Behind the Secrets (Behind the Lives #4) (22 page)

L laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“I
love
the way you talk.”

Ash’s eyebrows rose. “Most people tell
me off for it. And
love
?”

“You know what I mean,” L said,
downplaying the word, although he loved everything about Ash.

“No, enlighten me, cos honestly, I get
told off a lot for what I say.”

“You’re honest, that’s what I like. Most
people don’t speak their minds, whereas you do. It’s why we got on so well,
plus you’re a very caring person.”

Ash smiled wide, making L smile back.
Tiana placed a cup of tea in front of L, pulling his attention away from Ash.
He hadn’t even realised she’d re-entered the room, Ash captivating him
completely.

Tiana frowned down at L. “I agree with
Angelo, you do look like a model. You really are beautiful, Llewellyn.”

“Thank you, and you’re beautiful too.”

Tiana let out a little laugh, her hands
going to her hips. “That’s sweet of you to say, but I’m nowhere near
beautiful.”

Ash pushed up out of his seat. “Oh, yes
you are, you’re the most beautiful woman in the world.” He wrapped his arms
around her from behind and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Tiana turned her head towards him,
giving him a chaste peck on the lips. L smiled as Tiana refocused on him,
although his chest was hurting, the reality of never attaining Ash hitting home
even more. Though, he wouldn’t show it, because if anything, he was happy that
Ash was smiling so brightly.

A knock rattled the front door. Ash let
go of Tiana and walked over to it. He pulled the door open, grunting, “What the
hell are you doin’ ’ere?” his lovely demeanour instantly replaced with a
threatening one.

A soft voice replied. “I needa talk to
you ’bout Saul again.”

“No, I’ll deal with it after the trial,
so bugger off. You’re not welcome here.”

“Don’t be like that, Ash. You could at
least be cordial towards me, after all I’m havin’ Dante’s baby. That’s another
thing I wanted to talk to you about. You’re gonna be my child’s uncle, so we
need to bury all the animosity between us.”

“That’s if it’s even Dante’s child.
Again, I wouldn’t put it past you to cheat on him. Once a cheater, always a
cheater.”

“Ash! I wouldn’t cheat on Dante.”

“So, I’m mud am I? The type that should
be cheated on?”

“No, it wuzn’t like that, I never meant
it to happen, and I genuinely love Dante. So, please, can you at least be
cordial and not say such horrible things. Dante’s proposed to me and I know
he’ll want you at the wedding, so we hafta learn to get along.”

Ash sneered. “He’s already married to
Kara, and if I wuz him, I wouldn’t divorce her for you. You’re not even half the
woman she is. He should be with her, not you.”

“Ash, stop bein’ so cruel.”

“I will as soon as you leave my
property.”

“I can’t, I really do needa talk to you
’bout Saul—in private.”

“No. Leave.”

“Not until we work things out, you owe
me that much.”

“I owe you nuthin’!”

“Why do you hafta be so difficult?”

“I’m not the difficult one,
you
are. Get it into your thick head I don’t want you anywhere near me.”

“But this is important.”

“Yeah, cos you’re the centre of the
fuckin’ universe.”

“This isn’t just ’bout me, and I won’t
leave until you hear me out.”

Tiana walked over to the door. “Beth,
please respect Ash’s wishes.”

“Why can’t he respect mine?”

“Cos you don’t deserve respect,” Ash
spat.

“I don’t understand why you hafta be so
hard on me, Ash. I wuz just a rebound for you, someone to fill in until you got
Tiana back. And you think
I
wuz the cheat? You cheated on me every
second you were with me, cos your heart wuz always with Tiana. You should never
have said yes to goin’ out with me. What did you expect to happen? For me to
stay true to you when you weren’t true to me?”

 “I don’t give a shit ’bout your
opinions after you slept with my brother.”

“You forgave him.”

“Cos I love him, whereas you could drop
dead for all I care.”

“Oh, God!” Beth said loudly, retching
sounds following.

Ash stepped back, his face disgusted.
“Don’t puke on my lawn! Get the hell off my property!”

Tiana tugged on Ash’s arm. “Go sit with
Llewellyn, I’ll help Beth.”

“Just get her to leave. I’ve had enough
of lookin’ at her skank-ho face.” Ash turned and headed over to L.

L peered around Ash, recognising Dante’s
partner. She looked much sicker than the last time he saw her, her soft caramel
complexion considerably paler, the woman looking like she wanted to throw up
again.

Ash sat down next to L. “Ignore her,
it’s my lying, cheating ex.”

L continued to stare at the woman,
thinking she was mad for cheating on someone like Ash ... though, his words had
been cruel, Ash looking scary while talking to her.

“Please can I use your bathroom,” Beth
said.

“Yes,” Tiana replied.

“No, I told you to get rid of her,” Ash
piped up.

Tiana turned to Ash, her expression
stern. “Stop being a nasty man, Ashley Rata. She’s sick and has your brother’s
child inside of her. You could at least let her use the bathroom.”

“But she—”

“No, buts, you’re taking things too far.
For goodness’ sakes, she’s pregnant, you unfeeling oaf.”

“You don’t like her either.”

“And I’m not liking you right now, so be
quiet while I help her.” Tiana turned and assisted Beth through the passageway
door.

Ash shook his head. “Tiana’s too soft.
You give Beth an inch and she’ll take a mile. I don’t know how I lasted so long
with her, I really don’t.”

“Why did you have a break with Tiana?” L
asked, more than a little curious.

“She left me for a while cos I couldn’t
quit my job.”

“What job would make her leave you? And
why couldn’t you quit?”

Ash grimaced. “I’d rather not talk ’bout
it.”

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t meant to pry.”

“No worries, my past just sucks. I just
wish I could keep Beth in my past too, but she’s like a bad smell that won’t go
away. I really don’t trust her. She slept with Dante while we were still
together, and I wouldn’t put it past her to do the same to Dante. That baby
could be anyone’s.”

“She appears to really love Dante.”

“I still don’t trust her, and if that
kid comes out lookin’ like anyone other than Dante, I will demand a paternity
test.”

Noise came from the passageway. L looked
up to find Beth staring at Ash in horror.

“The child
is
Dante’s,” she said.

Ash looked over his shoulder at her.
“We’ll see ’bout that, cos as I wuz telling Llewellyn, you’re having a
paternity test after the birth if that baby doesn’t resemble my bro.”

She lifted her chin. “The child will
either look like me or Dante, and that decision is to be made by him,
not
you. You’re not the father, so you have no say.”

“I didn’t say I wuz, and thank God we
used protection, cos there’s no way in hell I’d want a kid with you. Christ, I
can’t even stand bein’ in the same room as you, so leave and don’t come back.
I’ll deal with Saul, then that’s it, we have no more contact.”

“What ’bout your nephew or niece?”

“I can see the child, just not when
you’re around.”

“You are horrible! I hate you!”

“The feeling’s mutual, so piss off.”

Beth ran for the door, tears streaming
down her cheeks. L looked over at the passage as Tiana leaned against the
doorway, shaking her head at Ash. “You really are callous.”

“No, I’m unforgiving.” Ash looked at L.
“So, now that bitch has gone, you wanna stay for dinner? Tiana’s a great cook.”

L nodded, still in shock at Ash’s
behaviour. One second he was lovely, the next he was vicious. L didn’t know
what to think—other than he never wanted to get on Ash’s bad side.

Ash smiled at him. “Cool, and since you
like playing the guitar, I’ll get my electric ones so we can jam.”

“You play?”

“Yeah, after you left you sort of
inspired me to start.”

“I did?” L said, feeling good he’d had
an influence on Ash.

“Yup, plus I like singing too, so it’s
good to get the guitar out and just have a sing-along instead of always
watching TV.” He pushed to his feet. “Stay here; I’ll go get my guitars so we
can jam.”

L watched Ash disappear through the back
doorway. His eyes went to Tiana, who was looking at him with a quizzical expression.

“Is there something wrong?” L asked.
“Because if you don’t want me to stay, I can go.”

She shook her head. “It’s not that, I’m
happy for you to stay for dinner.”

“Then what?”

“You still love Ash, don’t you?”

L grimaced. “Only as a friend.”

Tiana gave him a knowing look. “I don’t
believe that for a second. So, what are your intentions? Cos I’m not willing to
lose him again.”

“
I wouldn’t
dream of breaking your family up, Tiana. Plus, Ash isn’t interested in me like
that. I’m a male to him, no matter what I look like. He’s also totally in love
with you. I can see it
in the way he touches and talks to you.”

Tiana smiled. “You can see that?”

“Yes, which is why I wouldn’t even try
to come between you two. I just want Ash to be happy, and he seems very happy
with you.”

She walked over and sat down next to L.
“You’re still a sweetheart, do you know that?”

L smiled. “No, I just want what’s best
for the people I care about.”

“I wish more people were like you, and
if you like how Ash looks, you should try goin’ out with Dante. He can’t keep
his hands to himself, so I doubt he’ll be with Beth or Kara for much longer.”

L’s eyes widened. “I don’t think so;
he’s gotten that woman pregnant. Not only that, Kara is acting like she owns
him, plus Jade would skin me alive. No thank you. Besides, Dante scares me.”

“How? Cos Ash is much more aggressive
than Dante. Dante’s the goofy, easy-goin’ one.”

“He was in a mental hospital.”

“He’s still the easy-goin’ one, and also
needs a good woman. He always seems to attract the bitches.”

“One, I’m not a woman, and two, maybe he
likes the bitches, because he is rather rude.”

Tiana smiled. “Yes, he’s very rude. That
one has no filter to what he says. Still, you should give Dante a try. Maybe
you’ll be the one to settle him down; God knows you’re good-lookin’ enough for
that woman magnet.”

“Which is why he wouldn’t go with me, he’ll
want a real woman.”

“Dante’s open-minded. He may not like
men, but if a male looks like a woman, he will hit on them.”

“I did notice that. He keeps calling me
gorgeous and staring at my breasts.”

“Looks like he’s attracted to you, then,
so give him a try.”

L shook his head. “Still not interested,
I’d rather be alone.”

“No one would rather be alone.”

“Not true, I do.”

“If Ash wuz free and wuz into you, would
you be alone then?”

L grimaced.

“I thought so, so stop limiting
yourself. Find a man—”

“I like women too.”

Tiana’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re bi?”

L nodded. “It doesn’t matter what gender
someone is, I’m attracted to beautiful people.”

“Okay, then find a good man
or
woman
and be happy.”

“I’m happy by myself,” L held up a hand
to stop her from saying more, “but if I find the right person or persons, I
will be happy to start a relationship.”

“Persons?”

“I’m open to having more than one
partner, because it’ll be unfair to limit someone since I’m not particularly
sexual. I prefer companionship more.”

“That’s sweet.”

“What’s sweet?” Ash cut in.

L looked up, seeing Ash carrying in two guitar
cases, plus an amp.

“Llewellyn,” Tiana said. “He’s a
sweetheart.”

“Yeah, Louie’s a good bloke,” Ash said,
using the name he’d called L when they were younger.

L frowned, for the first time not liking
being called a male. Instead, he wished Ash saw him as a woman – the dream of
still being with the man hard to shake. L refocused on Tiana, knowing he needed
to shut that thought down, not only for Ash’s sake, but also for his own.

His mind went to Dante, wondering...