Page 85 of Surviving the Merge
“What’d you end up with in the divorce?” she asked as we crossed through the front door.
“I’m the majority shareholder. Can you believe it?”
“Sounds about right. Ashton’s in the kitchen, I’ll leave you two alone.”
“Thank you.”
“No need to thank me. You’re family.” She kissed my cheek.
Ash sat at the table, practically licking his plate. “Did you leave any for me?”
“You, my friend, were supposed to be here an hour ago. You snooze, you lose,” he said, in between licking his fingers.
“I was stuck in traffic.” I served myself and took the seat across from him. “Thanks for meeting me.”
He turned serious. “I’d do anything for you guys, you know that. What do you need my help with?”
Eager to help as always. I’d forever be indebted to Ash for being there for Damon when he needed someone the most. Paula too for being a surrogate mother to him.
“I want to take Damon to Benji and Emilia’s grave, but I wanted to get your thoughts on it. You were there duringthattime. You witnessed the aftermath. Hell, you might have more insight than Blake does. Do you think it’s a bad idea?”
He leaned back and entwined his hands over his midsection. His gray eyes searched mine. “What are you hoping to accomplish?”
“We had sort of a breakthrough a few weeks ago, and then another one yesterday. I think he needs to face what happened to him and Benji at the hands of their mother. We’ll keep hitting brick walls until he does.”
“Benji’s grave?” he asked carefully. “What do you know about Benji’s death and what happened after?”
“Only what Blake’s told me. Not much. Damon never wanted to talk about it. He’s cold and indifferent when it comes to the subject. I never pushed.”
“And now you want to push? Have you spoken to Dr. Hayes about this?”
“She’s not positive that doing it now is what’s best. But she’s no stranger to taking matters into her own hands.”
He smirked, his white teeth striking against his dark skin. “In other words, you’re going rogue?”
“I’m following my gut.”
He pursed his lips, nodded once, and got up, leaving the room. He returned holding a small silver urn. Sitting it on the table and pushing it in my direction.
“What’s this?” I asked, picking it up to examine it.
“That”—he pointed to the object in my hand—“is Benji.”
I released the urn as if it were on fire. “Wait, what?”
“There’s a headstone in the cemetery with his name on it. Mom thought it was important. She handled all the arrangements. Damon never spoke a word about what happened after he woke up in the hospital. Didn’t even attend Benji’s memorial.”
“Does he know that this exists? That it’s here?”
“Yes and yes. He’s never seen it or spoken about it, though. Take it if you think it will help.” He shrugged.
I planned to do exactly that. “Ash, can you tell me about it? About how Damon reacted?”
Ash moved to lean against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. “She was evil. The most beautiful monster I’d ever seen.
“Damon has always been loveable. Even with all his aggression. Even with his DID. A big ball of child and love. When you got sick of him, Blake would save the day.” He smiled at the memory. “Damon didn’t deserve her. No one did. He swore he would protect Benji. We both swore it, and so did Mom.
“But we wanted to be boys, so we went to the game, choosing ourselves over protecting him…”
