A shrill ringing cut through the kitchen. Ashley visibly jumped and paled at the sound before she grabbed her cell phone off the table and swiped the screen to ignore the call.
He was just able to make out the “Geo” part of the name to realize who was calling. He narrowed his eyes and thought about her reaction. Had she just been surprised by the call or was there something else? She’d seemed more than surprised. She’d seemed...scared. “Ashley, has Geoff done something that—”
She stood; the wooden legs of the chair scraped against the marble with the sudden movement. “I need to run upstairs. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
As she left, Alex balled his hands into fists. He wasn’t imagining this. Ashley was terrified of her newest stepfather. If that guy laid one finger on her...
Not even God could save him from Alex.
9 Years Ago
Ashley’s heart pounded against her chest as she leaned back against the cool tile of her bathroom shower. Damn it, she should’ve known better. She’d known Alex was home, but because the house was otherwise deserted for the day, she thought she’d be able to take a long hot shower while looking out at the view she was quickly coming to love.
But instead she’d made an ass of herself and given her new stepbrother who already hated her a show he’d never forget. Oh no... He was never going to let her live this down. She could just imagine all the ways he could make fun of her for the careless mistake.
Though, now that she thought back, he hadn’t seemed amused at her compromised position. He’d seemed...entranced. A look she’d seen on many men’s faces before, just never directed at her. Nadia could bespell men as though she were a genuine witch straight out of Estonian legends. But Ashley had never considered trying. Had never wanted to.
If Alex thought she was trying to pull something over or trying to trick him into some sort of relationship, he was sorely mistaken.
She needed to fix this before it got out of hand. Ashley pulled a towel off the rack bolted to the white tiled wall and ran it over her hair to clear as much excess water as possible before she crossed her room to the white dresser. She set the towel on top and quickly pulled on her light denim shorts and a pink t-shirt. As soon as she was decent, she ran out of her bedroom. Alex’s room was right across the hall from hers and, based off his open door, she knew he still wasn’t back.
Her bare feet padded over the marble tile floor, and she descended the stairs as fast as she safely could, hoping her still dripping hair wouldn’t cause her to slip. Once she reached the bottom landing, she turned and there Alex was. He still didn’t seem amused; the second he saw her, he turned to go in the other direction.
“Wait,” she called.
“I have to study.”
He was avoiding her. Great. “We need to talk about this.”
“We don’t need to talk about anything. Nothing happened.”
She caught up to him and reached for his arm, but thought better of it. Maybe direct physical contact wasn’t a good idea. She settled for pulling at the back of his shirt, which effectively stopped him.
Except he didn’t look entranced when he turned. He looked furious. “What the hell do you want?”
Ashley let go of his shirt as if it were burning her skin and took a step back. “I wanted to talk about...I wanted to clear the air.”
“It was an accident. It never happened. There. Air cleared.”
“No. I mean—I wanted to say— It wasn’t on purpose.”
A flicker of confusion cut through the anger. “What?”
“I know you don’t trust me and my mother. But you should know that I wasn’t doing anything on purpose to, you know...”
Alex clenched his jaw tightly enough that she could see the veins in his neck stand out. “I wasn’t doing anything on purpose either,” he said between clenched teeth.
Her eyes widened as she realized what he meant. “Oh. I never even thought—”
He let out a bitter chuckle. “You should really be more suspicious, you know. You’re swimming with the wolves now.”
Before she could think of a response, the sound of the front door opening and footsteps broke through the tension. Alex pulled away and went toward the back of the house. Ashley stared after him and considered his words. Was he saying he was a wolf or Walter was? Maybe even her mother.
Though thinking about it more carefully, the answer was evident. All of the above.
Present Day
Ashley ran up to her room and tried to catch her breath. This was bad. This was hard. So much harder than she expected. There were too many old memories mixing with new ones, and talking to Alex felt like old times and like an impossible task.
She was supposed to sit down and tell him the truth. The things Geoff said to her. The names he called her and the way he crippled any chance she had of making a life for herself. But looking at someone, getting those simple words out wasn’t working.
Because she knew the first and most important question Alex was going to ask. Did he hurt you?
And if she said yes, she was sure Alex would go to the ends of the earth to fight for her. Even if they weren’t close or friends or even acquaintances anymore, that was just the kind of man Alex was.
Except Geoff didn’t hurt Ashley. Never physically. Not once. He’d never hit her, and every time he threw things, he’d managed to miss her, or if he punched at her, he’d hit the wall just inches from her face. But he never hit her, and that was all people wanted to know. Did he hurt you?
Yes. He hurt her every day in a thousand ways. He cut her down and made her feel worse than a piece of shit while simultaneously making it impossible for her to better herself. He controlled every aspect of her life from money to sleeping arrangements to her friends. Not everyone would understand that type of abuse, though. People dealt with domineering members of family every day. She should be able to deal with it or communicate how she felt, but there was no reasoning with Geoff. It was his way or pay the consequences.
And if Alex didn’t agree to go along with this, the consequences would be dire. And Ashley wasn’t prepared to deal with that. She went into the bathroom and ran the water. Once it was warmer, she splashed some on her face and ran her fingers through her hair. The droplets brought clarity to her. She needed to do this. For herself and her sanity, she needed to free herself from Geoff no matter the price.
“Ashley?” said Alex from the door.
She looked into the mirror and met her own gaze. She looked strong. Ready to take on mountains. So much different from how she felt. She needed to grasp onto the girl in the mirror and make her a reality. No matter what Geoff said, she could be whoever she wanted to be, and she wanted to be strong.
It was always easier to want something than to actually get it.
“I don’t want to go back there.” She turned around to face Alex.
“All your things—”
“I don’t want things. They’re all Geoff’s anyway. All the jewelry, all the clothes—none of it matters. Just my freedom and you can give that to me. We can find a judge today. Get the deed done and we can have the rest of our lives to do whatever we want. Together, apart—either is fine. But I need your help.”
Alex looked at her with an expression she couldn’t place. Somewhere between pity and regret and she knew he was about to shut her down. “At least think about it,” she interjected before he could say anything. “Play out the thousands of scenarios in your head. For every terrible outcome, I can give you a good one. I promise.”
He shook his head, but he didn’t give her a definitive answer. “I have an appointment with a lawyer I can’t miss. Will you be okay for a few hours?”
She let out a sigh of relief she didn’t realize she was holding. “I’ll be here.”
His gaze quickly brushed over her body. “Do you have any luggage with you?”
Ashley bit her bottom lip as she shook her head. “Nothing was really mine to bring.”
“That’s bul
lshit. You had to have things over a year old.” Older than after her mother died was implied.
“My winter stuff was in storage and somehow got water damaged. And piece by piece, my summer wardrobe has gone...missing. The only things I still have are items I purchased on Geoff’s credit card.” The card he so generously let her use, as he loved to point out. It had been something that had creeped up on her as he started to take over her life. Saying it out loud made her feel suddenly stupid. As if she should’ve gotten out sooner, before he’d had time to take over so completely.
Strong. She was the woman in the mirror.
Alex cursed under his breath. This might be the first thing she’d said to truly illustrate the problem with her staying with Geoff. “Do you have your phone with you?”
“It’s turned off.” So Geoff couldn’t track her. The other leash he’d had around her ankle. She used his Internet and his cell service, so every email, every text, every call was monitored by him. Once again, something that when spoken out loud sounded really bad. But it hadn’t happened all at once. And it was easy to explain away small things. Until all those small things snowballed into an avalanche that had her trapped and gasping for air.
Alex shook his head and turned away. She could tell he was angry. Angry at her for getting herself into this mess, probably. Now she had to throw herself at his mercy and hope he’d help her.
Needing a man to save her, just like she’d never wanted. It was as though she was singlehandedly setting back the feminist movement a few decades.
No. She wasn’t going to fall into self-pity. She was the woman in the mirror, damn it. She walked over to her bed and fell onto the soft mattress, looking up at the ceiling. It was nice here. There’d been so little peace that summer nine years ago, but she felt so relaxed. Relaxed for the first time in a year at least.
She wasn’t staring at the door, hoping no one tried to get past the lock. She didn’t have to look around the room and hope there was no listening device or camera in place. She’d never seen one, and when she’d asked Geoff whether he’d ever stoop so low, he accused her of being paranoid and silly for even suggesting it. And she’d felt silly and paranoid.
But she could be silly and paranoid and right. Despite the hidden glances she and Alex had exchanged that summer, he’d never been the subtle, sneaking type. Even during that infamous shower that had kick-started everything, he hadn’t been peeking from behind the tree. He’d been standing right in the middle of the yard, not hiding behind a computer monitor or phone tap.
And that was why she was willing to give him everything if he’d give her the mental freedom she’d been denied.
Alex found the table he was looking for right away. Normally when he was meeting his brother for lunch, it was hard to see past the hundreds of suits in a Manhattan restaurant at any given time, but lately it was easier.
Malia’s penchant for bright colors never failed to draw the eye, and he quickly saw the young tan woman sitting at the booth. She wore a basic shirt, but the draping of it made her toned curves stand out. Alex couldn’t help comparing her to Ashley. Both women were beautiful but in such different ways. Malia’s skin was darkened from the Hawaii sun and blended seamlessly with the mixture of light-brown and dirty-blonde hair and showed off her dark-brown eyes. Whereas Ashley’s skin was pretty much the picture-perfect definition of porcelain, and her hair was light to match. She’d always been skinny, but she came from the Nadia school of cardio; Malia’s curves were defined by years of working odd jobs on the islands.
Well, he and Robert never had similar tastes in women, Alex supposed. Robert saw Alex and waved as though trying to get his attention. Alex considered opening with the story of his strange houseguest from last night, but thought better of it. Considering the circumstances of this lunch, there was enough family drama at the moment. He didn’t need to add to it.
“How did it go?” asked Robert before Alex even sat down.
That was the good thing about family. There was no reason to bullshit or small talk. He could get right to the point. Which, in this case, was good news. “Logan is out. The lawyers said everything went smoothly and he was released as planned. Nathan confirmed that Julie was on site and was there to pick him up.”
“I still can’t believe you two aren’t in California,” said Malia. “We actually had a layover in LA before coming here. We never should’ve gotten on that second plane.”
Alex understood where Malia was coming from. It was strange that they weren’t the ones there to meet Logan outside the prison gates, but Alex, Robert, and Nathan were more than aware that their presence wouldn’t be welcomed. “Logan has refused to speak to us for years. I think if we all show up, even with the best of intentions, it would freak him out.”
Which was the truth. But Alex had a feeling Robert had the same fears he did. That the man coming out of prison wasn’t their brother anymore. All of them had changed so much in the last decade. Too many things had changed for them to all get to know one another on such a stressful day.
“A pretty PR rep is the perfect person to pick him up,” said Robert, and Alex got the feeling he and Malia had this argument a few times already. “She’ll fluff him up so he’s in a nice and good mood by the time he decides to come home.”
“He’s going to want to know the family supports him,” she pointed out.
“And we do,” said Alex. “Julie will be sure to tell him that.” Alex was there during the hiring process for Julie. She wasn’t the first choice to rein Nathan in. Their younger brother had seduced much older and plainer-looking women than Julie for no other reason than to annoy his family. But Julie had proved surprisingly effective when dealing with the youngest Farrell. Not only had she resisted Nathan’s (for some reason) irresistible charms, but she’d gotten him back on track. Now she needed to work her magic again and convince Logan to somehow like his family again.
“So why doesn’t this feel like a win?” asked Malia. “Logan is getting out just like you wanted, but we’re still crossing our fingers and hoping he decides to come back.”
Robert set an arm around Malia and pulled her close. “We’re hoping and stacking the odds in our favor. Logan will come around eventually.” Robert sounded sure, but the quick look he gave Alex told a different story.
Malia tightened her lips as if she wanted to say more, but she didn’t. Alex had a feeling that once he was gone, she’d plead her case to Robert once again, but Alex was confident this was the right decision.
“I’d love to stay for lunch, but I was hoping to get back to the house soon.”
Robert didn’t look surprised, but Malia’s face fell. “I wish you’d stay. I haven’t seen you in months. Robert was going to take me to a show tonight.”
It must be love if Malia was getting Robert to go to Broadway. As much as Alex liked Malia, the combination of being a third wheel and sitting through the newest hit musical was too much for him to even consider, even if he didn’t have Ashley sitting home and waiting for him.
If he agreed to her plan, she’d always be at home waiting for him. A thought more tempting than he’d like to admit.
“Maybe you can stop by the house later this week. It’s by the ocean.”
Malia snorted. “I like a water view more than most, but that’s not my ocean. You can’t even swim in it.”
“It’s a little cold, but the pool is heated. And it’s an infinity pool so you can pretend that you’re in the ocean,” he said with a half-smile.
Malia rolled her eyes and looked to Robert. “He’s being silly. Make him stop.”
Robert kissed Malia on the forehead. “Stop teasing her,” he warned Alex in a half joking tone.
Alex turned his attention to Robert instead. “You always liked the Connecticut house, right?”
Robert shrugged. “I mean, I never didn’t like it. But it always felt like Walter’s place. And it’s so far out from the city. I never got why you wanted it so much.”
“Because
it’s so far out from the city. Besides, don’t give me shit for moving out of the city. You’re the one looking to buy land in Hawaii. At least I’m on the same continent.”
“Touché,” said Robert.
“You should have a big party,” said Malia. “Once Logan is back, we can have all the brothers in one spot. The same spot they grew up.”
Robert snorted. “We grew up in fifteen different houses, boarding schools, and apartments.” Malia shot him a look. “You’re right. Party is a great idea.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Alex. “I suppose it will be up to Logan to pick a date.”
Malia rolled her eyes. “Yes, because there’s nothing you can do to get him back home faster.”
Alex wasn’t going to be the one to disagree with Malia. “You two have a nice lunch. I’m going to get back to Connecticut before traffic goes from its normal level of shitty to rush hour apocalypse level of shit. I’m sure I’ll see you soon.”
Malia got out of the booth to give him a quick hug. He was getting the feeling that as long as she was around, hugs were going to be a thing. Robert didn’t get out of the booth, so at least one part of the status quo remained the same.
Alex headed out of the restaurant, but before he could make his way to the parking garage he’d paid an obscene amount of money to house his car for a few hours, Robert called his name. Alex turned and saw his brother, sans girlfriend. Which meant he was going to say something Alex probably wouldn’t like. The best thing about the oldest Farrell pairing off was that he became a hell of a lot nicer when Malia was around.
“Hey.” Alex walked back to the side of the sidewalk close to the building where they wouldn’t be in the way of the steadily flowing foot traffic. “What’s wrong?”
“Nathan isn’t here,” said Robert.
“I noticed.”
“Why isn’t Nathan here?”
“I’m not his handler,” pointed out Alex.
“No, but you’re his boss since I’ve stepped down responsibilities at the Manhattan office. So where is he? If Julie is distracted by Logan, I don’t want Nathan to slip into old habits.”
Restless (Fractured Farrells: A Damaged Billionaire Series, #4) Page 4
