SWNOVELS Acts of Grace: Part 2 – Chapter 28
“No, Ashley isn’t with me. Why are you asking, and have you checked with her detail?” William sounds equal parts panicked and pissed off, the lethal combination having my hackles rising.
“Yes, I’ve checked with her detail. I wouldn’t be asking you otherwise.” He spits out, the fury in his tone palpable through the receiver.
“You mean to tell me her detail lost track of her?!” It’s my turn to snarl. William can be pissed all he wants, but Ashley’s safety takes precedence. “Where the fuck do we hire these men, Rent-A-Cop? How in the hell have we managed to be number one in the nation when we can’t even keep track of one woman?”
William hisses into the phone, his breathing loud and fast. “This wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for your inability to keep your cock in your pants.”
“Excuse me? What did you just say?” The world stops and my breathing goes right along with it.
Did he find out about us? What does this have to do with Ashley’s security team?
“You heard me. If you just would’ve kept your dick in your pants, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Ashley would’ve never fallen in love with you, I never would have had to have told her the truth about you, and she never would’ve stormed out of my home like a bat out of hell, losing the fucking crew that was watching her.”
All of his words hit me at once, rolling around my head and making it difficult to breathe.
Despite the chaos taking over my brain, one thing sticks out louder than a two-year-old throwing a tantrum.
Ashley is missing.
She’s fucking missing.
“What, you’ve got nothing to say for yourself? How convenient.” William sneers, the sarcasm oozing from his voice.
“If you have something to say, say it.” I’ve had enough of his insinuations, there’s much more important shit at hand than playing the blame game.
“Why? Why did you have to go after my sister? After everything we’ve been through, you chose someone who was off-limits.”
I scoff, unable to believe my ears. “That’s rich, coming from you. Aren’t you best friends with Ren, Bella’s uncle? Oh, and isn’t Bella’s father one of our good friends too?”
William growls, his words coming out slow and deliberate. “I’m. No. Killer.”
I bellow out in laughter, unable to hold back from the utmost idiotic comment I’ve ever heard. “First, we’re in the business of killing, brother. You may not have done any killing with your own hands, but it’s part and parcel of what we do in the business. To wash your hands of what our duties may call for is absolutely blind or willfully ignorant.” I hear him begin to speak, but I’m not done. “Second, you damn well know I didn’t kill that girl. I knew you’d try and use that against me. I tried to warn Ashley—”
“Well, you clearly didn’t because the way she walked out of here she looked as if she’d lost her damn mind.”
My breathing picks up and my jaw clenches, “I should have been the one to tell her about that, William.”
He laughs sardonically, “You cannot be giving me shit right now. You fuck my sister, drag her into your perverted-ass-ways, ways that could end her life, and you dare give me shit?”
“I didn’t kill her!” I roar into the line, needing to remind myself of the truth just as much as he does. “She was all drugged out and died from an overdose… I didn’t know.” My fist slams into the wall, my knuckles cracking as they bust through the drywall.
“Are you sure about that, Titus? Are you one hundred percent sure you didn’t choke her to death?”
The fateful night keeps looping over and over again in my head. The lanky blond laying on the mattress, her lips tinged blue and her lifeless eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.
Closing my eyes, I take in a centering breath. I. Did. Not. Kill. Her.
My hand reaches down, touching her face but there’s no response. She’s no longer here. She’s gone.
The coroner report said she died from a heart attack induced by the drugs in her system. I. Did. Not. Kill. Her.
“Are you sure you want to try this?” I ask the blonde, needing to make sure she isn’t going to freak out halfway.
“Yes. I’ll do whatever, be whatever, and want whatever you want. So long as I get to tell the girls I bagged myself the T.” She lolls her head to side as she giggles, meanwhile I roll my eyes.
At school, our crew is known as WRATH. Each girl trying to make the rounds and bag every member in order to spell out the word WRATH, as if we were some sort of Pokémon card.
Whatever. At least I know it means she’ll be willing to try something new with me.
My hands shake as I tie her up the way I’ve learned, keeping her on all fours the entire time.
Once I’m done, I add the finishing touch. Adding a collar and clipping on a leash I grab her by the neck, laying her back onto the bed with the use of my hand alone.
I’m about to unzip my pants and make her suck me off when I see it. Her face. It’s devoid of any emotion. Not a shred of light to be found in those soulless eyes.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuuuuuck.
I try and shake her awake, but there is no response.
She’s as limp as a rag doll and her lips have already turned blue.
I know I was rough when I grabbed her by the neck, but surely that move alone couldn’t have done this…could it?
Not knowing what to do, I go find my new friends. One of them must know CPR or some shit. Maybe we can bring her back.
We have to bring her back.
“Titus!” William yells before mumbling, “Fucking hell. Titus! Are you there?”
“Yes, I’m here and I didn’t fucking kill her. But you knew that already.”
“I did.” I hear him sigh through the line, the rustling of fabric and the slamming of a car door playing in the background. “But unfortunately for Ashley, I didn’t get to that part.”
My blood turns into ice. “What do you mean, William?”
“I mean, I was having a heart to heart with my sister when she stormed out and didn’t let me finish explaining about you.” He blows out a breath before continuing. “I told her about you killing that girl, but I didn’t clarify that she may have also died from a drug overdose.”
I growl, “There is no maybe. The coroner said she died from a drug induced heart attack! How the fuck does that equate to me killing her?”
“You very well could have killed her with that asphyxiation kink of yours. At the very least you could’ve saved her if you weren’t too damn busy tying her up.”
My chest burns, feeling as if I’d just had a dagger rip it wide open. There it is, the truth of the matter.
I am a monster.
I could have saved her.
But I didn’t. Instead, I was so focused on my desire that I completely ignored the woman under my care.
I failed her.
Maybe William is right. I know I definitely don’t deserve Ashley, and I’ve lost myself so many times in her that it’s possible I could hurt that which I love the most.
William’s harsh voice cuts through my mental flogging, “We can talk about this later. Right now we need to search for my sister. I’ll assemble a new team. Meanwhile, we can all divide and search for her at the spots she frequents.”
“On it.” I end the call, not waiting for further instruction.
I don’t need to listen to him reprimand me or give me orders. If anyone knows where my little treasure will be, it’s me.
She’s my everything and there is no other man on this earth that would seek her out the way I can and will.
Ashley Hawthorne will be located and returned to safety, free from all harm.
That includes me.
I am a monster, and as much as I hate to admit it, William is right. Who’s to say that I won’t lose control with Ashley and hurt her in my lust induced fog?
As much as it pains me, I think it’s time I let her go.