the couch with bright, colorful blankets. I could just imagine his reaction when he steps off the elevator and comes face-to-face with a scene pulled right out of Legally Blonde.”
I was just about to add my own ideas when he squealed so loud I had to pull back the phone to keep my eardrum from bursting. “You need a Chihuahua, a girl preferably so you can dress her in pink too.”
“That would surely make him regret moving me in.” I laughed myself as I imagined Ash’s face. “So is he still in his meeting?” I asked as I flopped down on the couch and looked around the room, where touches of my things were now mixed in with Ashton’s.
“He left here a couple hours ago. Beckett stopped by,” Lex replied. “When they left, neither of them looked too happy, but those men are always so intense and intimidating. But damn if it ain’t one of the hottest things to see.” He sighed—yes, literally sighed.
I could almost imagine that dreamy look in his eyes that he got every time he talked about the Montgomery men. Lex didn’t even attempt to hide the fact that he thought all three of them were hot tickets. I sat quietly on the couch for the next ten minutes while he went on and on about all the times he witnessed not only Ashton, but Beckett and Knoxville get all fired up.
“Oh honey, I could satisfy myself for hours just taking a trip down Montgomery Lane.” And there went another sigh.
“You are crazy,” I laughed because how could I not? Lex had become one of my very best friends, and I loved his spunkiness. He always had the ability to make me laugh, even when I thought I couldn’t.
“I don’t care what the hell it takes, make it fucking happen.” Ashton’s voice echoed through the penthouse. He didn’t sound happy.
“The dragon just got home, and he’s breathing fire down someone’s neck,” I told Lex. “I better go.”
“Okay, but I think you should take full advantage of his current mood,” he said in a rush. “Ride the dragon, Kins. It would be an epic experience.”
“Oh my God, Lex.” I rolled my eyes and hung my head.
“I want details later,” he added. “Very explicit, dirty, dirty details.”
“I’m hanging up now.”
“And pictures,” he hollered as I pulled the phone away from my ear and hit End.
Lex had no filter. He said whatever was on his mind, no matter how dirty it may be.
“I want to see it in my email in an hour,” Ashton barked through his phone as he rounded the corner and came to a halt. His eyes connected immediately with mine, and the hardness in them faded. “Just do what you can,” he added in a much calmer voice before ending the call.
“Bad day?” I asked, hoping to ease some of his tension.
“Yeah,” he said as he walked toward me, still looking into my eyes. “It’s been a pretty shit day, sweetheart.” He sat down next to me and placed his arm behind me, resting it on the back of the couch. When he took my hand, he threaded our fingers together.
I hadn’t noticed the envelope he tossed onto the coffee table until that moment. The name written on the upper left corner set off an alarm in my mind.
Palmer.
I shifted nervously as I looked between him and the envelope. “What’s that?” I asked, my throat tightening.
Ashton didn’t answer right away. Instead he ran his fingers through the hair at my nape, and my eyes involuntarily fluttered shut for a moment.
“It’s your father’s will.” My body tensed as my eyes shot open and I looked at him in surprise. “Beckett obtained a copy, and I’m not even going to explain how. But I can assure you that we weren’t supposed to see it.”
“Did you read it?” I asked as the burning sensation rose in my throat. My head was spinning, and I had no idea what to say. Should I be mad, thankful?
“I just skimmed it.”
I sat in silence for a moment, unsure of what to say or do next. I stared at the envelope, both wanting to know its contents and feeling as if it might hold something I didn’t want to know.
“Over the last week I’ve been digging around in Bruce and Jase’s lives. And until we ran across something big, I decided not to mention this to you. I didn’t want to upset you, but now it seems I have no other choice.”
“You