The guys place the door against the wall and advance on me just as I pull out, spread her ass cheeks, and come all over them.
“You selfish motherfucker!” Jase yells, grabbing me by the shoulders and pulling me off the bed. The jocks have reversed roles, it seems.
I stumble back, laughing and ducking as his arm swings for me. My reflexes are dulled by the alcohol sluicing through my veins, and I’m guessing the guys are the same. We all consumed a lot of booze today. We throw a few sloppy punches, and then Chad joins in, and it’s kind of a free-for-all as Ashley stands behind us, yelling at us to stop.
“What in the actual fu—” Bree stops mid-sentence in the doorway when she sees what she’s walked in on. Her eyes flit between us, the screws, hinges, and screwdriver on the floor outside, and the door propped against the wall. A bare-chested Knight Carter slams to a halt behind her, cursing and covering his eyes when he spots his naked sister.
“You see what I have to deal with?” Ash asks, rubbing at her temples.
“Welp,” Bree says, grinning wide. “I’ll leave you to it.”
ChapterForty
Ashley
I’m yawning and struggling to walk in a straight line as we follow the guard along a wide hallway at Luminary HQ the next morning. To say I had an eventful wedding night would be an understatement.
After Knight and Bree left, I took Jase’s and Chad’s hands and led them out of Ares’s bedroom. Ares was calling after me, but I ignored him. After the stunt he pulled, he’s lucky I didn’t let the guys beat the absolute shit out of him like I know they wanted to.
The guys wouldn’t let me apologize. They are laying all the blame squarely at Ares’s feet. I wanted to get the night back on track, so we locked the door, and then I made sweet, sweet love to them, one at a time, until we collapsed in a sweaty heap of tangled limbs sometime after four a.m.
Jase and I woke first this morning, and I fucked him in the shower. When we stepped out, Chad was jerking off against the wall, having watched us together, and it felt like old times. Chad took me on the counter in the bathroom, and then I needed another shower.
Rhett sent a car for us, along with a couple of his goons, to take us to Luminary HQ for the board meeting, and there wasn’t time to even grab coffee let alone discuss what happened last night. It’s a conversation we’ll be having when we’re all back at the townhome later. Ares does not get to do that. I know he doesn’t have experience with relationships, and he doesn’t want to share, but this will not work if he continues to be a selfish motherfucker.
As much as it hurts me to think it, I don’t know if Ares can handle this.
I won’t let him manipulate or monopolize me.
If he can’t change, there is no future for him in our relationship.
Pain tightens my chest even thinking about letting him go, but I won’t have Chad and Jase undermined because of Ares’s jealous possessive streak.
I deliberately push those sentiments to one side and get my head in the game. Today is too important to let our personal issues get in the way. At least on the outside, we need to look like a team. Everyone understands, and our shit has been parked until later.
Chad isn’t permitted to attend the board meeting. He hasn’t sworn an oath yet, and we know Carter wouldn’t back down, so we don’t protest. Pick your battles and all that. Chad will take our bags back to the townhome and wait for us there. Jase has hired a couple of private security guards to travel with Chad to ensure he is safe. None of us trust Carter not to pull something.
The ride over was silent for the most part with lots of looks being traded and tension thick in the air. Bree is dying to know what happened, and I need to quiz her over my brother. Knight was gone this morning when we all came downstairs, but it seems obvious they slept together. I wonder if it was just a casual one-night-stand, or if there is more to it.
* * *
“Wait here,” the guard says, opening the door to a small room and ushering us inside. A wide rectangular window resides in front of two green leather couches. A couple of end tables and a coffee machine and water cooler dispenser are the only other fixtures in the room. “Mr. Carter will be with you shortly,” he says before leaving and closing the door behind him.
Jase steps up to the window and looks through it. “That’s the boardroom down there.” He taps on the glass. “This is the observation room. We can see them, but they can’t see us.”
Joining him at the window, we look down at the room below. It’s a long, wide rectangular space with a glossy mahogany table in the center. Twelve high-backed black leather chairs are evenly spaced around the table, all currently vacant. Various plaques and framed photos adorn the walls. Wall hangings with the various Luminary symbols drape from the ceiling at the far back of the space. A side table holds tea and coffee along with bottles of water, plates of pastries, and bowls of fruit.
Two women in gray-and-white uniforms enter the room and begin setting it up, placing coffee cups, glasses, and other supplies on the table along with pens and pads.
Jase removes a small black device and scans the room for bugging equipment. He doesn’t find any but still cautions us. “It doesn’t appear to be bugged, but I suggest we keep talking to a minimum.” He reels me into his arms, and I rest my head on his chest as Bree and Ares fix coffee for the four of us. Tension is evident on our faces and in the bleak silence. We know what Rhett hopes to achieve today, but none of us know exactly how he plans to go about it.
I sit beside Jase on one couch while Ares and Bree sit on the other. Jase has his arm around my shoulders, and we are nursing coffees and our thoughts when the door opens and Rhett steps inside. Our heads move as one to look at him.
“I need you to remain here until I signal for you to join us. I have a guard stationed outside the room to escort you when the time comes.”
“What role are we to play?” I hate being blindsided.
“You will say nothing unless asked to speak. For the most part, your presence will be there to prove you are in agreement with the plans and willing to do whatever is necessary to ensure there is no disruption to Luminary control.” He drills us all with a look. “Do not step out of line or attempt to pull any funny business.” His gaze dances between me and Ares. “I assume I don’t need to remind you of the consequences if you cross me.”
