Jilted (23 page)

“I’ll go to campus with you then and buy whatever books you need and from there we can stop by the Registrar’s Office. Have you decided on a major?”

She stomped her foot on the ground. “Why do you always have to be so damn difficult? It’s my money anyway. I don’t see why you can’t just give it to me.”

“Because if I let you and your brother have control over your trust funds, you’d blow it in under three years. So we can do this one or two ways: I go to your school and make the payment or you get nothing.”

“Okay! It’s not for school but I need that money. If I don’t get it…”

“Then what?”

“I just owe someone the money and if they don’t get it they’ll cause problems for me.”

“Maybe you should have thought about that before you got into trouble. You’re going to have to figure this out yourself.”

Her eyes widened. “You don’t understand. If I don’t pay these people their money…they’ll hurt me.”

There was just enough desperation in Colleen’s voice that told him she was telling the truth. As much as it would have done her some good to learn a lesson, he wasn’t that cold-hearted that he’d allow her to come to harm.

“If I write a check out to you, this will be it. Whoever it is that you owe this money to, your association with them ends tonight.

“Yes. I promise. Thank you!”

Ashley shook his head in disgust and headed to his office to get his checkbook. When he returned, he saw Colleen staring at the paused picture on his television screen.”

“That’s your ex with that guy isn’t it?”

“None of your business,” he said, mentally cursing himself for not taking it out of the player before his sister arrived.

“Well, you’re better off without that skank anyway. You should probably thank whoever it was who sent that to you.”

“I won’t discuss this with you Colleen.” The more she spoke the angrier she became.

“I’m sorry for bringing it up. But it makes me wonder how long Skylar and Tony were carrying on behind your back.”

Ashley was in the process of handing his sister the check when he froze. The vein in his head began to throb. “How did you know his name?”

Chapter Nineteen

Colleen giggled with a nervous titter, a giggle that sounded a lot like the one on the DVD. “What are you talking about?”

The blood pounded in his ears. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. “How did you know the name of the guy on the DVD, and don’t play games with me?”

She looked at the television screen and then back at him before she took a step back. “Obviously you must have told me, how else would I know?”

“How else indeed, considering I never discussed details with you. I never told anyone his name. Now tell me again, how you knew and this time don’t fucking lie to me.”

Colleen licked her lips and looked toward the exit. “Maybe you’re being forgetful in your old age. I know you told me. You used to tell me a lot of things.”

Ashley was very close to wringing his sister’s neck. She must have seen the murder in his eyes because she took several steps back as he advanced on her. She was however stopped when her back hit the wall.

“How did you know,” he asked softly this time. It was his courtroom voice, the one he used when he was about to go in for the kill with a particularly tough witness, although this time his heart was racing as he clenched his fists at his side. He had always looked out for his siblings, but never had he ever wanted to lay hands on either of them until this moment.

“You mentioned it before. You must have,” she whispered in a voice so small he could barely hear her, but his patience was at an end.

Ashley slammed his fist into the wall right next to her head. “Tell the fucking truth!”

Colleen screamed before crumpling to the floor. “You told Mom that Skylar was unfaithful. You must have her told her that Tony went to you and she told me.”

“There you go again telling me something that you shouldn’t be privy to. I certainly didn’t tell Mother that Tony paid me a visit to give me all the juicy details of his affair with Skylar. I didn’t even tell Tim or William that part, so you’d better start talking or I’m going to forget you’re my sister and let you fend for yourself. And you’d better hope that whoever you owe that money to gets to you before I do. So it would be in your best interest to start talking.”

Tears streamed down Colleen’s cheeks, leaving dark mascara tracks. “She was tearing our family apart! You barely spent any time with us. It was like we didn’t fucking exist anymore. You turned your back on your family for that woman and she didn’t even fit in with us.”

He narrowed his gaze. “What did you do?” he asked with deadly calm.

“I just wanted you to see she wasn’t the right one for you.”

Ashley grabbed his sister off the ground and gripped her arms tightly. “What. Did. You. Do?” He asked through gritted teeth.

“We put something in her drink. Tony was paid to tell you those things. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. If I would have known that I would lose you anyway, I wouldn’t have done it.”

The odd statement she’d made to him during that lunch suddenly made sense. “You said we. Was Owen involved in this?”

She shook her head vehemently. “I told him about it after I did it but he didn’t know beforehand I swear.”

Ashley knew in that moment that if Colleen didn’t leave within the next minute, he would literally kill her. Releasing her, Ashley turned his back on his sister and put some distance between them, not trusting that he wouldn’t actually harm her. “Get out.”

“I’m sorry. Please, I only did it because—”

“I’m not interested in your pitiful excuses. Get out and don’t come back.”

“I’m sorr—”

“I said get the fuck out of my house! Now!”

She scrambled to the door and paused. “You can try to shut me out but I’ll always be your sister.”

“I don’t have a sister.”

With a sob, Colleen left. Ashley could care less that she’d left the check he’d written behind. Let her figure out her own mess, he was officially done with her. If what Colleen said was true, even if Owen had nothing to do with the plan, he was complicit by not telling him. Between his mother and his siblings, they had effectively destroyed one of the best things that had ever happened to him.

Woodenly, he walked over to the television and grabbed the remote. He played the disk from the start. This time when he watched he saw it with new eyes. What he’d mistook for moans of passion, were just the moans of someone in a deep sleep. Tony seemed to be doing all the work. He also noted that they were covered from the waist down so he couldn’t actually tell if there was actual sex.

“Fuck!” he screamed. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” He slammed his fist into the wall again, this time putting a hole in it. The adrenaline pumping through him numbed him from pain at the impact.

By the time he left court, Ashley checked his cell phone to see that he had three missed calls from Skylar. He hadn’t returned any of her calls since yesterday and she was probably calling him about last minute wedding details. The wedding, however, was the furthest thing from his mind. That package he received still weighed heavily on his mind.

Ashley often got mail sent to him to his office which was usually handled by his assistant unless it was marked confidential or personal. There had been no name or return address on the envelope so it sat on his desk for several days before he decided to open it. What he saw was Skylar in all kinds of compromising positions with some man. His first thought was that they had to be fake.

This wasn’t his Skylar. And then he saw the DVD, attached to it was a note that read:
You don’t know Skylar as well as you think you do
. When he slipped the disk into the player what he saw on it made him want to throw up. Again he had his doubts. Skylar wouldn’t cheat on him. It simply wasn’t in her nature. She was by far one of the most loving, generous and kind people he’d ever had the pleasure to know. These couldn’t be real, and if in fact they were they had to be old.

Skylar had told him that he was her first so at the most she was guilty of not being honest about her virginity. Something like that wouldn’t have bothered him; he would have accepted her if she’d had a dozen lovers before him as long as he was the last. While he hated that she lied to him about something so trivial, he could look past it. These could be from an old boyfriend who was jealous Skylar had moved on with her life.

Instead of going home, Ashley decided to stop by his office to get some files, but when he entered the building, standing at the receptionist desk was a dark-skinned man who looked very familiar. He must have sensed Ashley staring because he turned around and smiled. It was the man from the pictures!

“Just the man I was looking for.” The other man smiled at him as if they were old friends.

Kelly the receptionist stood up. “Mr. Hollingsworth, I told him that he’d have to make an appointment to see you. I can contact security if you’d like to have him escorted out.”

Ashley shook his head. “I’ll talk to him.”

The guy’s smiled widened. “I thought you’d see me. I’m Tony, by the way.” He held out his hand which Ashley ignored.

Tony chuckled. “You must have seen the pictures.”

“Follow me.” Ashley said tightly.

The ride in the elevator was tense for him, although Tony didn’t seem to have a care in the world. It was almost as if he took great pleasure in this moment. So this man was somehow connected to Skylar. If Ashley was being objective, he could see that this Tony fellow was a good looking guy, tall and built. He looked like a man who seemed to care a lot about his appearance judging from how well he was groomed and put together.

Once they were behind the closed door of Ashley’s office he turned to Tony with folded arms. “Obviously there’s a reason why you’re here. Speak.”

“Wow. So hostile. I came here to do you a solid. Us guys have to look out for each other.”

“You have five seconds to start talking or I’ll have you kicked off the premises.”

Tony held up his hands. “Whoa, man. That won’t be necessary. I just came here because I thought you should know about the kind of woman you’re marrying. Skylar isn’t the sweet little angel she pretends to be. She’s only marrying you for your money and connections, dude. She said being married to you would help her achieve her goals faster. Hey man, can I get some water or something? My throat is really dry.”

“Fuck your throat. Why the hell should I believe a word you say?”

Tony smirked. “You don’t believe that I’m thirsty? I assure you. I am. I’m parched in fact. I’m parked several blocks away.”

Ashley snapped. He closed the distance between the two of them and grabbed Tony by the lapel. “Don’t get smart with me. Why the fuck are you here?”

For the first time since he arrived, Tony looked nervous. “Hey man, no need for violence. I just came here to warn you about your girl, well, our girl. She’s been seeing me the entire time she’s been with you. When she calls you to tell you she has to study or if she’s out spending time with her friend or picking up extra shifts at her job, she’s really with me.”

Ashley trembled with rage tightening his hold on Tony. “And how do I know you’re not some jealous ex?”

“You saw the pictures didn’t you? The DVD. That shit was recent, man.”

“They could be old.”

“Look at those pictures again. She’s wearing a bandage on her right thumb that she got from slicing lemons at the restaurant she works at. And we both know that happened a couple weeks ago. Now tell me I’m lying.”

Ashley released the other man, taking a step backward. He felt like he’d been hit in the gut. It felt as if someone was holding his heart in a vice and he couldn’t breathe.

Tony patted him on the shoulder but Ashley forcefully shoved him away. “Get the fuck off me.” He growled.

Tony took a step back. ‘Look man, she had me fooled too. Apparently she’s seeing someone else behind my back. She told me the same lies but I caught her. Look, I know I may seem like a bitter ex and maybe I am, but that doesn’t mean Skylar hasn’t played us both for clowns. She might marry you but she’ll never be faithful. I thought I could be with her because I love her so much but I can’t do it. I can’t live for the rest of my life wondering when she’s lying to me or who she’s with. I realized I’m a selfish man. I just can’t share her and if you’re able to that’s your call. But consider yourself warned.”

“Get out.”

“I thought you should know.”

“I said, get out!” he roared.

Tony shook his head. “I can see why you’re angry. I bet you’re wondering now if she does the same things to me that she does to you and the answer is yes. It drives her wild when I nibble on her neck too.”

Ashley charged toward the other man and slammed his fist into his face. “I said get the fuck out of my office.”

“Son of a bitch! I think you broke my nose.” Blood gushed everywhere. “I’ll fucking sue you.”

“You can try but I can find several witnesses who would testify that you forced your way into my office and was belligerent and aggressive. Let’s see how well that lawsuit works for you. Now get the fuck out of here.”

“I felt sorry for you, dude. But fuck you. Good luck with your whore.” Still holding his nose, Tony stormed out of his office.

The DVD, coupled with the pictures and his visit from Tony was just too much proof to dispute. He’d played right into his family’s hands. They’d set out to destroy his relationship with Skylar and in the end they’d succeeded. But had they really been responsible? Was this all because in the back of his mind he’d been waiting for the shoe to drop from the very beginning? He’d lost Skylar and his children and for what? All because he’d been damaged goods from the very start. Skylar didn’t really stand a chance.