Behind the Secrets (Behind the Lives #4) (18 page)

14

Beth

Dante’s older brother walked through the
doorway with his partner and child. Even though Ash was twenty-six, three years
older than Dante, the brothers looked the same, except for their tattoos.
Instead of having a facial tattoo, Ash had one around his neck. He also had Maori
tattoos on his left bicep, while the pec one was hidden under his Bob Marley
shirt. Ash had been Beth’s boyfriend for over a year—until she’d cheated on him
with Dante.

Beth’s eyes moved to Tiana—Ash’s partner.
The Tongan woman had long wavy brown hair, a sweet face, and a curvy, if not
slightly overweight figure, which was the opposite of Beth’s lithe, trim form.
But regardless of whether Beth thought she was better looking, Tiana had always
been Ash’s ideal woman. Beth knew she’d only been a fill-in until Tiana decided
she wanted Ash back, which was why Ash hadn’t bonded with her. The man had
emotionally frozen her out, never allowing her to truly be a part of his life.
It was the reason she’d turned to Dante, who paid her a lot more attention. She’d
also lusted after Dante since day one, but had foolishly chosen Ash, because
she’d thought he was the safer option since Dante was a sex addict.

“Tiana, can you please take Angelo out,”
Dante said, referring to Ash’s nine-year-old son, the boy a miniature replica
of his father. “I needa talk to Ash.”

Tiana turned to Ash, telling him she’d wait
for him in the reception. She disappeared out the door with Angelo, who was loudly
asking for food. Beth placed a hand on her stomach, wondering whether her child
would look like Ash as well. Her eyes moved to Dante, hoping it did, because
then no one would suspect the baby wasn’t his, since the brothers looked the
same.

“What’s wrong?” Ash asked his brother,
his black hair just as messy and tousled as Dante’s.

“
Saul
,” Dante bit out, his body
practically vibrating with fury. “He sexually assaulted Beth. I need you to get
his address for me?”

Ash’s eyes went to Beth. “Is this true?”

“Of course it is!” Dante snapped,
answering for her. “Why do you even hafta ask?”

Ash’s upper lip twitched, his hard stare
remaining on Beth. She dropped her gaze, unable to look him in the eye. She
knew he couldn’t stand her. Although he’d forgiven Dante for sleeping with her,
he hadn’t forgiven her—not by a long shot.

“I’ve known Saul longer than Beth,” Ash
finally replied.

“What’s that s’posed to mean?!” Dante
barked.

“I trust him more than her.”

“How dare you fuckin’ question sumpthin’
like this!” Dante hollered.

Ash grimaced. “You needa think twice ’bout
trusting another word that woman says. She lied to you ’bout that photo, she
lied to me ’bout you, cheating on me without remorse, not to mention all the
other lies I’ve caught her out on. Nuthin’ but lies come outta her mouth.”

Beth looked up, his words snapping her
out of her shame, leaving behind only anger. “Dante’s right! How dare you
question me after what you’ve been through?”

Anger flashed across Ash’s dark eyes. “Don’t
relate my experiences to yours, we’re
nuthin’
alike.”

“I didn’t say we were; we were just both
sexually assaulted.”

His upper lip twitched. “
Just?
How can you use a word like that for what happened?”

“It’s only a word—”

“It’s not only a word! I wuzn’t
just
sexually assaulted or
just
raped, and you fuckin’ know it, and for you
to downplay it with inappropriate words makes me suspect you’re lying.”

“I’m not lying
or
downplaying it!”
Beth yelled, now furious. “Saul did assault me. I may not have been raped like
you—”

“You don’t have a right to talk ’bout
what I went through! You’re not part of my life anymore, and you never will be
again.”

“I
am
part of your life whether
you like it or not. I’m having Dante’s baby,” she said, forcing her voice to
stay steady, because there was no way in hell she was admitting to Ash the
child was his. She may feel bad for what he went through, but he was still a
bastard, and an even worse one for questioning her over what Saul had
done—because she wasn’t lying! “And
you
don’t have a right to question
me ’bout
my
abuse. You of all people should know you shouldn’t ask an
abuse victim to explain themselves.” Ash had been drugged and raped at the age
of fifteen by his stepfather, the experience turning him into the hard man he
was today, someone many people were scared of.

Ash stared at Beth for a few seconds, looking
like he was trying to see inside of her mind, his mistrust strong. She
understood why he didn’t trust her, but not about something as serious as this.

“I find it almost impossible to believe
anything that comes outta your mouth,” he finally said. “Lies are part of your
nature, but in this case, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Although I’ve
always considered Saul a man of worth, I don’t know him well enough to say he
wouldn’t do sumpthin’ like this, which is why I’ll take care of the situation.”

“What do ya mean by that?” Beth said.

“I’ll find out from him exactly what he
did to you.”

“No,” Dante cut in. “
I
will deal
with Saul, Beth’s
my
partner now.”

Ash sniffed. “You can have her, but regardless,
I’ll still be the one who deals with Saul.”

Dante stepped forward. “I said
no.
I’ll do it.”

Ash walked over to the door and closed
it, then walked back to Dante, his eyes set firmly on his brother. “He’s a cop,
Dante. He has to be dealt with carefully, which you’re not capable of. You’d rush
in without thought, attacking him without a plan, ending up either dead or in
jail, whereas I know how to make people disappear without a trace.”

“What will you do?”

“First, I’ll find out exactly what he
did, and if he’s guilty, I’ll...” He leaned in closer, whispering something
into Dante’s ear. Dante nodded, looking satisfied with what his brother had
said. Ash pulled back. “But only after the trial’s finished or Ant could get
shit all without Saul’s testimony.”

Dante shook his head. “There’s more than
enough evidence to put Ant away for life without Saul’s help.”

“You’re wrong. From what I heard, Corey’s
testimony may only get him ten years, while everything else that psycho did is
bein’ blamed on his dead father.”

“What ’bout Sledge? Ant put a bullet in
his head. That can’t be palmed off on Craven.”

“He’ll still be released before Corey
turns thirty.” His eyes moved to Beth. “Do you want that monster comin’ after
your baby bro again?”

Beth shook her head vigorously.
Regardless of what she’d said to Corey, she didn’t want Ant anywhere near him.

“Then I’ll deal with Saul
after
the trial. I’ll get some mates to nab him once everything’s finished. If Saul
did hurt you, he’ll pay for it with his life.”

Beth gasped. “I don’t want you to kill him.
He only assaulted me.”

“
Only
is another word you shouldn’t
be using for sexual assault. It makes me disbelieve you even more.”

“Forget ’bout my damn words!” Beth
snapped. “He assaulted me, so stop putting what I experienced down, I would
never do that to you.”

“I’m not putting it down,
you
are,
and if he did assault you, he’ll end up where all rapists belong—in the ground.”

“I told you it wuzn’t rape.”

“It wuz,” Dante cut in. “You said he finger-fucked
you.”

“I still don’t want you killing him.
Murder is wrong,” she said. “He should go to jail, like Ant will for hurting
Corey.” Beth breathed out, feeling guilty for her fight with her brother, what
Ant had done to Corey’s foot nasty. She just couldn’t get her head around Corey
saying he was gay, let alone being with Sledge. “And that brings up another
thing. Did you two know ’bout Sledge and Corey being in a gay relationship?”

“Yeah,” Ash said. “What’s that gotta do
with Saul?”

“Nuthin’.” Her eyes went to Dante. “Did
you know?”

“Yup.”

“Why didn’t you tell me, then?”

“I assumed you already knew, it was
kinda obvious with the way those two act around each other.”

“It wuzn’t to me. You should’ve said
sumpthin’.”

“Why? It’s none of your business, and why
are we even on this topic? Saul is who we should be talkin’ ’bout. I want that fucker
dead, not in jail.”

“That’s not your decision to make, it’s
mine.”

Ash cut in, “Then go to a police station
and tell them what happened, but only after the trial. We needa take care of
Ant before Saul.”

“The trial is a while away. Will it be
too late to lay a complaint after it?”

“No, but I’d suggest you warn your
family ’bout what happened, you’ll need their support.”

Beth’s face dropped. “I can’t tell my
parents that.”

“You won’t be able to keep it a secret cos
it’ll pro’bly hit the papers.”

Her face dropped further. “Why?”

“Are you stupid? He’s a cop. That sort
of thing will be all over the news.”

“No, no, I don’t want that.”

“Then let me and Dante deal justice to
him.
No one
will know what he did to you, cos after we’re through, he
won’t be talkin’ let alone touchin’ anyone
again.”

“No! I said I don’t want you to kill him,
and you said you’d take care of Saul by yourself.”

“I wuz gonna package him up for Dante to
finish off, then dispose of him.” His eyes moved to Jade. “And if you say
anything, you’ll be sharing a grave with him, perv.”

Jade blanched.

“No! I won’t allow it,” Beth snapped.

“Then be prepared for the cameras.”

“None of that will happen. It’s not
gonna be in the papers and you’re not gonna kill him.”

Ash frowned. “What is it with you? Why
are you goin’ light on Saul?” His eyes lowered to her stomach. “Is that Saul’s?
Cos I wouldn’t put it past you to sleep with him.”

“You fuckin’ arsehole!” Dante shoved
Ash.

Ash stumbled back, then reared up, looking
like he wanted to punch Dante. “Don’t you fuckin’ touch me, shithead! I’m fuckin’
helping you.”

“You’re not helping! All you’re doin’ is
insulting Beth and threatening Jade, so apologise!”

Ash’s eyes moved to Jade. “I apologise
for threatening you.”

“I meant to Beth,” Dante snapped.

Ash returned his attention to Dante.
“Don’t hold your breath,” he sneered.

Dante stepped forward, putting his face
right up to Ash’s. “You fuckin’ apologise now or I’ll smash your fuckin’ smug
face in, you bastard.”

Ash sniffed. “Try it, and Jade will be
scraping your cunt-arse off the floor,
bitch
.”

Beth grabbed Dante’s arm as he went to
raise his fist, screaming, “Don’t!”

Still glaring at his brother, Dante
yanked his arm free and pointed a finger at Ash’s face. “You’re not to talk to
Beth or look at her
ever
again, cos I’m sick of the way you treat her.”

“And I’m sick of you bein’ blind to her
bullshit. You’re so fuckin’ gullible you can’t see what’s right in front of
your face. She slept with you while with me, and the way she’s acting ’bout
Saul makes me think a Samoan baby’s gonna pop out of her skank-ho cunt.”

Beth pushed in between the brothers,
screaming, “Don’t!” at Dante, knowing he was about to lose his shit ... no,
he’d already lost it, because he looked crazier than Jack Nicholson in
The
Shining.

“It’s my baby!” Dante screamed at Ash,
spit spraying from his mouth. “
Mine!
”

“Will you still be sayin’ that when the
baby comes out brown?” Ash snapped back.

“Shut up! Just shut the fuck up!” Dante
turned and grabbed the chair next to Jade.

“Dante! NO!” Beth yelled, holding out
her hands. “Please put the chair down,
put
it down.”

Dante kept it raised, his body shaking
with anger, his dark eyes spitting fire at his brother, his sanity hanging on
by a thread.

Beth placed a trembling hand on his arm.
“Put it down, Dante. You’ll regret it if you don’t.”

Dante flexed his biceps, his knuckles
turning white from gripping the chair so hard. “He—”

“Loves you, which is why he’s sayin’
those things. He doesn’t want you to make a mistake.”

Dante turned his glare on Beth. “I’m
not
making a mistake.”

“I know, but he doesn’t. I hurt him,
which is why he’s reacting like this. Don’t hurt him, too.”

“Why do you care ’bout what happens to him?
He’s been nuthin’ but an arsehole to you.”

“I don’t, I care ’bout you. I know
you’ll regret it if you hurt him.”