Page 93 of One Little Lie
Colton sighs heavily, and I can tell he’s worried. “He had a broom in his hand. Whatever he did, he seems to be cleaning it up now.”
“Should you guys go check on him again?” I ask, my eyebrows pinched in worry.
“No,” Hatty says without hesitation. “Let’s give him the night to get his shit together. We’ll all go first thing in the morning.”
“What do you think set him off?”
Colton and Hatty share a look. I can’t begin to imagine what’s been going on with Ash since I haven’t been here, but the look they give tells a story that’s full of pain.
“For whatever reason, he feels like he has to be the keeper of all our secrets. I think having Dad’s secret come out the way it did, and whatever Pacen put on that drive, pushed him over his carefully constructed walls.”
“Sounds familiar,” I grumble. “You guys love each other like I’ve never seen with your family first, and welcome to the chaos, but you can’t communicate for shit.”
And that’s what it all boils down to, isn’t it? Communication. And it’s the one thing we can’t seem to master.
Ashton
Chapter 31
Isee red. Everywhere I turn. There’s no escaping this, and the rage that’s been building for months finally explodes. I couldn’t get out of the lodge fast enough. Fucking Pacen. Who the hell does she think she is?
This was not her story to tell. How dare she? How fucking dare she? And now she’s gone? Just poof, into thin air, and all I have is this goddamn USB.
I stormed out of the lodge with nothing but the USB drive in my hand, and now I sit staring at Pacen on the screen, telling me the secrets I keep will kill me.
I hit pause. I’ve already watched this video at least five times. She’s made her decision. She’s going in deep, on her own, and it’s my fault. She never would have even gotten involved with SIA if it hadn’t been for me.
Naïvely, I thought by bringing her into Envision when I did, I’d be able to save her. But in some ways, I think she was lost before I ever brought her in. Now she’s willingly putting her life on the line to save others, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
She won’t come to work for me. SIA is no more, and because of her, I now have to bring Loki and Seth into this world. They’re partners at Envision. They deserve to know the truth. However, once they know, there will be no turning back. I wanted to shield them from this. They have families. Lives to live. And fucking Pacen made the choice for me.
I make the decisions. I keep this family together. Me. Standing, I flip the table and relish the loud crash as the computers hit the floor. Turning in place, I find the next monitor and send it hurtling through the air to crash against the far wall.
The sound of breaking glass and crunching metal is the soundtrack of my life. Damaged.
Screen to screen, room to room, I tear this house down. Tomorrow, I’ll rebuild. Tomorrow, we’ll be stronger. Tomorrow, I’ll get my shit together. But tonight? Tonight, I set the monster I’ve become free.
Chapter 32
Halton
“Are you sure you don’t want me to check on him first?” I ask my mother, but my nervous gaze finds Sadie tucked into her car seat in the back. “Colton said it was pretty, ah, loud at Ash’s when he was there last night.”
Sadie squeals in delight, clapping her hands and wiggling as much as her harness will allow. Seth’s little girl is truly a ray of sunshine and seems to be the only one Ashton is incapable of pushing away.
“Yes, I’m sure. We’ve made a lot of mistakes in this family, Halt. I’m not too proud to admit that. Your father …” She sighs and stares out the window. “He always meant well, Halton, but he could be a stubborn mule when he got something stuck in his head.”
“There’s something Ash isn’t telling us about Dad and SIA, isn’t there?”
“I’m beginning to think so. I knew the basics. After Easton was born, your dad and I decided it was best if I only knew of Envision, not the details. I’m worried whatever your father started, Ash has carried that burden since he was a child. That means I failed him.” Her voice wavers, and for the first time in years, Sylvie Westbrook isn’t in control.
“Mom,” I say gently, “that’s not true. You have to know that. Whatever he took on, he should have told us. All of us. You couldn’t have known. Whatever secret he’s keeping, he’s doing it because he thinks he has to protect us. We should have always been a team, and he didn’t give us that option.”
“Sounds very familiar, doesn’t it? Keeping secrets to protect this family? You’ve all done it. You’re all so much like your father in different ways. I swear it’s like he’s still here,” she says sadly.
A humorless laugh escapes, even though I try to rein it in. “I’m nothing like Dad. I’ve never fit in, you know that. Preston and Colt have his outgoing, sometimes outlandish personality. Easton has his temper and his drive, and Ash? God, Mom. Ash is so much like Dad it’s scary. Or, at least he used to be …” I break off from my train of thought. I shouldn’t be dumping all my worries on her right now.
We pull up to the construction site where Ashton’s home is being built. He’s the farthest up the mountain, so his was the first to break ground, hoping to get it done before the first frost. With the number of crews we have working, though, they’ll finish all the homes before winter falls.
