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“But if you press charges, won’t there be a trial?” I’d asked. “Won’t he tell everyone about you and me? He’ll spread lies about you to save himself.”
Billy had stiffened above me, and it had taken everything in me to keep silent as he’d pressed his fingers into the bruised skin on my cheek. I’d known it hadn’t been because he’d been angry with me, but because I’d pointed something out he’d been too foolish to consider.
“You’ll tell everyone he’s lying,” he’d said.
I’d shaken my head. “No, Billy, please… I just want to forget. I want to go back to the way things were. I’ll… I’ll make sure he stays away from us if you drop the charges. I know how to do it.”
It had taken a little bit of cajoling, but Billy had finally agreed, with a statement about how he’d do anything to make me happy. I’d pushed aside the violent need to throw up and had asked for a piece of paper. Writing the letter to Aiden had been the hardest thing I’d ever done, hands down. Filing a restraining order against him had been a close second. Only after Billy had read my letter had he seemed satisfied. When Aiden’s brother, Chase, had unexpectedly arrived, I’d had to reaffirm everything out loud that I’d barely had the strength to put in writing. Even after an overly confident Billy had left to get me some water, I’d still stuck to my story, ignoring the disappointment in Chase’s gaze.
When Aiden’s brother had left, I’d finally given into my need to throw up. Billy had promptly called for a nurse to come help me clean myself up when he’d returned to the room.
From that moment on, I’d agreed with anything Billy had said to me, and I’d been careful not to mention Aiden’s name even once.
Though he was all I’d thought about.
Even now, with my body screaming in pain and Billy lightly running his hand up and down my injured arm, Aiden was the only thing on my mind. Had he really believed what I’d said in my letter? I’d had to make it look real to make sure Billy bought it.
What if it had been too real?
It didn’t matter, because it didn’t change anything. Yes, my goal had been to get Billy to drop the charges, but it wouldn’t give me what I wanted. It wouldn’t keep Aiden safe. I’d managed to convince Billy that ruining Aiden’s business might make people ask questions about what had really happened between the two men, but I knew the second I walked away from Billy, that was exactly what he’d do.
Which meant I needed to play Billy’s game for a little while longer until I could get him to dial back the revenge. When I walked away from Billy for the last time, I’d need to make sure Aiden was no longer in his sights.
“So, he was released from jail?” I asked, shifting my feet on the cold tile and meeting his eyes in the bathroom mirror. “He won’t be charged with anything?”
Billy shook his head, then trailed his fingers down the length of my broken arm. It was still in a splint, since the swelling from the spiral fracture needed to go down before doctors could cast it. “No, but they’ll throw his ass in jail if he violates the restraining order. He’s out of your life for good, babe.”
I managed a nod, even as I fought the urge to turn around and lose the contents of my meager lunch in the toilet.
Billy’s hand lifted and suddenly twisted in my hair. “You must have made quite an impression on him,” he murmured, pushing forward until the edge of the sink ground into my hip.
“What… what do you mean?” I asked.
“Eric said there was a stack of cash in an envelope among your things. Several thousand dollars, in fact.”
I swallowed hard because I knew what he was talking about. It was all the money I’d been paying Aiden for rent and expenses over the past couple of months. It had been accumulating on his kitchen counter. He’d never touched even a dollar of it.
“Makes me wonder what you were doing to earn all that cash,” Billy said crudely. His fingers gripped my hair hard as he tipped my head back.
I didn’t bother correcting him about where the money had come from. “Was there anything else?”
“Like what?” Billy asked, his voice dropping dangerously low.
I fought every instinct I had to ask him the question I was dying to know.
Was there a note?
I couldn’t ask that. Not if I wanted to protect Aiden. I had to be indifferent. I had to be happy-to-be-back-with-his-one-love Ash.
No, Ashton. I wouldn’t be able to be Ash again for a while.
“My journal,” I murmured. “It’s all I really wanted back.” It wasn’t an actual lie because my journal and guitar were all I really cared about when it came to my possessions. Luckily, they were safe at the coffee shop, since I’d had them with me the night of the attack so I could use my break to practice for an up-and-coming open mic night. I had no doubt I wouldn’t see the money Aiden had returned. Billy had also taken all the money and my debit card from my wallet, leaving me with nothing but my driver’s license and the key to the coffee shop, which he’d somehow missed during his search. I had no clue where my phone was.
