chapter 4

ASHTON

I should be exhausted from hospitals by now.

My uncles. My grandfather. All had been gunned down three months ago, on that night. And I had been here, watching from a similar hallway as each of them flatlined. Over and fucking over again.

And the blood. Everywhere.

I had to give the hospital staff their due, because they’d tried to save each one of them, but Jesus. They came out one by one, all covered in blood, and that feeling right there, watching each of them and seeing how they didn’t want to look my way—I would never ever forget that feeling. It fucking haunted me, every morning, night, and day.

I couldn’t get that out of me, no matter how I tried, no matter how I focused, how I obsessed, how I thirsted, but now. Now, I had a new mission, one just for me.

Molly Easter.

She was sleeping, curled on her side and the blanket tucked over her shoulder.

I had mixed feelings concerning Miss Easter, and they stemmed from a day that no one, including Trace, knew about. But right now, I was letting the current thought come through. And that was that Molly Easter, among other things, had been a pain in my ass for nearly all my life.

“What are you doing here?” A hiss came from my right, and I stepped back from the opened doorway where I’d been standing, smirking at Dr. Nea Sandquist, who was clutching a tablet to her chest. Her eyes bugged out.

“Dr. Sandquist.”

“You can’t be here, Ashton.” She moved closer, her head ducking down as some of the nurses went by, all attention on us. “Get out. I mean it.”

My body had been churning, a mix of emotions surging through me, but at her command, I went cold. “Watch your tone, Doc.”

She drew back, her eyes sparking. Pain flashed before the doctor shuttered her expression. She clutched her tablet even tighter, her fingers turning white. “I was stupid when I first met you, believing you were interested in me. I know who you are. Since our couple of dates, I’ve been educated.” She spat out the word. “I know exactly who really runs this hospital, but I won’t leave. I don’t care if you threaten me. I won’t go.” She nodded inside Molly’s room. “She’s good people. Leave her alone. She’s innocent from your business.”

My lip curled up. “Molly is a lot of things, but innocent is not one of them.”

She quieted, frowning.

I moved into her space, and she had to take two steps backward. It was enough where I could turn my back to Molly’s door, and I leaned down, making sure the doctor saw my intent. “In this situation, I would suggest you walk away.”

She was bristling, getting ready for another argument, when Sloane’s voice cut in. “Nea.” She said it low and calm, but everyone here knew the reason behind her interruption.

Sloane knew all. She knew the details.

“I’m handling something—”

“Nea.” Calm. Low again, but more insistent. “You need to step back from him.”

Nea’s eyes flashed wild, and she turned, hissing at the head nurse, “Are you kidding me? Do you know—”

I met Sloane’s gaze, my head finding hers over Nea’s head. She was walled off to me. Good on her. I knew the nurse enough, had known all sides of her from growing up. She could be loving and mothering at times, but she still understood what needed to be done, even now knowing what my family stood for and hating me for it.

“Molly’s father called. He’s on her file as a person of contact, and he said Mr. Walden would be coming in his stead. We need to honor the patient’s wishes and her father’s. Mr. Walden needs to be briefed on Molly’s situation, and then release her into his care.”

“I am her doctor. I say when she’s to be released.”

Sloane’s eyes briefly blinked. She wasn’t showing any emotion, speaking in a monotone. “I’m aware, but you know what the hospital board will expect in this situation.”

Nea drew her breath, hearing the underlying threat. Yes. My family had a long reach, even to this hospital’s board. “Sloane.” She dropped her voice, walking over to her, but I could still hear. “You can’t be serious. You know who he is—”

“Yes.” Sloane broke now, that word being hissed back and her eyes flashed fiercely. “I do. Do you? You’re forgetting—” She bit off, casting me a furtive look. “Don’t forget, Nea.”

Nea fell back a couple steps, blinking rapidly. She took a second, breathed in deeply before the same tone came over next. “You’re right.” She turned, her eyes glazed, but she refused to meet my gaze.

“The only physical harm to Molly was a key she ingested, and her gun went off so close to her face. She might have some burning in her eyes and ringing in her ears, but I’ve prescribed ear and eye drops to help offset those effects. The key should pass within a day to two. I’d suggest she keep a liquid diet until it does, just to be safe, but the biggest concern for me is the emotional stress she might be under from her ordeal. You’re aware of what happened?”

I nodded, dipping my head down a bit.

Key. Burning. Ringing. She shot someone.

Jesus Christ.

“She felt threatened, under attack, and she worried she had killed a man. I’d like her to meet a social worker from this hospital to see if she feels safe to talk to him.”

Him. “No.”

“Ashto—” She stopped herself, closing her eyes again, drawing in a breath. She tried again. “Mr. Walden, I’ve already given Molly his card. It will be her choice if she meets with him or not, but she should talk to someone. No one was severely harmed, but it was still a traumatic experience to a normal person.”

I got her dig—a normal person, unlike me—but I didn’t care. I watched Molly continue to sleep.

“Ashton.” She dropped all pretenses, stepping close again. “Please leave this woman alone. She’s good. She doesn’t deserve whatever you’re planning on doing to her.”

Unlike what I had done to Nea.

There’d been another patient, one that Nea had wondered why the police hadn’t been called because of his state. Trace had dispatched me to “educate” the new doctor on how our families ran business through the hospital. I’d done my job, but I took her on a couple dates to really cement the fact that she could not touch us.

Our paths had not crossed since that day. I saw that I’d left an impression.

I’d done my job.

“Start her discharge papers. We’ll take her home as she is.”

She sucked in a sharp breath.

“You made your argument, Nea. I do not care. Discharge her.”

She cursed as she stalked away from me.

“I took care of you and Trace when you were both boys. I’ve helped you many times.” Sloane stepped up in Nea’s place. “I’m aware of the changes to both of your families and what’s going on.” She was saying that as she was eyeing the four guards standing behind me in the hallway. There’d been a time when I didn’t use guards. “I can’t imagine the stress and responsibility put on both your and Trace’s shoulders, but I need to echo Nea’s sentiments. Molly is good people. She’s kind. Loving. Pure. It’s not her fault who her father is. Don’t punish her for Marcus’s failure as a father,” she added, her voice low.

I didn’t respond. That, in itself, was a kindness to Sloane because I did remember the kindness she’d given me when I was growing up.

“Ashton.”

She was going to push it. I turned to her, letting her see some of the darkness that I knew scared so many others. She stopped when she saw it. “Do not say anything more, Nurse Sloane. For your sake.”

Her chest jerked up in a ragged breath. “You’ve never threatened me.”

I stepped toward her, but unlike Nea, she held her ground.

“I let you have your say.”

She was very still, her throat moving as she swallowed. “I’ve been wary of you. You and Trace. I’ve been nervous around your family members, unnerved by Trace’s father, but I’ve never been scared. Until today.” Her eyes flashed hard, and she took a dramatic step back. “We’ll ready Miss Easter to be discharged. You’ll have to bring a car around for her to be transferred inside.”

Yeah. Yeah. Hospital policy.

I turned around as Sloane went to do as she said, and I moved to stand over Molly’s bed.

Both of them were right. Molly Easter looked like an angel sleeping. Tiny. Five five in height. A little over a hundred pounds. Strawberry-blonde hair that was matted and greasy right now, framing under and around her head on the pillow. When those eyes opened, I knew they were a deep sky-blue color. There’d been a time when I swore that I could even see the clouds in her eyes.

Freckles over her face.

She was beautiful sleeping, but she was stunning when she turned those eyes and that smile on you.

They were all right. Molly was kind and pure, to them.

To me, she was a cross that I’d been forced to bear all my life.

I was done bearing it.