Scott helped me strip and set me up in the shower. He sat on the floor and waited for me to finish cleaning myself, mumbling something about how he wasn’t going to be responsible for me passing out and drowning.
Such a drama queen.
After plying me with water, pain relievers,and five small bites of a veggie omelet, the three of us sat on the couch. My head rested in Ashley’s lap, her manicured nails scratching my scalp, while my feet laid in Scott’s lap, and he rubbed my calves.
“Okay, Sash, what happened?”
Tears flooded my eyes, and I curled in a little, only to have Scott pull my legs straight. “None of that, Red. No hiding from us.”
I sighed and nodded. “I told him I loved him, and he told me to go.”
“That’s it?” Ashley screeched.
“Well, no.”
Her fingers pulled at a knot in my hair.
“Ow!”
“Tell us what happened, or I’ll find every knot.”
“Fine! I told him how scared I was when I didn’t know if he’d live. I told him I loved him and wanted to be with him no matter what. He said he loved me, but he’s too scared of me getting hurt to be with me. He’s a fucking coward.”
My hands balled into fists near my chest. I was clearly moving on to a new stage of my grief—blinding, unyielding rage.
Scott squeezed my feet. “It sounds like he was shaken up. I mean, he was the only reason you weren’t shot, Sasha. Maybe he has a point.” I snarled at him, and his hands on my feet went still. “Or maybe I’m an asshole.” He slid out from under my feet. “I’m going to go grab another glass of water for you.”
I’d never seen Scott move so quickly. Once he was gone, I noticed how quiet Ashley was. Pulling myself from her lap, I sat up. “What are you thinking,Ash?”
Her fingers fumbled with the stud in her ear. “I don’t know. It’s all so strange.”I motioned for her to continue. Furrowing her brows, she turnedher whole bodytoward me.“Okay, so when I was with Ben, I had afeeling something wasn’t right, but I carried on like nothing was wrong, and look how that panned out.”
“And you think Luca has something going on?”
Releasing a deep exhale,she threw her hands up. “I mean, people don’t just get shot twice! I know he’s rich, but you don’t see other millionaires and billionaires out there getting shot up!”
“Okay.” She was making sense. I was embarrassed I hadn’t seen it before.
“And all the lying. If he wasn’t cheating, then what the hell is so bad he couldn’t tell you?”
Nodding, I glanced down at my hands. “After we broke up, Malcolm brought me a file on Luca, and I didn’t want to see it.”A deep intake of breath was Ashley’s only response. “I thought it was just white-collar bullshit, you know? As far as I knew, he was shot in a mugging gone wrong. Now I’m wondering how bad things really are.”
“As much as I hate to say it, maybe you should talk to Malcolm and get that file.”
Ashley and Malcolm had a big falling out after he gave her some information about Axel. I didn’t know the details, but apparently, it’s a part of Axel he doesn’t share with just anyone, andAsh was horrified her friend tried to use it as ammunition against him.
“You wouldn’t mind?”
“No. Not for this. Just promise me you’ll be careful. Back off if it’s dangerous, okay?”
I couldn’t promise that, but I could nod, so I did.
* * *
Checking my phone for the hundredth time, I nearly chucked the damn thing against the wall of the dressing room. It had been three weeks since I called, texted, and emailed Malcolm, and he had yet to surface.I let out a growl and slammed my phone down.
Jazz’s forehead wrinkled, but she’d never ask me if I was okay. She knew I had enough people policing my emotions and didn’t want to be another person I avoided. No, she had become one of the best distractions around.
After our near kiss, Jazz told me I was too dramatic to fuck with. She wasn’t wrong. Luckily, her rules kept me from turning her into one of the dozen warm bodies I took up with over the past year. Instead, she became a closefriend that I found insanely fuckable. Going out with Jazz guaranteed a good time with zero judgments.