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“Maybe taking your own space is a good thing for now,” I said. “Start slow, be friends. You don’t have to fall in love right away, or at all. Even if you’re strictly platonic, at least you’ll be safe and protected. He will take care of you, even if that means you find love somewhere else when things are more settled.”
Because an affair early on would not only make us look weak, but send her groom over the edge. Cameron’s stress levels were already maxed; a secret boyfriend at the moment—even a consensual one—would have deadly consequences for everyone involved.
Ash laughed, settling back into her chair with the air of someone who’d just lost the weight of the world. “I hear your warning loud and clear. No relationships.”
“Wait and see what happens with your husband before you go making plans.” She nodded, taking another sip of her drink. Guilt and curiosity beat at me until I had to ask. “Look, I know things have been hectic, but are you sure you want to go through with this?”
“We just had a fitting for my wedding dress, and now you’re asking me if I want to run? A little late, don’t you think?” Ash laughed, and the sound was so happily carefree, I took it as her answer.
“It’s not that I’m worried about you running. I just want to make sure that I’m not pushing you into something you don’t want.”
Guilt had made me restless. The understanding that I was burning Aislynn’s bridges for her ate at me. Her being married off was what we’d tried to prevent, and yet here I was, shoving her toward my family, as if we were better than the O’Bannons. We weren’t—we just had more power.
It was hypocritical at best and cruel at worst. I wanted—no, I needed—to make sure that I wasn’t hurting my friend in the process. I didn’t want to lose her over something like this.
Too little, too late, my mind screamed at me.
Aislynn set down her drink and stared right into my eyes like she knew I needed the connection. “I’m the one who said yes. We both know you would have let me walk if I had asked, and I didn’t. You’re right. Cameron is a good catch, and he’ll be a good husband, even if it’s just as a friend. I want to do this, and frankly, there’s no way for me to go home now anyway. My father thinks of me as a deserter. If I try to go back, he’ll either marry me off to some geriatric abuser or kill me in my sleep as a message to all the other daughters who dare bow to anyone other than their king. I can’t go home again.”
For a moment, she trembled, and that killed me a little more. Despite how awful O’Bannon was, I’d just taken Ash from the rest of her family too, and we were both realizing it. Granted, she’d been trying to leave anyway, so maybe that blame wasn’t all mine to hold, but the crown was heavy, and mine felt a hundred times too big some days.
“Besides, who will mediate the arguments between Cameron and my father, if not me? No one else would stop them before they come to blows,” she joked.
I wanted to keep talking until she absolved me of my guilt, but she obviously didn’t want to and we didn’t have the time. Being queen meant living with the consequences of my actions, even when I hated them. I’d just have to suck it up and deal.
“I’d bet on your husband any day of the week. He’s a real protective type, and O’Bannon’s been on his shit list for years.”
Aislynn laughed for real, and I let that sound worm its way into my heart and dampen the worst of the guilt. It wasn’t a long-term fix, but I doubted anything would be. All I could do was hope that my plan turned out well for her and she found happiness. My phone buzzed on the table, and I found a text from Dominic.
Downstairs whenever you’re ready.
“Our chauffeur has arrived,” I joked, standing and brushing off the smart pinstripe suit Ash had made me years ago. After another touch-base with her team and another glare from Gretchen, we finally made it downstairs.
“Where’s your driver?” I asked as the valet pulled an SUV I’d never seen to a stop in front of her and handed over the keys.
Ash passed the valet a tip and snatched the keys. “I gave him the day off, especially since I’m planning to go right home.”
I wondered if my cousin had agreed to that. He wasn’t the type to shirk on protection detail, especially not with Cash running around. The moment I thought about it, I decided it wasn’t my problem. Their arguments bordered on foreplay, and frankly, my cousin’s sex life was none of my fucking business. If they wanted to play boss and bad girl, that was on them.
“And the bodyguards?”
She shrugged, looking more insincere than ever. “Must’ve given them the wrong schedule. They could’ve found me, but I had this car delivered earlier today, so no tracker yet. Oops.”
Christ. Before I could warn her of the upcoming freak-out, Ash climbed into the driver’s seat with another wave and a smile toward the valet. Knowing she didn’t have backup, I climbed into my own car to find Dominic shaking his head. “What?”
“Cameron’s going to tan her ass when she gets home.”
Remembering the blush on her cheeks when Shara and I asked, I had no doubt Ash would enjoy it. “I take it he doesn’t know she’s out for a joyride?”
Dominic threw back his head and laughed. “Oh, he knows. He was losing his shit earlier. By the way, he broke two candelabras and threw a table. Apparently, he thought they’d agreed that she’d take the driver and the guards wherever she went. According to the bodyguards she left tied up in their suite with pantyhose and boob tape, she thought they were optional.”
Snorting at the absolute mayhem my friend had unleashed, I buckled in.
I loved my cousin desperately. He was an incredible man, one of the funniest people I’d ever met and one of my favorite people on the planet, but he was also a fucking hothead. Making matters worse, he’d never learned how to channel that anger into anything more than a temper tantrum. I felt sorry for Aislynn, but knowing that she could hold her own had me wishing for popcorn and a front-row seat to that fight.
It would be one for the ages.
Ash pulled away, and I directed Dominic to stay close. It would be just our luck for her to get rear-ended and have Cameron turn into a fucking warden.
