Ashley's Bend (31 page)

“What’s going on with you two? I thought you liked each other?”

‘We do, but I am a sub, Ashley. Knox and I aren’t allowed to have contact outside of the club, remember? It is the rules.”

“What about me and Dominic then?”

“You aren’t in the training program anymore, Ashley. Although you are an employee now, there are no rules for that. It is just between the contracted couples.” I opened my eyes in shock. Only the contracted couples were forbidden to make contact. Holy crap!

“Does that mean you and Knox are contracted?”

She nodded her head sheepishly, and I can tell that she didn’t seem too happy about it.

“What is it, Kell? Why are you upset with that?” She sighed heavily before she looked up at me with glistening eyes.

“I really like him, Ashley. I...I want more, but we cannot break these stupid rules.”

In the nearly eight years I had known Kelly, that was the first time I had ever heard her say she wanted more with a man. She had always bounced from relationship to relationship, never staying with one guy for an extended period of time. I reached over and gave her a hug. I hoped she could find the happiness that she so deeply deserved.

It had been nearly two weeks since the night that Dominic confessed his reasons for not wanting a relationship. Although things had gone slow for us, we seemed to be doing great. He had an insatiable appetite to indulge himself in my body, and I had an insatiable appetite to let him.

I had continued to work at the club making an obscene amount of money in just a few weeks. I nearly had enough money saved up to apply to the art school.

It was a Tuesday afternoon, and Dominic insisted I take a night off from working at the club. I needed to catch up on laundry and run a few errands anyway, so I obliged. The washing machine at our apartment was on the fritz, so I packed everything up and took my clothes to the Laundromat around the corner from our place. It would benefit me doing it there anyway because I would be able to wash it all at once instead of a load at a time.

I was sitting in a chair reading the latest copy of a gossip magazine when I felt a pair of eyes staring at me. I looked up and my heart froze and my breathing stopped. I was all alone in the Laundromat, without another soul around. Bile began to rise into my throat as the man staring at me placed his hand on the door and pushed it opened to enter the Laundromat. The magazine I had been holding in my hands fell to the ground and my hands started to shake. With slow, methodic footsteps, he approached me and just stared down at me with an evil, sadistic grin. I tried to shrink into the chair to get further away from him. I glanced around nervously to see that the front door that he just came through was my only means of escape. There was no way I could get away with him blocking my only exit.

“Hello, Ashley,” he said as he narrowed his eyes at me.

I gave Ashley the day off from the club because I needed to have a meeting with Knox. Even though the police still had not made any arrests in the vandalism case, A steady stream of notes had come pouring in over the span of a few days, and I need to make sure that Ashley did not hear a word of it.

Knox and I poured over the notes on my desk. Each one saying something different, but each one just as threatening to Ashley.

You fucked up letting her in.

I will have what I want, I want her.

Revenge is coming.

She will belong to me.

And if I had any question as to whether or not this person was talking about Ashley, the last note confirmed it.

Ashley will be mine!

“What the fuck do we do, Knox? I haven’t showed these to the police yet. Something tells me they don’t give a fuck about the investigation because they are too busy trying to bring us down,” I stated to my best friend in frustration. I ran my fingers exasperatedly through my hair, not caring that a few strands came out in the process. We haven’t been able to locate Ashley’s ex-husband, Jared, since the vandalism and notes began. I swear if I found out that that fuckwad was behind all of this, he would live to regret it.

“Tell me Drake is watching Ashley, Knox.”

“He’s with her. I told him not to let her out of his sight. You have really grown attached to her haven’t you?”

I didn’t want to get into the
you have it bad for a girl
conversation with him, but I knew he wouldn’t shut up until I confessed.

“I do. I feel like I can trust her. Even though it is still hard for me to allow emotions to come in, they do. I have never felt this way about someone and to be honest, it still scares the shit out of me.”

“She’s good for you. I have never seen you so happy, Nic. You have a perma-fucking grin on your face, dude.”

“Yeah, well don’t go around announcing that to everyone. My Master status might be compromised if everyone were to find out I have fallen in love.”

Knox froze and his face showed surprise then a huge grin appeared. Promptly, I realized what I had said.

I have fallen in love.

“Fuck,” I muttered.

Knox stood up so quick that his chair screeched back from underneath him.

“Dude, I knew you really liked her, but are you in love with her?” he questioned me. I knew without a doubt that I had strong feelings for her. She was sweet, kind and a fucking tigress in the sack. She had a dominant nature, yet submitted to my every will. I could spend hours with her and not ever get bored, but did all of that equal out to love? Was that the same feelings that my mother went through when she fell in love with my father? And were they the same feelings that ultimately caused her heartache and death?

I stood up from my chair and walked over to the cabinet in my office and poured two fingers worth of scotch. Tipping it up, I tossed back the liquid, welcoming the burn in my throat and the heat in my belly.

“Knoxville, just drop the shit ok. I’m not saying that I am, and I’m not saying that I’m not. I...I just don’t know right now, okay?’ He straightened at the sound of me using his full name instead of his nickname. He knew I was serious and quickly shifted our focus back to the situation at hand.

“Have you found Carter yet?”

“No, it’s like he has just disappeared. Wherever he is, he better fucking stay there, because if I find out he was doing this…”

“You will tell the police, Nic. Do not try to deal with this yourself. I would hate to see you and that bastard
both
go to jail.”

“Noted, Knox. I...just want to make sure Ashley stays safe in all of this. Whether it is Carter, or someone else doing it, she needs to be kept safe.

“Drake is one of the best, Nic. I know he will watch out for her.”

After Knox and I went over a few more things, I told him I was taking off from the club for the night. I couldn’t explain it, but I felt the need to be around Ashley for the night. Something wasn’t right. My suspicions were confirmed when I texted her earlier.

Me: What are you doing?

Silence. I waited for over an hour and still received no response. My protective instincts kicked into overdrive, and I started calling everyone to find out if they had seen her. I started with Drake, but when he didn’t answer, I called Kelly. Her cell phone went straight to voicemail, and I didn’t know her work number.

I was in panic mode by the time that I hopped in the Aston Martin to haul ass to Ashley and Kelly’s apartment. I dialed Knox on the way and told him to find Drake. A bone chilling fear had crept into my bones at the thought of any harm coming to her. She had helped me travel down the road that once was broken and was now just beginning to become whole again. My mind flashed back to the night before when we laid together in bed and how when she came, it was my name on her lips. It was my cock inside of her, and it was my heart that fell for her just a little more. I didn’t know if I was fully in love with her or not, but I knew I was well on my way.

The thought of not having her in my daily life was unwelcomed. I came to a screeching halt as I pulled up in front of her building. Kelly’s car sat out front, so I rushed up the steps and into the building. Foregoing the elevator, I ran the five flights of stairs to their apartment. My lungs burned by the time I made it, but I was running on pure adrenalin by then.

Once I got there, I pounded my fists against the door in a frantic attempt to get Kelly to the door faster.

“All right, all right, I’m coming!” I heard Kelly say as she yelled through the door. It seemed like an eternity passed before Kelly unlatched the door and opened it. I rushed in past her not giving her time to contemplate what was happening.

“Where’s Ashley, Kelly?” I said in exasperation.

“Whoa, Dominic calm down. What’s going on?” Kelly said in an almost panicked state. My cell phone started ringing but, I ignored it.

“Where is she, Kelly?”
I demanded again.

“She’s taking a nap in her room. What is going on?” she asked again out of worry.

I looked at my phone and saw that it was Knox.

“Knox just called me looking for her, I told him she was here and just taking nap. She came home earlier looking exhausted and worn down, so I suggested she go lay down.”

I clicked the answer button on my phone as I turned away from Kelly and made my way down the hall to Ashley’s room.

“Knox?”

“I just spoke to Kelly. She is home, man.”

“Yeah, I’m here now, thanks.” I said before I hung up on him.