Figure Eight (Celtic Knot Book 2) (26 page)

“Nothing, never mind. So, word has it you broke into the club last night.” Her forceful accusation filtered through me, and I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck and my arms stand at attention. This conversation was not heading in a good direction, in fact, far from it. She looked at me expectantly, demanding that I answer with just a bat of her eyes.

“I-uh…”

“Save the denial, Ashley. I know you were there. Dominic already told everyone,” she said as she looked at her perfectly manicured scarlet fingernails.

“Well then why are you asking me if I was there if you already knew?” I threw back at her starting to feel irritated.

“I didn’t ask. I stated fact. You would do better to listen. I also heard that he made you safe word. I always knew you were weak. The first night you walked into my club, I knew you would be too fragile and delicate to withstand the lifestyle. But then you went and did the impossible. You made a man who had no feelings, no emotions, and fall desperately in love with you. Tell me, Ashley how exactly did you do that? How did you manage to get your conniving and deceiving claws into Dominic, hmm?”

I sat back letting my backside connect to the arm of the sofa as I stared at her in disbelief. The gall of this woman to come into my home and accuse me of being conniving and deceiving. In her eyes though, I was for what I did to Dominic and Knox, so her sticking up for them was only natural and I couldn’t hate her completely for that.

“I didn’t do it on purpose, Victoria. I had no clue that he would develop feelings for me, just like I had no plan to fall for him.”

“Ah, but you did. Then you ripped the beating heart right out of his chest and for what? Personal gain? Money? What was it?” she asked accusingly with disdain dripping from her voice. How did I answer her? I couldn’t tell her that I did it out of love and protection for three of the most important people in my life. I did it because I wanted no harm to come to them because I knew that sadistic son-of-a bitch Asher would follow through with his threats. The man enjoyed inflicting pain on people. I wouldn’t put it past him to kill someone.

“Do you want to know what I think?” she asked nonchalantly.

“By all means, Victoria, what do you think?” She looked at me as if pondering whether to even answer me. My irritation started to rise as well as the discomfort of my nauseous stomach. I clenched the pillow tighter trying to alleviate both of them by the time she started to speak.

“Like I said, you are weak. You have no fucking backbone. You didn’t even stand up for yourself when your friends were threatened. You didn’t stand up for yourself when you were told to plant that evidence last night. You just did it. Like a good little bitch.”

My jaw hit the floor as I tried to process what she just said to me. How did she know that Dominic, Knox, and Kelly were threatened? And how in the hell did she know about the evidence file that I put in the file cabinet at the club?

“Speechless I see,” she said contemptuously. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to process the fact that she knew. And then suddenly it came to me. She
knew
. She knew about all of it.

“How do you know about all of that?” I whispered. Her wicked laugh rang in my ears like a loud warning bell, bouncing off of my eardrums with an unpleasant utterance.

“Stupid, stupid, girl. I’d have thought you would have figured it out by now, especially with those two fucking idiots Asher and Drake.

It all became very clear to me in that moment. The times Asher and Drake referred to their “boss.” The many times they whispered between each other when they didn’t think I was hearing about so-in-so not liking something, or that so-in-so would be pleased.

“You.”

“And she finally gets it ladies and gentleman,” she scoffed.

“Why the fuck would you do this to Dominic and Knox, Victoria? Why would you betray them like that after all that they did for you?” I said. I shot to my feet and threw the pillow down on the couch in anger.

“I didn’t betray them, you did.” She announced like I didn’t know what I had done.

“Because I was forced to!”

“No one forced you to do it, doll. It was a choice you made.”

“You threatened the lives of my friends. What was I supposed to do?”

“For starters, you never should have set foot in my club. If it weren’t for you, things would have gone a completely different direction. I have worked tirelessly for years to help Dominic break past his walls. I put in years of friendship and self-sacrifice to help him realize that I was the one for him, but then you came along and in an instant you got through to him.”

She’s in love with him. He wasn’t with her.

“You can’t make someone love you, you know that right?” I bit out sarcastically. I rounded the coffee table to put some distance from the woman who had destroyed my life and myself. It was taking every ounce of strength within me to not go to her and beat her to a bloody pulp. My head pounded as the sound of my heartbeat rang in my ears. I had to keep calm. If I were pregnant, the last thing I needed was for things to get physical between her and me, no matter how tempting it would be to bash her face in.

“It wasn’t about making him love me; it was about him
realizing
that he is. You see, I am the only woman who he has allowed to be close to him. Everyone else has always been kept at an arms distance, but he accepted me, leaned on me and relied on me for things he didn’t seek out from others. He was just afraid to admit that he needed me.”

I threw my head back and laughed, a full, belly shaking laugh that had tears forming in my eyes. This was all some sort of sick joke.

“You realize how fucking delusional you sound? I’ve seen shit like this on TV, but to actually have it happen in real life is just, wow. You are one fucked up individual if that is the way your mind really works.”

She shot up off of the couch and was on me in an instant. I was involuntarily pressed up against the wall in the living room, and the force of it knocked the breath out of me. My back, arms and shoulders ached from the impact. Victoria had her forearm pressed up against my chest, locking me in place while her other hand was gripped firmly around my mouth and jaw.

“Listen you little fucking twit. You ruined
everything
for me. Years of progress thrown out the fucking window with one bat of your eyes. What the fuck does he see in you anyway? You are a skinny, fucking spineless blonde, who wouldn’t know what to do with a good dick when she sees it. I had to stop you. I had to stop him from falling deeper for you, before I lost him for good. The way to do that? Betray him. Just like he saw his father do to his mother every day. I knew it had to be something so vile, that he would drop you in an instant.” Hot breath and saliva spat from her mouth onto my face as she growled with a fierceness in her eyes that I had never seen before. To say I was frightened was an understatement as her fingernails dug into my face with enough strength to draw blood.

“Listen and listen good. You are going to testify in court and admit that you lied.
On the stand
. This way Nic and Knox don’t go to jail, you on the other hand, will.”

I looked her dead in the eyes. I didn’t want her to see my fear. Hell, she probably could smell it.

“Why the fuck would I do that?” I asked.

“You have no clue who you are messing with do you? See my ex used to beat the shit out of me. I learned pretty well how to defend myself. Since Nic helped me escape, I have always gone after what I want. What I want is Dominic. I want you out of his life. I want you to say it was all for the love of money. Drag yourself through the mud so deep you won’t be able to get out.”

“You’re out of your ever fucking mind if you think that is going to happen,” I spat back in her face. Her grip on me tightened as I struggled to break free of the strong arm she had on me.

“You know, Kelly and I have gotten quite chummy since you
betrayed
her and the boys. She confides in me, we go shopping, do lunch together. I’d hate it if something were to say,
happen
to her.”
      
“You sick bitch, you leave her alone!” I yelled in her face. My breathing came in short, quick breaths as she pressed her forearm even harder into my sternum.

“Looks like you are faced with another choice, Ashley. Are you going to choose to try to be with Dominic and lose your best friend, or will you choose your best friend and let her live? Decisions, decisions.” She tsked as she shoved away from me. My back slid down the wall as I sank to the floor and held my head in my trembling hands.

“I’ll see myself out,” she said as she made her way towards the door. Before she got there, the front door swung open and Kelly burst into the apartment. Tears that I was barely hanging onto, burst forth from my eyes silently, as I tried my damnedest to remain quiet so that I didn’t alarm Kelly.

“Hey, Kelly, we were just talking about you,” Victoria said with a smile in her voice making it sound like sugar when I knew it was made of poison.

“Hey, Vic, what are you doing here?” Kelly asked, as I had to watch my best friend hug the vile woman who had caused me more grief, more pain, and more anguish than anyone should have to endure in a lifetime.

“I came to talk to Ashley. I wanted to offer her my help. She is such a sweet girl. If she needed money so badly, I would have just given it to her. I just wanted to let her know that I was here if she needed anything. It just didn’t seem like her to do what she did to the boys.”

Kelly and Victoria released from their hug and Kelly looked at where I was on the floor.

“I don’t think she is feeling well, poor thing. She looks awful pale. She should get some rest. I hear there is a nasty bug going around,” Victoria said in fake concern. How the hell Kelly couldn’t see her derision of me was a miracle.

“I’m here now. I will help her to bed,” Kelly replied and I knew her statement was sincere. I felt sick to my stomach having to endure their “friendly” interaction before Victoria finally left. Kelly came over and sat next to me on the floor.

“Hey,” she said as she rubbed my arm. A comforting gesture she had done many, many times before. “Feel bad, huh?”

I just nodded, not wanting her to see my tears, and the possible nail marks on my face.

“I—uh—just left the club. The investigators are there doing their search. Dominic told everyone what happened last night when he found you at the club. Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said as I kept my head focused on the floor and my elbows resting on my knees to support it.

“Ash, why did you break into the club last night? Is that where you went last night when Knox and I got here?” she asked, not in an accusing tone, but more of a concerned best friend one.

I finally braved a glance at her from my red, swollen eyes and tear stained cheeks. The concern I saw in her eyes when ours connected nearly broke me. Having to choose between the man that I loved and my best friend was the hardest decision that I would ever have to make, but my heart already knew the answer and Victoria knew that. She knew whom I would choose, and she played that to her advantage. She was seriously fucked up in the head, I had no doubt she would go through with her threats.

“Hey, it’s ok. Come here,” she soothed as she reached for me and folded me into her arms. I hugged her back with such fervor that I could have crushed her.

“Ashley,
please
tell me what is going on with you.” Desperate, grave, sobs wreaked havoc on my body and I had to fight to maintain my breath. I didn’t have the opportunity to answer her because Rownan arrived at the apartment.

“I’m back, Ash. I got the test. Well, several in fact. Did you know they made digital ones now that say
pregnant
or
not pregnant
?”

Kelly broke our hug and her gasp nearly scared me to death.

“Oh my God, Ashley! Are you pregnant?”