Deceit (Gallows Hill #1)

39. Chapter Thirty Eight

Chapter Thirty Eight

Skyla

“ B abygirl, what happened? Are you okay?” Liam asks, voice raised in panic.

“Where are you hurt?” Ronan demands, concern etched deep in his eyes as they trace over me from head to toe.

“I told you to keep her fucking safe, Putnam,” Vincent gnashes at Asher, who gives him a bored expression.

“What would you have liked me to do, Griggs? Shoot Brenton before she even approached the table? Just to be safe?” Asher snarks.

“Yes,” Vincent says seriously, not a hint of remorse in his words.

Asher rolls his eyes, but doesn’t say anything as all the guys start up on him.

“Seriously, what the fuck, man? You couldn’t have done anything to stop her? This is your crazy fucking ex we are talking about,” Liam says.

“She’s not my ex. She was a regular thing, that’s it.”

“Well, your regular thing just assaulted my everything. So I’m gonna need you to handle your shit before I do,” Ronan fills in.

Shaking his head, Asher tries to storm off when I catch his arm. He looks back in surprise, his eyes curious as he stays silent. His tense body softly relaxes as I speak.

“Thank you,” I say.

It’s like it takes his brain a few extra seconds to process the words before he blinks and nods, shifting his stance so he is no longer walking away. His eyes stay on mine the entire time he speaks to the guys. No matter how much I want to look away, I can’t because there are three golden flecks in his left eye that I’ve never noticed until now. How have I not noticed them before?

“Brenton ‘tripped’ with her plate, and it hit Skyla in the back of the head. She has six stitches, and a concussion.”

“I’ll kill the fucking bitch,” Vincent seethes.

That has my eyes pulling away from Asher’s as I release my hold on his arm to reach for Vincent.

“Please don’t. She’s not worth it. Can someone just take me home? Please?” I ask.

“I will,” all four of them say at once, forcing my eyes to meet each one of them.

“The more the merrier, I guess,” I say with a small smile, as I begin walking.

As a unit, they all surround me like some sort of private protection detail. Ronan is in front of me, Vincent on my left, Liam on my right and Asher behind me. It’s almost amusing how all of their heads seem to swivel at different times, scanning their surroundings thoroughly, like we are about to be attacked any minute.

When we get to my room we all spill inside before they form a straight line, all staring at me. Okay, this whole unified front thing is starting to unnerve me a bit. I wonder if this is what they practice at their Brethren meetings.

“What do you want to do, babygirl? Hot shower?” Liam asks.

Asher shoves his shoulder hard.

“No dumbass. She needs to keep her stitches dry for at least a day.”

Liam frowns like he’s disappointed for not knowing that and it hurts my heart a little bit. I take a few steps towards him, brushing my lips against his cheek before giving him a soft smile. He returns it, the sadness still there in his eyes but easing by the second.

“How about a movie?” Ronan offers.

“Not good for her with the concussion,” Asher interrupts.

Ronan cuts him an irritated look before Vincent steps up beside me.

“How about you fuckers get lost. It’s my night to watch her anyways.”

“You watch her every night regardless,” Liam scoffs.

“Exactly.”

“I told the nurses that I’d stay up with her and make sure she doesn’t sleep for too long. So I’m staying,” Asher says, as he plops down on the loveseat beside my bed.

I’m surprised that he wants to stay. The nurse just said I needed someone, it didn’t have to be him. When I have three other eager volunteers, you’d think he’d take the out and run. Something warms inside of my chest that he doesn’t want to.

“Well, if Asher is staying I’m not going anywhere,” Liam says, as he comes to stand by me and Vincent. “What do you say, Griggs? I’ll be the little spoon tonight,” he smirks playfully.

“Touch me and I’ll chop your fucking hands off.”

Liam makes an offended noise, as he shakes his head and slides into my bed first.

“I swear, you guys don’t know what you’re missing. The way men have begged me for just a touch would blow your minds.”

“Oh, we’re sure,” Asher draws sarcastically.

“It’s true! You know how much ass I get!” Liam says as he points at him.

“Unfortunately so, I’ve walked in on you in far too many compromising positions for my liking.”

Liam shrugs casually, like he couldn’t give a shit before Ronan stretches out on the couch, wordlessly claiming it.

“You should get some sleep,” Asher says. “I’ll wake you up in two hours.”

“It’s like one in the afternoon?” I laugh.

Asher stands up from the chair, closing the curtains until it is practically pitch black in here.

“Rest,” he says.

Vincent moves to my dresser, handing me a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top. I begin to pull down my skirt since everyone in this room has already seen me at least mostly naked, before I pause. My eyes land on Asher who is watching me with an expression that I can only label as animalistic. I can’t tell if it’s hunger or something more dangerous. He looks ready to pounce on me, but I’m not sure it’s in a good way. Not that there would be a good way for Asher to do anything to me.

Swallowing roughly, I decide to just get changed. It’s not that big of a deal. Slipping off my skirt and peeling down my leggings, I glance to see his eyes chasing each inch of newly exposed skin before settling on my panties. I slip my shorts on, removing the sight in the next moment, before grabbing the hem of my shirt.

When I pull the material up and over my head, Vincent comes to me. Positioning himself against me, and in a not so subtle move, that blocks Asher’s view before he reaches for the clasp of my bra. My breasts spill free as he undoes it, and I half expect Vincent to touch them. Instead, he keeps his eyes on mine, body blocking me as he pulls my tank top on for me.

Vincent presses a kiss to my forehead, before guiding me towards the bed where Liam is waiting with open arms.

“C’mon, babygirl. Let’s snuggle,” he says, with a waggle of his eyebrows.

I smirk and shake my head as I crawl into his arms, laying on my side when I feel Vincent wrap himself around my back. His fingers gently examine the bandage covering my cut, before he presses featherlight kisses around the area.

“Sleep, Siren. We got you.”

After the third time being woken up, I decided I wanted to be up for a while. It’s better than the feeling of just starting to fall into a good dream, only to be interrupted by Asher’s annoying as hell alarm. Unfortunately it’s now ten at night and I’ve already gotten six, albeit interrupted, hours of sleep.

My stomach grumbles, and I look over to see Asher is the only person that is still awake.

“You hungry?” Asher asks.

“How’d you know? You a mind reader or something?” I ask.

“I can hear your stomach from over here, Princess. What do you want?”

“What’s open at this time of night?” I counter.

“Well the dining hall should have late night snacks and things like that made. If you want something a little more substantial, I’ll call in the chef to make you whatever you want,” he says as he begins thumbing through his phone.

“Are you crazy? No. We aren’t going to wake someone up to come into work and be at my beck and call,” I laugh quietly.

“Why not?”

I stare at him for a moment before shaking my head.

“Because that’s not respectful, nor kind to do. They are trying to sleep, let them. I think I have some extra protein shakes if you could hand me one,” I say as I point towards my fridge.

Asher frowns and shakes his head.

“You’ve hardly eaten today and what you did eat, you puked out. You need real food.”

I feel a hand touch my hips, a sleepy voice murmuring in my ear.

“Just let him get you food, Siren,” Vincent says softly.

Slowly I concede, nodding my head. Though, it’s not like Asher needed my permission. He’s already busy assumingly ordering food or calling the chef to come in.

It doesn’t take long for the food to get here. Actually, it’s kind of amazing how fast it gets here. Asher meets whoever the delivery person is at the door, making sure not to allow them a peek inside. I assume, seeing his fiancée tangled in bed with two other men and a third on the couch would come across a tad taboo.

When he steps back in, he has four large bags that he’s somehow managing to hold with his two hands as he kicks the door shut. Surprisingly, Ronan, Liam and even Vincent stay asleep. Asher sets out the food across my desk, before pulling up the loveseat next to my desk chair.

He leans over Vincent, offering me a hand out of bed. I slip my hand in his as he pulls me up and out. My feet almost kick Vincent and I tuck them quickly, somehow wrapping myself around Asher in the process.

Asher looks down at me in surprise, before the smallest smirk touches his face.

“Looks like you’re more of a koala bear than princess.”

I give him a dry laugh as I shake my head, while he essentially carries me over to the desk. He sets me down on the loveseat while he takes the desk chair, before he begins unpacking bag after bag.

There is a pizza, supreme with no mushrooms and extra bacon, my all-time favorite way. Along with spaghetti, bacon cheeseburgers with chili cheese fries, and the biggest surprise, scratch made fish and chips. I haven’t been able to find any decent fish and chips since coming to America. All of the batter is heavy and greasy, while the fish is very clearly frozen. Just from appearance alone I can tell this is good quality. The breading is light and flaky, and the fries look to be that perfect combination of crispy and soft.

All manners forgotten in the name of food, I dig in, trying a little bit of everything as I do. I eat and leave no crumbs behind.

“So,” I say as I finish my second piece of pizza, god I’m really on a roll. I don’t think I’ve eaten this much in the last three months. “Is it a coincidence you were able to guess all of my favorite foods without asking me a thing?”

Asher shrugs, busying himself with a burger in front of him.

“It was in your file.”

I frown. “What file?”

“The one my dad gave me on you, before you came to Salem. It had pictures of you, your favorite foods, hobbies, friends. All of that stuff.”

“Why would you need that?”

He swallows his food and takes a sip of one of the water bottles before speaking.

“It’s designed to get the relationship on the right foot– establish common ground, shared interests.”

“You clearly had no interest in that,” I say with a hollow laugh.

He scoffs and nods before taking another bite, chewing it thoughtfully before taking another drink.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think I apologized for the shit I pulled, did I?”

“Have you ever even apologized for anything in your life?”

Asher chuckles and nods his agreement.

“Fair point. Well, I am. I feel like shit, honestly. It wasn’t too hard to explain away any guilt, blaming my actions on the thought of you being a calculated bitch but…you’re not.”

I don’t respond, because while this isn’t the best apology I’ve ever received in my life, it feels like this is a lot for him and I don’t want to ruin it.

“When I saw those pictures at dinner,” he says as he looks at me, trailing off with a shake of his head as he continues.

“It was like a lead ball had dropped into my stomach. I didn’t think too much about how scared you would be in that hole. Looking at the pictures where you were desperately climbing the dirt wall, fear so deeply etched across your face,” he winces. “I didn’t like that I did that. I didn’t like that I had become someone I always swore I wouldn’t.”

“Who is that?” I ask.

“My father,” he says, his eyes locking on mine. “He’s a man who enjoys others’ misery, relishes in it. If he can flex his power and teach you a lesson in the same move, it’s an extra good day in his eyes. The way I’ve treated you is only a tenth of what he did to my own mother, but I swore nonetheless that if I ever got married, I’d never lay a hand on my wife or disrespect her like that. And look at me now,” he laughs, in a self-deprecating way that hurts my heart.

Images of a young Asher, watching the horrors of his childhood, flit through my mind. Seeing his father hurt and abuse his mother, before no doubt coming for him. I can practically hear his small voice vowing to never be like Christopher, and he’s not, not yet at least.

“If it helps, you treated me like that when I was just your fiancée. There is still hope you’ll treat your wife better,” I tease, trying to lighten the mood.

Asher doesn’t smile, though. Instead he turns to face me fully, his hand covering my own. My first instinct is to pull away from his touch. When I don’t, something light settles inside me as Asher wraps his fingers around my hand at the same time.

“I’m sorry, Skyla. Truly. The way I’ve behaved and treated you opened yourself up to be hurt like you were today. I lead by example, and for over a month I’ve been setting the example that it’s okay to hurt you, to disrespect you. I promise, moving forward no one will even dare touch a hair on your head,” he says, his other hand coming to smooth down part of my hair.

My throat is suddenly thick and scratchy. I do my best to clear it as I nod.

“Thank you, I appreciate that.”

He runs his tongue along his lower lip, like he’s thinking over his next words.

“And as for the ceremony coming up…I know it’s fast. I know there are a handful of people you’d rather be marrying,” he says, his eyes tracing over the men in the room with us before coming back to me. “But I promise as your husband, to treat you with all the respect you deserve. It’s not a perfect situation, but I’m going to try to at least make it a good one.”

My heart squeezes at that, and a sense of relief washes over me. I’ve been so sad and so scared about what the future held with Asher. I wasn’t sure what to expect honestly, the common denominator in all scenarios I envisioned was misery, though. So, to hear him say he’s going to try. Even if he doesn’t always succeed, at least he’s going to try. It’s worth more than I could ever express.

“When we move into our home after the wedding and everything…as far as them,” he says, nodding his head to the guys. “Well…they are always welcome in our home…discreetly, of course.”

I’m surprised by his words. Is he saying that I can still be with them even after Asher and I marry? I don’t know what I expected for all of us after we did, I guess I didn’t want to think about it, and honestly maybe they won’t want me by that point. Feelings change, it’s not like they’d want to share one woman forever, right? Still, the feeling of knowing that if we break up, it won’t be by Asher’s hands gives me a small sense of peace that I treasure greatly.

“And your...uhm, groupies too,” I say, not sure what the appropriate word is for sluts. “Maybe besides Bridgette. I’d be okay if I never saw her again,” I grimace.

A dark look passes across Asher's face as he shakes his head.

“You won’t have to worry about her. She will never be around again.”

I nod, thankful at that.

“Honestly, you won’t need to worry about any women. I won’t be bringing anyone to our home. I’m not going to disrespect you like that.”

Frowning, I turn my head to the side.

“Isn’t it the same thing?” I say, gesturing to the guys.

He shakes his head.

“Why not?”

Those chocolate brown eyes come up to me, his voice low and serious.

“Because, I don’t love them.”

My stomach flips and my heart stutters out of rhythm for a moment. Ronan and I have told each other that we loved one another. Liam and I have come close several times, and if what Vincent and I have isn’t love, I don’t know what to call it. Do I seriously love three men? At the same time?

Yeah…I guess I do.

“You might meet someone that you do,” I offer. “Everyone deserves the freedom to love and be loved by someone. Everyone deserves that gift. So, when she comes along one day, I’ll support you however I can,” I say with a small encouraging smile.

Asher’s brows knit together slightly, before a half smile lifts his face.

“Thank you, Skyla.”

A rustling in the sheets catches our attention, snapping us out of this intense moment as we look to see Liam assumingly searching for me. He doesn’t find me, but he does find himself nuzzled into Vincent. Vincent’s arms reach out in his sleep, tucking Liam against his chest as he wraps his arms around him. Liam wiggles his ass into him, fully taking on the little spoon roll.

Asher and I look at each other with matching expressions before we begin laughing softly.

“How mad do you think Vincent will be when he wakes up?” I ask.

“So fucking pissed,” Asher says as he stands up, snapping a picture of them cuddling together.

I give a warning look and he rolls his eyes.

“I’m not gonna share it. Just a little friendly blackmail.”

Smiling, I shake my head as a yawn works its way out of me.

“Should we leave this out for them?” I ask, as I gesture to the food.

Asher nods. “They can have our scraps. Want to try to sleep a little more?”

I shrug and nod. He pulls out his phone to set another alarm as I stand up and my eyes go from the bed to the couch. I don’t want to be caught up in the middle of whatever fight will happen when the guys wake up, so I tip toe over to Ronan, lifting the blanket he laid over himself before sliding under.

He wakes only for a moment as I lay on top of his chest. He presses a kiss to the top of my head before wrapping his arms around me. My head is sideways on his chest, looking out at the room and I see Asher situating himself in the loveseat once more. His eyes are on me, but he doesn’t say anything. I give him a small smile as I mouth ‘night’. He does the same before breaking eye contact, looking up at the ceiling and closing his eyes.