Page 22 of Cruel Hearts

“Nothing. I asked her where she’s been, and she didn’t answer. Her friend had just been shot, Ash. I didn’t expect a rundown of the past five years.” He’s already pissed—there’s no point in telling him the first word out of her mouth was his name. It would only add fuel to the fire, and there wouldn’t be enough water in the world to put it out.

Ash nods and helps himself to a drink. He’s steady for someone who just flew halfway around the world. No jet lag, not a hair out of place, his suit’s immaculate.

“Do you know who’s hunting her down?” I ask, pouring more scotch into my glass. I’ve been drinking nonstop since seeing Stella. There’s nothing I can do to wipe her from my senses. Not even getting drunk.

He holds the scotch in his mouth for a moment and then swallows. “No.”

“It’s not Hal. He quit, said he doesn’t compete for jobs. Someone pushed her off a platform in the subway, and this morning, outside the building, someone shot at her and hit her friend instead. Who would want her dead, besides me?”

Ash shrugs. “I made a couple of phone calls and tried to cut through the red tape, but Cardello’s PR wouldn’t say anything about Stella. They admitted he and Stella had a falling out and that he was sorry to see her go. They invited her to stay in Italy, but she didn’t accept. That’s it. They repeated it for half an hour.”

I watch the city lights blink at my feet. What good is money, what good is power, if it doesn’t get you what you want? What you need? Who you love?

“She didn’t tell you anything? Give you anything?” He watches me closely.

She gave me her body, but that’s not Ash’s business. “No.”

“Where did you meet her?”

“At her apartment. She was covered in blood, and she showered and changed her clothes. We exchanged a few nasty words, and then she left. I don’t know where she went.”

“Then good riddance.”

“I’d like to know who’s after her.”

Ash scoffs and pours another drink. “Why? She’s a lying, cheating whore. She ran out on you, and she ran out on Zarah. Do you think she gives a shit what happened to your sister? She was lying on a yacht fucking her prince. She left you and Z high and dry. Fuck her, let her go.”

If it was that easy, I would have done it a long time ago. “You didn’t give up on Zarah.”

“She didn’t run off like a slut. Love only goes so far, Zane. When you love someone, you stand by their side through the hard times. One day Zarah will come back to us, and when she does, I’ll be waiting, down on my knees, hoping she still wants to marry me. I put that ring on her finger and promised I would take care of her, and I am.”

I blink against the burn behind my eyes. “You should move on. Her doctors say she’ll never come out of it.”

“I’m not giving up, and neither should you.”

Rubbing at my face, I say, “I wish I knew the truth about what happened that night.”

“You know the truth. You just don’t want to accept it. You’ve seen the pictures, and they don’t lie. You said Stella didn’t tell you where she’s been. That’s because she won’t admit she ranout on you. She was a twenty-year old girl who grew up without parents, without a penny to her name. She wanted more. She wanted Cardello’s crown, but she didn’t need the gold on her head. She already had your heart.”

I shake my head. Ash sounds like shit when he’s trying to be romantic. “I saw the way she lived. She was happy with what she had.”

I don’t know why I’m defending her. Maybe because in all these years I hadn’t seen her face to face. I hadn’t seen the desolation, the hopelessness. This morning at her apartment, I didn’t see a woman who’d been living the luxurious lifestyle of Italian royalty. I saw a lost woman, looking for something. Looking forme, trying to convince me to listen to her, and all I did was think with my cock and practically rape her.

What would my father think?

What would my mother say?

I’ve been an insensitive asshole.

I’ve become . . . Ash.

Well, Ash the businessman. He’d always had hard edges when it came to the personal, but over the years his love for Zarah has softened him.

I stare out the window. The darkness beckons me. Stella is out there somewhere. She might even be dead.

“Have you seen Zarah lately, Zane?” Ash asks.

“No.”

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