Chapter 45

Ash

"Y ou sure you don't want me there today?" Kai asked after handing me a cup of coffee. Our fingers touched as I took it from him, and I wished to crawl back into bed with him. Not only because I loved spending mornings with Kai but because whenever I thought about taking the stand today, my stomach turned, and I felt like vomiting.

"Yeah, I think it's for the best." I kissed his cheek and was ready to go and see if the boys were ready when Kai cupped the back of my neck, turned me around, and pulled me into a kiss.

Taken by surprise, I dove into it with an open mouth, groaning at the invasion of his tongue. With his arms wrapped around me, he pressed me closer to his body while eating my mouth until my whole body turned hot. Realizing the kiss was turning too passionate, I placed my hand on his strong chest.

"Kai, s-stop," I chuckled, trying to push him away. "If one of the kids come down—"

"I don't care," he whispered, his naughty fingers slipping underneath my shirt.

Since we had a couple more minutes, I allowed him to stroke my skin while I slowly sipped my coffee.

"I'm sorry about the other day," he said, surprising me.

"Why are you apologizing again?"

Kai told me what had happened with Soren at the restaurant that same night. I wasn't angry with him because from the start, I'd been the one to push him in the direction of sleeping with other people.

Kai shrugged, his hands still around me. "I guess it felt awkward? I dunno. I still feel like crap over it." He dropped his arms. "Do you think maybe I should stop?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, watching as he pulled his hair into a half bun. He was always sexy with that hairstyle.

"I'm talking about fucking around… I can stop doing it if it's bothering you."

I nearly spat out my coffee.

Putting my mug aside, I cleared my throat. "Why would you suddenly bring it up?" This was a big thing to discuss right before I was about to leave.

Kai shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I guess I don't want to do something that's making you feel bad. That night, I was a total asshole for not coming over right after you called."

I was upset that evening because I did want Kai to be with me, but I also understood he had the right to do whatever he wanted.

What he was saying only made the thoughts I'd had ever since my argument with Soren yesterday resurface. Was I actually okay with Kai fucking around? Of course not, but it felt only fair to share him with others, knowing I could never give him my whole heart. Though, since he was the one to bring it up—

"Yeah," I said, my lips curling.

"Yeah?" He seemed so happy, his smile stretching from side to side.

"I would love that, actually. But we need to sit down and talk about it further, okay?"

"Fuck, yeah, Ashy." He bit his lips before cupping my face and planting a big-ass kiss on my forehead. "You know I love you, right?"

Whenever he told me that, I felt incredibly awkward. While I did, in some ways, feel the same, I never said it back. Now was no different, and instead of saying those three little words, which I doubted Kai even cared about, I nodded.

"I do."

"Good." He wrapped a thick arm around me just as Andrei walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, we're ready to go," Andrei said, pointing his thumb in the direction of the front door.

"Good." I turned to face Kai. "We'll talk more tonight, okay?"

"Sure." He gave me that smile again that reminded me of the time we were seventeen and high on life. "Good luck today," he added with a slap to my ass.

I groaned in frustration. He knew PDA was not allowed near the kids. But Kai was never one to follow the rules, and it was probably why I first fell for him.

Soren

"Objection," I called, my jaw tense as my eyes set on the back of Jones's balding head. "We have already established that Mr. Sage took the four kids into his home out of the kindness of his heart and nothing more. At this point, the prosecution's desperate attempts to argue otherwise are plain harassment." My whole body tightened with anger over this despicable Jones and his pathetic attempt to present Ashton in a bad light.

He was trying to show that Camilo's alleged crime had something to do with living under Ashton's roof, which was utter bullshit.

Ever since he'd gotten Ashton on the stand, around thirty minutes ago, it had been a series of low blows and attacks on Ashton's character. Watching my sweet boy sitting there in a suit that was too big for him, looking as anxious as ever while attempting to do his best, physically pained me. My guts swirled, and my skin crawled with every passing second of him being treated like a common criminal. And if that wasn't bad enough, Christian Rogers had decided to show his face in court today. That smug asshole sat a few rows behind me, and every now and then, I caught him smirking as if he ran the show. I'll prove him wrong . The only positive thing coming out of Christian's presence today was Camilo's reaction. For once, the guy seemed alert to what was happening around him, and he wasn't just sitting beside me with his eyes pinned to the floor.

"Sustained," the judge rightfully called, forcing Jones to move on with his crap.

"What a jerk," Jessie hissed from where he was sitting behind me, referring to Jones. At least the kid said out loud what I couldn't. The corner of Camilo's lips seemed to twitch a little at Jessie's comment, but then again, it might have just been my imagination. All three kids also testified today, and they did a great job, but the prosecution knew what they were doing by questioning Ashton last.

An idea occurred to me, and I grabbed a pen to write it down, when Jones's new question caught my attention.

"Tell me, Mr. Sage, is it true that you grew up fatherless?" the idiot asked.

"Objection, Your Honor, relevancy," I nearly snarled, waving in his direction.

"I promise it will all make sense in a bit," Jones explained. Sadly, the judge accepted his argument and told Ashton to answer the question.

He shifted in the chair with his hands in his lap before leaning closer toward the small mic. "My father passed away when I was seven. My mother raised me."

"So you did grow up without a father figure?"

Ashton swallowed hard. "You could say that. But my uncle was present during my childhood," he added, and I swore under my breath.

I told Ashton not to mention his uncle, who, apparently, was involved in a few businesses that went bankrupt and had a bad name with the IRS. Aiden, the uncle, was only a small partner in those places, but it still added shade to his name. Of course, Jones knew it as well, and he used it for his benefit.

"And where is your uncle now? Escaped overseas, maybe?"

"He didn't escape anywhere." Ashton's brows pulled into a frown. "He's traveling the world."

Jones snorted. "Charming. Just charming. Now, then, is it true that you haven't worked anywhere for the past ten years?"

Ashton seemed confused. "I-I run a small surfing shop."

"A shop that's only active for a few hours a day and hardly makes any profit," Jones said while flipping through a few financial documents before submitting them as evidence. "Surely, you can't expect us to believe you're able to financially support four teenage kids, as well as yourself, and take care of your house, with what that business makes in a year?"

Shit . This was going even worse than I'd imagined.

"N-No," Ashton said quietly.

"So, mind telling us where you got the money from?"

"My uncle left it for me, as well as the house." He sounded so embarrassed, even though he had nothing to be ashamed of. Getting money from a relative was absolutely legitimate. Not to mention, he used that money for a good cause.

"In fact, before living off your uncle's money, you lived on the account of your boyfriend of eight years. Is that correct?"

"Objection!" I jumped to my feet just as Ashton's gaze locked with mine. Seeing the fear behind his gentle eyes shocked me, so much so that I momentarily blacked out. Still stunned by my reaction, I forgot to answer the judge.

"Counselor," she said for the second time, and I was finally able to look away from Ashton. "On what grounds?" She sounded impatient.

"Character evidence."

"Denied."

I sat back down, feeling like a total failure while being forced to hear the rest of Jones's ridiculous arguments.

"Let's get this straight. Before living off of your uncle's money, you lived on your ex's. Who just so happens to be one of the attorneys representing the defendant. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"And if I am not mistaken, Mr. Dane is seven years older?"

Ashton glanced at me, desperation in his eyes.

"I'm afraid Mr. Dane can't help you right now," Jones cut in, scaring Ashton even more. "So please answer the question."

"Yes."

"So would you agree that you're fond of older men?"

Ashton's cheeks flushed red, and he looked down at his shoes.

"No."

"Could you comfortably agree that Mr. Dane was much wealthier than you?"

"Y-Yes."

"So a rich boyfriend, a rich uncle. This pattern makes me believe you've never worked hard to achieve any of the things you have."

Ashton shook his head. "That's not true."

"How so? You've been given gifts your whole life." Ashton had no reply and kept quiet as Jones went on. "Clearly, you are not a good example for four young teens who just got out of juvie. I mean—" Jones turned to face the jury. "—Mr. Sage here has never held a job in his life, graduated with average grades, and has had everything he owns given to him. No wonder Mr. Gómez didn't do better when that was the example set for him. This connects to Mr. Gómez's work as a stripper and his numerous affairs with older customers from his previous job at the beach club."

With each word Jones spoke, Ashton shrank further into himself until he looked impossibly small and fragile on the stand. My entire body screamed to do something, and I wished for this hell to be over with.

"But the kids did do better!" Ashton tried to say, only causing Jones to list all the fights and trouble those four had gotten into just this year alone.

"They got into a fight on their first day of school, and that's without mentioning the several fights Mr. Gómez had with the victim. Such as an incident in which he reportedly stepped on the victim's chest while saying, and I quote, ‘ Yes, bitch, choke for daddy .'"

Ashton's face fell before he fumbled with his answer. "All of those incidents were settled in school."

"And yet, they clearly reflect on Mr. Gómez's quick temper and your inability to control him."

"He's not some beast that needs to be controlled!" Ashton argued, and I swore Camilo tensed beside me. "He's a good kid who was framed for a crime he didn't commit."

Another snort from Jones. "We'll see about that." He then turned around and pulled another file from his table. "Lastly, I have a question regarding their school." He cleared his throat. "They all attended Beverly Bay High after their old school burned down. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Beverly Bay High, or BH, as the kids call it, is a rather prestigious school. Therefore, I can't help but wonder how those kids managed to get in."

Ashton took a deep breath and then straightened in his chair. "They each got a scholarship," he said proudly. Only his pride disappeared once Jones went on.

"I have a record here showing that your first application to sign the four kids to the school, made when there was no scholarship yet, was rejected. The same applies for the other three requests you submitted the following year. The only request accepted was the fifth one, and this happened only after the school received an anonymous donation. That seems quite convenient, don't you think?"

Ashton's eyes widened, and he looked dead lost. "I-I don't know anything about this."

"Are you sure? Because it sure seems like a lucky coincidence."

"Objection, Your Honor." I got to my feet. "Counsel has no grounds for these claims. It's outrageous to even suggest such a thing was done without a single shred of evidence to base it on, not to mention it's not relevant to the case." My hands shook with my rage, and I clenched the pen in my hand until it nearly broke. He was making a mockery out of Ashton in the most cruel way imaginable.

"Calm down, Counsel," Jones said in a patronizing voice. "I'm done with this witness."

I gritted my teeth so hard I feared I'd break them while glaring back at that asshole. He might be done with Ashton, but I wasn't done with him. And he was about to pay for this shitshow he ran today.

After the hearing was done, Jones and I went to the judge's chambers, where I argued that Ashton's cross-examination was a poor attempt to personally attack me. Since it so obviously was. The whole matter about ruining Ashton's character to show that he was a lousy guardian had no actual relevance to the case, yet the judge still allowed Jones to go on with it. It was only further proof of what I already knew—Christian owned Jones and wanted to try to get into my head since we were doing well. That man loved playing dirty. And it was about time we started doing it, too. Even if Daniel warned me to play fair, it was hard to win when the other team wasn't following the fucking rules.

The conversation with the judge turned out to be a waste of time, and now I was back in the halls of the courthouse, looking for Ashton. Unfortunately, before I could track him down, I came across Christian, who was busy talking to a few reporters and saying he couldn't wait for justice to be served and that his son's attacker deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars. I fully agreed with Christian, although I doubted he'd fancy wearing an orange jumpsuit over his tailored clothes.

Not far from the press conference, I spotted Ashton's boys. They, too, were busy watching Christian giving his heart-wrenching speech, their faces nothing but a display of disdain.

"You did well today." I opened with that while placing a hand on Andrei's shoulder. Just like Ashton said, Andrei was indeed a remarkable young man.

"Yeah?" He looked at me, voice rough.

"Yes. Thanks to you three, now the jury knows about Camilo's and Shay-Lee's relationship and their deep connection."

A small smile took over all their faces before Andrei cocked his head in Christian's direction. "What's he doing here?"

"Playing a role. Nothing more."

"Do we know what's going on with Shay-Lee?" It was Jessie who asked.

"Last I heard, he's still in the hospital."

"Will he testify?" Levi asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Sadly, no."

"How's that even possible?" Jessie squealed, jumping off the stair rail he was sitting on.

"The victim is allowed not to testify, Jess," Andrei explained, impressing me.

"That's almost the case, but not exactly," I corrected him.

So far, Shay-Lee's refusal to testify wasn't that simple. Because of the details of this case, even though he acted with contempt of court by refusing to testify, he was only fined for that. After all, no one would send that poor kid to jail for refusing to speak of what was done to him. And since money wasn't a problem for Shay-Lee's dad, the court could fine them until the end of time, and it wouldn't nudge them from their tactic. The prosecution used Shay-Lee's rights and twisted them in order to get what they wanted, which was keeping him away from court. Have I mentioned they played dirty?

"In any case, we don't want to compel Shay-Lee to testify but have him do it out of his own will." No one wants a scared victim on the stand.

"So ask him. I'm sure he'll want to do it," Jessie said, always the optimistic.

"If only it was that simple," I snorted. "The hospital is refusing to let us even speak to Shay-Lee, so we can't even try and convince him otherwise." I twisted my lips, remembering our numerous attempts to get access to the Shay-Lee. Among other things, Christian had hired a private security team that made it nearly impossible to get close to his son. "Besides, Shay-Lee doesn't even remember the entire week before the attack occurred. So in any case, he can't tell us who did it."

"But he can say that he and D were in love and about to run away together!" Andrei jumped in, his jaw tensed and eyes focused.

Seeing the connection between these kids was enough to tell what a remarkable job Ashton had done with them. I read their files and saw where they all came from, and without a doubt, if it hadn't been for Ashton's good heart, they wouldn't have been here today. He always had the ability to see into people's hearts, regardless of the stereotypes following them.

"Have you seen Ashton?" I asked, remembering why I first came to speak with them.

"Oh." Andrei pursed his lips while looking around. "I think he went to the restroom? I'm not sure. It's been a while."

"Thank you." I squeezed his shoulder before letting go and walking in search of the lavatory.

He wasn't in the first one I checked, but remembering there was another restroom on the second floor, I went there. Sure enough, Ashton came into view as soon as I pushed the door open. He stood by the sink, and when I came in, he quickly turned around and pretended to clean his nose.

"There you are," I said, not mentioning a word about his attempt to hide the fact he was crying.

"Y-Yeah." He sniffed. "Wanted to wash my face." He tossed the used tissue into the garbage bin before turning to face me. He didn't meet my stare and instead looked down. I still managed to get a glimpse of his bloodshot eyes, and my heart ached. I wasn't sure if telling him something would make him feel worse or better, so I kept quiet until he spoke.

"I screwed up, right?" he asked, looking up to meet my stare. Seeing the unshed tears welling in his eyes felt unfair, and if I hated Jones before, now I loathed him.

"Not at all. He played dirty in an attempt to get back at me . It wasn't about you, darling."

He snorted, but it was sad and pitiful. "It was only about me. About what a screw-up I am." He placed his hands on the sink, his head bowed down. "Am I really that worthless?" he asked, voice choked.

"No. You're priceless."

He jerked his head up right away, looking at me with wide eyes. I assumed I'd caught him off guard, but it was the truth. I knew that only yesterday, he'd asked me to keep our relationship strictly professional, but at this moment, I couldn't care less.

I couldn't care less that his suit didn't fit him perfectly or that his hair was messy. I couldn't care less about the tap that kept dripping since I'd entered the room. I couldn't care less about the inconsistency of the tiles on the wall, nor the dirt on the floor. I didn't care about anything but him, and before I knew it, I'd closed the distance between us with three large steps.

Cupping his face in my hands, I forced him to look at me while using my thumbs to wipe away his tears.

"You are absolutely priceless, Ashton, and don't you dare let anyone else say otherwise."

His breath caught, one tear sliding down his cheek. Still staring into each other's souls in a moment that dragged on forever, he slowly brought his hand up to cover mine, moving his fingers along my skin. My heart rate increased until it felt like a hammer pounding in my chest. Following my instincts without stopping to think, I leaned down and pulled him closer.

My finger traced along the line of his jaw, which was now covered with soft stubble, and as my lips finally met his, I held in a breath, waiting for him to push me away. And while tears still slid down his cheeks, Ashton didn't do that but instead moved his hands to my waist. Unable to hold back any longer, I cupped his head and tilted it back, pushing my eager tongue between his parted lips, exploring his mouth with all the passion burning in my chest. Ashton shared my fervent hunger, his tongue aggressive in searching for mine in a battle for who missed the other more. I licked into his mouth, my fingers holding his jaw still. Famished, I sucked on his tongue at the same time I moved him with me until his back hit the wall. He gasped, and I held him closer to breathe him in. Ashton wrapped his arms around me, back arched and body pressed against mine. Ignoring where we were, I pushed my thigh between his legs, feeling the tension building in his slacks, and pressed harder until he cried into my mouth, the sound so sweet and lovely, making me weak in the knees. His desperation matched my own, and while I moved my hands along his body, slipping them underneath his jacket and caressing every spot I could reach, he ran his delicate fingers through my hair, undoubtedly creating a mess.

Not that I cared.

With my racing heart and burning soul, I only yearned to have more of him. No other thought seemed to cross my mind, and if it weren't for the hand on my chest that suddenly pushed me back, I would have had him naked by now.

"S-Soren, wait," he panted, pushing me until I had no choice but to stop. "We can't." Two words were enough to extinguish the fire he'd just ignited in my heart.

Disappointment washed over me, along with an unbearable chill at his putting an end to this. I pressed my lips together and nodded, my head brushing against his while I did. "Okay," I whispered hoarsely, then stepped back, giving him room to move.

Ashton wasted no time and was out of the bathroom before I had a chance to say another word. With a groan, I turned to face the mirror. Placing my hands over the cold counter, I dropped my head with a deep sigh as I attempted to release the bundle of nerves in my chest. A moment later, I looked up to meet my reflection. My hair was disheveled, the same as my clothes. I looked like a mess, and that was without mentioning the arousal tenting my slacks, making it incredibly inappropriate to step out like this. And despite my head raging to fix my appearance, I had yet to do so. Desperate to feel Ashton's touch over my body, I allowed myself to be locked in this moment for a while longer. Brushing my fingers along my lips, I softly pressed the pad of my thumb to where he'd bitten me, the ache nothing but medicine to my broken soul.

Once I was finally ready to go, I left the restroom and went straight to my car. I'd already turned on the engine when I noticed Jones in the parking lot. The low-life creature seemed giddy as he stepped into his car while speaking on the phone. The same rage from earlier struck me at once, combined with the freshly engraved image of Ashton crying over how this bastard humiliated him.

Pulling out my phone, I dialed a number, not surprised when he answered right away.

"There's something I need you to do for me," I said, fixing the rearview mirror so I'd stare back into my own vengeful eyes. "But I'll have to tell you in person."