Figure Eight (Celtic Knot Book 2) (30 page)

Meeting Knox was like a punch in the gut. He overwhelmed me, didn’t put up with my bullshit, and gave just as good as I did. I know that the woman he had considered the love of his life ran off on him and that was his reason for not being with one woman for any particular amount of time. I guess you could say that we were two kindred, fucked up souls who had found some solace in each other no matter how dysfunctional and strange our relationship was at times.

I parked my car behind Victoria’s white BMW convertible and locked my car before heading up toward Dominic’s apartment. It was getting to be the end of May and the sun was getting hotter. The comfort of the air conditioning felt soothing as I entered the building. Dominic’s penthouse was on one of the top floors in the building. I pressed the button on the elevator, watching the arrow that pointed skyward light up. Waiting for the car to arrive, I heard some whispered voices from around the corner of another hall that lead toward the adjacent building. They sounded like a couple arguing, as they engaged in a heated discussion. Being the nosy person I was, I walked a few steps toward the hall and peeked around the corner to see what was going on.

I froze when I saw Victoria and that douchebag Asher in what looked like a heated argument. I hid back behind the wall so that they couldn’t see me as I tried to pick up on what they were talking about.

“I don’t give a shit what kind of tape she has on you Asher, stay away from her. I am warning you. I have her right where I want her and I will not have you messing up everything just because you have some obsession with her. What the fuck is wrong with all of these men wanting her? You, Nic, and that Kleinfield guy. Does she have a fucking golden pussy or something?” Victoria said.

“We had a deal Vic, if Drake and I helped you get her and Michaels apart, you would help me have her. I want her. That is what I have been doing all of this for. That is what I have been paying Drake for,” Asher replied back with irritation.

I tried to hold back a gasp. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Victoria was trying to keep Dominic and Ashley apart? Why?

“I have hated that little bitch from the moment she walked into my club. I was so close to having Dominic. We had made so much progress in our relationship and she came along and Wham! All my progress went out the fucking window when he decided to actually want to be with her. Do you know how fucking hard it was to watch him and her on the monitors while they were in the Rapture Room, knowing he should be with me not her?” Victoria said in a whispered rage.

“Vic, you really are sick in the fucking head you know that? You watched them on the monitors? Even I am not that hard up. Sure, I want her, and want to make her my pet, but I’m not delusional that she is going to fucking fall in love with me. I don’t even want that anyways. I just want to fuck her. Make her mine. Make her my slave. We had a deal,” Asher said again.

My mind was spinning as it tried to process what my ears were hearing. I was beyond flabbergasted by their conversation. If Victoria was in love with Dominic and trying to keep them apart, it was seriously fucked up, especially since Nic was in love with Ashley. Was Victoria responsible for what was going on with Ashley?

“Listen, you little fuckwad. I don’t care what you want. I own you, remember? I can have your sick ass put in jail for what you have done to some of my girls at the club. Don’t mess with me. You won’t be getting Ashley anytime soon anyways,” Victoria spat at Asher.

“Oh, really? And why is that your royal fucking highness?” Asher retorted back.

“Oh, because I made sure Ashley understood where she stands. The initial blackmail was good, but Dominic had a real chance of actually going to jail. Now I am going to make sure he doesn’t,” Victoria said with confidence.

“How?”

“When she is called to testify, she is going to tell them she lied. She is going to tell the judge that she planted the evidence and she will be the one to go to jail, not Nic.”

“And just how did you get her to agree to that?”

“I threatened to do away with Kelly. Honestly though, I would be doing the world a favor. That girl is too fucking perky for her own good. The world would be thanking me if I got rid of her bubbly ass. I’m sure no one would even miss her.”

Victoria’s admission sent shivers down my spine. Ashley was blackmailed into lying. She was forced to tell the police that she accept sexual favors. Then she was forced to plant evidence incriminating Nic and Knox only to be forced to testify in the end that she lied about it all. I felt like a huge shit. Ashley had been having to deal with this the whole time while I thought she was changing into someone I no longer knew.

An audible gasp left my lips. Quickly my hands flew up to cover my mouth like I could keep the sound from traveling.

“Who is there?” I heard Victoria ask. I ran over to the elevators and jammed my finger into the button like it would make the car arrive faster. I had to get to the boys. I had to tell them what was going on.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Victoria said as she leaned her shoulder against the wall with her arms folded across her chest. She pushed away from the wall and sauntered towards me like a bird circling its prey. I took a few steps back, trying to get away, before she lunged toward me and captured me by the wrist.

“I think we need to have a little chat, don’t you?” she asked sardonically. Asher came up behind me and pushed aside his sports coat to show a gun he had stuck in the waistband of his pants.

“I think you’d better listen. It would be the smart choice,” he said in a threatening tone.

“Knox is expecting me. What is he going to think when I don’t show up upstairs?” I questioned them trying to keep a hold on the fear that coursed through me. I felt like the lowest friend on earth for judging Ashley. I should have known better to think that she could be so vile to do the things she had done on purpose.

Victoria held onto my wrist as she used her other hand to retrieve the phone from her pocket.

“Knox, Kelly and I will meet you at the courthouse. I have an errand I need to run and she said she would go with me. Yea, we are down in the lobby right now. Ok. See you there.”

She hung up and put her phone back into her pocket before flashing her too white teeth at me from behind blood red lips.

“See, all taken care of,” she said as she batted her eyes at me with false sweetness dripping off of her tongue.

“Move it. Let’s go,” she barked as she shoved me forward, causing me to stumble.

I had no idea what I was going to do. What did they have planned to do with me now that I had key information?

I thought about it all the way to when we got outside and I was practically thrown into a black car with dark tinted windows. Wherever we were going, I knew it wasn’t going to be good.

I walked on shaking legs as I entered the courthouse. My heart pounded in my chest because I had yet to come up to a solution to get out of this mess. If the prosecution decided to call me to the stand today, it was all over. Rownan was meeting me here in about twenty minutes to be supportive. I tried to get him to stay at the art gallery today, not wanting another person to have to witness my admission on the stand. The judge had decided to allow media coverage of the trial, so there were reporters and journalists floating all around the courthouse. I walked up to the security guards who then took my purse and sent it through the x-ray machine while I walked through the metal detectors. I actually prayed that I would set it off, so that my entrance into the room where I was going to have to admit to more than one hundred people that I lied would be delayed, but I had no such luck. After the uniformed guard handed me back my purse, I walked tentatively toward the courtroom.

Suddenly, I was pulled into a small section of hallway that led to a set of what looked like offices.

“What the he…” I started before looking up to come face to face with Victoria and Asher. They both had smug looks on their faces and my emotions along with pregnancy hormones had rage filtering through my body.

“What do you two want?” I asked in frustration. I was in no mood to put up with them today. Even if it killed me, I was still going to do what they asked. To protect Kelly.

“We just wanted to give you a little incentive to stay on track with what we told you, in case you were getting any ideas about trying to back out.” Victoria looked back at Asher and nodded her head in my direction. Asher pulled his phone from his pocket and pulled a picture up on the screen before turning it around and showing it to me.

There on the screen was my best friend, tied to a chair with duct tape over her mouth. Her eyes were closed and her head was lulled to one side as if she were either sleeping or passed out.

“You two are fucking sick you know that?” I said raising my voice. “If you harm her so help me God, I will ruin both of you. You aren’t going to get away with this, I hope you realize it.”

“Oh, but darling, we already have. Now get your ass in that courtroom and the only peep I want you to mutter is when you admit your sins on that stand. Understood?” she demanded before she brushed past me leaving me standing alone with Asher. My body trembled with fear, dread and anguish. I felt sick to my stomach from both the pregnancy and the situation and I leaned my hand against the wall so that I didn’t lose my balance from the wave of dizziness that overcame me.

“What is wrong with you? This part had nothing to do with me. My plan was to take you with me remember? You aren’t the only one under blackmail. This could all be over if you just come with me. Forget about all of these people. Think about yourself for once, Ashley. You know you want to. I have a place I can take you where the only thing you would have to worry about is pleasing me. I could give you everything you ever want,” Asher said as he reached into trace a finger across the arm I had leaned up against the wall.

I yanked my arm back like I had been burned and fought against the bile that rose up in my throat from his touch.

“Go to hell,” I snapped at him. The nausea became more than I could handle and I darted for the trash can that was sitting in the hallway. It was one of those ones that had the flip lid in the front that you would see at fast food restaurants, so I quickly pushed the lid off before I vomited into the can.

“Gross. Every time I am around you are vomiting. What the fuck is wrong with you?” Asher complained. I continued to get sick into the can, as my stomach revolted against the breakfast I had this morning and from having to deal with all of this stress.