Figure Eight (Celtic Knot Book 2) (37 page)

“Ashley, I am so glad you are awake. You had us really worried,” Kelly said pulling a chair up beside my bed and sitting down. Her hand stroked across my forearm, a comforting gesture she had always done whenever I was stressed or worried. I placed my hand on top of hers and gave it a squeeze. Words couldn’t describe how relieved I was that she was ok. Our relationship had been strained for the last few months as I fought against Asher, Drake, Russell, and Victoria to keep them all safe, but she has always been and will always be by best friend.

I stared at the bandage on her neck and she took notice. Kelly lifted a shaky hand to her throat.

“It’s ok, Ash. I’m fine. That doesn’t mean I’m still not angry with you for all of the stress you put yourself under. You should have told us. We could have helped you,” she scolded me.

“She’s right, Ashley. You should have told us. Dammit, this whole damn time I thought you had betrayed me—took my heart and ripped it to shreds. Fuck. I am so mad at you. How could you put yourself through that?” Dominic chastised as he stood up from his chair and paced back and forth beside my bed. I watched as the tension in his shoulders increased and his hands flexed trying to keep control of his anger. I turned to Knox and Kelly.

“Would you guys mind giving me a few moments with Nic?” I asked. They both nodded mentioning something about going down to the cafeteria to get some coffee. The nurse came in as Knox and Kelly were walking out. She placed a large cup of water on my tray table and lifted the cord on my IV before sticking a needle in, giving me a dose of medication.

“There you go, sweetie. That should help with your headache,” she said after removing the syringe and throwing it in the biohazard bin. “I’ll be back to check on you later.”

“Thank you.”

She walked out of the room and I reached for the cup of water and took several large gulps. The coolness of the water felt wonderful as it coated the back of my throat.

The silence between Dominic and I was deafening. The only audible sound other than the beeping of the machines I was hooked to was my throat as I swallowed the cool, crisp water. Dominic stood facing the window with his hands placed on the sill. I watched as his muscles constricted against the white dress shirt he still wore from the courthouse as he breathed in and out. His hair had grown longer, soft wisps dangled just over his eyes. His strong tanned forearms were exposed from his rolled up sleeves, and my gazed focused on his tattoo that peaked out from just underneath.

“I was so fucking scared,” he said breaking my focus. He turned from the window to face me and I took in the anguish that marred his gorgeous face. His chocolate brown eyes were ablaze as he slowly walked back over to me and sat down in the chair he had vacated earlier.

“I have never felt a greater fear, a greater terror, a greater soul wrenching panic than I did the moment that Victoria aimed that gun at you and pulled the trigger. I ran to you as fast as I could. All I could think was the worst. I don’t think I could go through the rest of my life knowing that I had lost you and our baby,” he said as he rested his palm on my lower abdomen. My heart fluttered in my chest at the intimacy of his actions.

“But dammit, Ashley, you should have told me. I could have prevented all of this. I could have saved us all the heartache and pain. You should...you should have told me.”

“I was trying to protect you, Nic. You, Kelly, and Knox. They threatened all three of you. What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t go to the police, obviously. They were corrupt.”

“You still could have come to me. I would have taken care of it.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but your life and the lives of my friends weren’t worth the risk. I couldn’t bear to lose any of you.”

My eyes misted up at the thought, and a single tear trickled down my cheek and Dominic lifted his thumb to catch it.

I gasped suddenly as a memory from the courtroom came to me.

“Rownan! He’s FBI? Wow. I should be completely pissed off at him for lying to me. He isn’t even British.” I chuckled slightly.

Dominic’s expression changed suddenly and he looked away from me as his brows furrowed together.

“Hey. What’s wrong?” I asked him trying to force him to look at me again.

“You might be mad at him for lying to you, but you should be thanking him. Hell, I should be thanking him.”

“I’m confused. What are you talking about?”

“The reason you weren’t shot when Victoria aimed the gun at you was because Rownan jumped in front of you just in time. I’m not going to lie to you, Ashley. He was hurt. Badly. Last I heard, he was in surgery. It doesn’t look good.”

Keep Reading for a snippet from Delisa Lynn’s novel, Fated.

~ Age Ten ~

“Mommy, why can’t I play with the Kelley kids? Tatum is my best friend and her parents are so nice to me. Daddy said I can go to their house. So why can’t I?”

“Audrey Renee Ridge, I won’t tell you again, you stay the fuck away from those people. They’re nothing but trash. If I catch you playing with those brats, you will be punished, your father will not protect you this time. Do you understand me? Look at me when I’m speaking to you.”

I lift my chin up to look at that mean painted face. My mom wears a lot of make-up. Way worse than that Mimi woman on TV. She always wears blue eye shadow, pink blush and red lipstick.

“Yes, ma’am, I understand. When will daddy be home? He said he would only be gone a few days. It’s been a week and I miss him. Friday is my parent teacher conference; will you both be attending this time?”

“Your father is working with a big client, and it’s none of your business when he will be home. This is grown folk business, no need for a child to ask questions about. Your parent teacher conference isn’t your father’s number one priority. If he makes it, then he does; if not, then I will for sure be there. If they tell me you have been disobeying, or you have anything other than an A+’s, you will regret it. So I suggest you go to your room and study.”

“Yes, ma’am. I will be back down at dinner.”

My mom isn’t the nicest person; she and my father are two totally opposite people. He is always nice and doesn’t yell and cuss, but my momma on the other hand is mean, I swear she’s the devil.

My best friend Tatum Kelley lives on the other side of town. Her daddy works for the Martin’s farm and her mom is a nurse. They are a very nice family, but my mom hates them. She says they are trash because their house isn’t as big as ours is and they don’t have jobs like my parents.

My daddy is one of Birmingham’s finest business men. He owns Ridge Custom Furniture and there are branches all over the world. My momma is an event planner, when she isn’t drunk. I’m an only child and I honestly believe I’m a mistake in my mother’s eyes.

I’m not allowed to associate with any of my friends outside of school and even then my momma still tries to keep me away from them. She enrolled me into a private all-girls school, but my father wouldn’t see to it. He normally let’s her make all the decisions but with this, he said he was putting his foot down.

He tries to let me see my friends and he allows them to visit when my mother isn’t home. They both travel a lot for their jobs and I like it that way. Nell is my nanny and she lets Tatum stay over, or lets me stay at her house when she knows that my parents aren’t going to be home.

I’m in my room studying and I can hear my mom yelling, but I just turn my radio up so I can’t hear her. I thought maybe Daddy came home and they are arguing like they normally do, but she comes pushing through my door and grabs me by my ponytail.

“You fucking little bitch. I warned you to stay away from that trash, but no you couldn’t listen could you? Why is Vivian Kelley calling here asking if you can come to a sleep over? How the fuck did she get my number?”

“Momma, I don’t know what you are talking about? I didn’t give it to her I swear…
Oomph
… Momma please, that hurts...”

“Oh, it’s going to hurt ten times harder if you don’t hold your fat ass still…
smack
… I told you I don’t like that trash…
smack
… Now think about this and maybe you can come down for dinner. Of course you don’t need any food the way you look”

“Ye…yes, ma’am, I’m sorry. I will not talk to Tatum or Zander again. I promise.” I say with tears streaming down my cheeks.

I love my best friend and her brother; he is always so nice and he is the only boy that doesn’t call me rich girl, or make fun of my big butt. I don’t think I’m fat, but my momma calls me that all the time.

My daddy says I’m perfect and that God makes us all different for a reason. I’m his little Audrey Pooh. That’s what he calls me. My mom calls me fat ass, sometimes she calls me other cuss words like little bitch.

Daddy finally comes home, I tell him how Momma has been treating me. She’s at work, so he’s taking me to Mable’s for lunch. We love to go there but Momma hates it.

He says he will talk to Momma and that I can stay at Tatum’s for the weekend. He drives me there himself and talks to Mrs. Kelley, to make sure it’s okay I stay the whole weekend.

Once I arrive, Tatum and I change into our swimsuits. We’re going down to the swim hole to swim with Zander and Evan. Tatum has a huge crush on Evan. We change and run to the swim spot, and the boy’s aren’t there yet, we decide to jump in anyways.

“Audrey, what happened to your back? Is that a bruise—it looks awful.”

“Umm…yea, it is. I fell into the shower door last week.” I say, lying. I didn’t want to tell her that my momma hurts me because she hates her family and me. So I think it’s better to make a story up and tell her.

“Oh, it looks like it hurts. You are so clumsy. Did you see how Boney Tony was looking at me the other day on recess? He gives me the creeps.”