Chapter 50

Soren

"A re you okay?" I asked as soon as I met Ashton in the hall of the police station.

Rubbing his wrists, he nodded. "Yeah, thanks for bailing me out," he said, a small smile on his lips.

We started walking to exit the station while I filled him in on the missing information. "You've got nothing to worry about with those charges. They're so ridiculous that they'll be dropped in no time. It was a low blow made by the prosecution and Christian in an attempt to mess with us." I knew the other team was playing dirty, but to go this low? To have Ashton arrested and spend the night in jail? That was outrageous.

"That's good to know." He pursed his lips before turning to me. "What about the gun?"

"I think it's better if you get some rest first."

Ashton grabbed my arm, forcing me to a stop.

"Answer my question."

Looking around the stretching hall, I sighed with frustration. The last thing Ashton needed to know after he spent the night in jail was how the prosecution had managed to fuck us with this evidence a week before closing arguments. But with how he was looking at me, danger in his eyes, there was no way I could avoid answering him.

"It's not good. They found the weapon used to kill Orson and Rosa in Camilo's room. There might not be any fingerprints on it, but the jury is not going to like it."

Ashton's face paled, and he took a step back. He was quiet for a moment before turning to face me. "They must have planted it in Diesel's room. The house was empty all day yesterday; they could have done it then. Right? I mean, they must have planted it. It wasn't there the first two times they searched."

Those were my thoughts exactly, but proving it wouldn't be easy.

"That's what I'm about to argue in court. But I won't lie, this looks really bad." To say the least. Unless I came up with something new, we were screwed, and Diesel's chances of being a free man would be as good as gone.

The fear on Ashton's face made me pull myself back together, and I placed my hands on his shoulders. "I promised you I wouldn't lose this case, didn't I?"

A bit of hope shone in his eyes, and he nodded.

"You did."

"So count on me."

After understanding crossed between us, I let go of him and began walking.

"What about the boys?" he asked.

I was in the middle of telling him that I'd spoken to Andrei about an hour ago, when someone called Ashton's name. Looking ahead, we saw Kai running toward us, his bike helmet in his hand.

Great .

Kai's stupid blond hair swayed in the air with each step he took, and with the leather jacket and a pair of old jeans he wore, he looked like the stereotypical bad boy in some teen drama. I sure hoped Ashton wasn't one to fall for that crap, but considering the fact they'd been together for quite a few years, I guess he did enjoy it on some level.

"Fuck, babe, are you okay?"

Babe . Ugh. What a douche.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ashton said, tiredness carrying through his hoarse voice.

"I swear, I came as soon as I heard."

Which was, what, eight hours too late? I rolled my eyes at his attempt to show he cared. Moron.

Kai's eyes then darted to me, and he frowned. "What's he doing here?"

"He bailed me out, Kai," Ashton said with a deep sigh while rubbing his face.

The muscle in Kai's jaw twitched. "Of course." His lips drew back in a snarl. "Soren's here to save the day, yet again."

"Well, unlike you, I wasn't preoccupied with picking up random women at the bar."

Kai's eyes went wide as he gritted his teeth. "You son of a bitch—"

"Why? 'Cause I was here to take care of Ashton when you weren't?" I challenged him, also stepping closer. I had had enough of this man-child acting like a third-rate bully.

"Enough!" Ashton called loud enough to get both of our attention. "I have had enough of you two acting like children," he hissed, eyes moving between us. "I haven't slept for nearly forty-eight hours, and the last thing I care about is your ridiculous banter." Ashton paused for a second, took a deep breath, then went on. "We have one week until the closing arguments. Till then, I don't want to hear a word from either of you unless it's related to Diesel or the case."

"Ashy—" Kai tried saying something when Ashton pinned him with a deadly look.

"Don't even start. I'm still pissed at you." He then turned to me, making me flinch underneath his wrath. "And you, too. I'm not yours to save, so give me a break, Soren. You bailed me out, and I'm thankful, but don't think it changes anything between us."

Kai's eyes darted to mine, and he seemed suspicious. But then, Ashton spoke again, and he went back to looking at him.

"You two need to stop acting this way. I don't have the time or energy to deal with this alpha-male crap going on between you two. Just grow the fuck up already."

Feeling like a kid who'd just got scolded for stealing a cookie, I bit the inside of my cheek, my eyes focusing on the tiles on the floor. I had no problem playing fair as long as the other person did the same. But Kai?

"Of course, Ashy. I'll do whatever you say." He beamed, wrapping an arm around Ashton's shoulder and pulling him close.

Definitely didn't play fair.

"I'm going to grab my phone from the front desk, and then you're going to take me home," he told Kai before turning to face me. "And you better start working on dealing with this gun bullshit." His eyes were fierce but still held the vulnerability he only ever shared with me. It was enough to set me at ease. That was until he left to grab his phone, leaving me alone with the problem .

Kai might have seemed to be an average buffoon with the brain of a snail, but sadly, he wasn't as dumb as he looked. Since I'd come back, Ashton had mentioned numerous times something about how I'd disappeared without ever saying a word. While I did, in fact, break up with him rather suddenly, a few months later, I tried reaching out again when he was the one to ignore me . I'd always assumed it had to do with the way I ended things, but now, I knew it wasn't the case.

"You never told him that I came looking for him, did you?" I said, catching Kai's attention, who slowly turned to look at me, one brow raised.

"The fuck you on about, psycho?"

I snorted, ignoring his childish insult, and stepped closer until we were in each other's faces. "That time I came to your house looking for him. You never told him about it, and I'd bet my money you're the reason he never picked up any of my calls. What did you do, block my number?" His silence was the only confirmation I needed.

"You're unbelievable," I hissed, holding back my rage. I guess Ashton never found out about it because he'd changed his number over the years, and Kai wasn't smart enough to block my number on the new one, too.

"Who gives a shit?" he snorted and took a step back. "It happened years ago."

My jaw tensed, and I shoved my finger at his chest. "I bet he never cheated on me either. I'm right, aren't I? You made that whole thing up because you were always a little person who only cared for his own stoned ass."

Back then, when Kai told me that he and Ashton had slept together while we were still a couple, I'd found it hard to believe. Yet, my mental state was so bad at the time that his lie still managed to get to me, and there were days when I truly believed Ashton had been unfaithful. It hurt, and my hurt eventually turned into an ugly self-pity. I promised myself never to hit that rock bottom again and feared that reuniting with Ashton would lead to that. It didn't. In fact, spending time with him since coming back only proved to me how unlikely it was for him to ever betray me that way. Now, I knew there was no chance he'd ever cheated. Not on me, anyway.

Kai's brows pulled into a deep frown before he pushed my finger away from his chest. "The fuck are you implying, bitch?" he spat out.

Tilting my head, I looked down at him. "That you're a snake."

He huffed and then flashed me a toothy grin. "What if I am? Are you going to tell Ash about that? You think he'd give a shit?"

He was such a horrible human being.

"No," I said, voice cold. "I'm giving you the chance to tell him yourself."

His brows rose up until they reached his hairline, and he looked confused before anger took over his features. "The fuck are you playing at?"

"Nothing." I shrugged and walked back to have some distance between us. "If I tell Ashton myself, he'll only get hurt. So what's the point of that? Instead, I'm giving you a chance to do something right, for once."

Kai's face turned red, and he seemed even angrier than before. I was certain that if we weren't at the police station, he would have punched me by now.

"Are you messing with me?" he hissed after finding his words again.

"Not at all." I held his stare. "I'm being dead serious. You have until the trial ends to tell him. If not, I will do it myself."

His eyes gleamed with something vicious before he shoved his helmet in my chest. "If I go down, I'm taking you with me, asshole. I wasn't the only one playing dirty back then."

That was true, only that the keyword in his sentence was then . The me back then was a hideous man, but I was no longer that pitiful guy. I had grown, and with my growth, I promised myself to be better—to be a man Ashton deserved, starting with being honest. Even if it meant losing him.

Our pleasant conversation ended with Ashton's return.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, eyes narrowed.

"Just agreeing to keep it cool," Kai said before I could, already throwing himself over Ashton. "Let's go home, Ashy."

Watching them walk away together definitely hurt. Not because I was jealous but because I knew this guy wasn't the right choice. Even if I were to be out of the picture, Ashton deserved a million times better.