Page 53 of Ruthless Intent

I let my hand fall away, and drop back into my seat. Ashley doesn’t move. Lips parted, eyes fastened on mine. Her cheeks are pink. I lean back, and give her a tight smile, ignoring the way I can still feel her lips against mine. They were unexpectedly soft.

“You just keep digging that hole deeper. Now everyone has seen us kiss. Rumors will be flying before we leave the diner.” I keep my voice low, and wave a hand toward her plate. “Sit down and eat your breakfast.”

When she doesn’t move, I sigh and stand back up. Tossing a couple of bills onto the table to pay for the untouched food, I step out of the booth. Ashley remains where she is. I hold out one hand.

Her eyes flicker down to look at it.

“You might as well take it. Or would you like a repeat performance to really cement how serious I am?”

“I hate you.” The words are uttered in a low undertone, even as she reaches to curl her fingers around mine.

I regret the contact immediately. Her hand is warm, and small in mine.

“I don’t care.” My voice is clipped.

I lead her out of the diner, the weight of everyone’s eyes on us, and back to the car.

“The county clerk’s office won’t be open yet, it’s only eight-thirty. Get in the car, and you can make the call to your place of work and give them your resignation.”

I open the door, and wait until she’s inside with the seatbelt in place, before slamming it closed and walking around to the driver’s side. She has her cell phone to her ear by the time I’m in my seat.

“I need to talk to Penelope.” Her voice is flat, wooden, and she stares straight ahead out of the windshield. “Hi, Pen. I’m sorry to have to do this at such short notice, but I … I …” Her tongue comes out to swipe over her lips, and I file it away as one of her emotional tells. “I won’t be coming back to work.” The words fall over each other in her rush to blurt them out.

“N-no, it’s not a joke. I’m sorry … I can’t … can’t explain right now.” Her jaw clenches at whatever the woman at the end of the line says, and her lashes lower, hiding her eyes. “No, it’s nothing anyone has done. I just … I’m back home, and s-something has come up that needs me to stay.” Her bottom lip trembles. “I wish I could, but I think it’s going to be a while before I’ll be back in New York. I’ll put it in writing, but I … I wanted you to know first.” She swallows. “Thank you. I appreciate it.” The cell phone falls onto her lap.

“Good girl. Now the landlord.”

“I don’t have their number. Jessa-Mae always deals with them.” She doesn’t look at me.

“Then I guess it’s time to call her and let her know the news.”

CHAPTER THIRTY

ASHLEY

How many times am I going to be shocked into silence by how serious he is about what he’s forcing me to do?

“Please, Zain.” I try appealing to him once more. I really don’t want to call Jessa-Mae. She’ll want to know why I’m not going back, and I really don’t want to tell her about the situation I’ve got myself into. “Jason wouldn’t want you to do this.”

“You have no fucking idea what Jason would want.” He snarls the words at me. “Make the fucking call or I will.”

It’s the first time I’ve heard any emotion at all in his voice. In every interaction we’ve had until now, he’s been calm and softly-spoken. His lack of emotion has been the one thing that makes everything so unbelievable to me.

But this. The unbridled fury in his voice. It reminds me of the other side of him. The side that made me believe wholeheartedly that he was guilty of the crime he was sent to prison for.

Apart from my witness statement, the other thing that came up a lot during the trial was Zain’s temper. People he was at school with testified about his violent outbursts and why he had no friends other than Jason and Louisa. The reports contradicted everything Jason ever told me about him. But this … this proves that they were right.

While I’m processing his outburst, he reaches across the center console and picks up my cell and taps the screen.

“What’s your lock code?”

“I …what? No, I’m not telling you that.”

He mutters something beneath his breath and taps the screen again. To my horror, it unlocks on his second attempt.

“Should have guessed it’d be your birth year.” He scrolls through my contacts until he finds Jessa-Mae’s number, then hits the call icon. “Up to you what happens next, Ashley. Either I speak to her, or you do.”

I snatch the cell from him just as the call connects.

---