Restless (Fractured Farrells: A Damaged Billionaire Series, #4) Page 12

  “He’s not a criminal mastermind, but he has lots of liquid cash. He can stay under the radar a long time,” said Logan.

  “I heard he sent someone to try to kill you,” said Ashley. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

  Logan studied her as though trying to judge the sincerity of her words. “He blames me for one of his older businesses folding.”

  “And the entire family by extension?”

  Logan stiffened. “What do you mean?”

  Ashley glanced between Nathan and Logan. Damn. She thought Alex had told them already. “He stopped by the Connecticut home to threaten Alex.”

  Nathan and Logan both turned their attention to Alex. “You weren’t going to tell us?” said Nathan.

  “It happened two days ago. I’ve been busy.”

  Nathan’s attention was back to Ashley. “I can see that.”

  Alex slammed his hand onto the kitchen counter. “You’re more than welcome to leave if you’re uncomfortable.”

  Nathan took a deep swig of his beer. “I’m not uncomfortable.” He put his half-empty bottle down. “I’m worried that there’s a psycho who is out for blood and you’re off running around with your childhood crush, who somehow went from zero to a ring in a few days.”

  Ashley bit her lip and started to fiddle with the hem of her pink shirt. This definitely wasn’t the day to let Nathan know that she was officially part of the family.

  “Get out,” said Alex.

  Nathan scoffed and shook his head. “You’re not going to kick me out. I’m family.”

  “I just did,” said Alex, in a cool and calm voice.

  Ashley could see the situation deteriorating. “You don’t need to leave. I’m sure we can order some food and—”

  “No,” said Nathan. “I know when I’m not wanted. The fact that Alex changed the locks on me was just one of the many signs. You let me know when your bank account is drained and the divorce attorneys are in the mix.” Without another word, Nathan stalked toward the elevator, which was decidedly less climactic than being able to storm out and slam a door, but the tense silence that came over the room was hard to bear nonetheless.

  Ashley hung her head low and tried to think of what she could’ve said or done to make that transition go smoother. She’d promised Alex that she’d be good for him, not tear apart the family.

  “Sorry about him,” said Logan.

  Who knew the brother who just got out of prison would be the nicest so far? Logan was taller than Alex, but not by much. His longer, thick hair also made him appear bigger. His eyes were the same blue as the rest of the Farrells, but the corners had the beginnings of crow’s feet, a sign of the pressure he’d been under for the past ten years. “I’m sure he’s just stressed.” She realized Logan didn’t have anything to drink and mentally hit her forehead. Her first hour of being Alex’s wife and she was already letting hostess duties slide. “Did you want a beer or a water or something?”

  “No. I’m about to head out myself. Julie was visiting her parents this morning, but I want to be there when she gets back.”

  Probably because of the risk of having Tate Gallagher running around being as dangerous as ever. It almost made Ashley feel ridiculous for feeling so disturbed by Geoff. He’d invaded her privacy in ways it still hurt to think about, but at least he’d never actually tried to hurt her. And now Alex was focusing on Geoff when he could’ve been looking for the man who tried to kill his brother.

  No wonder his family didn’t like her. “It’s nice about you and Julie.” She tried to keep the guilt from showing on her face. “It’s so sweet that you found her.”

  “Sweet?” asked Logan with a raised eyebrow, letting her know that there was probably a bit of bite to their love story she didn’t know about.

  “We should have dinner sometime,” said Alex. “The four of us.”

  “Like a double date?” asked Logan skeptically.

  “Like a dinner,” said Alex. “With food and hopefully drinks.”

  “Of course. I’m sure Julie would love it. She’d probably want Nathan to come.”

  Ashley frowned. “She and Nathan are close?”

  “She worked with Nathan to help him clean up his act for years,” said Alex.

  So Nathan didn’t hate all the women his brothers dated. Just her. Okay. She’d try not to focus on that. “I’d love to do dinner,” she said, going back to the not-so-volatile subject.

  “Jean is going to want to meet you soon too,” said Logan. “She’s already been hounding me about getting together.”

  “That sounds like her,” said Alex.

  “I thought you liked her,” said Ashley.

  “Oh, I do. And for some stupid reason she likes us too,” said Alex. “I’m just constantly confused by it.”

  Logan pushed himself up and away from the counter. “I should go. We’ll do the double date as soon as I get back.”

  “You’re going somewhere?” said Ashley.

  “After what happened with Gallagher, we decided to get out of the city for a few days. Fall off the radar until things clear up.” His phone rang and he fished it out of his pocket to look at the screen. “Yep. I need to head out.”

  Ashley stayed where she was as Alex showed his brother to the door. She’d felt so confident before about what they’d gotten themselves into, but now she was second-guessing herself all over again. For some reason, it had never occurred to her that his family would reject her.

  She took a deep, steadying breath and twisted the blue diamond ring around her finger. If they didn’t like her, that was fine. She had her entire life to change their minds.

  Robert was out of town, and he’d already fucked up the introductions with Logan and Nathan, so Alex decided to be proactive with Jean. He knew she was very into her new family and would probably be more supportive of the sudden marriage than any of his more jaded family.

  But Jean could be jaded at times too, so he needed to handle this right. Jean was a good eight months pregnant at the moment, and she was staying in one of the Farrell buildings in the outskirts of Manhattan. Alex and Ashley both decided that it was better she stayed home, and Alex cursed Nathan for ever making her feel so uncomfortable.

  He should’ve told everyone that the marriage was final. That there was nothing they could do to stop it so they might as well be happy for them. But the timing had never felt right, and now Ashley probably thought he was ashamed of her or something. God damn it. This wasn’t how their wedding night was supposed to go.

  He was supposed to be having some mind-blowing sex right now. At the very least, curled up with her in bed and watching some mindless television.

  But Jean should understand. If anyone got what it was like to marry someone none of the family approved of, it was Jean. The doorman immediately recognized Alex and let him in even though he knew Alex didn’t live in the building. From there it was a quick elevator ride to the third to highest floor. He would’ve given Jean the penthouse suite, but he couldn’t kick out tenants, even if it was for his extremely pregnant baby sister. But the apartment she was set up in was still nice by New York standards. All the finishes were top of the line, and the high ceilings made the two-thousand-foot unit appear even larger.

  He knocked on the door and hoped someone answered. He hadn’t called beforehand. He didn’t want to discuss any of this over the phone. He wanted to tell Jean about Ashley in person.

  After a few more knocks, the door finally opened, but it wasn’t Jean there. It was Colin, giving Alex a look that had probably made lesser men piss themselves. “Your sister is taking a nap. They have this thing called a phone so I could’ve told you this without you coming all the way down here.”

  “I’m not taking a nap!” called Jean from behind Colin.

  “She’s supposed to be taking a nap,” clarified Colin. “So if you could come back later—”

  A small hand pushed Colin aside, and there was Jean and her exceptionally large stomach in the doorway.
“Alex!” she said cheerfully.

  Alex bent down to hug her awkwardly over her stomach. He didn’t spend a lot of time around pregnant women and had a hard time imagining how her stomach would get any bigger. Especially considering she still had another full month to go.

  No wonder Colin wanted Jean napping.

  “Hey.” He let go of her and moved farther into the apartment. It still looked rather bare-bones. As if they hadn’t started to really put their touch on it. Or maybe bare-bones was Colin’s personal touch. He wasn’t the type to hang family photos wherever he went.

  “Come on.” Jean motioned him deeper into the apartment as she half walked, half waddled through the hallway and into the small kitchen area of the apartment. “Would you like a beer?”

  “Or something stronger?” added Colin.

  Alex shook his head. “No. I’m not here for long. I wanted to see you in person and tell you the...news.”

  A flash of worry spread across Jean’s face as she reached up to pull down some glasses. “Oh no. Did something happen with Logan?”

  “Logan? No. Logan’s fine. This is about me. And it’s not bad news. It’s good news. Great, actually. I got married.”

  Jean was silent as she set the glasses on the stainless-steel counter. “Oh,” she finally said.

  Well, that wasn’t the reaction he was hoping for. “Her name is Ashley. I knew her years ago and she just sort of happened back into my life. I wanted you to hear it from me first.”

  “So there’s no wedding?”

  “It was so sudden. We thought a courtroom-only setting would be best.”

  “I could’ve gone to the court with you.”

  “You should be resting and—”

  “I’m pregnant, not invalid, Alex. If you were doing something so monumental, I’d want to be there for you.”

  “I don’t need—”

  “She wanted to be there, you moron.” Colin came from behind Alex to stand next to Jean. “She’s family.”

  “No one was there. It was just me, Ashley, and a judge.”

  Jean blinked a few times and Alex realized she really was upset about this. “If you didn’t want me there, that’s one thing. But you didn’t even tell me. Why would you keep her a secret? Or were you keeping me a secret?”

  “God, no.” Alex ran a hand over his eyes. “This isn’t about you.”

  A thin sheen of tears appeared in Jean’s eyes, but she wiped them away as quickly as they appeared. “You’re right. This isn’t about me. You’re none of my business.”

  Alex opened his mouth to defend himself but Colin patted him on the shoulder and started to lead him out of the kitchen. Before Alex could go back to Jean, Colin’s grip tightened and Alex realized he was being kicked out.

  “Listen,” said Colin in a cheerful voice once they were out of Jean’s earshot. “Jean is...vulnerable right now. And I don’t know what’s up with you, but every word out of your mouth is stupider than the last. So until you remember that Jean is your sister and just as much part of the family as every other one of you Farrells, I think you should go and enjoy the night with your wife. Once you decide to be smart again, I expect you to grovel for forgiveness. And flowers wouldn’t hurt. She’s been really into tulips since the pregnancy. Got it?”

  Obviously he’d overstayed his welcome. And instead of getting Jean on his side, now he’d alienated the one person he thought he could consider an ally. Fuck.

  Even before Ashley saw Alex, she could feel his bad mood vibrating off him. Which probably meant his meeting with his sister didn’t go great. Well hell, this was going to end up being a horrible wedding day.

  “Hello,” she said carefully as she walked down into the kitchen. “Did you want me to make you anything to eat?” She hadn’t seen much food in the pantry or refrigerator, but she knew that when she was stressed, she liked to turn to whatever sugar-filled pastries were within walking distance. She might not be able to make him feel better, but she could feed him, damn it.

  Alex shook his head and instead pulled open one of the cabinets and grabbed the bottle of liquor before he strode through the kitchen and into the living room where he plopped onto the couch. “Right now I just need a drink.” He twisted the cap off the half-empty bottle and took a deep swig.

  Ashley followed him into the living room and sat on the pristine white couch next to him. If she had a couch like this, she didn’t think she’d ever chance drinking or eating anything even close to the vicinity. Alex obviously didn’t have those qualms.

  “Did you want a glass for that drink?”

  “No. This gets it into my blood faster,” he said with relatively faulty logic. But she wasn’t about to point it out.

  “Have you talked to Nathan at all?”

  “There’s no point. He’s pissed at me, and probably will be as long as we’re together. If he can’t see that he’s being ridiculous, there’s nothing I can do.”

  “Have you apologized to him?”

  Alex scoffed. “Apologized? Apologized for what? I’m not sorry I married you. The only thing I’m sorry about is that he can’t seem to handle us.”

  Ashley had a hundred things she wanted to say, but she knew this was a problem between brothers. Not really her business to get involved. Wait, she was part of the family now too. Didn’t that kind of make it her business?

  No. She wasn’t about to tell Alex how he should handle his family, but she hated to see him like this. That didn’t mean she was out of options, though. Ashley ran a hand through her hair before she reached forward to take the bottle out of his hand.

  “What are you doing?” he asked as she bent to set the bottle on the coffee table.

  “This isn’t good for you.”

  She pivoted to face him, and his eyes darkened when he realized her intent. His hand reached out and touched the bare thigh right below where the short nightgown ended. “This is nice,” he said. She assumed he was talking about the nightgown and not her thigh, but at this point he might be referring to everything.

  “I wanted to wear something nice for you.” She didn’t have any overly sexy lingerie yet because her budget online shopping expedition hadn’t included sexy negligees, but this basic cotton pink nightgown was low-cut and super short and obviously enough to catch Alex’s attention once there wasn’t whiskey.

  “I’m a moron,” he breathed.

  The corner of her mouth hooked up. “Why would you ever say that?”

  “Because I didn’t tell you how fucking sexy you look the second I walked through the door.”

  Ashley came closer, setting a knee on either side of his waist as she straddled him. “Well, you have plenty of time to make up for that.”

  He set his hands on her hips, the material of the nightgown bunching between them. Except they both knew that the cotton material wasn’t any barrier between her and his already hardening erection.

  From this position, her head was higher than his, and she kind of liked it. For once she could look down at him. Stare closely into those beautiful eyes. Run her fingers over the stubble of his jaw. Memorize all of her new husband’s features. “Alex, I need to tell you something.”

  His hands started to travel up her body, outlining the curve of her waist and then coming over the front of her arms to hook his thumbs in the strap of her nightgown. “Hmm?” He leaned forward to press a kiss against her shoulder as he pushed the strap over and down.

  Ashley sucked in a breath as she tried to remember what she wanted to say. “This doesn’t feel fake.”

  “It better not.” He pushed at the other strap. “Because I’ve had a shitty day and if you think you’re not going to come for me at least three times, you’re sorely mistaken.”

  Her heart beat faster just thinking of the sexual promise in the words. Words. Right. She was saying something. “I mean the marriage. It doesn’t feel fake. I think we can really have something here.”

  As the straps went down, each of her nipples came free, and Alex pres
sed a kiss to the valley between her breasts. “Good,” he said simply.

  Not exactly the reaction she was looking for. Before she could question him, he cupped her breasts. They were a little too small to truly be a handful, but he didn’t seem to mind. He flicked the tips of the erect nipples with his thumb and oh so slowly moved his head closer until he finally took one of the taut peaks in his mouth.

  Ashley’s eyes drifted shut as the sensations shot through her and she had to drag herself out of the sensual haze. “You don’t sound surprised,” she forced out between breaths.

  He pulled away from her breasts and looked up, meeting her eyes. “This has been real for me from the second you showed up at my doorstep, Ashley. It’s about time you knew I was never letting you go.”

  A rush of confusion and joy and lust mixed within her. This all seemed too...good. She’d lived her entire life on the edge of luxury but always feeling as though she was an imposter or a fake or didn’t belong. It was the reason Nathan pegged her as a bad influence from the second he knew she was back in Alex’s life. It was the reason she believed him when he told Alex that he should run far and fast.

  But if she loved Alex, and Alex was honestly telling her that he was never letting her go...he believed it was real too. He wanted her and not just as some trophy wife. Not just as arm candy to show off. Not just because he was too nice to say no. He wanted her. She could do this. She could be the woman in the mirror who could have it all.

  Abruptly, she pulled herself out of Alex’s arms. He shot her a look of annoyance, but he loosened his grip and allowed her to go. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “I just remembered that I was doing this to cheer you up.” The nightgown straps were still around her arm, pushing her breasts farther up and out. A much sexier effect than she could’ve ever imagined. Trying to maximize the effect, she knelt down in front of him, pushing her arms in as she ran her hands up his thighs and giving her solid B cups extra oomph. Alex’s eyes were glued to her breasts as she reached the belt buckle and made quick work of undoing it. As soon as the belt was undone, he helped her pull his pants and his boxer briefs down in a quick motion, allowing his rock-hard cock to spring free.