Page 83 of One Little Lie
“Watch your tone, Colty.”
His face softens as he turns to his mother.
“Now, why don’t you tell us, calmly, what’s going on.”
Colton widens his stance and narrows his eyes at Ash, who returns the same position. Hatty twists his fingers together as he paces in front of me. Reaching out, I place a hand on his leg as he passes, and he stills.
My heart beats rapidly in my ears, and I realize I’m holding my breath as Colty and Ash face off. It comes out in a whoosh when Hatty speaks first.
“Pacen found us, and gave us the drive,” he repeats. “But then she said Dad’s secret was safe, too.”
“Fuck,” Ash quietly curses.
“Dad’s secret? What secret?” Preston and East ask at the same time.
“That’s what I’d like to know. Apparently, Ashton has been keeping secrets from us for a long time. Just like Preston. Just like Easton. Just like Halton. And don’t get me started on Loki.” Colton’s angry words barely mask the hurt I hear just below the surface.
“What the fuck is he talking about?” Preston directs his question to Ash, but I realize everyone is searching for answers as I glance around the room.
When my gaze lands on Sylvie, she’s staring straight ahead at Ash with tears in her eyes.
“How long have you known?” she asks him gently.
Chapter 27
Halton
Every muscle in my body tenses as I turn toward my mother.
“You have got to be shitting me,” Preston grumbles as he brushes past me to sit on the couch next to Loki.
Ashton shakes his head, then pinches the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed as if he can make us all vanish if he only tries hard enough.
“Listen, I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I’ve almost lost too many brothers in the last six months. First Preston, then Loki, and then you, Ash. I can’t take this shit anymore.” Colton’s voice is calmer now, but his body is still wound up, looking for a fight.
“Sit down, Colton.” Turning back to Ash, Sylvie waits for him to speak.
“I was with Dad when he died.”
All heads in the room turn to Ashton.
“I thought you found him?”That’s what he told me. Didn’t he?
Ash shakes his head no, then sits in the empty seat next to Preston. We all shift his way, waiting for an explanation as Dillon slips from the room.
Silently, I sink into the couch next to Rylan, and she immediately takes my hand.
“I was in the butler’s pantry when you were fighting with him, Halt. You stormed off before I could catch you. I told Dad he was wrong. I told him you had always loved Rylan. But he knew it before I said anything.”
Dillon reappears and hands Ash a water. I’m suddenly grateful the guy has been working so closely with him recently. None of us thought to do that.
“But I had been in the pantry for a long time. There was a specialized router in there that I probably wasn’t supposed to know about. I was …” He turns to Sylvie and shrugs. “I was doing some stuff I shouldn’t have, but I heard Dad talking to Ryan on the phone.”
Confusion sets in as we glance at one another until we all come to the same conclusion. We only know one Ryan, and we’ve known him our entire lives.
“Ryan? Nichols? The owner of Envision Securities?” Preston asks in disbelief.
Ash nods, and we wait for him to swallow another sip of water. “Except he wasn’t the owner back then.”
