Ashton
After settling Hadley’s exhausted body in bed, I became restless. Not because of what she said, but because while we were making love, I received a message from my head of security, Ryan. There may be a potential threat to my happiness.
Running nightclubs is a competitive business. The reason I became a success from the beginning, nearly ten years ago now, was because I had been given a chance with one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Florida, Silva Delgado. He foot the bill for the openings of two clubs, and after five years, if I couldn’t buy him out, he would own everything.
I bought him out in three.
We’ve remained friends, and I still consider him my mentor. I go to him when I need advice or fresh ideas. In fact, it’s because of his relationship with my mother that I rolled with the idea of Peaches & Cream. My mother can be a free spirit and frivolous, so when she suggested it to me, it wasn’t considered with a business sense but more for fun. Silva explained the untapped income of the underage adult crowd, so I rolled with it, and it’s paid off.
The message I received was about an old acquaintance of ours, Edward York, who's been holding a grudge. And his reasoning has nothing to do with business and everything to do with a woman Silva brushed off and I spent two long years regretting my existence with.
Denise Nighbor.
A woman I might have loved, but I’ve never really been sure.
As it turns out, Denise and Edward got married last year, and she’s been holding a match to our long burned-out flame. Or that’s how it was briefly explained in Ryan’s text.
He’s looking into whether there is a credible threat or not, already understanding that I’ll want to know if I should loop in Hadley’s father and hire protection for her. I tell him to do that last part anyways.
My guys are good, but extra hands are always better.
Sitting on the chair in my home office, two fingers of bourbon in my glass, I stare out the window, watching the night sky, contemplating the woman in my bed.
At thirty-two years old, I haven't given much thought to my romantic future. Wife, kids, picket fence. But now that I’ve been inside Hadley's body, tasted her sweet cream, it’s all I can think about.
She is like a drug I can’t get out of my system. Nor do I want to.
After her sleepy confession in the bathtub, I don’t think I’ll have to do much convincing on her part. The men in her life are another story, though.
They’re killers. Kings of the underworld.
I may not live in their domain, but I understand their code.
Family first.
Mine’s slightly different: Hadley first. Always. I just have to prove that to them.
I look forward to the challenge.