Undeniably Asher (The Colloway Brothers Book 2)(32)

“Natalie.”

“Fucker,” I mutter under my breath. “Why do you insist on bringing her up when I continually ask you not to?”

“Because you need closure.”

I look away from Conn to Luke and Gray who are raptly watching our little exchange. I want to tell them both to fuck off. Luke has no idea who Natalie is—was—to me and the last thing I want to get into before I see my sweet Alyse for the first time in days is fucking Natalie. Her very name is associated with heart-wrenching agony. Hell, when we first moved to Chicago and I had to hire an assistant, one of the most qualified applicants was named Natalie. I burned her resume. No fucking way am I going to be surrounded day after day by someone who has a name that reminds me of the woman who blew shards of adulterer straight into the center of my heart.

I shift my gaze back to Conn. “I have all the closure I need.”

His lips thin and he shakes his head. “She said you were having an affair.”

“Are you fucking kidding me here? She’s the cheating whore.” My voice rises, causing several sets of eyes around us to turn our way, but I hardly notice. I’m only staring into the traitorous ones of my twin, who it feels an awful lot went Robert The Bruce on me. “I’m not sure how I could possibly misconstrue the fact that she had her legs spread for another man in our bed. It was pretty fucking clear.”

It was classic Natalie to try to deflect her adultery back on me. She repeatedly accused me of cheating, and I never understood it. I never gave her any reason to think that.

What Conn doesn’t know is there were definite red flags that I simply ignored, so I was far less than inclined to believe a fucking lying word that came out of her mouth. Conn doesn’t know a lot of things about Natalie. They are things I’ll never tell another soul. I lost my entire future because of that woman and her selfishness and lies. Always with the lies. I was a patsy and I’m ashamed I ever thought of making her my wife.

“She claims they never had sex. She just wants a chance to talk to you and make things right.”

Why, after all this time, does she even care what I think?

“I’m sorry, Conn, but regardless of what happened after I left, having her pussy eaten out by another man is sex. At least in my book. She was committed to me. She should never have let another man lay a finger on her. Nothing happened that she didn’t want.”

I shake my head and stand, throwing my napkin on my unfinished plate. I skirt around the table, intent on leaving before my fist lands in my brother’s face, which will fucking happen if I stay here five seconds longer, but his words stop me cold, making me fume with rage. I have to hand it to Conn. He blindsided me in a public place so he would lessen his chances of ending up with a black eye and swollen lip.

“Your reaction proves my point. You’ll never be able to give Alyse what she needs if you don’t put this behind you, Asher. What happened with Natalie keeps you bound to the past. Cut her loose, man. Move forward.”

I feel something being pushed into my hand. I look down to see a scrap of paper with a phone number on it.

“Call her. Free the chains.”

I should drop it to the floor, but Conn will just take another opportunity to sabotage me, so I shove the conniving bitch’s number in my pants pocket and leave without saying a word or looking back.

I have every intention of watching it burn later. Maybe I’ll even toast marshmallows over the roaring fire.





Chapter 10





Asher





It’s after nine before I make it to my office. I’m still fuming mad. What I would normally do is head to my office, close the door, and spend a couple of hours getting lost in work so I could rein in my temper. Instead all I can think of is tracking down Alyse and pulling her into my arms.

I emailed Tara last night, asking her to greet Alyse, get her settled in her office, and set up a meeting first thing this morning with Sheila and my director of accounting, Aaron Hinton, so she could hit the ground running. I’m sure Alyse could have busied herself, but the fact of the matter is, the sooner she gets started, the sooner we can stop this thief. I’ve already wasted so much time. In retrospect, I should have followed my gut sooner and hired her weeks ago. Not only would we be closer to finding the culprit, I’d already have her in my bed.

“Hi, Tara,” I snip.

“Uh, hi. Bad morning, Asher?”

I grunt. “Where’s Ms. Kingsley?”

“She’s down on twenty-eight with Sheila and Aaron.”

Aaron. He’s a couple of years older than me, very good-looking, and if rumors are true, he’d give Conn a run for his money in the ladies department. I’m already irrationally jealous at the thought of her talking to another man. I realize I set this whole meeting up, but that does little to calm the absurd envy I’m suddenly feeling.