Four Brothers and a Bride-Chapter 70

ASHTON

Demi stands in front of a mannequin with different shades of fabric loosely wrapped around it and secured with a pin. She inclines her head as she tries to imagine what Ashley must have been envisioning for the dress.

I am seated on a couch behind her, raking the opulent space. Demi was right, pulling off Ashley Rollins now runs beyond spiffy clothes and a similar face. He has managed to create a whole world of his own. I can’t even bring myself to feel at home on his desk. Even from the chair, I continue to twitch with discomfort.

His space is more cluttered than I prefer. Yet, everything is very organized. His walls are a source of inspiration for his genius. Instead of the award plaques to festoon his shelves and walls, he has the portraits of every fashion icon he admires and some upbeat quotes to keep him motivated.

I have been over here quite a few times but I never really pay attention to his impeccable décor and organization. I usually stroll in to pull Ashley away from work to go out with me. Being here now without him to distract me, I am getting a fresh glimpse of his world and the way he thinks. THIS is intimidating.

"What was that?" Demi asks, turning.

I didn’t realize I said that last bit out loud. I lean back on the couch. "Everything here. How can one person make a place so chaotically organized?"

It’s hard to fault it. His office is a study of complication and beauty. A lot of people could never pull it off. Is this how Ashley’s head is? Is this why he is able to pull himself up despite the storms that threaten to upend his peaceful life? He knows which pins to pull and the dress on the mannequin will take form or fall apart, depending on what he wants.

Demi chuckles. "You brothers say the nicest things about one another mostly when the person being spoken about is absent. Ashley will give his limbs to hear you admit you find him intimidating." She continues to his desk and eases a hip on it. "The night we discovered the box, he admitted that you intimidate him because of how consistent you are at being your unapologetic self. He finds it annoying sometimes, especially when you still don’t budge at your father’s presence or orders."

"So, you guys did discuss me."

"We were playing a game." She comes to sit next to me. "I asked him his favorite and least favorite brothers. He asked me right back. I can’t tell you Ashley’s responses but would you like to know what my answers were?"

My heart skips a beat as her eyes linger on mine. We are too close, and alone in her husband’s massive office/ work station. I surge to my feet and move to Ashley’s table. "This doesn’t feel right."

"Ashton, I didn’t mean it like that. It was just a simple question and answer..."

"Not that, THIS." I say, gesturing everywhere and nowhere. "It’s too fucking quiet. Why has she been quiet? If Ashley were here, she would have left something or done something by now to give him goosebumps. Why is she so fucking quiet? Does she know he isn’t in town? Is there a spy in our midst?"

"Okay, calm down."

"It’s been four days already. I promised Ashley he will be back to sleeping without pills when he returns but nothing is going according to plan. Why do you think that is?" Demi comes to stand by my side.

"You’re doing the best you can. I’m sure she’ll show up soon. Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re the brains behind this operation. From the brawn to the brain, stop overthinking." I laugh now at her joke. "What? You don’t believe I am the brawns in this equation? Don’t underestimate me." She bunches up her sleeve to show me her arm muscle. "I can knock you out with a single punch."

I pull her sleeve down. "Why risk your arm stinging with pain when you can knock me out easily with..." Our eyes meet and hold. Again, we’re too close and very alone. Her hand is still tucked in mine when I look down. I rub my hand over my throat. "I’m parched. Could you..."

"Yes, um, the lounge." She says, heading for the door. "I’ll be right back with some water. Drinks? No drinks. Okay." She concludes when my eyes widen. We can’t drink a jot here. It’s be the craziest idea. We are on the clock too. We can’t afford to miss any clues or signs of the blackmailer.

While I wait for her, I flip through the papers on Ashley’s table. A little sound to my left catches my attention. Ashely’s bookshelf is moving. I hear the jiggle of locks that seem to be coming from inside the wall. The next thing I realize, the shelf that ostensibly holds a collection of fashion magazines shoves open like a full-length door.

I hide behind it, hoping Demi doesn’t return now and scare the intruder away. My hand tightens in a fist as I prepare to knock out the intruder the second her head becomes visible.

When she steps out, I reel back my arm to strike her the same time she turns to face me. Scared, she doubles over in fright and shields her face as a startled cry of shock escapes her lips. I look closely, stopping myself.

"What the fuck, Ashley? It’s just me."

"Nicci?" Shit. Nicola is here? Ashely never mentioned a secret passage to me. Why would he forget something like that? Nicola stands straight and scoops her hair out of her eyes. She’s wearing a trench coat. Her eyes are ablaze with anger.

"Nicola." I repeat, a bit flustered to see her.

"Who else were you expecting to pop out of the secret passage you built exclusively for me?" She asks, shutting the door. There’s hardly any trace that a door is even there. She plunks her bag on the nearest couch and scowls at me. "Why are you being so weird like you’ve seen a ghost. Don’t tell me you expected me to fall for that bullshit about devoting your time only to your wife. I don’t see her, do you?"

Where the hell is Demi with that water? Nicci pulls my head with both hands and smashes her lips to mine in a feral kiss. When I gently try to stop her, she only grows more resilient. Out of the corner of my eye, I make out a silhouette by the door and shove her harder.

"What’s your problem, Ash?" Nicci yells before glancing at the door where Demi stands with two cold bottles of water.

"YOU BITCH" In two leaps, she streams across the room and smacks Nicola very hard across the face. Nicci staggers backwards. Before she can recover from the shock, I watch Demi force open the caps on the bottles and spritz the cold water all over Nicola while the latter yelps in shock.

"How dare you touch him?" I have to hold her back from wreaking havoc. Nicci’s mascara runs down her face while her false lashes droop around her eyes.

"You wretch. You come close to him again and I’ll skin you alive."

The noise attracts some of the staff in the neighboring offices. When one of the managers pokes his head in, I instantly dismiss him and demand for some privacy.

"Calm down, Demi. Take deep breaths."

"How the hell did she get in here?" Demi asks angrily, her chest heaving with breath. "Kick her out, NOW! Do it or I will drag her by her cheap extensions all the way through those offices down the hall." Nicci curls further away from Demi with frightened eyes.

I’ve never seen Demi this livid. I wonder if she remembers that I am wearing her husband’s clothes and pretending to be him. This reaction of hers is too passionate for what Ashley is used to getting.

The wildest part is that Demi isn’t acting at all. She wants to claw Nicci’s eyes out, for me! I ignore the heady feeling that comes with knowing how deeply she cares for me, to steer her away from Nicci till I have her seated in a faraway couch.

"Deep breaths, in and out." Her eyes fixate on mine as she follows my lead. Behind me, Nicci lurches to her feet.

"Why are you falling for her antics? You know she doesn’t love you."

"SHUT UP NICCI."

"You saw the video of her with that her secret boyfriend at the bookstore. You also know about her and William. What exactly do you see in this woman that makes you continue to turn a blind eye to her faults? She’s playing you." I give her burning look as my phone begins to ring. "Get out of here. You have ten seconds or I’ll let my wife have her way with you."

Nicci glares at Demi and I before plucking her bag off the couch and stomping her feet towards the hidden door. I beat her to it and in a whisper, "Other way."

"Why are you doing this to me?"

"The other way, Nicci. Leave!"

Frowning, she storms away with her wet, mascara-stained face. I finally pick up my phone.

"Yes, who’s this? What? Where?" I grab my keys and gesture Demi towards the door. "I’m on my way!"

"What’s going on?" Demi pesters me in the car.

"They found her, Tobias Woodley’s daughter!"

***

Twenty minutes later, Demi and I burst through the doors of the elite bar of the Grand Casa hotel to find Asher and Ashal hovering over a beautiful lady seated at a corner table. We rush towards them but I got to Ashal first to check to ensure that he is unharmed.

"Are you okay?" I ask frantically.

"I’m fine. I’m unharmed." He gestures to the table where a piece of white cloth covers a gun. "The gun’s fake."

I pick it up. It’s an airsoft pellet gun.

"What the fuck is going on?" I ask.

"Alright. Start talking." Asher yells at the lady who seems surprised at our collective reactions. She turns to stare at Demi’s flushed face.

"Why are you all being so weird? I already told you everything. I am an upcoming actor. I got a call to come here and act out a blind date scene that ends exactly the way ours did," She gestures at Ashal." Why don’t you believe me? I already gave you my manager’s number. Call him and you’ll see my story checks out. I don’t know what else to tell you." She crosses her arms over her chest and rolls her eyes.

"Ashal, what’s going on?" Demi moves to him. "Who’s this woman?"

"She’s supposed to be my blind date. Turns out the woman I was meant to be on a blind date with canceled but THIS stranger showed up and convinced me that she was my date. We got talking only for me to get a call about my date, Blake, being unable to make it here. Then Shay here introduced herself to me as Tobias Woodleys’ second daughter, with a gun to my face."

Though he appears strong, I can tell Ashal would have been startled when Shay pulled out that gun.

"I’m not Shay Woodley. My real name is Cree Baxter. Shay is just the character I was paid to portray. Why is no one listening to me?"

I grab Shay’s chair and pull her towards me. "You better start making sense or I’ll forget that you’re a woman and make you talk." Her eyes flutter in fright as I pin her with an ice-cold look.

She fits the bill, the height, weight, everything. Ashal confirms that she walked similarly to the woman in the footage from Ashley’s office. Asher already tried her so called manager’s number but it didn’t go through.

Tobias had only one daughter and we already checked Zoe. Who the hell is Shay Woodley.

"Who called your manager about the role?" Asher quizzes her as he pulls out a chair and plunks down on it. "What time was this call made?"

Shay shakes her head. "I don’t know those details. I just know I was contacted a little past four pm today to get myself ready for a scene. Look, I am a struggling actress, okay? I work two waitressing jobs and audition for small roles every now and then. The money can be quite good when my manager drives a hard bargain for me. He wants me to bang him but I keep promising to do so when he helps me land a lead role. That’s why he can get really fierce when negotiating."

"Cut the bullshit and tell us what we asked." I snap at her.

She rolls her eyes at me and continues her story. "Said manager sent over a package to my work at a lousy restaurant downtown and called me to find someone to take over my shift. He hurriedly explained the basics of my role over the phone and that everything else I’ll need had been sent in the package. When I opened it, it was this purse." She pats the gold purse on the table.

"I was in such a hurry to get here given the distance and time crunch. I even did my makeup in the hotel bathroom downstairs. The dress is a gift from Sebastian, my manager. It’s the best thing in my wardrobe. I came here, met him and tried to answer his question as glibly as I could." Her eyes skirt around the room. "I did think it was weird that there were no crew members in sight but I went along with it up until I pulled the gun on him only for him to rudely snatch it from me and accuse me of trying to hurt him. Then he detained me here. I don’t know what else to tell you."

"Who gave you the gun?" Ashal asks her.

"It was in the purse."

I pull Ashal aside. "Who else knew about your date tonight?"

"Just Elyon and probably his sister who hooked me up. I already checked with them. They have no idea who this woman is or who hired her to say those things to me. She explicitly said she wants the head of her father’s murderer!" He runs a hand over his brows. "I think it was a message from whomever sent her here. I don’t think Cree is the brains behind all this."

"Let’s not be quick to rule her out. There are still some holes in her story."

"Unless you’re prepared to lodge me in this hotel, I have to start heading home now before the traffic hits." Shay echoes. "I don’t live in the upscale part of the city like you guys. If I don’t beat the traffic, I won’t be able to find a cab back to my dingy flat." She leaps to her feet and snags her purse. "It was definitely not nice meeting the Rollins quads. You guys are rude as hell and I’ll make sure my circle of friends know this." She turns on her heels and sashays towards the door.

"Are you just going to let her walk away?" Demi inquires worriedly.

"Let her go." I tell her. "We’ll have her tailed but I am guessing she and/or whomever she’s working for/with already knows this. I’ll get our men to check out her flat, the restaurants she works at and her manager. If she isn’t the woman we’re looking for, then whoever sicced her on Ashal must be watching us."

"They’re closer than we think." Asher adds. "They seem to know our moves before we make them. I didn’t even know about your blind date but this person did and intercepted your date. Someone amongst us is helping them." His eyes intentionally stray to Demi and settle.

"Oh, you can’t be serious." She sighs exasperatedly.

"What? I didn’t call any names."

"Like you have to. You badly want to make me your culprit, don’t you?"

"Why are you suddenly defensive? Do you have something to hide?"

"Okay, enough. Asher, seriously." At the steely look I give him, he gets off her back.

We walk into Ashley when we get home. I am glad he’s back to his bubbly self but slightly disappointed that I wasn’t able to make good my promise to him.

"You didn’t tell me you were coming." Demi quips.

"I’m sorry. I made the decision last minute. I feel just fine. I am done hiding away like a scared cat. This is my problem and I want to be here to rub minds with you all and solve it together. Who’s going to give me the progress report?"

***

He remains silent after we finish bringing him up to speed. We are all having a little exercise at the gym before calling it a night.

"I’m sorry not much has changed since you left. I should have listened to Demi. My plan wasn’t the best."

"It was the best we could think of at the time. Don’t be too quick to assume you’ve failed. Duncan and his men might find a lead. Also, I’m beyond grateful for the time off it lent me too. I was feeling stuck with my latest project but now, I have a ton of ideas." He takes turns to hug each brother. "Thank you all so much for your support." freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

While everyone mounts their preferred gym equipment for the evening exercise, I run a small towel around my neck and study Ashley on the treadmill.

I am ecstatic to have him rejoin us but his sudden return still haunts my mind. The only reason I can think of is probably due to a call from Nicola. I bet Nicci must have had a lot to say to him about what transpired in his office today. Did Ashley rush home because of the way Demi reacted?

It sounds too silly to be true so I ignore it.

I wake up in the middle of the night to my phone vibrating next to me. The call is from the same number that texted me about finding my biological father.

I’d normally be pissed at this anonymous person because I am still grieving the discovery I made regarding my parents but the fact that he/she wants to talk to me makes me reconsider. It’ll be good to put a voice to the texts.

When I pick up, there’s nothing from the other end, just a low breathing sound.

"Are you going to talk to me or what?" I yell at the stranger listening on the other end. Still nothing. "If you weren’t prepared to talk, you should have at least texted like you’re used to. I trusted you and blindly followed you only to end up at a cemetery. You left no clues, not even a name! If you wanted to tell me that my biological parents are late, you could have spared me the trip and told me in one of your short texts. Thanks for nothing. Don’t ever bother me again."

"I’ll give you a name," the stranger says with an oddly familiar voice. "My name, for now." She inhales deeply. "It’s Shay Woodley, the real one not a hired actor, and yes, biological parents are dead."

"Shay Woodley?" I reiterate. It can’t be. "Tobias had only one daughter! Who the fuck are you?"

"I just told you."

So, it’s some kind of alias. She’s not telling me her real name.

"You hired my brother’s blind date. Why? You’re not even a member of the family. Why are you tormenting an innocent man?"

"Innocent?" She scoffs. "Time will tell."

"You are the same person leaving me texts about finding my parents? What exactly do you want from us? What do you stand to gain by doing all this?"

"I am not here to answer all your questions, Ashton. Tonight, I only want to talk about your late biological parents."

"Fuck you! They’re already dead. There’s nothing else I want to know. I’ll find you and make you pay for the torture you’ve put my brother through."

"Nothing? Not even whether or not they willingly gave you and your brothers up for adoption?" She laughs quietly when I fall silent. "Have you ever seen your adoption papers, Ashton Rollins? My guess is no, because there isn’t one. You’re not going to find any no matter how meticulously you search your mansion, brick by brick. What does that tell you?"

"You’re fucking liar. You’re trying to mess with my head. I won’t fall for this."

"But you already have. My father was your father’s right-hand man. They shared everything, including their secrets."

"SHUT UP!"

"From your mother’s fertility issues..."

"I’m going to kill you..."

"To your father’s desperation for an heir."

"You’re lying."

"If you didn’t believe me, you would have hung up the phone already. You destroyed my family. Now, I’m going to watch yours crumble till I have you all begging for your lives." The line cuts.

I didn’t realize I was crying until droplets of tears fall on my palms. She was lying. There’s no fucking way. My brothers and I were properly adopted. I won’t believe anything else.

My phone beeps with an incoming message. It’s from her. Against my better judgment, I open it to find an old Danvarr newspaper cutout about a family whose home was gutted by a strange fire overnight. The husband and wife were said to have been expecting quadruplet sons!