Page 113 of Beyond Rosy Irish Twilight

“What is it?” Asher asked.

A roaring sound thundered through my head like a freight train. For a moment, dizziness washed over me and my whole body trembled with fear. It couldn’t be him.

And then he chuckled again. “You stupid fucking bitch.”

My mouth went dry as I swayed on my feet. Asher caught me, holding me tight to him as he guided me back toward the stairs. “Lock!”

I was barely able to put one foot in front of the other, and by the time we were on the stairs, Asher was dragging me up each step until Lock arrived and propped me up under his shoulder as Asher took my other side. My breath staggered in and out. I felt like I was going to pass out, but then we reached the top of the stairs and sunlight appeared. Some of the panic receded and I was finally able to draw in a full breath.

Before I knew it, we were back in the kitchen and I was being shoved down into a chair. Asher knelt in front of me as Lock picked up my hand and checked my pulse. I knew it was racing, but it was getting easier to breathe with every second.

“Jade, what is it?” Asher urged. “Who was that man?”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them, I uttered the name I thought I’d never say again. “Marrick.”

“Who’s that?” he asked, not understanding.

“He’s the man that whipped me in the cage…the man my father told me he took care of.”

42

ASHER

Anger rushed through me as I stood and spun from where Jade sat. This whole fucking time, Ambrose brought it on himself. He didn’t take care of that asshole, and now Jade was paying the price, almost with her life.

I stormed down the hall and grabbed the keys to the car. Chase was running after me, but I was already on my way out the door. I broke every speed limit on the way to Ambrose’s house, and this time when I pulled up, I shoved my gun into my holster.

The swirling rage deep in my gut wouldn’t be contained, and I knew that if I went in there and shot him, I would ruin everything, possibly putting a target on my back for the rest of my life. But I couldn’t walk away knowing what Jade’s own father had done to her.

The guard up front tried to stop me, but I pulled my gun and shot him before he could even think of putting his hands on me. He fell to the ground, his eyes staring off into nothing as I stepped over his body and the contents of his brain splattered on the ground.

I didn’t bother knocking as I entered. Ambrose lost the right to privacy the moment I found out just how sick her father really was. I should have come sooner. I should have made a plan to take him out when I found out what he did to his own wife.

Rafe would be pissed when he found out I blew his plan to hell, but I couldn’t bring myself to care about Rafe or The Pike Crime Syndicate. I would kill Ambrose and then burn his house to the ground. He didn’t deserve one more moment of my time.

I was almost to his office when I heard yelling from upstairs, followed by a woman’s screams. I ran up the stairs, approaching carefully with my gun at the ready. Whatever the fuck was going on in there, I was ready to bury this asshole and worry about the consequences later.

“Sir, I thought I was following your orders,” the woman cried.

“If it didn’t come from me, then you weren’t following my orders,” Ambrose hissed. “That doctor told you to stop giving her that medication, didn’t she?”

I peeked around the corner and saw what he was talking about. His wife was lucid, not moving much, but I could tell she wasn’t the same zombie she had been for the past five years.

“I…please, I just thought I was doing what was best for the mistress.”

“Thank you, Sheila.”

Shock rippled through me as I realized that not only was Mrs. Buchanan not completely out of it, she could speak.

“You have no idea what kind of hell I’ve been in,” she said slowly, as if every word drained her energy.

“I should have just killed you five years ago,” Ambrose spat, making Sheila flinch in horror. She backed up, leaving Ambrose alone with his wife.

“I agree. It would have been better than the vegetative state I’ve been in. Why did you keep me alive?”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Ambrose spat. “It wasn’t out of love. Your daughter would have done anything for you.”

“You never change,” she sighed, her eyes slipping closed.

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