When she glanced back at him, she looked . . . old. Haggard and defeated. She took a step forward, her hand going to his arm. It took everything he had not to flinch away.
“Ash, please. I’m begging you. Don’t do this. If you want us to back off, we will. I’ll never come around again. Not even to Brittany. If you’ll get him to change his mind. If you’ll just come to one dinner, I swear you’ll never see us again unless you want to. I’ll issue that promise in writing. Whatever you want. Don’t let your hatred of me ruin your brothers’ lives. Think of their children. Their wives. Think of your father and me. We’ll have nothing.”
“Don’t let her fuck with your head, Ash,” Gabe growled, speaking up for the first time.
Ash held up his hand. “I won’t come to dinner. No way I’ll expose Britt to that. Or Josie. And where I go, she goes. That’s in stone.”
Seeing that she might be making headway, his mother leaned forward eagerly. “You don’t have to come to dinner. But meet with him, Ash. You can put a different spin on Brittany leaving. Tell him whatever you want. Tell him we’ve reconciled. Just do whatever you have to in order to convince him not to cut us all out of his will.”
“Jesus,” Gabe spat. “This is pathetic.”
She sent Gabe a chilling look so full of hatred that Ash recoiled. What the hell was wrong with these people? How on earth had he come from these two self-absorbed malcontents?
“I’ll call the old man,” Ash offered.
Gabe shook his head in disgust.
“But that’s all I’m doing,” Ash continued. “And I’m telling you now, this shit stops. If I hear of you coming near Britt or Josie, if you make another appearance at one of my hotels, my office building and especially my home, I’ll yank the rug out from under you so fast that it’ll break your neck. Got it?”
She nodded quickly, her eyes filled with hope. Desperate didn’t even begin to cover it. The fact that she’d humbled herself enough to beg for anything from him told him just how desperate and afraid she was.
He should walk way. Should wash his hands of the lot of them. But they were his family. His blood. Even if he never wanted a familial relationship with them, the idea of them being destitute left a bad taste in his mouth.
“Get out,” Ash said. “I’m done with this. I’m not letting you ruin my evening.”
“Thank you, son,” his father said in a quiet voice. “This means a lot to your mother. To me. And to your brothers as well. Tell Brittany . . .” He broke off with a sigh and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Tell Brittany I love her and that I miss her and hope she’s doing well.”
Ash nodded and then looked pointedly at the door.
His mother, evidently satisfied that she’d won this round, whirled and stalked away, her nose in the air.
When Ash turned back toward the elevator, Gabe was staring at him, a grimace twisting his lips.
“Christ, man, that sucks. I knew they were bad, but until I saw that, I just had no idea.”
Ash shrugged. “How’s the saying go? ‘You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family’?”
chapter twenty-five
Josie followed Bethany and Mia who followed Caroline and Brandon to a private room located above the dance floor. Though you could see out to the floor below, Brandon assured them that no one was able to see into the box, so they were afforded complete privacy.
“I’ll be back to check on you in a little while,” Brandon said to Caroline as he brushed a kiss over her lips.
Caroline flopped onto the comfortable couch next to Josie. Mia took the other side of Caroline and Bethany perched on the arm.