Page 26 of Ruthless Regret

Karla moves closer, wrapping her arms around me. “You’re not going to fall apart. You’re stronger than that. You just need time to figure out how to make all the new pieces fit. It’s going to take time.”

I rest my head against her shoulder.

“I don’t know what to do.”

“You don’t have to know everything in advance.”

“But I do … that’s who I am.”

“That’s who youwere. You already said that the person you’ve been for the past fourteen years isn’t the real you. You need to figure out who you are first, then you can plan what to do next. Just take it a step at a time.”

I close my eyes, letting her words sink in.

One step at a time. I can do that.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

ZAIN

I knock on the door,harder than I mean to, and wait. Less than a minute later, it swings open. Esme’s face hardens the moment she sees me.

“What do you want?” Her voice is sharp.

“I need to speak to Ashley.”

The older woman folds her arms. “She isn’t here.”

“Look, I know she doesn’t want to talk to me, but this is important.”

“Sheisn’there, Zain,” she repeats, her voice firmer this time. “She went back to New York with her friends.”

“She went?—”

Gone back to New York? Fuck.

The words surprise me. I thought she’d come here, stay with her mom while the sheriff investigated her attack. I didn’t expect her to leave town.

“I need to talk to her. What happened today … It wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“It wasn’t supposed to happen?” Esme’s voice is flat. “You forced her into a marriage.” She sends another glare in my direction. “Yes, she told us all about it. You manipulated her, used her, and now you expect her to want to talk to you?”

“Things got out of hand, and I went too far.” The second the words leave my lips, I realize it’s true. In my single-minded focus on getting revenge, I did go too far.

She steps forward, face pinched and angry. “You put her through hell. Do you honestly believe that coming here and saying you didn’t mean it is going to fix that?”

“I’m not here to fix anything,” I admit, my voice rougher than I’d like it to be. “I want to apologize, to explain. I should have told her my plan before dragging her onto the television for everyone to see.”

Esme shakes her head. “If you thinkthatwas what took you over the line with your behavior, then you need to take a good, long look at yourself. She’s gone back to New York, and that’s where she’s staying. She doesn’t need your apologies. She needs you to leave her alone.”

“Iknowthat. IknowI fucked up. But I didn’t think someone would come after her. I didn’t expect them to break into the house and grab her. I didn’t think she’d be in any danger.”From anyone other than me, anyway.

“You’re the one who put her in danger in the first place! You gave no thought to what she might have been going through, with the way you were treating her. You didn’t think about the damageyouwere causing. All you cared about was what you wanted.”

I can’t deny anything she’s saying. She’s right. My sole focus was revenge, making Ashley pay for her perceived sins. But not anymore, not since last night … when everything changed … and I thought that maybe …

“Ashley has gone, Zain, and that’s something you’re just going to have to deal with,” Esme continues, her voice quieter now, but no less angry. “She’s back in New York, and that’s where she belongs. You’re not going to drag all this mess out into the open again. She lost herself when Jason died, and I lost myrelationship with my daughter. It’s taken years for her to find a way to move forward. You’re not going to destroy that for her again.”

“I don’t want to. I just …” I pause, and take a deep breath. “I just need her to know that I’m sorry.”

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