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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The gala is four days away, which means I need to decide whether or not I asked Ashley to help with Hunters plan.
If I don't, then I'll fuck up mine and Hunters relationship, and if I do, I worry that Ashley won't be pleased. She made it very clear where she stands on the whole kidnapping plan, so I very much doubt she would want to help and I am not going to force her despite what Hunter argued about me forcing her into marriage.
"Whatever you're about to do, don't," Kian says from across the room. I glanced up to watch as he poured himself another drink. "Why do you think I'm planning to do something?" I asked as he took a seat opposite me, the glass coffee table remains in the middle to keep us apart. "You're you, of course you're planning something," he said with a shrug as he placed his glass on the table before us.
My gaze traveled around the room, I've been here multiple times but I never took note in the decorations or anything. The walls are lined with a dark oak bookshelves filled with books along with many trinkets. His desk sits in front of the fireplace as that too is a darker shade of oak, unlike the rest of the things in his house, this room has a darker feel to it. Similar to my apartment, Lizzie decorated their house to have a lighter feel, the walls are white as the floor is a lighter shade of oak— it's clear the differences between the two.
"Well, I'm not," I say, returning my attention back to my brother. He continues to stare in a way I know many others would break and confess, clearly he doesn't know me very well. One thing our father did was create the fucked up parts of ourselves, in some aspects that's how Kian and I are the same. "How's Ashley?," Kian asked, "Lizzie worries you're growing distant from her," I scoffed at his words, and then I laughed. "I'm growing distant from Ashley?" I repeated his words with a small smile.
Yeah right, I don't think I could distance myself from Ashley if I tried. I return home from work and she's in my space, if it's after midnight I will arrive home to find that she has left one of the lamps on in the living room for me. And then I'll find her tucked up in my bed on the right hand side, hugging the pillow like she's pretending it's me. When I wake up in the mornings she's glued to my side, so clearly I am growing distant from Ashley.
"Why are you smiling like a crazed man?" Kian questions with curiosity, it kills him when he doesn't have a clue what's going on in my life. "Ashley and I are just fine, thank you for your concern," I uttered, we are more than fine but Kian doesn't need to know that. I like that Ashley and I keep ourselves to ourselves, it's nice. It's nice to know that our relationship isn't exploited for the media's sake, and I like that it's just between us. There's no third party involved.
"Just fine my ass," Kian muttered but spoke clear enough for me to hear as he took a sip of his drink. "How's Lizzie?" I heard myself ask, don't get me wrong, there was a time when Lizzie and I were not the closest, that was during the time of Dominic Youngs election, when our father wanted Kian to go behind both his and Lizzies backs. During this time I had to keep my distance from her but truth be told, I've always liked her— she was like the younger sister I never had, despite her being older by a year.
