“Checkmate,” Ashton sneers, stepping up beside me.
“You did this for him?” my father yells, marching toward us—a man skirting madness.
“I did it for my mom, for Summer, for every person you’ve hurt for your own gain.” Rose’s hand slips into mine, her presence a comforting warmth beside me, and then I clap a hand to Ashton’s shoulder. “I did it for family.”
“They aren’t your family, son,” he mocks. “And you’ve just destroyed your future because of your silly notion that they are.”
“Oh, you misunderstand, Father. My future is bright. Bart here has kindly agreed to look after my shares until such a time that I am ready to join the company. I mean, really, did you think I’d learned nothing from you over the years?” I smile, brows arching as at last I witness him fall from grace.
His chest rises and falls, his fists slowly hanging lose, and as the conceit fades from his brown eyes, I see the real man below. He has no one—no power, no friends or family. He’s utterly alone and now the one thing that kept him from seeing the truth is gone.
“You destroyed her, Father. Used her up until she had nothing left to give. She was my mom and you took her from me, and now I’ve taken what you loved most in this world.”
“You’ll regret this,” he rasps, but his threat is empty, meaningless. He holds no power over me anymore.
When I turn my back on him, Ashton and Rose move with me, and I glance back one last time, taking in the man I’d once loved and respected. “No. I don’t think I will.”
“Where to now?” Ashton asks as we step out onto the street. The air seems lighter somehow. Clearer.
“I’d say our victory calls for a celebration,” I answer.
“Is revenge as sweet as you thought it would be?” Rose asks as we begin our walk down the street.
“You know, it actually was,” I answer, looking at them both. “But I think what made it great was having you two with me.”
Rose laughs, throwing an arm around my shoulder. “Careful, Gray, your armor’s shining,” she teases, as she has before. “But seriously,” she breathes, placing a quick peck on my cheek, “we love you too.”
Ashton chuckles, pulling Rose back to his side. “Are you ready for a family, little bro?”
“I’m younger than you by two weeks, Ash.” I scowl.
“Doesn’t matter.” He shrugs. “Still makes me the older brother.”
Grinning, I slide my arm over his wrapped around Rose’s shoulders, and hug her close. “Older brothers have to share, right?”
“Ah, there he is,” Rose chimes in. “I was worried for a minute. Thought the dark prince had retired from his dastardly duties.”
Amusement dances between us, invisible ties binding us together, and I marvel at the road I’ve found myself traveling down. All from one brave, beautiful girl showing up in our lives, altering our fates forever.
She was never mine and she’ll never love me like she does him, but it doesn’t matter, because she woke me up. She made me see the good that lies beneath. And for that, Rose will always have a slice of my heart.
Epilogue
Rose
Christmas, one year later…
Family. I once thought I understood the word. I once thought it was what my mother, my father, and I were, but then my world was ripped apart, crumbling from beneath my feet as the lies that tied us together fragmented and splintered, tearing what had once been my family into pieces.
But in the end, they set me free. In the end, I found the true meaning of family.
I found my way back to Ash and the people he calls his home.
Love, loyalty, compassion, support… these are the things that bind us together. We aren’t blood, but blood isn’t always kind, and some things are greater than what runs through our veins. I could have never imagined this life, never imagined these people. Some dreams, it turns out, can’t match reality.
“Merry Christmas, baby,” Ashton murmurs in my ear, the stubble shadowing his jaw brushing against the sensitive skin on my neck as he hugs me close from behind.
Stretching, I mumble sounds of contentment as I snuggle deeper into the heat of his body.
“Do you want your present now?” he whispers, trailing a hand down my body and pausing on the curve of my hip with a squeeze.
“That depends,” I murmur sleepily. “Does it mean I have to get out of bed?” We were out late last night at a Christmas Eve party Penelope held, and my best friend coerced me into downing one too many shots.
I feel his responding chuckle. More than hear it. The soft vibrations travel up my back, awakening desire in the pit of my belly.
“How about some painkillers and a cup of tea first?” he asks softly, trailing soft kisses over my bare shoulder.
“Mmm,” I groan. “Can’t we just stay in bed?”
“My mom likes to get up early on Christmas morning,” he explains. “She’s like a little kid.”
A smile tugs up my lips, imagining gentle, kind Summer bouncing around with excitement. “Okay, but I don’t need the cuppa to wake me up.” I wiggle my butt against him. “I’m sure you can figure out another way.”
He makes a growling sound deep in his chest, and in the next moment, I’m being flipped onto my back and he’s pinning me below him. In over a year, I haven’t tired of this feeling, of the electricity running over my skin and the pounding of my heart. If anything, the emotions between us have grown deeper, our love taking on a life of its own.
“I want to start Christmas Day like that every year,” Ashton declares later as he struts around his bedroom in all his naked glory, finding clothes to put on.
“It was hard enough getting my mother to agree to let me spend Christmas morning here this year,” I say. “Though I have to agree, this is the best Christmas I’ve had in forever.”
“We’ve not even left my room yet.” Ashton chuckles.
“So.” I shrug, sitting up in bed and stretching my arms above my head. “I could spend all of Christmas Day in bed with you and it would be the best.”
Padding across the carpet, with dress slacks on and his shirt still open, Ashton bends and gives me a kiss. “You sure know how to sweet talk a guy, Rose.”
I grin. “Just the truth.” Sliding to my knees, I wrap my arms around his neck and claim another kiss, whispering against his mouth, “Are you sure you don’t want to come back to bed?”
He moans into my mouth and grips my waist. “Killing me, babe.”
But before I can convince him to remove the clothes, fists bang on the door, startling us apart.
“Get the hell up, Ash. It’s Christmas!” Josh yells through the door.
“Yeah, guys, stop fucking and come downstairs,” Grayson adds, finishing his sentence with another round of pounding.
As I hold Ashton tight, laughter spills from my chest. “Guess that’s our cue.”
“Brothers are so annoying,” Ashton mutters, rolling his eyes.
Grinning to myself, because I know damn well Ashton loves both his brothers—even if they are occasionally annoying—I get dressed, ready for my first Christmas with my chosen family.
***
Christmas in the Cole household is a far different affair to the years I’ve spent Christmas with my family. Formal catered dinners are replaced with home cooked meals, made with love, not top chefs, and the laugher and joy swirls around us in abundance. There’s no awkwardness or guests invited just to keep up appearances. The smiles are plentiful, and the laidback affair has me curled up on a sofa, simply enjoying being with the people I love.
The diamond bracelet Ashton gave me sparkles on my wrist, the matching earrings in my lobes Grayson’s gift. I was spoilt by every member of Ashton’s family, and I’ve never felt more at home. Summer is the woman I always remembered her being when I first met her as a young teenager; homely, down to earth, and generous. Ashton tells me this is the first Christmas meal she’s cooked since his father died, and I have witnessed the weight
lifting from his shoulders as his mother has slowly come back to life over the months.
The weeks after Grayson’s boardroom showdown with his father changed all our lives for the better. Summer and Arthur divorced, with him agreeing to every one of the terms Ashton and Gray cooked up. The Cole family found freedom and another member to add to their ranks. At times, I see glimpses of the awe on Grayson’s face, little snippets of the man he hides beneath. I’m not sure he ever really thought Summer would welcome him fully and embrace him as her son, but she did. He’s loved the same as Ashton and Josh, and though he’s never let his walls down enough to say it, Grayson loves her as a mother too.
My relationship with my own mother has grown better over time. She hasn’t stopped giving me her views on my life choices, but she has given up trying to manipulate me into being a carbon copy of herself. And later, after I reluctantly leave Ashton for a late dinner with my grandparents and mother, I find that maybe my mother is trying more than I’ve given her credit.
Opening her gift, after we’ve finished our meal and are alone, I peel back paper to find inside a framed photo of Ashton and me at a recent event she’d planned and insisted I came to. Only this photo isn’t the stiff, formal one the photographer made us pose for, but a candid shot of us laughing together in a quiet corner. My head’s thrown back, eyes alight with joy, and Ashton is gazing at me as if I am life itself. My heart hurts just looking at it—hurts in the best of ways.
“Who took this?” I ask, looking up to find my mother watching me cautiously.
“The photographer I’d hired for the event. Apparently, he heard you laughing as he was packing up and just had to capture the moment.”
“Thanks, Mum, I love it.”
She smiles. “There’s more.”
My breath catches as I find two tickets to Aspen, along with details of a booking for two at a luxury ski resort. “Mum…,” I breathe, unsure what to say, eyes burning with emotion.
“I once told you that the heart leads to nothing but pain, but I was wrong, Rose. Ashton… he’s your happy in-between, and I don’t want to ruin it by making the same mistakes my parents did. I’m glad he makes you happy.”
Words escape me as a lump forms in my throat; she’s never once made me feel as if she approves of Ashton, even after the year he’s been by my side. Reaching forward, I wrap my arms around my mother, letting out a shaky breath as I fight the happy tears that are trying to escape my eyes.
“Thank you.”
Wrapping her arms around me, she pats me gently, clearly unsure how to handle this sudden turn of affection. “I presumed, seeing as his mother allows you to sleep over at their apartment, that she wouldn’t object to the two of you vacationing together. You’re eighteen now.” We pull apart and she studies me, rare tenderness in her eyes. “It won’t be long before you’ve finished school and leave for college.”
“Don’t be sad, Mother. You’ll be pleased to be free of my drama really,” I joke.
“Yes, I suppose.” She chuckles.
“Besides,” I add, “I’ll come home to visit.”
“You should let Ashton know he’s going to Aspen in a couple of days,” she says, changing the subject.
I grin. “Yes. Thank you. I’m so excited.”
Putting the framed photo aside, I pick up my phone and message Ashton.
Me – Can you ski?
Ashton – Yeah… why?
Me – Coz we’re going to Aspen in two days!!!!
Ashton – What?!
Me – My mum booked us into a luxury ski resort! Squee! She actually admitted to liking you lol
Ashton – Really? Don’t believe you… a mere Brooklynite like me… never!
Me – Lol. You live in the ivory tower now, Ash. I can’t wait to have you all to myself. It’s going to be so much fun!
Ashton – Gray’s grumbling that he’s not coming with us.
Me – Ha! Tell him I love him, but we don’t need a third wheel.
Ashton – He gave me the middle finger. Lol. I’m excited too, babe. Enjoy your night and thank your mom for me xo
Rose – Will do. Love you, babe xx
Ashton – Love you too, always x
Holding my phone to my chest, I smile in what I’m sure is a ridiculously goofy manner, my heart all but melting in my chest. It doesn’t matter how many times he writes it or says it, those three little words fill my chest just as they did the first time he whispered them so many months ago.
It took a lot of struggling to get here. My journey to rock bottom was long and painful, but what I learned when I was there, was that when you hit the point of no return… when everything you are is stripped away, the view suddenly becomes clearer. All that you’ve been fighting against and struggling through falls away, leaving you raw, exposed. And the people that are left, who see you for who you really are, they are the ones you pick yourself back up for. They are the ones you never let go.
Want to find out if Albany’s resident bad boy gets his happily ever after? Keep a look out for Grayson’s book coming late 2020
The Dark Prince of Albany
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Acknowledgements
I’d to start by thanking every reader that followed me on this journey into a new genre. It’s been an experience pushing myself to try a new style and genre and I’m so happy with the love you guys have shown for Rose and the Albany gang. Rose and Ash’s story ends here but Grayson stole my heart with his devilish smile and bad boy antics, and I will most definitely be visiting this world again.
A huge thanks is needed for my parents; without their help my books wouldn’t have such gorgeous covers and be formatted and uploaded to you all on time! (For some reason the techno gene skipped me)
A big thanks for Sabrina who always drops whatever she is doing in order to read my first drafts. I always look forward to your comments and thoughts. This book is for you!
Thank you to Becky and her team at Hot Tree Editing who as always helps me perfect my work. To all the bloggers who review and share my work with readers. To every reader that takes the time to post a review — I seriously love you guys! And finally, to the lovely group of people in my fb group, you’re always sure to make me laugh.
Lastly as always for my children. I love you all so much, keep smiling, keep dreaming!
Author Bio
Rachel M. Raithby started her writing career in 2013 and hasn’t looked back.
She draws her inspiration from the many places she has lived and traveled, as well as from her love of the paranormal and thriller movies.
She can often be found hiding out with a good book or writing more fast-paced and thrilling stories where love always conquers all.
Keep up to date with Rachel
www.rachelmraithby.com
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The Resurrection of Us: A High School Bully Romance (Albany Nightingale Duet Book 2) Page 23
