BOOK ONE
Ashley Wilson
There are those who say fate is something beyond our command. That destiny is not our own, but I know better. Our fate lives within us, you only have to be brave enough to see it. Marrying a stranger wasn't the best decision I...
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***
I'll be at the venue in twenty.
Blake You should have been here half hour ago.
I'm on my way, aren't I?
Blake You'll be the death of me.
***
"Can you stop fidgeting," I ask as politely as possible, I don't even need to look up to see Ashley moving around beside me. As the car begins to move, I watch how her expression slowly changes. It's almost a sense of realization, the realization that this is true. That the situation we're in is real. "I'm nervous," Ashley finally announces, "no need to be," I say as I turn my phone off to avoid my brothers.
"No need to be?" Ashley scoffs at my statement, "I'm a home-wrecker," she lists, "you should have gotten married this morning." Note to self, the next time I marry in Vegas, choose the quiet ones. But I know I wouldn't have married anyone other than Ashley Wilson, she just doesn't know that yet.
"I did get married," I state as I look up but not to glance at Ashley, "last night." As we sit in silence I suddenly realize that this is real, very real. I have the girl I've wanted for the past six years, ever since I saw her older sister, Emilia Wilson at some event. The moment I found out Emilia had a younger sister, I knew she was the one for me. Yet, I knew my brothers were going to kill me if I made a move.
Kian and Blake aren't stupid, the second they find out Ashley is Emilia Wilson's younger sister, they'll figure it out. The three of us know that Kian won't be allowed to touch a hair on Ashley Wilson, and that's not just because she's now family. Ashley will be pissed when she finds out, but for now, I'm happy.
I know it's wrong, I'm using the only person, I've ever cared about to help me. I should have gotten married to Elena Capello this morning, and tied The West to New York, I should have gone through with it. Yet, with Ashley Wilson planning on leaving the country, I knew I had to do something to get out of this union. I could lie and say I took Elena's thoughts, and feelings into consideration, but I didn't.
The decision to persuade Ashley Wilson to visit Vegas through her friend was selfish of me, what's worst? Marrying the only person I could ever imagine being married to, and lying about it. I should have been honest, but how do you go about explaining you know near enough everything about another person? I had invaded her privacy, and again it links to her older sister.
The rest I found out about Ashley was because I saw Emilia Wilson at some event, it didn't help that Kian told me at the age of eighteen to stay away from her. So when I looked her up, I found her younger sister. Ashley Wilson was eighteen when I first saw her in a coffee shop in her hometown. It was wrong of me to go looking for her, but I had to know, and now I do. I know that Ashley Wilson will be the person I'll spend the rest of my life with.
