Sadie smiled. “Is she in the desert?”
“No, Ma. She’s not in the desert. She’s leaving Nevada as we speak, a whole lot richer and looking forward to a family reunion.”
The whole family didn’t know about Jack Beck, but I hoped her memory was well enough to understand my vague words.
“Now, that is excellent news.” Sadie patted the seat Thomas had vacated, and when I joined her, she put one small hand on top of mine.
“Thank you, Jasper, for everything.” She smiled up at me, looking just like the woman I remembered. “I’m…I’m proud of you.”
I shrugged off the compliment. “Well, there’s only one of me, and Thomas was eager to keep Lucky Lopez running smoothly until you were on your feet again, so I let him. The help was much appreciated.”
“It’s nice to have a man who has your back.”
“Amen,” Maisie, Kat and Vanessa answered in unison before a fit of laughter erupted around the room.
“And the person who shot me? Did you find him?”
The air in the room went still. Virgil’s smile darkened into a scowl. Cal froze with fear burning up his eyes. Everyone else just wanted an update.
“Yeah. Three of them are rotting in the ground, and the last one turned himself in before we got to him.”
Another smile lit up her face, and she brushed a finger across my cheek, an uncharacteristic move on her part. “Thank you, Jas. I knew you would make this right.”
I nodded. “That’s my job. To protect this family, this organization, and all the people in it.”
That was my purpose in life, and I was fine with it. Kat was happy and safe with Terry; they would probably expand the Ashby family soon. Maisie and Virgil were bringing another Ashby into the world, and Cal, well, his pardon had given him a renewed purpose in life and in this family. Eventually, Calvin would find another woman to help him raise Ava Rose, and I would still keep them all safe and protected.
Just like Sadie taught me. But even with all the people here, there was one person missing. One person who needed my protection, my understanding, and my comfort. And I’d failed her.
Badly.
Looking around the room, my siblings all had a purpose outside of the family, separate from the Ashby Organization. For me, it was all I had.
And suddenly, I was asking myself, was it enough?
No. The answer came swiftly from somewhere deep, and like one of those dumb fuck moments of epiphany people were always talking about, I knew what I had to do.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Mo
I spent the evening curled up on the sofa in silk pajamas, scarfing down buttery popcorn and lemonade while I binge-watched my third straight romance movie. The streaming service originals were my favorite not-so-guilty pleasure to watch on my days off, and today I planned to get my fill of them.
This particular movie was the ultimate fantasy. A relatively plain girl who was nice and sweet with all the qualities girls like Molly possessed in spades falls for a rich and gorgeous prince.
She was unassuming, completely unaware of her charms, which, of course, utterly charms the good prince. Best of all, she did absolutely nothing to draw his interest other than be herself.
It was the ultimate fantasy. It was also bullshit.
It was so unlikely to come true outside the magic of Hollywood.
To live in a big castle filled with servants, so you never had to lift a finger to do any basic chores. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Did those people wipe their own asses?
I’d love to go for days at the spa, lunch with the girls—if I had any girls to lunch with.
Then again, I didn’t need the bullshit. I’d be happy with my life that came with more money than I could ever possibly spend, thanks to Jasper Ashby, and my child in my arms.
Fuck the princesses.
But when I closed my eyes, I had it. All of it.
The man. The baby. The money. And even a few girlfriends over for lunch.
Loud pounding on my door startled me for a hot minute until I realized that there were only a handful of people who could get up to the penthouse floor without the concierge alerting me. Other than Hulu, they all answered to the name Ashby. The pounding continued while I sat a little taller on the sofa, wondering who was at my door and what the hell the urgent knocking was all about.
I let the loud pounding continue until I heard a guttural sound that could have been my name, followed by more pounding.
Jasper.
I shot up off the sofa, smoothed my floor-length black nightgown over my hips, and reached for the matching robe as I made my way to the front door. I had no clue what Jasper wanted, other than sex, so I inhaled deeply for seven seconds, held it for eight, and exhaled for ten seconds before opening the door.