After waking up in Chase's bed after his dad's visit, my entire body trembling from the panic that remained, adrenaline still coursing through my veins, my father had been sitting there, waiting for me.
Arriving minutes after Clyde, he'd witnessed the confrontation between Ty and his father outside in the hall and after telling the eldest Jacobs to kick rocks, he'd stormed inside the apartment only to find me completely checked out thanks to the panic attack coming face-to-face with Dominic's main fixer had caused.
And that's when he knew.
Clyde Jacobs and I had a connection.
One which, knowing my father, he wouldn't rest until he figured out.
Needing to be closer to him, I leaned my head against his shoulder as the blackness began to stir, pulling the oxygen right out of my lungs.
"Tell me, sweetheart," he said. "How do you know him?"
As much as I wanted to tell him every ugly detail, I couldn't force the words to come.
"Alright," he said after a few minutes of my silence. "How about this—I'm going to ask you a question, and if the answer is yes, all then you have to do is squeeze my hand."
That I could do.
At least I thought so.
Nodding against him, I scooted closer, pressing my side against his. Even at twenty, I needed him to make me feel safe, especially from the demons that stirred inside me, their cruel taunts repeating on an unending loop in my head.
"Breathe for me, Ashley," he whispered, his thumb stroking the back of my hand.
Doing as he said, I took a breath.
Then, "Principessa, I want you to squeeze my hand if you know Clyde from the time you spent with Dominic."
Squeeze.
"Alright," he said in reply. "Did he work for Dominic?"
Squeeze.
"Good girl." He turned his head and pressed a kiss to the top of mine. "Did you ever see him commit a crime?"
I hesitated for the briefest moment.
But then I did as he'd asked.
I squeezed his hand once more.
His body stiffened. "Did he ever touch you?"
I didn't squeeze his hand.
He blew out a breath in response.
"Thank fucking Christ," he mumbled, his arm trembling against mine. "Now—"
"It wasn't me he touched," I said, cutting him off.
Blackness rising, my head felt as if it would explode as my secrets rose to the surface, and what little good remained in me demanded that I tell my father, the man I trusted with my whole heart, what happened, no matter what the consequences may be.
They mattered, the voice in my head said.
And their final truths need to be told.
Completely breaking, I ripped my hand from his and covered my ears as I rocked back and forth, my shoulder blades hitting my bed over and over.
"Ashley, sweetheart, what—"
"He killed them!" I screamed as my mind bent, nearly fracturing. "He killed them, and it's all my fault!"
Footsteps sounded, and I smelled my mother's distinct perfume as she ran into the room, her eyes wide. "What the hell happened?" she shrieked, concern, and fear both bleeding into her voice.
Scooping me up into his arms just like Chase had done hours before, my father held me against him as he stood and sat down on the bed, taking me with him. "Tell me, Ashley." His stern voice cut through the hysteria, reaching the sane part of me—as small as it was—that remained. "Who did Clyde kill?"
Clutching his dress shirt in my hands, I shook my head, my hair falling into my eyes. "Not Clyde," I said, my throat tight. "Dominic."
My father's eyes hardened before mine. "Tell me who."
A sob broke free from my chest as I latched onto the tiny amount of courage I possessed and whispered, "Carmen and Jade." I took a shuddering breath. "Their names were Carmen Santiago and Jade Allen." Another breath. "And they were beautiful."
Pulling his eyes from mine, he looked at my mother. "Sunshine, get me my phone."
A combination of heartbreak and straight up-rage etched on her face, she nodded once.
Then, she raced out of the room.
* * *
The glass of water shook in my hand as I sat in the middle of the sofa, my head bowed.
"It's all my fault," I cried, insides twisting. "Every bit of it."
"How?" my dad, who stood in front of me, his trembling hands resting on his hips. "How is what Dominic did to those girls any of your fault?"
My head snapped up, my tear-filled eyes finding his furious ones. "Because they were trying to help me!" I shrieked, my shrill voice rising with each word. "They were trying to help me, and Dominic killed them for it!"
My Mama, who looked more enraged that I'd ever seen her, glared at my dad. "Tell me you can do something," she said, hands fisted. "Because if not, I'm sure as shit going to!"
"What did he do with them, Principessa?" Dad asked, his tone hard but steady. "Where are their bodies?"
I clenched my eyes shut as the memories from that night battered me, one after the other. "Clyde," I spat, chest aching, "disposed of their bodies within minutes of Dominic murdering them. But it wasn't until el diablo tried to kidnap me from the shelter that I learned the bastard had dumped them in the swamp."
Room spinning, I pulled in a breath.
I will not let the blackness take me.
Not until they know.
I will not fail.
Not this time.
"Which swamp?"
Setting the glass on the coffee table in front of me, I bent forward and laced my fingers behind my head, rocking back and forth. "I don't know."
After a few moments, when he said nothing more, I lifted my head and glanced from my Mama to him, reading the myriad of emotions flitting across their faces.
But it was my dad's that made my entire body still.
Lips thinned in a straight line, all it took was one scrutinizing look at his face to see that I'd been one-hundred percent correct when thinking that Dominic, and by extension Clyde, would never be brought to justice over what happened to my girls.
And it was because of his sullen expression, combined with that realization, that any control I still possessed snapped right in half.
Both heartbroken and pissed, I jumped up, the injustice of the entire situation nipping at my raw nerves, sending me into a manic-fueled tailspin. "Dominic and Clyde both deserve to rot for what they did to Carmen and Jade!"
My Mama opened her mouth to say something, but I kept yelling, my lungs burning from the exertion, without giving her a chance to get a word in edgewise. "They may have been nothing more than street whores, but they mattered!"
"Principessa—"
"No!" I screamed, holding up both my hands. "You don't get to call me a princess because that is not what I am. Like my two best friends who died on a dirt-laden floor of a miserable trap house, I am nothing!"
"You are not nothing!" My Mama screamed, losing the control she was struggling to maintain on her infamous temper. "You are my daughter and—"
"They were someone's daughter too!" I fired back, not giving a crap how disrespectful I was being by yelling at her. "Jade's parents died in a car crash when she was thirteen. They were good people, both teachers, but they were alone in this world, and she had nowhere to go. So she was sent into foster care." My entire body vibrated with rage. "And that's where she was raped for the first, second, and third times."
My dad's head dropped, his eyes going to the floor.
"Months after the first attack, she ran away to escape it all, but in the end, she fell into Dominic's waiting arms, and suddenly the hell she lived back in foster care was nothing compared to what he and Clyde put her through."
Head snapping up, my dad's gaze locked with mine once more. "What did Clyde do to her?"
My knees began to shake.
Don't falter.
Hold steady.
Speak your truth.
One of them at least.
"He raped
her!" I screamed, my hysterical voice echoing throughout the house, which was thankfully empty of anyone else. They were across the street at Grandmama's, Lucca, and Gracie hadn't been home since my dad carried me through the front door after leaving Ty and Chase's apartment. "And that was after he beat the crap out of her!"
My Mama's eyes slid closed as ghosts from her own past rushed forward, bringing with them one painful memory after another. "What about Carmen?" she asked, wrapping a single arm around her belly.
Sob after sob jolted me.
"Carmen was a Colombian beauty queen," I said, pride filling me. "But she ended up with Dominic after her cartel-connected boyfriend auctioned her off." My stomach rolled, the urge to vomit increasing. "She couldn't cope, so she started shooting up, which Dominic let her do because it made her more pliable."
I hated him.
Hated. Him!
"In the end, she was a shell of the woman she'd once been, and more than ready to die, she sacrificed herself to save Jade and I."
Dad, who was one of the most controlled men I'd ever encountered, looked close to shoving his fist into a wall, something Chase would have done if he'd been there.
A hot scalpel sliced across my heart, cutting me deep as his handsome face flashed through my mind.
Don't think about him now.
Just don't.
"How did Jade die?"
I blew out a shaky breath at my dad's question. "Dominic accused her of stealing from him and shot her. I tried... I tried to save her, but he hit m-me"—my voice broke—" and I couldn't get u-up."
Unable to stop herself, my Mama rushed forward and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into her. I willingly went, accepting every bit of comfort she offered, even though I didn't deserve an ounce of it.
"Tony," she whispered, resting her chin atop my head as I buried my face in her neck and gave myself over to the agony ripping through me. "Tell me you can do something."
With nothing good to say, he didn't answer right away.
Like Chase, he wasn't a liar, and since his hands were tied—something I was sure of—he wouldn't plant false hope in either of our heads.
"Legally? No," he finally said, relaying a truth that I'd always known. "If Jacobs disposed of the girls' bodies in the swamp, then there won't be anything left. And without any evidence, we won't be able to secure an arrest warrant, much less a conviction."
My Mama hugged me tighter. "You have Ashley."
A humorless chuckle spilled from my chapped lips. "No grand jury will listen to me," I said, the pain in my chest spreading through my entire body. "Not after they find out what I was."
And definitely not with Ellington as the DA.
"Tony, do something!" she yelled at my father, her body vibrating with rage against mine. "I don't care how illegal or dirty it is, you do something because those bastards hurt those girls"—she paused as tears of her own began to fall—" and they hurt my daughter!"
As straight-laced as they come, I didn't expect my dad to agree to her emotion-fueled demand, so when he dipped his chin once in agreeance, my legs almost collapsed.
Pulling his phone from his back pocket, he headed out of the room. "Where are you going?"
Dad stopped walking at Mama's question.
Jaw ticking, he glanced at us over his shoulder. "First, I'm going to have a conversation with Ty down at the station, and depending on what he says, I'm planning on placing a call."
Mama raised her chin in the air. "Who's that call gonna be to?"
His cheek twitched, something that only happened when he was extremely pissed. "Someone a lot goddamn scarier than Dominic West and Clyde Jacobs could ever hope to be." Another twitch. "Arianna Ivanova."
I had no idea who that was, but one day in the future, I would find out.
When that day came, I would see first-hand that my dad had been right. Arianna Ivanova truly was more terrifying than el diablo could ever think to be.
And a whole lot deadlier too.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chase
I was losing my mind.
Absolutely ready to break.
After only having seen Ashley a handful of times in the past few weeks, I was more than ready to rip the apartment to pieces. I had no idea what was going on because she’d completely shut down on me. Ever since my fuckface of a father had shown up at the door, she’d pulled away, building wall after wall to keep me out.
It was bullshit.
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t blame my beautiful girl because obviously something had triggered her sudden change in behavior, but hard as I tried, I couldn’t put my finger on what had done it.
Yeah, she’d come face to face with my dad, bastard that he is, but I wasn’t sure if that’s what had caused her to backslide or not. I mean, yeah, she knew what an abusive piece of shit he’d been to Ty, but he had never hurt her.
If he had, he’d be dead.
As a fucking doornail.
Either way, it wasn’t okay, and I blamed Clyde completely. The only regret I had was not getting the chance to beat his ass once Ty was through with him. If Ashley hadn’t flown straight into a panic attack, one which left her mentally checked out, I would have done it too, the consequences be damned.
I just wish I knew what he said to her.
But I doubted it was something I’d ever get to the bottom of.
“That piece of shit,” I hissed from where I sat in the middle of the sofa, my fisted hands resting on my thighs. “Swear to Christ, if I ever see—”
“Who are you talking to?” Heidi, who stood in the hallway, holding a cup of coffee, asked. “I know I’m deaf and all, but even I could hear all that huffin’ and puffin’ you’ve been doing from the other end of the hall.”
One corner of my mouth tipped in a smile. “I keep forgetting you live here now, Bug,” I replied, honestly. “Sorry.”
She waved a dismissive hand in my direction. “No reason to be sorry. It’s a big adjustment for everybody. Plus, you didn’t disturb me. Well, maybe you did a little. But only because I was trying to figure out what you’re all pissy about.”
I chuckled. “You should know.”
Tilting her head to the side, she looked at me with a questioning expression. “What do you mean?”
I leaned forward, the urge to slam my fist down onto the coffee table increasing with each second. “Ashley’s your best friend,” I replied. “You going to tell me you don’t know something is going on with my girl? You two are normally joined at the hip. She must’ve said something.”
Sadness filled her eyes, making my chest ache.
Closing the space between us, she took a seat next to me and placed her cup on the end table. “She hasn’t said anything to me.” Her chin wobbled the slightest bit. “She’ll usually answer when I call, but she doesn’t...” A tear fell from her eye as her voice momentarily trailed off. “I feel like she’s going backward, and I don’t know how to help her. The more I try to pull her back in, the harder she pushes me away. She’s just...” Leaning back on the sofa, she crossed one leg over the other and wrapped her arms around her middle. “It’s like something inside of her broke, and I can’t stand it.”
I couldn’t stand it either.
But I didn’t know how to fix it.
I’d called, I’d texted, and I’d even shown up at her house multiple times only to have Shelby turn me away because Ashley was sleeping, something she seemed to be doing an awful lot of lately.
Which, speaking of sleep...
I’d never seen Shelby look so rough. Moretti either for that matter. Last time I saw them together, both had bags under their eyes, and Shelby looked pale as hell. It seemed like she’d lost a little bit of weight too, and I know that shit wasn’t on purpose. A woman who prided herself on being curvy, there was no chance she was dieting.
I might’ve been slow when it came to certain things, but it was apparent both she and Moretti were struggling. I knew exactly why too.
; Ashley.
My stomach twisted at the thought. My girl was hurting, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do as long as she continued to isolate herself.
“Has Shelby said anything to you?”
Heidi shook her head. “Not really. Just said she’s going through a rough patch, but she and Tony are trying to pull her out of it. Pop and Grandmama too.” Thinning her lips, she drummed her fingers atop her thigh. “This all started when your dad showed up. Do you think seeing him would trigger something?”
My jaw clenched. “Her ex was abusive, Heidi, and she has PTSD because of it. I’m sure coming face to face with someone just like him could’ve done some major damage. The only problem is, I don’t know how we can make things better. She’s struggled before, but never for this long, and never this hard.”
Saying those words pissed me right off.
My fucking father.
He’d done this.
“Her ex,” Heidi mumbled, an emotion I couldn’t read flashing in her eyes. “You talking about Dominic?”
I nodded. “You know something I don’t?” Judging by the way her eyes flared the slightest bit at my question, I couldn’t help but wonder if she did. “My girl have more than one abusive ex?”
Turning her head, she ripped her gaze from mine. “No.”
My eyes narrowed.
Something was off.
“You sure about that?”
Heidi swallowed and shook her head. Picking her mug of coffee back up, she took a sip. “I’m sure.”
I opened my mouth to start interrogating her because it was obvious that she was holding back, but stopped short of doing so when my phone rang.
Please let it be her...
Heart pounding so hard I thought it may explode, I ripped my phone from my pocket and pressed it to my ear. “Hello?”
“Chase...”
I blew out a pent-up breath. “Ashley, baby—”
“Can you come get me?” she asked, her voice unsure and timid.
She didn’t even need to ask. “Of course I’ll come get you. You at home? If so, I can be there in ten minutes.” It was a twenty-minute drive from my apartment to her house, but I’d break every damn manmade traffic law in order to reach her as fast as possible. “Sweetness, answer me.”
Every Kiss You Steal: A Redeeming Love Novel (Book 7) Page 24
