“Ashlin, we can do this here in the privacy of your home, or I can cause a scene in front of everyone in the town. The choice is yours, but I don’t want you publicly shamed. It’ll cause more work for my PR team when this is behind us.”
How dare he! How dare he come in here like this! I was fuming. Harris brought out the worst in me with his vile temperament.
As I was about to protest, he brought his hand up to show a paper he had been holding that I hadn’t noticed earlier. Taking half a step closer, I saw it was a copy of the New York Post.
I gasped when I saw the article. A picture of Harris, looking lost as he gazed out onto the city from his office, took up a quarter of the page. The title read:
“You bastard.”
Harris raised an eyebrow to me. I needed to get Gael off the phone. Putting the phone to my ear, I turned away from the man trying to control my life. “Hey, let me call you back. I need to deal with something.”
Gael’s voice sounded murderous on the other end, “Ashlin, are you okay? Don’t hang up. Let me talk to that fucker.”
“Give me a few and I’ll call you back. I promise. It’ll all be fine.” My voice broke on the last sentence. I wasn’t sure how this was going to play out.
With trembling fingers, I pushed End as I heard Gael protesting on the other end. I’d figure it out in a second. Fury consumed me as I turned back to the man that I loathed. “Harris, what the hell are you doing? This isn’t a game. We’re through.”
“Were you talking to the bastard who you’re cheating on me with? What is his name?”
I scoffed. “Are you delusional? We broke up the day of Aunt Leelyn’s funeral. That’s not cheating. We are through. We have been through—for awhile, even before I officially ended it. Why are you fighting this?”
Harris looked like he could kill someone with his looks. “Were you talking to the fucker who’s trying to take what’s mine?”
“Yes, I was. Except guess what? I’m his, Harris. I’m his—not yours.”
The words were freeing and felt right. With all that we had been through, I felt nothing for Harris.
The vein in Harris’ forehead pulsed and I knew he was seething. This look was common when things weren’t going his way. “Ashlin, I know you’re confused after losing your Aunt Leelyn. Your father did a number on you when he killed himself. You’re becoming self-destructive.”
“What?”
He threw the paper down on the table. “Well, that’s at least what the New York Post wrote. I’m trying to save our love. You should read it. It comes from a reliable source, or so I’ve been told.”
My mouth gaped open at all the lies. Harris came toward me, invading my space. I refused to take a surrendering step back as I glared at him. He continued as if he didn’t have someone looking at him, ready to gouge his eyes. “I need you to keep achieving the empire I’m building. I don’t want to start over with all that dating shit or someone who will cause me unnecessary problems. I don’t have the luxury of time with the deals I’m brokering. This article bought me some sympathy so the deals can continue until you get your head on straight.”
“I don’t care what you do to me. Harris, we are through. Done! I’ll never go back to you!” I folded my arms over my chest to emphasize my point.
His voice was lower, but it still seemed to echo through the room. “Then, think about the guy you’re seeing. I’ll ruin him, Ashlin. I won’t stop until I get my way. You’ve seen what I can do.”
This was where Harris had me pausing. The thought of Gael becoming of causality of this war was not an option. “Leave him out of this! It has nothing to do with him!”
Of course, he saw my weakness for Gael. He continued, visibly calming down with the confirmation I didn’t want Gael hurt. “I’ll crush him like a bug, Ashlin, and then I’ll still get you. You’re going to make him suffer for no reason.”
My heart physically hurt at his words. The thought of Gael being subjected to all this was more than I could bear.
“Think about what I’ve said.”
Harris turned to leave and I spit out, “Why are you doing this? You’re driving me to hate you!”
As Harris reached for the door, he took a deep breath. For a moment, when he looked at me, he seemed sad and his eyes were full of regret. “Because I know what it’s like to have all of you and I won’t let any other man have that. Even if it means you hate me, at least you’ll be with me and no one else. If the note di
dn’t get through to you, I don’t know what else will.”
Before I could respond, Harris walked out the door. I collapsed on the wood floor and sobbed. There wasn’t a name for what Harris was doing, but I never imagined he would be capable of such darkness toward me. I was going to lose Gael. It was inevitable. Sobs racked my body. Maybe I was doomed to be alone.
The phone ringing brought me out of my self-destructive thoughts. It was Gael.
“Hello.” It was obvious I was upset.