it desired, and it was all for nothing. “That’s what I thought.”
There was nothing more to say.
Jasper sighed and raked a hand through his hair, clear green eyes still shooting fire in my direction. “How can I…”
“How can you what, trust me? If you have to ask then you don’t fucking trust me, man.”
And there it was, my biggest fear realized. My best friend, my brother, hell my family, all gone in one fucking minute.
“After this,” he motioned to the photos, “how can I?”
I nodded, acknowledging the truth from Jasper’s perspective. The end of my time with the Ashby family.
“You can’t.” I turned on my heels and walked away, knowing this was it.
The end.
Chapter Thirty-One
Kat
Terry had been absent the past few days. As much as I worried about him, it was also nice to not be watched like a hawk for the past fifty-odd hours. Jasper hadn’t said anything about putting Terry on another assignment, then again, he wouldn’t tell me anything because he was in charge and didn’t have to.
Asshole.
Sitting in my office, well Jasper’s office, I picked up my cell and tried to call Terry for what was the tenth time in the past two days. Once again, I got no answer.
“What the fuck is going on?” I demanded of the phone as if it could answer. Then I smiled at the photo of Terry’s sleeping form that I managed to snap when he was asleep the other night. That was the last time I’d seen him, and now I feared those three little words had ruined everything.
Everything.
There was one way to find out, so I dialed the number of the one person who could give me a definitive answer on Terry’s whereabouts.
“What is it, Kat?”
The annoyance in his voice pissed me off immediately. “What’s your problem, Jas? I just called to see where my babysitter was.”
Jasper let out one of his exasperated older brother sighs, which provoked an eyeroll that unfortunately, he couldn’t see.
“Terry is no longer employed by the Ashby Organization.” His words were stern and short, slightly bitter.
“Oh. Okay.” The news was too shocking for me to process in the moment, so that was the best I could manage. It wasn’t eloquent or sophisticated, but it was all had.
“Thanks for letting me know.”
Jasper snorted and let out a low growl to indicate he was pissed off. “What the fuck did you think would happen when I found out about you two, Kat?”
There it is, I thought with a stab of pain in my heart.
“And? Who I sleep with is none of your fucking business, Jasper. Maybe you ought to get laid so you can stop trying to run everyone else’s life! You might be in charge of the business, but you are sure as shit not in charge of me.”
Instead of waiting for whatever condescending shit he had to say, I ended the call and when Jasper called back, I muted the call.
There was nothing to say to Jasper, or Terry apparently, who decided to ghost me. At least now I knew why. Fuck him! And fuck this whole damn place!
I packed up my shit and decided to call it an early day. A small part of me wanted to go to Terry and demand answers, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to hear the truth. Not yet. So I did what any girl in my position would do, I went to talk to my mother.
I found Ma reclining on one of the lounge chairs on the back terrace “Kat, what are you doing here in the middle of the day?” she asked with a surprised smile. Just enough sun flooded the back of the house to feel good without getting the brunt of the desert heat.
I tossed my bag on the table beside Sadie’s bottle of whiskey and sat with a groan. “I came here to talk to you.”
Her brows rose, but that was all I could see of her expression with her sunglasses shielding her eyes. “Things must be bad if you’ve come to me for advice.”
I snorted and reached for the whiskey bottle, taking one big gulp for strength. “Somehow Jasper found out about Terry and me.” I was curious as hell to know how he found out. “I know Terry didn’t tell him. He wouldn’t because he was too afraid of what would happen.”
Sadie took a drag off her cigarette and blew the smoke out. “And Jasper is pissed off. How did you think he would react?” Her calm question