Page 76 of Arden and the Girl Downstairs

“You’re safe, Rhys,” I tell him, and he removes his hand.

Yasmin and Ally come in and sit on the end of the bed while Rhys and Chase lean against the dressers in the room.

“You summoned?” Ally tries to bow but fails because she’s already sitting.

“Ella has some news.”

Great, way to throw me under the bus. All eyes turn to me.

“IsawAshleykissingagirl,” I blurt out without taking a breath between words.

“You what?” Ally jumps up and stares at us.

“Today I saw Ashley kissing a girl.” I watch Rhys for his reaction. His shoulders slump forward, and he ducks his head. “You knew?” I ask him.

The way he just reacted tells me as much, but I want to hear the confirmation. Rhys doesn’t answer straight away; he looks around the room and avoids meeting our eyes.

“Rhys?” Ally says, walking towards him. It takes a minute, but he finally starts talking.

“Sort of. I had a feeling.”

“You. Had. A. Feeling?” Ally yells. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Rhys steps around Ally and comes to sit on the end of the bed, his head in his hands as he leans forward. “Ashley mentioned twelve months ago that she may have met someone, but it was someone she couldn’t be with, not only because of the arrangement, but because her family would never approve. Six months before that, we stopped having sex.”

I scoot forward so I can wrap Rhys in a hug from behind.

“Why didn’t you say something?” Chase asks him.

“Because you guys don’t really like her, but I do. She’s not that bad. They’ve forced her into this as much as I have been, and she played the role that was expected of her. But you don’t know her family like I do. They are scary and would not hesitate to cut off or kill a family member if they so much as disrespect the family name.”

Wow. I’ve only met Ashley a few times, but Arden has filled me in on what he knows, and this shit is full on.

“Is this the girl you saw her with?” Arden turns his phone in my direction.

Squinting at the screen, I look at the picture. “That’s her. How do you have a picture of her? Who is she?”

“I’ve had Casey from Dory’s PI gathering intel on Ashley to find a way to get Rhys out of the arrangement. She sent me the email earlier today, but I haven’t had a chance to read it.” Rhys groans, but I don’t think he is surprised by Arden’s intrusion. “She’s Caitlin Rose, daughter of Darian Khan.”

“As inKahn,Kahn?” Chase asks.

I’ve heard of Kahn; he is somewhat of a legend. The villain your parents use to scare you with when you misbehave. Everyone is terrified of him, and he apparently runs the criminal underground in New Hope and its surrounds.

“That’s the one.”

“This is worse than I thought.” Rhys finds his voice. “Ashley’s family would disown her for being with a girl. But being with Caitlin, their biggest rival’s daughter? She’ll be as good as dead.” His face falls.

It’s clear Rhys cares for this girl and her wellbeing. He would have to, considering he is madly in love with Ally but can’t be with her because he’s protecting Ashley. I look over at Ally and she has tears in her eyes.

“You haven’t had sex in eighteen months?” Her voice wavers and Rhys shakes his head.

“It never felt right with Ashley. I wasn’t what she wanted, but I also couldn’t have what I wanted, so I protected her. She’s innocent in all this. She didn’t have a choice, much like I didn’t. If not more. I can’t imagine what it’s like living in that life.” He visibly shudders, and Ally wipes away the tear that finally escapes as the reality of everything sinks in.

“I don’t know what to do . . .” Rhys says to no one in particular.

My heart breaks for him. Arden types furiously on his phone before it rings.

“Isaac, I have a job for you, but it may be dangerous, and you’ll need to be careful,” he says by way of greeting. He gets up and heads out of the room to talk to Isaac privately.

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