RUSH (Montgomery Men #1) - C.A. Harms Page 0,74

weren’t going to tell me?”

“I wanted to keep it from you until I had more on them,” he tried to explain. But at this point I was just so angry with the entre situation that redirecting my anger toward Ashton became a way to cope.

“Mr. Honesty,” I said sarcastically. “I’ll tell you the truth, Kinsley, always the truth.” I tried to get up from the couch, but he stopped me.

“Baby, I had every intention of telling you everything. I’ve spent night and day digging deeper and deeper into the shit they’ve been trying so hard to hide. I wanted to bring it all to you when I had everything I needed to bury both of them.” He slid closer to me and took my hands in his. “You’ve been so relaxed and happy the last few days, I just didn’t want to take that away. I wanted for you to feel that happiness just once without the shit those two bastards have done tarnishing it.”

I wasn’t mad at him. I just didn’t know what else to do with the feelings boiling within me. It was too much.

“We think Jase forged your signature on the paperwork, and in turn everything your father left to you went directly to him.” He lifted the envelope. “We need you to look through it all and confirm that.”

“I can’t,” I whispered.

“You can,” he assured me. “Because I’m right here and I’m gonna be right here as long as you need me to be.”

Ashton held the envelope out, and after a few seconds I took it. I wasn’t sure how long I sat there holding it, but Ashton didn’t push me to open it. He waited patiently until I was ready. When I finally did, I found page after page of legal documents, each signed and dated in penmanship I recognized. Tears filled my eyes as I continued to read. All my mother’s belongings my father and I chose to keep after her passing were mine, and so was the money from his life insurance policy. But I’d never seen any of it. I wasn’t even aware the policy existed.

At the bottom of the page was a signature that was supposed to be mine, but wasn’t.

“I didn’t sign this,” I whispered. “I’ve never even seen this.”

‘There’s more,” he replied as he placed his hand on my thigh. “Your father wrote you a letter.”

The tears I’d managed to hold at bay broke free and I hung my head. My body shook as I attempted to fight them off. I looked up just in time to see Ashton reach into the pocket of his suit jacket and pull out a folded piece of paper. “He wrote it when he completed his will. The date on the top shows it was a little less than a week before he passed.”

I took the paper as my hands trembled uncontrollably. With shaky fingers I unfolded the paper to find a letter addressed to me in my father’s neat handwriting. It was hard to see them through my tears, but there before me were the words he’d left for me.

My dearest Kinsley,

Your happiness means more to me than anything else ever could. You’ve given so much of your life already for my benefit, and that breaks my heart. You put on a happy face, one you think has fooled me, but I know my little girl. I know that within you lies a sadness that only getting your freedom could heal.

I’m sorry it took me this long to see that Jase isn’t the man that deserves you. You seem so lonely with him. I see it every time I look into those beautiful eyes of yours. I hate that sadness, and not saying something about it sooner will be the only regret I take with me.

I don’t know where that sadness comes from or why it’s there, but I do know that to be happy, truly happy, you need to be with someone who loves you the way I loved your mother.

Please promise me you’ll search for that.

Promise me you’ll live your life to the fullest and you’ll find the happiness I had. Because you and your mother were the greatest part of my life. The two of you gave me so much, and I want those same things for you in return.

I want you to find a man that will love you even during the hard times. I want you to feel secure enough to go to him with anything and