“I know enough.”
“Enough.” Mother sips her wine, taking her time before speaking again. “That’s vague and leads me to believe you know nothing at all.”
Irritation burns in my gut. “She’s my maid and assistant.”
“Who lives with you.” Her blue eyes narrow, pinning me in place. “When were you going to tell me?”
“She doesn’t live with me,” I grind out, anger surging through me. “She has her own apartment.”
“Not what Nate says.”
Silence fills the air as I study my mother. Beautiful enough to grace magazine covers or be shown on the big screen, but evil enough to destroy empires with her icy glare alone.
“I wasn’t aware you and Nate have conversations about me behind my back.”
“There’s a lot you’re not aware of, Son. Is it because you’re letting a little girl distract you from your place in this family?”
I pick up my glass and drain my wine before setting it down with a hard clink. “Enough of the games. What do you want?”
“Games? Your future is anything but a game.”
I scrub my palm over my face and let out a sigh. “I had lunch with Layla Reynard.”
“I heard.”
“I figured you’d be thrilled.” I cock my head to the side. “That is, unless you’ve got plans for me and Meredith.”
She smirks. “Oh, Son, indeed I do have plans for Meredith.”
I wait for her to elaborate but, naturally, she leaves me hanging. I’m tired of her meddling so I wait her out, eating my filet without speaking a word. When I’m finished, she finally says something.
“Have you ever asked the Elliot girl how her mother died?”
“No, because she’s not what you think she is to me.”
Keep lying to yourself and everyone else, Winston.
“Hmm.” The waiter refills our wine, and the silence is broken again by Mother. “I would hope that you, of all people, would see that when you consort with people beneath you, they will drag you down on their way up.”
Ash isn’t like that, but I’m not about to argue the point with her.
“It’s times like these, I see that eighteen-year-old young man. So naïve to the world we live in.” She pauses letting her insult sink in. “She’ll use you. Just like Meredith tried to.” Another beat of silence. “She’s just a plaything, Son, and you’re too old to be playing with toys.”
Her words hit me right in the chest. I know what she says makes sense, but hearing it outside of my head and from another Constantine—not just Nate—has it sticking in my brain. Ash needs money. I have it. We trade sex and games for it. The end. It’s nothing more than that; and can never be more than that. Because if I somehow let myself think otherwise, the matriarch of the Constantine family would swoop in, talons bared, and shred Ash to bits.
It’s better this way.
All of Mother’s lecturing, while it had gotten to me at dinner and had me seeing reason where Ash was concerned, was forgotten in the blink of an eye. The second I saw Ash looking young and beautiful and sassy in nothing but a robe, I forgot everything. All I wanted to do was rip off the offending clothes and push her to her knees.
As much as I want to fuck her one last time, because soon it’ll have to be the last time, there are more pressing things to discover. Like why Nate was hanging out with Ash while I wasn’t here. And how she’s unperturbed as though it’s a normal thing for them or that it wouldn’t bother me.
She’ll use you. Just like Meredith tried to.
Mother’s words echo inside my head over and over again.
“Name your terms,” Ash says, approaching me slowly as though I’m a wounded animal that might bite.
I’ll bite all right.
But I’m not wounded.
I’m the wounder.
I run my tongue along my bottom lip, my mouth watering to taste her. She’s every bit as addictive as those goddamn red gummy bears. I want to devour her. Over and over again. She’s hooked me just as she did with the ridiculous candy made of god only knows what. If I keep her, she’ll do harm in the long run. Just like the damn sugary bears. A fucking cavity. That’s all she is to me. A fleck of dirt in my otherwise pristine world, burrowing deeper and deeper with every passing moment. If I don’t do something about it soon, she’ll hit a nerve.
She smirks.
Fuck, she’s already hit a nerve.
The kind that I keep hidden and well preserved.
A rush of pleasure, not unlike how the sweet treats affect me when I eat one, slides through my veins, heading south. My cock stiffens in my slacks, eager to play with my dirty maid.
She’s just a plaything, Son, and you’re too old to be playing with toys.
Again, Mother’s words mock me.
It’s a good reminder, though. If my mother believes her eldest son is in danger—again—from a female dead set on ruining him, she’ll do what every mama bear will do: claw poor little Ash out of my life until she’s nothing but shreds. Unlike Meredith who had protection of family and her family’s old money, Ash has nothing. Caroline Constantine will feast on the bones of her life and when she finishes, there’ll be nothing left. Ash wouldn’t emotionally or financially recover from a Constantine war.