AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That made me laugh softly at him. “You do have discerning tastes, Mr. Rosetti,” I said, poking fun at him again. Even if there was nothing he could do, having him here beside me did a world of good.
At least I wasn’t alone.
He turned his body more fully to me, his thumb and index finger grasping my chin. “I think you mean I have the best tastes. In all things.” His eyes held mine for a long moment before we were interrupted.
“Nick, Eve, follow me, please,” Len said. We both quickly looked up and did what he said without hesitation.
Instinctively, I reached for Nick’s hand and held it tightly. He squeezed mine right back, then tugged me along.
Len walked right behind one of the male officers, then Nick after him. They led us through a few sets of electronic doors before we entered a quiet area. I could see small cells on either side of the room, not all of them occupied.
The officer stopped abruptly and said, “Your five minutes starts now.” He looked over the rim of his glasses at Len, then nodded at us. As he marched away, I peeked around Nick’s arm to see Asher lying on a bare cot.
“Asher?” I whispered loudly, shocked to see him in such a place. My heart felt real, stabbing pain knowing where he was and that there was nothing I could do to help.
His head jerked and he sat up, looking confused. “Evie?” he asked, bolting up in his tiny space and nearly running to the bars.
I smiled at him and stepped around Nick. “What did you do?” I asked, beginning to sob. There was no warning at all, just suddenly a gush of tears from my eyes. My fingers circled the cold, metal bars.
He put his hands on top of mine and held them there. “The house taxes were due, I had—”
“You say nothing,” Nick said in a loud voice, sounding more than a little pissed off. “We have many eyes and ears here. Understand?”
Asher frowned as he took in Nick. “Who’s he? And who’s the suit?” he asked, nodding toward the two men he didn’t know.
“I’m your sister’s man. And Len is your lawyer. I suggest you speak to him with more respect than that,” Nick said, very clearly.
“My sister’s man?” Asher squinted his eyes at me. “Since when do you have a guy?”
“Can we not talk about that right now?” I asked, not wanting to waste our few minutes talking about my non-relationship. I wiped my eyes and cleared my throat. “How are you?”
Asher let go of my hands and stepped away. “Wait—you said you were away on work. Were you—” his head snapped to Nick, then back to me, “off fucking this guy? Jesus, Evie!”
I held onto the bars for dear life. “Would you listen to me? We’ll discuss this later. How are you? Are you hurt?” I asked, frightened for him, hoping he was okay.
“Oh, like you’d care?” Asher asked, turning around. When he got to the far wall of his cell—which didn’t take long—he slapped his hand against it. “This whole time we thought you’d be bringing home some real money, but instead, you’re out with some old dude? Gross, Evie.”
He practically snarled in Nick’s direction.
“Yeah, this old dude is saving your young, stupid ass!” I yelled, no longer feeling like crying. He was really pissing me off.
Quicker that quick, he stormed toward me. “Yeah, there wouldn’t have been any need to save my ass if you hadn’t been out screwing some old man!” he screamed right into my face.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, my voice quieter now—almost a warning. If there weren’t bars between us, I swear I’d be strangling his neck right now.
“Times up,” Nick said, pulling me away. “Len will meet you in court, Asher. Sit tight until your arraignment.”
“What the fuck else do you think I’m going to do?” he bellowed at Nick. But Nick didn’t seem to give a crap. All he did was put his arm around my shoulders and walk me out.
Our little conversation had woken up the other inhabitants.
The catcalls and whistles were demeaning to say the least. I held onto Nick even tighter, trying not to let their vulgar words sink in too far.
“Shut up, you assholes! She’s my sister!” I heard Asher shout out behind us.
Even though he’d just acted like a real, genuine butthole himself, it made me feel better that he still had my back.
That was how our family worked, so it wasn’t a huge surprise.
