t believe I didn’t see it. Even after you got so upset with me for lying about who I was, you were lying about who you were the entire time.”
“None of it’s true,” Kallie said breathlessly.
&nb
sp; “You’re a gold digger,” he said. “And the worst part is, you can’t even admit it to yourself. Is ruining rich men’s lives a game to you?”
“It’s not true,” she said as tears fell down her cheeks. “What James is saying isn’t true. He cheated on me, Ash. Eris caught—”
“Eris is in on it,” he said curtly.
“Eris is loyal to a fault, but she would never lie for me.”
“And it all makes sense. Eris was an attack dog in that club. And then she just let you go home with me? It doesn’t make sense.”
“She was distracted by Jeremy. Eris is wild, and fiercely protective, but she has a penchant for witty men.”
“Like you have a penchant for rich men?”
“Ash, stop it.”
“I’m only going to say this once, Kallie. This situation right here? It’s why I take up the life on the island like I do. Quick flings, no settling down. Because not even I can sense all the gold diggers in the world.”
“I don’t want you for your money,” Kallie said with a whisper.
“Then tell that to the rest of the world. Because we’re done here.”
He shut the door in her face, and Kallie fell to her knees. She was crushed. She thought they had finally gotten to a place of trust, but obviously they had not. Ash had been coldly ruthless. Like his mother had been the day before. Devastation rattled her bones as tears rushed down her neck.
“Please open the door,” Kallie said with a whisper.
But she knew Ash couldn't hear her.
No one could hear her over how loud James was talking.
Her hand fell to his door and she tried to push it open. Hoping maybe some shred of decency in him was still talking. But when it didn’t budge, she leaned against it to get up. It was clear she wasn’t going to convince him of her innocence. The only physical proof she had on her person was her phone records and her text messages. And all Ash thought was that she’d deleted the messages. Maybe someone had taken pictures at the wedding? The wedding photographer was supposed to be James’s project. Fuck. Maybe she could track them down somehow? Get pictures that proved both she and James were present and ready at their wedding?
Anything to discount the complete and utter bullshit he was rattling off on national television.
But she couldn't do anything standing at his door. She would accomplish nothing crying outside in the carpeted hallway. After finally convincing herself to stop walking away. To stop cowering into corners and to pick her head up and keep moving forward, she couldn't believe what she was about to do.
But Ash left her no choice.
So, as she cleared her throat and wiped the tears from her face and neck, she slung her purse over her shoulder and left.
Chapter 25
Ash
Ash slammed his fist against the glass and yelled. Roared. Groaned and bashed until his fist throbbed and his throat was hoarse. He was mad at himself for falling for her ruse. Mad at Kallie for finding him on that island. Mad at the world for dangling the most incredible woman in front of his face before making her the one thing he detested. Despised. The one thing he had tried to run from all the years of his life.
“Why?” he asked with a whisper. “Why, Kallie?”
He couldn’t believe he allowed himself to get played like that. Played like a fiddle in front of a nationwide audience. And the worst part of it was that he genuinely cared for her. He was ready to throw his entire island life away in pursuit of her. He was willing to compromise anything he had in his life to be with her.
Just like James had been ready to.
Shit, he loved her. And he was ready to tell her that too. Her deception. Her blatant disregard for how any of this would make him feel. That’s what destroyed him inside. That’s what made him so sick to his stomach. That’s what made it so hard to breathe. Hard to speak. Hard to do anything but beat against the windows of his apartment and yell until he couldn't make any more noise.
He loved her.
Ash was in love with Kallie.
And she was in love with nothing but his money.
“How could you have been so stupid?” Ash asked himself.
His eyes found his distorted reflection in the tinted windows of his living room.
“Why didn’t you stay away when you had the chance?” he asked. “She gave it to you. The flowers, right there on her fucking nightstand. And you had to go and pursue her again. You had to go and meddle with the man she was talking with at the bar. You had an out, Ash!”
He pushed himself away from the windows and walked to his bedroom. He didn’t want to look at himself. He didn’t want to take in the pathetic puppy dog eyes he knew would be facing him. He was angry. Frustrated. But deep down, he hurt. His heart was breaking. His soul was shattered.
And if he looked at himself, he would see it.
See the remnants of the pain Kallie had caused.
“You blind buffoon,” Ash said to himself. “Everything makes sense. Why she didn’t approach you after that night on the island. Why she tried to make you jealous with that other man. Why she was so eager to take you back. Why she baited you to chase her. Why her best fucking friend was completely okay with you whisking her away at the club!”
He picked up a notepad on his bedside table and threw it against the wall.
“Why did you stray from the formula?” he asked with a whisper.
Ash sank to his bed and raked his hands through his hair. Mind-numbing tears brewed behind his eyes. His hands trembled against his scalp. This was why the formula existed. This was why Ash led the kind of life he did. Short and meaningless romances with no connection after the first night. Women couldn't be trusted, but that didn’t mean Ash couldn't get his dick wet. He could get his release, have a nice warm body next to him for a night, and then bypass all the fucking deception waiting for him at the other end.
This was why he started living his life the way he had, and then he had to go and fucking ruin it. With his bullshit expectations and his bullshit romances and his bullshit ideology that there was that one woman out there for him. That one women that made all the meaningless shit in life worth it. The one woman that topped the money. That topped the bungalow. That topped the island or his family or his private jets. For years, he’d fed himself on a lie. A lie that, when the time was right, one woman would come sweeping into his world. Who would want his romance instead of his wallet. Who would want his kisses instead of his presents. Who would want his body instead of his fucking credit card!
He thought that woman was Kallie, so his guard went down.
And then she struck like the snake she was.
“Never again,” Ash muttered to himself.
And he was serious. Women couldn't be trusted, so he couldn't let another one get close to him ever again.
Ash grabbed his phone and dragged himself into the kitchen. He picked up the bottle of wine his mother left sitting aimlessly on the damn counter and tipped it up to his lips. He grabbed another one from the cabinet and quickly uncorked it, then sat at the breakfast nook in his kitchen. One of the few fucking places in his apartment Kallie hadn’t touched. He opened his phone and flipped through all his social media. Read every single tweet he’d been tagged in. Pulled up every single article that featured James and his brave testimony to finally come forward and expose this rampant sect of women who didn’t give a shit about anyone else other than themselves.
And he poured the wine down his throat.
His phone rang and Jeremy’s name popped up on the screen. Great. What the fuck did he want? Ash ignored the phone call, but the call was quickly returned. So he downed the last of his second bottle of wine before picking it up.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
“Okay. You’re going to come out tonight and shake this off,” Jeremy said.
“Nope. No thanks,” I said.
“I’ve got a VIP box with your name on it, a waitress who is more than ready to serve you anything you want, and a specia
l scotch I had flown in for a special occasion.”
“Oh, so this is special?” I asked.
“No, but it’s needed. Come out to the damn club, Ash. Shake this shit off and show her it doesn’t affect you.”
“Didn’t you bone her best friend?” I asked.
“That’s not important. The point is, you need to get out. So come out.”
Ash looked at the two empty bottles of wine lying sideways on the table. What was he going to do if he didn’t go out? Get drunk on all his expensive wine? At least if he went to the club, he could drown his sorrows in a wonderful scotch and have a nice woman keep him company for the evening. And that sounded like a fucking wonderful deal compared to the one he’d just been saddled with.
Maybe she’d have big tits and thick thighs to wrap around his head later.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll come up.”
Ash took a warm shower, allowing the alcohol to seep farther into his veins. He put on his best suit, all black for the occasion. He shined his shoes and gelled his hair back a bit, then flashed himself a smile in the mirror.
He looked like an idiot.
Jeremy guided him up to the VIP glass house in the corner and he had a full view of the club below him. He hated shit like this, but tonight? He was glad to be away from all of them. He sank down onto the couch, his legs spread wide and stretched out. He listened to the music as it thumped away, but soon the sound of a voice being cleared caught his attention.
“Mr. Worthington?”
He panned his eyes over and came into contact with a very striking woman. She was in a tight-ass skirt and thigh-high boots. Her tits were spilling out of the top of her shirt and her thick black hair was pulled into a high bun. She was holding a tray with a wonderful glass of scotch on it, and the smile on her face was gleaming. He grinned at her and took the drink before patting the couch next to him, and she looked almost hesitant.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I don’t bite.”
