“Let’s just get Xav, okay? I can’t deal with anything else right now.”
Eric ignored my hand and tugged me into his arms properly.
“You can take a minute,” he whispered into my hair. “You’re so strong, hellcat, but it’s okay to take a second to breathe.”
So I did. I clutched him tightly and took several deep breaths, calming my nerves with each one. Getting through this shit was the only way forward. And I could take it one step at a time.
Pulling away, I stared up at Eric. This man had been my rock in so many ways since I’d arrived, even if things had gone wrong between us several times. My heart was full looking at him, thumping against my chest with a steady rhythm.
“I don’t know how to thank you enough or show my appreciation. I hope you know how much you mean to me, E. I couldn’t survive this without you.”
His eyes grew soft.
“Ash…”
“No, I mean it. You’re such an amazing person. Don’t ever let anyone make you think differently. You never need to be like the others. You’re special in your own way and I adore that about you.”
He leant down, bringing one hand up to cup my cheek.
“I shouldn’t say this right now, not with all the crazy shit that’s going on, but… I’m falling for you.”
Tears welled in my eyes and I blinked them back.
“I’m falling for you too.”
He kissed me then, pouring out all of his appreciation into those few moments we were locked together. The world melted away and for a second, I was wrapped up in him and nothing else. Then he pulled away and it was gone. A fleeting feeling which I couldn’t afford to hold on to when the world was in such disarray.
I took his hand and the two of us made our way back to the ward. It was time to face the fucking music. And I wasn’t looking forward to it one bit.
Chapter 2
As soon as Eric and Ash left, Julian’s eyes turned dark and sinister. As if he’d put on an act when I had Eric by my side and now he was showing his true colours. It was only a matter of time until he dropped the fucking act. I knew my father too well. He hadn’t changed in the intervening years. He’d never felt remorse for what he’d done to my mother and Katie. He was dead inside. A man with no soul.
“I know who she is.”
The words out of his mouth made my heart stop. I eyed the guard because we couldn’t have this conversation with him here. I took a step towards him.
“Do you mind giving us a minute?”
The guard eyed me and Julian as of assessing whether to leave me alone with him. He was handcuffed to the bed. Not like he was going anywhere fast.
“I’ll be right outside the curtain.”
The moment he left and the curtain was back in place, I moved closer to Julian.
“What do you mean you know who she is?” I hissed.
I’d known bringing Ash here was a risk. Now Quinn was going to kill me and Eric for allowing Julian a glimpse of our girl.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I just needed her with me. She kept me from losing my shit along with Eric. The two of them were my rocks. I couldn’t cope without them.
“How could I not, Xavier? Isabella Russo is a hard woman to forget. I might have been in prison most of her life, but that is a very grown up Ashleigh Russo if I’m not mistaken. My question is why are you involved with her? You hate that family and everything they represent.”
I’d made no secret to Julian how much I despised what he did for the Russos. It sickened me to think of the people he’d executed for them. Whilst Julian never directly worked for Frank, he’d met the man once or twice.
“It’s none of your fucking business why I’m involved with Ash.”
There was no point denying who she was. Julian wasn’t stupid. This is exactly why Quinn hadn’t wanted to let Ash come here.
He is literally going to kill me and Eric with his bare hands.
“Isn’t it? You’re still my son.”
“Some fucking father you are. I should let you rot.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“But you won’t.”
I hated it. Hated him being right. No matter what, I couldn’t abandon him completely, even if the knowledge made me sick. I paced away, unable to look at him any longer. His bed was next to the window, so I stared out into the night sky. Sometimes I wished I could see the stars, but the light pollution in London often prevented it. The city loomed below me. The place I’d grown up but sometimes felt suffocated by. I put my hand on the window frame and wondered how in a city of millions I could still feel alone. The only time I ever felt at home was with the boys and Ash. They were the only people in this world I needed from now until the end.
“You might be behind bars, Julian, but I’m not convinced you dropped your contacts completely. What do you want in exchange for your silence about Ash?”
“Why are you involved with her?”
A fucking question indeed. It wasn’t meant to happen. None of us were meant to fall in love with Ashleigh Russo. She was supposed to be a means to an end. Instead, she’d turned our lives upside down and inside out. She was the fucking beginning and the end. She was everything. And she was ours.
“We stole her from Frank intending to use her against him, but as you can see, it didn’t quite turn out that way.”
“What exactly is this relationship between the three of
