I shouldn’t let myself get used to being cared for like this, especially not after what happened tonight, but I can’t help it.
Letting Asher care for me is as easy as breathing, and I don’t want to waste a single second.
Once he’s finished, he passes me my toothbrush, already laden with minty paste, and busies himself letting out the bathwater and cleaning up while I brush my teeth.
“Ready for bed?” he asks, resting his hands on my hips and chin on the top of my head.
Staring at our reflection in the mirror does little to calm my raging emotions, because why do we have to look so perfect together? I fit against his chest like I was made to be right here, but maybe it’s just my hopeful heart readying my downfall again.
“Stay with me tonight?” I whisper, nerves swimming low in my belly.
“Like I’d be able to leave you.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ROWAN
This is the last place I feel like being right now.
The look on Hannah’s face as she fled that room is going to feature in my nightmares for the rest of my life. I’ve seen men killed in some of the most gruesome ways possible and have never seen their faces when I close my eyes, but my girl’s tears?
Fuck.
I rub my chest, but it does nothing to dispel the ache that’s settled there.
Asher texted a little while ago to let me know he was staying with her, and as relieved as I am that she hasn’t completely shut him out, I’m also jealous as hell. There’s nothing I wouldn’t give to hold her while she sleeps, to protect her from the world while she rests, but our time will come.
Sooner rather than later, if this little meeting of the assholes is anything to go by.
Strip clubs are not my scene. Never have been, never will be, but I find myself in a booth in the corner, sipping cheap whiskey while watching Jeffrey Malone sweet-talk a table full of prospective husbands for his granddaughter.
I had hoped he would stop his search once he had his initial short list, but it seems he’s making sure he gets the most out of this match.
Hannah is the last heir to the Malone empire, but it would be a cold day in hell before her grandfather would even consider handing her the keys to the kingdom.
It doesn’t matter that she finished top of her class at Yale last fall. The fact that she doesn’t have a penis swinging between her legs cuts her from contention.
Maybe that’s what he’s looking for. Someone he trusts to take over the reins.
That’s why he forced Marianne to marry me. He thought he could manipulate me, mold me in a way that would make him more comfortable with retiring.
But in the end, I wasn’t what either of them was looking for. One, because I had less than zero interest in that vapid snake, and two, because I run my own empire. I have no interest in anyone else’s.
I take another sip and drop my gaze to my phone. They’re probably asleep right now, but that doesn’t ease the disappointment.
The only person who looks less thrilled to be here than I am is the woman Jeffrey has perched on his lap. Her long blonde hair rests over her bare tits, her fake smile plastered across her lips, but her eyes tell an entirely different story.
When my contact called to let me know this meeting was going ahead tonight, I was halfway home and more than ready to put this day behind me. But it’s important for us to know who we’re up against, and Hannah always comes first.
She’s always the priority.
A topless waitress stops at the edge of the table, cutting off my view of the other side of the room. “Can I get you anything else, handsome?” she asks.
I shake my head. “No, thanks. Just the check.”
She nods and drops the piece of paper on the table before sauntering to the next table.
I drop cash on top, enough to cover my two drinks and a sizable tip before pushing myself out of the booth and heading for the door.
