“Yep. And he’s going to be the second lecture of the day.”
Alex raised a brow. “Lecture?”
“The son of a bitch stole Julie from me.”
“I thought you weren’t interested in Julie.”
Nathan frowned. “I wasn’t trying to fuck her or anything, but she was still mine. Logan is out of jail for less than a week and he’s all over her.”
“I hate to break it to you, but I got the feeling it was mutual.”
“Nope. He’s getting a stern lecture and as soon as I’m done giving it, I’m going to probably go throw up in the closest bathroom I can find. I can’t believe you’re making me into the responsible one.”
“You really are becoming responsible. A year ago you never would’ve waited until you found a bathroom.”
Nathan narrowed his eyes and Alex had a feeling the joking was done. “Should I be worried?”
Alex didn’t have a yes or no he could give Nathan. So he settled on the truth. “I’ll take care of Ashley. Go see Logan. Be happy for your brother.”
“I can be happy and mad at him at the same time.”
“Can you be happy for me?”
Nathan took out his phone and looked down, noticeably not answering Alex’s question. “I need to get going. Keep in touch, Alex. When will you be back in the office?”
Now that so much could be done remotely, it was hard to know when he’d see Nathan again. It’d be once he had things figured out with Ashley—which could take months or they could fall right into a rhythm. He had no idea.
One way or another, he and Ashley were going to figure this out.
“Mr. Farrell is on his way home,” said Jones from the entry to the study.
Ashley jumped at the unexpected voice and turned around in the chair. “Alex is coming home now?” This was good. Or bad. Mostly just unexpected.
“He’s just left his office in the city. He wanted me to let you know.”
Ashley narrowed her eyes at that. She’d thought she and Jones had become at least closer to being friendly. Did that mean he wouldn’t have let her know out of common courtesy?
But the fact that Alex wanted her to know was a good sign. If anything, it was nicer than showing up unannounced. She needed to get ready for him. If he was going to give her his final decision, she needed to get pretty.
Ashley shut the romance book she was reading and stood. “Thanks for letting me know,” she told Jones as she squeezed past him in the doorway and went for her bedroom. After she was up the stairs and down the hall, she reached the room. It was now filled with boxes of all the online purchases she’d made over the past week. Jones had given her a credit card he assured her Alex wanted her to use.
As much as she didn’t want to rely on charity, if Alex decided to kick her out, she wanted to have at least a week’s worth of clothes and luggage.
All she had from Geoff’s was her purse. It was big enough to hold her ID, now useless credit cards, and a few lipsticks.
Thanks to Alex, she was able to restock on the makeup basics, clothes for a week, some books and a suitcase she could lug around if she needed to. And if Alex did agree to marry her, she could repay him in full. Nothing she’d purchased had been unreasonable.
Well, except for one piece. The designer sundress. But this dress had a purpose. It was what she was going to use to convince Alex to marry her.
The sundress was deceptively sweet, with a blue background and delicate yellow and white flowers all over. But once she put it on, the sweetness went away. The skirt was so short that even her pinky finger reached farther than the material when her arms were stretched down. On someone else, the dress would be especially indecent, but because her legs were a bit short, it managed to look a level up from porn.
The model online hadn’t worn a bra, but her double A breasts hadn’t really needed one. Even though Ashley was a modest B cup, she still wore a basic white bra to keep the girls in line. The thin spaghetti straps were a tad smaller than the bra straps, but Ashley aligned them perfectly so it was hard to detect any straps.
Once the dress was in place, she glanced at herself in the mirror. The dress was a combination she normally tried to avoid: low-cut and short skirt. Normally it was one or the other, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Besides, the pretty pattern and the fact that the skirt was loose and flowy went a long way toward making the dress acceptable.
To add to the innocent look, she only put on minimal makeup. A full coverage foundation, mascara, some brow filler, and then a tinted lip balm. There. Now she looked like someone Alex could love. Not like Nadia. Not like her fifteen-year-old self.
She looked like the strong and confident woman she wanted to be. The kind of woman Alex could want.
Maybe she should hide the boxes. He would think she’d gone crazy while he was gone. A big spending spree like a shopping-addicted heiress she was trying so hard not to be. No. She didn’t need to feel bad. He wasn’t Geoff. He wouldn’t berate her or make those accusations. If he truly thought she’d gone out of hand, she’d show him the receipts. Except for the luggage and the dress, nothing had cost more than twenty dollars.
Ashley bit her lip as the anxiety increased. The week had lured her into a false sense of security. It had been so peaceful and worry-free. Knowing she didn’t have to hide from anyone coming home or explain where she’d been. Not that she’d gone anywhere.
Now that she knew Geoff knew where she was, she just felt better behind the locked gate of the estate. Though it felt less like the prison of living with Geoff and more as though it were her moat. Her protection. Not something keeping her in, but what was keeping everyone else out.
Something Ashley was more than willing to admit was an unhealthy feeling, but she didn’t care. It just felt too good to know that she was safe. She’d worry about her mental health later. Once she was finally not tired anymore.
This past week, she’d actually been able to sleep. For the last year, she’d always been half awake, terrified that Geoff would finally lose it and come into her room in the middle of the night. One day she’d gone out and bought a knob with a lock and even installed the new knob herself. After being super proud of her handiwork, she’d gone to run errands only to see that the knob had been changed again.
One reminder that it didn’t matter how many locks on the door. Well, now she had a gate, a front door, a lock on her bedroom door, and a butler she was reasonably certain would call the police if someone started to bring down the house.
And hopefully soon she’d have Alex too. Whose name alone would give her protection from her previously unfightable foe.
Alex was coming home. Ashley bit her lip again. How had things gone with Logan? She’d looked around the Internet a few times, but hadn’t seen much about the release, which was surprising. She’d assumed something like that would have more publicity. No news was probably good news in this case. Would he be in a good mood once he got here?
Ashley hoped so. And not just because she wanted him to be agreeable. She did genuinely care about Alex. Sure, maybe she didn’t love him, but she liked him. Liked him as a person and as... Her thoughts wandered to their conversation on the wall overlooking the ocean. It mixed with older memories of the day he’d jumped in after her. Their last kiss on the lawn before he left to get Logan and the first time she’d seen his body when he’d stripped in the laundry room.
The first time she’d truly lusted after anyone in her entire life.
Ashley reapplied the lip balm because she’d bit off a good amount already. Once she figured she was as good as she was going to get, she went back downstairs to wait for Alex. On a good day, it could take an hour and a half to drive in from the city, but in traffic it could be hours. She might’ve gotten ready too fast in her haste.
She tried to get back into her book, but every few sentences she’d put the book down and look outside the windows of the sitting room to see whether Alex’s car was there. After
ten minutes of this, she gave up and set the book down. Might as well work off some of the excess energy. She wasn’t about to change into workout clothes after she’d already gotten pretty, but she slipped into her new tennis shoes and walked out the front door.
Her ankles were already sporting a few bandages. Her normal running routine could be intense, and the cheap sneakers were just about broken in. As long as she didn’t walk fast, the rubbing wouldn’t bother her.
Even though there were no running paths, the estate was big enough that she could run laps. Once her swimsuit she ordered came in, she’d be able to add swimming to the routine as well.
There was a treadmill and elliptical in the fitness room, but she liked being outdoors. Especially outdoors here. The trees were probably bigger, but considering how large they’d already been back when she was a kid, it was hardly noticeable. The massive oaks, maples, and even a few weeping willows were so pretty. It made her feel so free to breathe in the air and close her eyes and listen to the sounds the leaves made rustling in the wind. Normally she listened to music when she worked out, but even though she didn’t have her mp3 player or phone anymore, she was more than happy to listen to the sounds of nature.
Who knew that the Farrell estate would ever feel like an escape to her? Once she was closer to the gate, she heard a car approach and ran to see whether it was Alex. Halfway there, she slowed down. She didn’t want to seem desperate. She was the woman in the mirror. Calm, collected, confident.
In other words, not herself.
Ashley went to bite her lip again but then remembered that she was wearing her tinted lip balm and stopped herself. Except as she reached the gates, she saw it wasn’t Alex stepping out of the car.
This guy was older, maybe late forties or early fifties. He was still handsome, with a few streaks of gray that blended in with his light-brown hair. He had a well-trimmed goatee and just a few wrinkles over the good bone structure that, combined with his very expensive suit he was wearing, had probably gotten him far in life.
Before she could try to slip back into the trees without him noticing her, his eyes met hers and he smiled. His eyes crinkled in a way that made him seem sincere, but she couldn’t help but feel there was something off about him. A subtle glint of crazy in his eyes. Most probably wouldn’t recognize it, but she’d spent far too many years with Geoff to ever forget it.
“Hello!” he called. “I was hoping to see Alex. Think you can let me in?”
Ashley debated turning and running inside. But the man hadn’t done anything overtly wrong yet, and he could be an acquaintance of Alex’s. If she was going to be his wife, she’d have to talk to some of these guys without appearing batshit crazy. Instead, Ashley forced herself to slowly approach the gate. “I’m sorry, but Alex isn’t here and the butler doesn’t have the house suitable for guests at the moment. There’s a big remodel going on that is kicking dust up everywhere.” The remodel bit was a lie, but she needed to find a way to let the man know that Alex wasn’t home but she wasn’t alone there, all while giving a good, polite, reason for not inviting him inside.
The man tilted his head and seemed to be judging her words. As though he expected her to lie. “I’m not that demanding, I swear. But I really need to talk to Alex. Why don’t you let me in? I don’t mind getting a little dirty.”
The crazy flickered in his eyes and Ashley stopped where she was, a good ten feet from the fence. She wasn’t getting an inch closer, no matter what the stranger thought of her. “I’m sorry. It’s not my house. I’m sure if you call the office, they can set up a time for you to talk with Alex. If you’ll excuse me—”
She started to leave, but he stopped her with a, “Wait! You look so familiar. Do I know you?”
No. She would’ve remembered those squinty, manipulative eyes. “I don’t think so.”
“No. Ashley Kõiv, right?”
She’d been uneasy from the start, but for the first time, a bolt of fear went through her. Did Geoff send him? Was he there for her? The gate was substantial, but it could be climbed over with relative ease. She had her tennis shoes on, though. If she made a run for it, she could probably make it...
“I knew your mother. Nadia. Maybe you’ve heard of me. Tate Gallagher.”
This time Ashley did take a step back. That name. She never thought she’d ever hear that name again. Had definitely never thought she’d see him. Even though she was sure he realized that she recognized the name, she didn’t want to acknowledge the strange connection they had. “I’m sorry. That doesn’t sound familiar.”
He smiled in a way that told her he saw right through the lie and enjoyed her discomfort. “You look a lot like her, you know.” His eyes went up and down her; Ashley averted her gaze to the ground as she turned red with embarrassment. “You’ve got good genes.”
At that “compliment,” Ashley officially knew she didn’t need to be polite any longer. She turned and started to walk back to the house. She didn’t owe Tate Gallagher polite conversation or anything else.
“You tell Alex I was here,” he called. “And you tell him I know who you are.”
Ashley kept walking without acknowledging his words. Tate Gallagher. Standing there and looking at her like that.
Maybe she had time to shower all the ickiness off her skin before Alex got home. She didn’t know whether she could face him like this.
9 Years ago
“Tate Gallagher!” shouted Walter from across the house. “You couldn’t fuck a goddamn pool boy like any other bored housewife? You spread your legs for Tate Gallagher!”
Well, the bomb had finally dropped. Alex put his headphones in and turned up the volume. The blowout he’d known was coming had finally hit.
He tried to close his eyes and focus on the music. It wasn’t as bad as when he was younger. Back then, he’d been a confused kid who thought every time his dad found a new wife that it might actually last. He was older now. Smarter. Jaded. He never liked Nadia all that much and had known she was cheating on Walter from the beginning.
This was bound to happen. He opened his eyes and sat up straight when he realized he wasn’t alone anymore. Ashley stood inside his door. Just inside, as though still waiting for permission to come all the way in. Even though he’d gotten the impression she was a bit jaded herself, he could tell she wasn’t handling the fight quite as well.
There was a type of pain behind her eyes. Even if she knew this was coming, it probably wasn’t easy. At least Alex knew that he’d still be here after the marriage fell apart. Who knew where Nadia and Ashley would go.
He took off his headphones and motioned her to come in. She gently shut the door as though Walter and Nadia would pause in their frantic shouting to actually hear what the kids were doing. “Sorry about all this,” she said softly, as though she expected him to blame her for any of it.
“Not your fault.”
She leaned against the door and looked down. “I don’t know what’s wrong with her.”
Alex shrugged. He didn’t blame Nadia all that much for straying. He knew firsthand that Walter wasn’t exactly a fountain of love. “These things happen.”
“No. They happen once. Maybe twice. She always does this. Always. She says she’s going to stop, and then this happens. And it’s not smart or discreet. She’s just taken over and then we’re both affected. I don’t get it.”
He wanted to say something to comfort her, but nothing came to mind. He knew that Walter might give Nadia a pass now, but this anger would never go away. Soon enough, the divorce proceedings would start, and he knew that the prenup would keep Ashley and Nadia from getting anything. Not that he thought Nadia deserved anything from Walter. The short marriage wasn’t exactly grounds for alimony.
But he didn’t like thinking of Ashley getting caught up in the mess. “I can throw on a movie.” He motioned to the television in the corner of the room.
“Something loud?” she asked with a half-smile.
“Lots of explosions and gu
nshots.” He got up and went to the corner of the room where his entertainment center was. It was only a few minutes before he found an action comedy that he’d already seen at least five times before. Something stupid they could use to distract themselves from what was happening downstairs.
He put it in the DVD player and turned around only to stare in shock at Ashley, who sat on his bed. She was looking down at her fingers and was probably completely oblivious of what he was seeing.
She wore a pink tank top with tiny little straps that might as well not exist and a pair of loose white and blue pajama pants that hung low on her hips, exposing a thin strip of skin of her stomach. The tank wasn’t that low, but he could see the soft outline of her breasts against the thin material.
Fuck. Fifteen, he repeated to himself. She was fifteen fucking years old. He ran a hand through his hair and sat on the other side of the bed, as far as possible from her without falling off the side. “Walter reminds me of your mom,” he finally said, trying to think of something to break the silence.
“What?” she asked.
“He makes stupid decisions. Sleeps around repeatedly for no good reason. Isn’t even that smart about it. And then has the nerve to get outraged when people do the same to him.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“Yeah, but—” He tried to think of the right words. “I mean, I think Nadia and Walter are too alike. They’re the same person and that would never work out.”
Ashley frowned. “You think they’re the same?”
He shrugged. “Don’t you?”
“I don’t really like Walter. I like my mom, though.”
“You’re supposed to like your mom.”
“Do you like your father?”
“No one likes Walter except for Walter.” The trailers started to play, and Alex turned down the volume. “If you need anything, I can—”
“You can’t,” she said. “There’s nothing you can do.”
He wanted to argue, but he knew she was right. There was only a limited amount he could do for a kid he barely knew. Kid... The number “fifteen” screamed kid to him, but when he looked at Ashley, he didn’t see a kid. Maybe because he still looked like a pimply-faced middle-schooler even at fifteen. Ashley looked as if she could walk into a bar and not be carded.
Restless (Fractured Farrells: A Damaged Billionaire Series, #4) Page 7
