Figure Eight (Celtic Knot Book 2) (22 page)

“Asher, dude. That’s enough. She hasn’t done anything wrong. I’m all for you getting what you need, but remember we are supposed to meet with
you know who
after we take Ashley home.” Hot tears flooded from my eyes as I worked my jaw trying to relieve some of the pain. I was glad that Drake had found a tiny spark of compassion for me, because if he weren’t in the car with us, I knew without a doubt that Asher would accomplish his threat.

“You are one fucking lucky bitch right now,” he spat as he let go of my thigh and sat back in the car seat.

“I-I can’t go home,” I said softly. Each word hurt to speak as my jaw throbbed in pain, “Kelly and Knox are there, remember? I don’t want to have to explain to them what I was doing out so late. Take me to Rownan’s...please.”

“Have you told the big bad Brit about us?” Asher asked pausing to see my reaction.

“He knows nothing. I have complied with everything you have asked me to do. Just leave my friends alone.”

“Make sure you keep complying.”

We rode the rest of the way to Rownan’s place in silence. They dropped me off a few blocks away from his apartment, so that there wasn’t a chance he would see me getting out of their car. I was so far beyond exhaustion by the time I made it to Rownan’s place, that I barely had the strength to lift my arm to knock. It was well after two in the morning, and I had no idea if Rownan would even be up, or if he would be home at all.

Relief and solace swept through me when Rownan answered the door. Through my peripheral vision, I could make out the concerned look on his face. I couldn’t look at him as the tears rolled down my cheeks.

“Ashley, love wha—”

He paused, taking my chin in his hand and lifting my eyes to meet him. I flinched slightly when he touched the corner of my jaw where Asher struck me.

“Holy bloody hell, Ashley. What the fuck happened?”

My body began to tremble. I felt sick again and the floor beneath my feet felt like an ocean of waves crashing around me. I couldn’t breathe, I felt weak, tired and just plain done. I didn’t try to fight the darkness that began to close around me; in fact, I welcomed it.

Sleep. I wanted to sleep.

Falling.

Deeper…

Deeper…

Until everything went black and I collapsed into Rownan’s arms.

Finally, peace.

If the fucking kid Drake hadn’t been with me, I would have showed Ashley just who the fuck she was messing with. Never mind the fact that I was filled with rage after learning what her and Michaels had done while she was planting the evidence in the club. I only had a little more time to wait and I would take her. I had a special room in my house that was built several years ago that I would use to train her. I couldn’t wait to strip her bare, emotionally and physically. I would remove every ounce of evidence of the woman she was right now and make her into the woman I want her to be. She would no longer belong to herself, but to me. She would be my pet, and I her master.

I shifted in my seat as my dick hardened at the thought. I once again cursed Drake as he sat next to me while we headed across town for our meeting. It was after two in the morning, but I had strict orders to be there after Ashley completed her mission. The police had plans to comb The Celtic Knot tomorrow for evidence under a warrant issued by the prosecution. What I would give to be a fly on the wall when they discovered the “evidence” in the file cabinet. Russell was the lead investigator on the case, so I knew it wouldn’t be overlooked.

Pulling up to the building that had become familiar to me over the last few weeks, Drake and I stepped out to make our way inside. I just hoped that the
boss
was happy with the way things were taking course.

Light started to filter in behind my eyelids and my head throbbed like a jackhammer pounding into the pavement. Without opening my eyes, I could tell that they were swollen from the amount of crying I had done last night. Every tear was an emotion. Pain, love, fear, sorrow, ran down my face last night until my body refused to allow any more moisture to escape. I remembered getting out of the car with Drake and Asher last night and wearily walking to Rownan’s apartment before collapsing into his arms as soon as he opened the door.

I took a few moments to gage my surroundings. The bed upon which I lay was soft, luxuriously soft, like lying on a fluffy, comforting cloud. The cool, silky texture of the sheets soothed my body from all the tension that I had brought upon myself. The pillow that laid beneath my head felt fluffy and downy as it supported my head.

The scent of the room was masculine, woodsy with just a hint of musk, and I knew that it belonged to Rownan. Attempting to fight against the pain, I cautiously opened my swollen eyes, allowing them to focus in around the room. I tried making small movements, wiggling my toes, and circling my wrists. I reached my arms overhead to release into a full body stretch as I tried to awaken my body more. Lifting one hand up to try to rub the sleep from my eyes, I accidentally brushed against my jaw and cheek, sending pain signals straight to my brain.

Oh yeah. Asher backhanded me.

I thought to myself as I struggled momentarily to comprehend why my face hurt. Gingerly, I touched it, and instantly flinched, jerking my hand away.

“It’s a pretty nasty bruise,” Rownan’s deep voice jolted me from across the room. I leaned up to find him standing in the doorway in a gloriously worn pair of jeans and nothing else. The hard lines of his muscular chest and arms were on full display. I think I swallowed audibly, and was embarrassed when I realized that I did. Any girl would be stupid not to be affected by Rownan’s beauty, myself included.

“Care to tell me what happened last night, love?” he asked as he walked over towards the bed and sat down next to me. Holding an ice pack in his hand, he showed it to me before he placed it over my jaw. I flinched for a moment, before welcoming the soothing feeling that the ice brought to my face.

“It is still a little swollen, so this should help.” He said as his other hand stroked down my other cheek. This man confused me completely. The kindness and gentleness he showed towards me contradicted everything about him being a dominant.

“How is it that you are a dom? You have been nothing but kind to me, Ro. You just don’t seem like the dominant type,” I said honestly to him. He chuckled, and for the first time in what felt like forever, my mouth tipped up at the corners in a small smile of my own.

“I am not dom in all aspects of my life, Ashley. Not all doms have to have complete control over everything. I just like having control in the bedroom,” he said still chuckling at me.

“You said once before that The Knot was a release for you. What did you mean by that?” I asked sheepishly. I knew I was prying into his life, but I wanted to know more about him. The man had offered to help me get out of this trouble that I was in, in order to get back to the man that I loved; the least I could do was get to know him better.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment, and I could tell by the look on his face that I was not going to enjoy what he was about to tell me. He drew in a long breath before positioning himself to where he was facing me more. Lifting his hands, he flipped the ice pack over as he began to speak.

“I was married. We had been together since our last year at university. Colleen was gorgeous, tall, long legged, and blonde. I was in love with her instantly. She was American, studying abroad when we met. After we started dating, she decided she didn’t want to return to the states and instead, stayed in London with me. We got married a few months after graduation, and found out we were expecting a few months after that.”

He paused as a small smile broke on his face as he remembered his child. His smile soon faded and it was replaced by looks of despair and devastation, and I felt chill bumps begin to rise upon my skin. I sat up so that I could place my hands over where he was nervously wringing his together. I felt the small tremble in his hands and I held onto them, and my heart was already breaking for him before he even continued with his story. The anguish in his eyes had my heart clenching in my chest.

“We had a son. Luca. He was beautiful. Perfect. Everything I could have ever asked for. I had never had a more proud moment in my life than I did on the day he was born. Colleen was the best mother. She stayed home with Luca while I worked, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Not too long after his second birthday, Colleen and I began to fight a lot. She complained of being trapped in the house all day and that her identity was restricted to that of just being a mom. She didn’t want to work, but she didn’t want to leave Luca either. She fell into a sort of depression. We fought constantly, to the point that I dreaded coming home at times because I knew it would lead to a quarrel. It hurt me to feel that way because I loved her so fucking much.”

“That is understandable, Rownan. It had to have been difficult for both of you. Her dealing with her depression and you having to walk on eggshells around her.”

He nodded his head as his gaze went to the window. His eyes seemed distant, frozen in a past time, a memory that would haunt him always. I could tell by the furrow of his brows and the sheen of water that now coated his eyes that what I was about to hear next was not going to be pleasant.

“I came home from work one day and Luca was crying in his playpen. Colleen was locked in our bedroom and refused to come out. I had to break the door down to reach her. She said she couldn’t do it anymore. She couldn’t be the perfect mother, wife, etc. I tried telling her that no one expected her to be all of those things and that she was doing a great job. Apparently, I said something wrong. She went off on me like I had never seen before. She looked possessed, tired and run down that day. She-she just wasn’t the same woman I had fallen in love with and it scared me.”

Tears stung the back of my eyes as Rownan nervously bounced his leg up and down. He took in a few breaths before he continued; shocking me with the news I wasn’t prepared for.

“She took off that night, taking Luca with her. She said she needed time to think. I decided to let her go because I knew it would lead to a bigger fight if I didn’t. When she didn’t come home later that night, I began to worry. I thought that maybe she was leaving me. I got angry because she didn’t even have the courage to stand up and fight for us. Turns out that she got into a car accident on the way to her friend’s house. It was out in a remote area, so no one found the car until hours after it had happened. By then it was too late.”