Jase shrugs again. “I’m sure James has contingencies in place, and the board of directors will continue to run it.”
“No doubt Psycho Carter has a plan for it.” Bree rinses plates before stacking them in the dishwasher. She straightens up. “I’ll talk to Baz about Ares’s little sister and Ruben. See what he can find out and if he can set up a meet.”
“Be careful what you say,” Jase warns. “We can’t have anything getting back to Dad.”
“I’ll ensure Baz is discreet,” she says.
Jase wears the usual uncertain expression he always has when it comes to his older brother. It must say something he trusts him to do this though. I wonder if deep down Jase knows he can be trusted and just doesn’t want to admit he might have been wrong about Baz all these years.
Shaking the look off his face, he kisses my cheek as he gets up and walks to the refrigerator. He pulls out a beer for him and a water for me. I hate being on pain pills. I could kill for a vodka. Snatching some snacks, he jerks his head in the direction of the basement room. “Grab your takeout, and let’s talk downstairs.”
“Try to go easy on him,” Bree says when her brother has disappeared. “He has taken crazy risks to remain faithful to you, and he loves you so much.”
“I’ll try,” I agree, sliding off the stool. I grab two cartons and follow Jase downstairs.
It’s a little chilly down here, but Jase has ramped the temp up on the thermostat, and he’s put music on low in the background. I dump one carton on the coffee table before curling into a corner of the oversized couch with the other one.
“Want this?” Jase grabs a blanket from behind, holding it out to me, and I nod. He places it over my legs, tucking me in, and I get a whiff of his spicy cologne as he leans over me. It’s mixed with the citrusy smell of his bodywash, and I’m instantly nostalgic.
Jase smells like home.
The same way Chad does and Ares is starting to.
I’m probably overemotional today, but I need his arms around me stat.
“Jase? Can you hold me?”
“Absolutely.” He sits beside me as I set my carton down on the table. Lifting me up, he settles me on his lap, keeping the blanket wrapped around us. Burying my face in his neck, I inhale his comforting scent and wrap my arms around his strong body. His arms go around my back, and he presses his lips into my hair, dotting kisses all over my head. “I love you,” he whispers. “I love you forever, Ash.”
I still get a thrill hearing him say that because he only said it recently, and it’s still such a novelty. “I love you too.” I sit up a little so I can face him. “But you betrayed me, Jase, and it hurts so much.”
“Baby.” He cups my face tenderly. “I know I have kept stuff from you, and that’s not cool, but I haven’t cheated on you.”
I’m instantly pissed off. “I saw you!” My voice rachets up a few decibels. “I saw you in bed with her.Meredith.” I spit out her name over the messy ball of emotion clogging my throat.
“Ashley.” His face is serious as he stares at me. “I swear to you that I didn’t have sex with her. Think back. We were under the covers on purpose. We had our underwear on. I made itlooklike I was fucking her, but I wasn’t. If you don’t believe me, I’ll set up a meeting with her. You can ask her yourself.”
I don’t need to ask her. I see the truth written all over his face, and it slices a huge chunk off my anger and my hurt. “You kissed her.”
His face contorts. “It was only a peck.”
“I have seen you kissing other girls at parties.”
“More pecks, and that was necessary because Baz had to believe I was taking them upstairs to fuck them.”
I arch a brow. “You mean you didn’t fuck those thirteen girls you mentioned or anyone else?”
“I needed you to hate me, Ash. I needed you to stay away from me. Nix and Creed had already been hurt, and Chad could have died at that warehouse, and—”
I talk over him, cutting him short. “Wait up. What have Nix and Creed got to do with this?”
“My father told me if I didn’t stay away from you he would start hurting the people I love.” He brushes his fingers across my cheek. “I did mention all this in the ambulance, but you were heavily medicated, so I’m not surprised you don’t remember.”
A string of expletives leaves my mouth. “What the hell is wrong with these people? We’re all fucking doomed with these pricks in charge.”
Lifting my wrist, he plants his lips against my delicate skin. “They won’t be in charge for much longer, and we’re going to change things for the better. I hate Carter with every bone in my body, but if he gets us in a position where the next generation is in charge sooner and we can make positive changes, at least something good will have come out of it.”
“Bree will be happy,” I mutter, remembering her passion when speaking about the things she hopes to influence in a more modern Luminary world.
