“Well, she’s not really in a state to do anything right now,” I said quietly when no one else spoke.
“We can’t just do nothing,” Quinn replied, rubbing his face in frustration.
No, we couldn’t do nothing whilst we waited for Ash to calm down enough to make a decision. We had less than forty-eight hours. A ticking time bomb to our destruction.
“The only way the families will believe it is if they hear it from her personally, so I suggest you work out how to get them all together at once, or at least their representatives since it’s short notice. You might want to use what Ash gave us to persuade them.”
Quinn’s expression hardened, but he gave me a sharp nod. Regardless of what Ash wanted to do, we couldn’t afford to waste a moment.
“Right, you’re right. Xav, come with me, we’ll sort this shit out. I need to phone that fucking cunt and get him to tell me why he didn’t inform me of this impending disaster.” He waved at Ash and Rory. “Deal with this for me, please.” His voice was much softer as if he wished he could be there for her himself. “Make sure our girl gets what she needs.”
I realised whilst Quinn trusted Rory, there would come a point where he couldn’t cope with her clinging to him any longer. He had his limits and one look at his face told me he was close to reaching them. As much as he cared about Ash, she’d been with him all night. He needed time to himself.
“I’ve got this.”
Xav gave my shoulder a squeeze and dropped his head against mine for a moment before him and Quinn disappeared from the room. Quinn picked up the roses on his way. I didn’t think Ash needed to see the offending items again. Hell, they gave me the fucking creeps.
I turned to Rory who was looking more and more uncomfortable by the second.
“Um, clothes, right?”
He nodded and waved at his cupboards before pointing to the pile of clothes left on his sofa. I went over to his cupboards first and pulled him out a clean pair of boxers, jeans and a t-shirt. Then I collected Ash’s clothes. I dropped all of them on the bed before taking a seat. Ash was still crying, her sobs echoing around the room.
“Little star,” Rory whispered. “E’s going to help you get dressed, okay?”
She clung to him, shaking her head as if letting go would break her further. He gave me a pained look. I was going to have to take her away from him whether she wanted me to or not. I shifted closer and pulled back the covers, not wanting to make him more uncomfortable, but the fact they were both naked couldn’t be helped. I stroked her back, trying to show her it would be okay. Her body shook with the force of her wracking sobs.
“No,” she cried. “No. No. No. No.”
“I’m sorry, beautiful,” I told her as I wrapped my hands around her arms and pried her off Rory. “I’m really sorry.”
She fought against me weakly, but ultimately, she let me settle her in my lap and hold her against my chest.
“Shh, it’s okay.”
She hiccupped and buried her fists in my jumper.
Rory shifted away, grabbing the clothes I’d brought over for him. I kept my attention on Ash to give him some privacy. When he was dressed, he handed me the box of tissues from next to his bed. I pulled Ash’s face back and proceeded to mop it up despite the fact she was still crying. Her blue eyes were bloodshot and she looked like her world had fallen apart. She let me dress her in her pyjamas since I was going to tuck her up in my bed. I wanted her comfortable.
I cupped her cheek and stroked it with my thumb.
“You’re okay. We’re going to fix this, I promise.”
“I can’t,” she sobbed. “I can’t lose you.”
My beautiful girl, that will never happen. Not whilst I’m still breathing.
“You won’t. We’re not going anywhere.”
“He wants you dead. I can’t… I can’t…”
“Shh, shh.” I stroked her cheek again, wanting so desperately to take this pain away for her. “We’re right here, Ash. No one is losing anyone.”
I stood up with her cradled against my chest.
“Now, we need to give Rory some time, okay? I’m not going to leave your side, I promise.”
She gave me a small nod as more tears spilt down her cheeks.
“Tell him I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing for you to be sorry for,” came Rory’s voice from behind me. “I’ll come see you later.”
I looked over my shoulder at him. He seemed to be a little less agitated now she was with me.
“Ror,” she whimpered.
Next thing I knew, he’d come around the bed and was standing in front of us, staring down at Ash. She looked up at him with watery eyes, her bottom lip trembling.
“Everything’s okay,” he said quietly before leaning and down and pressing his lips to her forehead. “You’re mine and I’m yours, little star, always.”
When he pulled back, a fresh set of tears poured down her face but she smiled weakly at him as if she needed those words more than she needed air. I gave him a nod before walking out of his room with her. When we reached mine, I tugged back the covers and settled her in my bed. She curled up on her side after I wiped her face again, hugging the duvet to her chest.
“E…”
I sat next to her and stroked her shoulder.
“I’m right here, Ash.”
Her eyes peeked out at me cover the top of the covers, the rest of her face hidden.
“Is Quinn right? Am I the only one who can save us?”
I sighed and rubbed my thigh.
“I think so.”
I didn’t want to lie to her about it. We were in a shit situation. A life or death one. If Russo came after us with the backing of the families, we
