Figure Eight (Celtic Knot Book 2) Read Free

than before. He had fallen in love for the first time in his life, and all I did was destroy him and proved to him that love truly wasn’t worth it.
    Kelly hadn’t said a word to me since we fought the night before, after the club was shut down. I let her scream and vent every hateful emotion she was feeling towards me. I didn’t blame her one bit because I am sure I was feeling much worse about myself than what she was expressing. I hugged my knees into my chest harder as I recalled the words she said to me last night.
    “How could you do this, Ashley? What the hell is wrong with you? You know it isn’t true!”
    “I finally found a guy who I could actually see myself being with and you rip him away from me by having him arrested?”
    “I thought you were my best friend? I thought you were like a sister to me. Please, Ashley, I am begging you! Stop this insane accusation!”
     
    I forced myself to stop thinking about all the words she threw at me as the tears were forcefully falling from my eyes. They were already red and swollen from nearly twenty-four hours of unrelenting crying. Being forced to hurt people I loved made me angry. I indignantly wiped the tears off of my cheeks as I tried to sit up in the bed. The heavy weight that constantly pulled down on me made it difficult, but after a few attempts, I finally made my way to a seated position. I placed my elbows on my knees and my face in my hands, as I once again had to try to stop the tears that were in constant supply. I would be shocked if my body was not severely dehydrated from the loss of liquid that gushed constantly from my eyes.
    There was a soft knock on my bedroom door, and I turned around to see Kelly standing in my doorway. I couldn’t look her in the eye and tell her the truth of why I lied and that the men we loved were in jail because I was trying to protect them all from a sadistic son-of-a-bitch who had threatened to kill them if I didn’t. I turned back around to look out the window in my room and watched as life passed by outside, but inside my life and heart were in a standstill.
    “Ashley, can we talk?” Kelly asked softly and I could hear her trying to hold in her sniffles.
    “Why would you want to talk to me?” I remarked as unaffected as I could make my voice sound.
    I felt the other side of the bed dip as Kelly sat down. The creaking of the frame and springs were the only sounds in the room to be heard other than our breathing. We sat there with our backs facing each other for several silent moments before I felt the bed dip even more and her hand clamped over mine.
    “Ashley, whatever it is you are going through, you don’t have to go through it alone. I saw how you looked at Dominic, and I know for a fact you are in love with him. I know you didn’t do it on purpose just to hurt him and Knox. Something else is going on.”
    My lip quivered as I fought harder than I ever had in my life to hold my emotions in. Kelly’s safety was just as important to me as Dominic and Knox’s, so I had to do everything I could to keep the charade going.
    “Nothing is going on, Kelly. I did what I did to teach guys like Dominic and Knox a lesson that they cannot just play with women’s emotions and then dump them. Now, they know how it feels,” I lied.
    “That is bullshit and you know it, Ashley. There is something you aren’t telling me and I swear to God, I will find out what it is. Even though I am pissed off beyond all reason at you right now, I still love you and I am not going to let you destroy your life and mine because you are in some sort of trouble and won’t let anyone help you.”
    Kelly got up from the bed and walked over to the door to my bedroom, but turned around before she exited.
    “I love you, Ashley. Just...just remember that,” and then she left. Before I even had a chance to start crying all over again, my phone chirped from the table next to my bed. With a tentative hand, I picked it up and swiped the screen to